Impact of katabatic winds on the environment of Neanderthals during the Middle Palaeolithic in westernmost Europe

• Published in: Journal of Quaternary Science
• Main Authors: Lefort, Jean-Pierre, Monnier, Jean-Laurent, Renouf, John, Danukalova, Guzel
• Other Authors: Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire (CReAAH), Le Mans Université (UM)-Université de Rennes (UR)-Université de Rennes 2 (UR2)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Nantes - UFR Histoire, Histoire de l'Art et Archéologie (UFR HHAA), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), Chercheur indépendant, Institute of Geology of the Ufimian Scientific Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences, This work was carried out within the framework of the ‘Franco-Russe’ scientific project of Rennes University 1 (J.-P. Lefort) and the Russian State Scientific Program 0246-2019-0118 (G. Danukalova).
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://univ-rennes.hal.science/hal-03326944; https://univ-rennes.hal.science/hal-03326944/document; https://univ-rennes.hal.science/hal-03326944/file/Lefort%20et%20al%20-%202021%20-%20Impact%20of%20katabatic%20winds%20on%20the%20environment%20of%20Neanderthals.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3361

International audience Compilation of the offshore and onshore altitudinal limits of the loess deposits of western France and southern England shows that they were deposited by low-level wind fields. These relate to (i) the deflation of silt-rich sediment extracted from the outwash plains of the not far distant British–Irish Ice Sheet and from the palaeo-rivers of the Channel, and (ii) the existence of north and north-western palaeo-winds deduced from particle size analysis and heavy mineral distribution, and suggest (iii) that loess particles were transported by strong katabatic winds blowing from the northern ice-covered regions towards Brittany and Normandy. Comparison between the main orientation of Neanderthal shelters and the direction of the katabatic winds shows that they were perpendicular to each other. The dominant orientation of the shelters was apparently ruled by these winds. A small-scale study concentrating on the penultimate glaciation shows that in contrast to Brittany and Normandy where loess deposits accumulated on north-facing cliffs, in England the same particles were deposited on the leeside of the hills. The existence of deflation zones, violently swept by Marine Isotope Stage 6 katabatic winds south of the British–Irish ice sheet, was probably at the origin of the restricted number of Neanderthals at that time in England.