Archaeological systematics, together with spatial and chronological information, are commonly used to infer cultural evolutionary dynamics in the past. For the study of the Palaeolithic, and particularly the European Final Palaeolithic and earliest Mesolithic, proposed changes in material culture are often interpreted as reflecting historical processes, migration, or cultural adaptation to climate change and resource availability. Yet, cultural taxonomic practice is known to be variable across research history and academic traditions, and few large-scale replicable analyses across such traditions have been undertaken. Drawing on recent developments in computational archaeology, we here present a data-driven assessment of the existing Final Palaeolithic/earliest Mesolithic cultural taxonomy in Europe. Our dataset consists of a large expert-sourced compendium of key sites, lithic toolkit composition, blade and bladelet production technology, as well as lithic armatures. The dataset comprises 16 regions and 86 individually named archaeological taxa (‘cultures’), covering the period between ca. 15,000 and 11,000 years ago (cal BP). Using these data, we use geometric morphometric and multivariate statistical techniques to explore to what extent the dynamics observed in different lithic data domains (toolkits, technologies, armature shapes) correspond to each other and to the culture-historical relations of taxonomic units implied by traditional naming practice. Our analyses support the widespread conception that some dimensions of material culture became more diverse towards the end of the Pleistocene and the very beginning of the Holocene. At the same time, cultural taxonomic unit coherence and efficacy appear variable, leading us to explore potential biases introduced by regional research traditions, inter-analyst variation, and the role of disjunct macroevolutionary processes. In discussing the implications of these findings for narratives of cultural change and diversification across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, we emphasize the increasing need for cooperative research and systematic archaeological analyses that reach across research traditions.

Over the past decades, there has been increasing evidence for the prehistoric use of rock crystal in mountainous environments, including craft specialisation and long-distance exchange. Yet there are only a few known sites where the mineral was quarried in sustainable quantities. One of them is situated near Fiescheralp in the Upper Valais (Switzerland) and dates to the Early Mesolithic and a final stage of the Neolithic. Here we present the first petrographic characterisation of a prehistoric rock crystal mine in the Swiss Alps, involving a combination of different methods. The article provides a detailed description of the fluid inclusions within the quartz crystals and an overview over the related mineral paragenesis. This gives interesting new insights into the formation of the analysed fissure and allows comparing rock crystal artefacts found in other archaeological sites to this particular source. The results form the basis for further investigations concerning the circulation and distribution of the raw material in the past.

Comparative macro-archaeological investigations of the human deep past rely on the availability of unified, quality-checked datasets integrating different layers of observation. Information on the durable and ubiquitous record of Paleolithic stone artefacts and technological choices are especially pertinent to this endeavour. We here present a large expert-sourced collaborative dataset for the study of stone tool technology and artefact shape evolution across Europe between ~15.000 and 11.000 years before present. The dataset contains a compendium of key sites from the study period, and data on lithic technology and toolkit composition at the level of the cultural taxa represented by those sites. The dataset further encompasses 2D shapes of selected lithic artefact groups (armatures, endscrapers, and borers/perforators) shared between cultural taxa. These data offer novel possibilities to explore between-regional patterns of material culture change to reveal scale-dependent processes of long-term technological evolution in mobile hunter-gatherer societies at the end of the Pleistocene. Our dataset facilitates state-of-the-art quantitative analyses and showcases the benefits of collaborative data collation and synthesis.

ABSTRACT Surveys near the village of Stumpertenrod revealed one of the largest Mesolithic assemblages in Germany. As a consequence of agricultural activities, the archaeological layers were partly eroded and the lithic artifact consisted mainly of surface finds. Between 1964 and 1966 Wolfgang Taute – a key-figure for the study of the Mesolithic in Europe – opened a trial-trench. Due to a lack of organic material, the campaign did not lead to the expected outcome and the site slowly fell into oblivion. The following article presents the results of typo-technological analyses of the lithic assemblage discovered in the course of the excavation. It provides new insights into the subsistence strategies of people during the early Holocene and re-integrates this significant site in current frameworks and debates. Furthermore, an interregional comparison of archaeological features and topographic parameters involving modern theoretical and methodological approaches, leads to a better understanding of the Early Mesolithic in the western part of Central Germany.

Due to its geological and geomorphological features, Central Germany is extremely diverse in terms of the occurrence of lithic raw materials. Based on macroscopic criteria alone, it remains challenging to unambiguously distinguish different rock types that were used for the production of stone tools in prehistoric times. Yet, only a few studies have presented a systematic description of the materials in question, including petrographic analysis. The following article presents the results of a research project, aimed at investigating the abundance of lithic raw materials in the Federal State of Hesse and adjacent regions. In the framework of field surveys, several outcrops in the study area were sampled in order to create a reference collection. These materials were analyzed and described petrographically, using optical microscopy. In combination with GIS-analysis, the results offer a robust starting point for the study of prehistoric mobility patterns and give new insights into the genesis of the various raw materials in the study area.

Rock crystal is among the most fascinating materials in the archaeological record. It is formed in alpine-type fissures by hydrothermal processes. Due to its physical properties, rock crystal has been a valuable resource throughout human history. In alpine regions, it was frequently used for the production of stone tools between the Mesolithic and the Bronze Age. However, there are only a handful of known prehistoric crystal quartz quarries in Europe. The following article presents evidence for rock crystal mining during the Early Mesolithic and the final stage of the Neolithic at a high-altitude site in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. In combination with radiocarbon dates from previous studies, the results of our fieldwork indicate that in the Swiss Alps rock crystal was mined almost 10,000 years ago. Furthermore, typo-technological analyses provide new insights into the way in which the raw material was processed during the represented time periods.

CLIOARCH is an ERC Consolidator Grant project and has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 817564).

The open-air site Feuersteinacker near Stumpertenrod has yielded one of the largest lithic assemblages in Central Germany. It repeatedly served as a workshop for the production of stone tools during an early phase of the Mesolithic. The range of lithic raw materials is extremely diverse, but until today, there is only a limited number of archaeological studies on the occurrence of lithic resources in the area. The following study presents the first in-depth investigation of the use of different rock types by Mesolithic hunter-fisher-gatherers at the site. Provenance analyses using petrographic methods permit raw materials to be assigned to a specific source and provide new insights into their formation. Furthermore, this study explores the way in which the materials were processed throughout the reduction sequence. A comparison of topographic parameters suggests that the location was situated on an important transit route during prehistoric times. The presented results contribute to a better understanding of mobility patterns and subsistence strategies of Early Mesolithic groups in Central Germany.

In order to anlayse the respiratory, cardiovascular, and ECG responses to acute hypoxic hypoxia, three experimental series were carried out in a randomized manner on 11 healthy, unacclimatized volunteers at rest during standardized stepwise exposure to 6000 m (PAO2 35.2±2.9 mmHg/4.7±0.4 kPa) in a low-pressure chamber a) without (control), b) with propranolol, and c) with atropine combined with propranolol. The results, show that hypoxic hyperventilation and alveolar gases are not affected by activation of the sympatho-adrenal axis or by parasympathetic withdrawal. Sympathetic activity, however, increases heart rate, stroke volume (pulse pressure), estimated cardiac output and systolic blood pressure, whereas decreased parasympathetic activity increases heart rate and estimated cardiac output, but lowers stroke volume. The fall in peripheral resistance, observed during progressive hypoxia in all three groups, is thought to be due to hypoxia-induced depression of the vasomotor center. At altitude catecholamine secretion and vagal withdrawal synergistically account in the ECG for the R-R shortening, the relative Q-T lengthening, the elevation of the P wave and the ST-T flattening. Probable direct hypoxic effects on the heart are the increase in P-Q duration and the minor but still significant depression of the T wave. It is concluded that at altitude increased sympatho-adrenal and decreased parasympathetic activity is without effect on hypoxic hyperventilation, but accounts for most of the cardiovascular and ECG changes. Diminution of sympathetic activity and imminent vagotonia arising after acute ascent to 6000 m probably reflect hypoxia of the central nervous system.