Lake-Level Changes and Their Paleo-Climatic Implications at the MIS12 Lower Paleolithic (Middle Pleistocene) Site Marathousa 1, Greece
Lithics and cut-marked mammal bones, excavated from the paleo-lake Marathousa 1 (MAR-1) sediments in the Megalopolis Basin, southern Greece, indicate traces of hominin activity occurring along a paleo-shoreline ca. 444,000 years (444 ka) ago. However, the local environment and climatic conditions pr...
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ftzenodo:oai:zenodo.org:5763533 2023-05-15T17:35:46+02:00 Lake-Level Changes and Their Paleo-Climatic Implications at the MIS12 Lower Paleolithic (Middle Pleistocene) Site Marathousa 1, Greece Bludau, Ines J. E. Papadopoulou, Penelope Iliopoulos, George Weiss, Max Schnabel, Ellen Thompson, Nicholas Tourloukis, Vangelis Zachow, Charlotte Kyrikou, Styliani Konidaris, George E. Karkanas, Panagiotis Panagopoulou, Eleni Harvati, Katerina Junginger, Annett 2021-07-01 https://zenodo.org/record/5763533 https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.668445 eng eng info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/724703/ https://zenodo.org/communities/crossroads-erc https://zenodo.org/record/5763533 https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.668445 oai:zenodo.org:5763533 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode Frontiers in Earth Science 9:668445 info:eu-repo/semantics/article publication-article 2021 ftzenodo https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.668445 2023-03-10T22:24:55Z Lithics and cut-marked mammal bones, excavated from the paleo-lake Marathousa 1 (MAR-1) sediments in the Megalopolis Basin, southern Greece, indicate traces of hominin activity occurring along a paleo-shoreline ca. 444,000 years (444 ka) ago. However, the local environment and climatic conditions promoting hominin activity in the area during the MIS12 glacial remain largely unknown. In order to reconstruct the paleo-environment including paleo-lake levels and governing paleo-climatic factors on a high temporal resolution, we analyzed a 6-meter-long sediment sequence from the archeological site MAR-1 and a Bayesian age model was computed for a better age constrain of the different sedimentary units. A multiproxy approach was applied using ostracods, sponge spicules, diatoms, grain sizes, total organic carbon, total inorganic carbon and conventional X-ray fluorescence analysis. The results from the site represent a protected region surrounded by high mountains under the constant influence of water, either as a shallow partly anoxic water body surrounded by reed belts (>463–457 ka, <434–427 ka), a riverine-lake deltaic system (∼457–448 ka), a floodplain (∼448–444 ka) or a seasonal freshwater pond (∼444–436 ka). The local changes of water levels resemble large trends and rhythms of regional records from the Mediterranean and appear to directly respond to sea surface temperature (SST) changes of the North Atlantic. In particular, when the SSTs are high, more moisture reaches the study area and vice versa. Additional water reaches MAR-1 through melting of the surrounding glaciers after brief warm phases during MIS12 in the Mediterranean realm, which leads to the formation of smaller fresh water ponds, where also the horizon of the excavated remains is placed. Such ponds, rich in ostracods and other microorganisms, provided mammals and humans valuable resources, such as potable water, a wide range of plant species and hunting opportunities. These deposits therefore bear a high archeological potential. The results ... Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Zenodo Frontiers in Earth Science 9 |
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English |
description |
Lithics and cut-marked mammal bones, excavated from the paleo-lake Marathousa 1 (MAR-1) sediments in the Megalopolis Basin, southern Greece, indicate traces of hominin activity occurring along a paleo-shoreline ca. 444,000 years (444 ka) ago. However, the local environment and climatic conditions promoting hominin activity in the area during the MIS12 glacial remain largely unknown. In order to reconstruct the paleo-environment including paleo-lake levels and governing paleo-climatic factors on a high temporal resolution, we analyzed a 6-meter-long sediment sequence from the archeological site MAR-1 and a Bayesian age model was computed for a better age constrain of the different sedimentary units. A multiproxy approach was applied using ostracods, sponge spicules, diatoms, grain sizes, total organic carbon, total inorganic carbon and conventional X-ray fluorescence analysis. The results from the site represent a protected region surrounded by high mountains under the constant influence of water, either as a shallow partly anoxic water body surrounded by reed belts (>463–457 ka, <434–427 ka), a riverine-lake deltaic system (∼457–448 ka), a floodplain (∼448–444 ka) or a seasonal freshwater pond (∼444–436 ka). The local changes of water levels resemble large trends and rhythms of regional records from the Mediterranean and appear to directly respond to sea surface temperature (SST) changes of the North Atlantic. In particular, when the SSTs are high, more moisture reaches the study area and vice versa. Additional water reaches MAR-1 through melting of the surrounding glaciers after brief warm phases during MIS12 in the Mediterranean realm, which leads to the formation of smaller fresh water ponds, where also the horizon of the excavated remains is placed. Such ponds, rich in ostracods and other microorganisms, provided mammals and humans valuable resources, such as potable water, a wide range of plant species and hunting opportunities. These deposits therefore bear a high archeological potential. The results ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bludau, Ines J. E. Papadopoulou, Penelope Iliopoulos, George Weiss, Max Schnabel, Ellen Thompson, Nicholas Tourloukis, Vangelis Zachow, Charlotte Kyrikou, Styliani Konidaris, George E. Karkanas, Panagiotis Panagopoulou, Eleni Harvati, Katerina Junginger, Annett |
spellingShingle |
Bludau, Ines J. E. Papadopoulou, Penelope Iliopoulos, George Weiss, Max Schnabel, Ellen Thompson, Nicholas Tourloukis, Vangelis Zachow, Charlotte Kyrikou, Styliani Konidaris, George E. Karkanas, Panagiotis Panagopoulou, Eleni Harvati, Katerina Junginger, Annett Lake-Level Changes and Their Paleo-Climatic Implications at the MIS12 Lower Paleolithic (Middle Pleistocene) Site Marathousa 1, Greece |
author_facet |
Bludau, Ines J. E. Papadopoulou, Penelope Iliopoulos, George Weiss, Max Schnabel, Ellen Thompson, Nicholas Tourloukis, Vangelis Zachow, Charlotte Kyrikou, Styliani Konidaris, George E. Karkanas, Panagiotis Panagopoulou, Eleni Harvati, Katerina Junginger, Annett |
author_sort |
Bludau, Ines J. E. |
title |
Lake-Level Changes and Their Paleo-Climatic Implications at the MIS12 Lower Paleolithic (Middle Pleistocene) Site Marathousa 1, Greece |
title_short |
Lake-Level Changes and Their Paleo-Climatic Implications at the MIS12 Lower Paleolithic (Middle Pleistocene) Site Marathousa 1, Greece |
title_full |
Lake-Level Changes and Their Paleo-Climatic Implications at the MIS12 Lower Paleolithic (Middle Pleistocene) Site Marathousa 1, Greece |
title_fullStr |
Lake-Level Changes and Their Paleo-Climatic Implications at the MIS12 Lower Paleolithic (Middle Pleistocene) Site Marathousa 1, Greece |
title_full_unstemmed |
Lake-Level Changes and Their Paleo-Climatic Implications at the MIS12 Lower Paleolithic (Middle Pleistocene) Site Marathousa 1, Greece |
title_sort |
lake-level changes and their paleo-climatic implications at the mis12 lower paleolithic (middle pleistocene) site marathousa 1, greece |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://zenodo.org/record/5763533 https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.668445 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Frontiers in Earth Science 9:668445 |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/724703/ https://zenodo.org/communities/crossroads-erc https://zenodo.org/record/5763533 https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.668445 oai:zenodo.org:5763533 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2021.668445 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Earth Science |
container_volume |
9 |
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1766135038507745280 |