Abstracts / Quaternary International 279-280 (2012) 121–232
(40Ar/39Ar) and the fourth at 983
17 ka (K-Ar) and 988
25 (40Ar/39Ar).
40
Ar/39Ar ages and K-Ar ages are indistinguishable at 2s. The age of the
upper boundary of the Jaramillo event calculated combining 40Ar/39Ar ages
and K-Ar ages is 991
7 ka, in agreement with previous estimates.
ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN ADAPTION DURING THE EARLY
NEOLITHIC OF THE CARPATHIAN BASIN: A NEW ENVIRONMENTAL
MODEL OF THE KÖRÖS-AVK TRANSITION
Sándor Gulyás. University of Szeged, Department of Geology and Pa, Hungary
E-mail address: gulyas-sandor@t-online.hu
Understanding the climatic and paleoenvironmental context within which
major cultural transformations have occurred is one of the most critical
aspects of interpreting human cultural development. One of the most
significant cultural transformations in European prehistory occurred in the
middle of the 6th millennium BC in the heart of the Carpathian Basin. The
northward expansion of Mediterranean farming groups (Starlevo-Körös-
Cri cultural complex) came to a halt and underwent a complete trans-
formation giving rise to a new cultural group which spread the Neolithic
package to the rest of Western Europe. This happened along a boundary,
north of which unfavorable ecological conditions prevented the long-term
engagement in a Mediterranean type of agriculture. This transformation is
observable in sites along the referred borderline alone. The culture
remained relatively unaltered in the southern parts of the basin. The
majority of Early Neolithic sites in eastern Hungary are found in an alluvial
setting experiencing biannual floods. According to geoarcheological data,
there was a displacement of settlements onto flood-free natural highs
parallel with the evolution of the Körös culture. This may imply a possible
shift in the quality of adjacent water bodies as a potential trigger in
adaptation. In order to test this a multiproxy paleoecological analysis of
mollusk remains from sites along the referred borderline has been
implemented. Since freshwater mollusks collected by humans in them-
selves characterize the quality of the water body from which they derive.
On the other hand they also express the importance of second-line
resources in subsistence, which is generally an excellent marker of socio-
economic response to environmental stress. Based on our findings a clear
alteration in local stream properties was identified coevally with the
referred cultural transformation which could have been correlated with
climatic perturbations recorded in other paleoarchives.
FARMING OR FORAGING? NEW ENVIRONMENTAL DATA TO THE LIFE
AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF LATE NEOLITHIC TELL
COMMUNITIES (TISZA CULTURE) IN SE HUNGARY
Sándor Gulyás. University of Szeged, Department of Geology and Pa, Hungary
E-mail address: gulyas-sandor@t-online.hu
The turn of the 6th and 5th millenia BC witnessed probably the largest
economic and cultural transformation of SE Europe, giving rise to a new
technocomplex occupying the alluvial plains of the Tisza River and its
tributaries in the southern parts of the Carpathian Basin. Representatives
of the Tisza Culture were engaged in intensive farming complemented
with foraging creating a complex system of hierarchical multilayered
settlements (tells). The favorable natural endowments of the sites with
a large variety of multiple ecotones ideal for multifocal subsistence, as well
as the introduction of new farming techniques ensured the establishment
of long-term sedentary lifeways. However, according to the archeology,
a major shift in subsistence happened towards the end of the Late Neolithic
marking the terminal part of the evolution of the culture. Traditional crop
cultivation was gradually abandoned and hunting, animal husbandry
gained more importance. Probably other second-line sources like fish and
shellfish displayed a similar pattern. Finally, tells were disintegrated and
a new cultural group emerged characterized by pastoralism. The exact
background of these transformations is still unknown. In order to see
whether or not potential transformations in the local alluvial environment
had some role in shaping human behavior, a multiproxy paleoecological
analysis was implemented on mollusk material of one of the largest tell
sites of SE Hungary. Freshwater mollusks collected by humans in them-
selves characterize the quality of the water body from which they derive.
181
They are also an excellent marker of socioeconomic response to environ-
mental stress. According to our findings the emergence of new settlement
phases and the intensified foraging could have been correlated with
alteration in stream properties.
EXTENT AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE LAST GLACIATION IN LITHUANIA
Rimante Guobyte. Department of Geology and Mineralogy of Vilnius U,
Lithuania
E-mail address: rimante.guobyte@lgt.lt
After the revision of the Quaternary geological and geomorphological
maps at a scale of 1:200,000 in 1998 and 2002, a number of ice-marginal
moraine ridges from the Last Glaciation was removed from the map
because their presence was not confirmed by the interpretation of large-
scale aerial photographs or by field investigations. Only geo-
morphologically and geologically well-established marginal ridges and
other glacial features marking ice advance and its retreat margins are
interpreted as Last Glaciation stadial or phase limits. Over thirty sites with
the late glacial sediments dated using optically stimulated luminescence
(OSL), thermoluminescence (TL), cosmogenium beryllium (10Be) and
radiocarbon (14C) dating methods provide the chronology for the
Weichselian deglaciation phases in Lithuania. The Late Nemunas (Weich-
selian) ice advance had reached its maximum limits in south-eastern
Lithuania at c. 21-22 ka. The Late Nemunas ice advance comprises two
parts, i.e. the Grida Stadial (the older) and the Baltija Stadial. However, they
can only be distinguished using lithostratigraphical criteria. According to
10Be age evidence, the retreat of the Grida ice margin began no later than
18.3
0.8 ka. The major part of the present topography of Lithuania was
formed during the Baltija Stadial which is correlated with Pomeranian
Stage. The retreat age of the Baltija moraine is 14.0
0.4 ka. Three ice-
marginal zones distinguished to the north-west of the Baltija Uplands
indicate South Lithuanian, Mid-Lithuanian and North-Lithuanian ice
retreat and re-advance phases of the Pomeranian ice sheet. The 10Be ages
of these phases are: South-Lithuanian 13.1
0.5 ka, Middle Lithuanian 13.5

0.6 ka, North Lithuanian 13.3
0.7 ka respectively. Most part of the
recently acquired data shows that the Middle Lithuanian, Linkuva and
Pajiris ice-push moraine ridges were probably produced by fast-moving,
local ice-lobe re-advances into areas of dead, almost melted ice.
DROWNED LANDSCAPES IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL: RECORDS OF
CATASTROPHIC MEGAFLOODS AND MARINE PROCESSES
Sanjeev Gupta. Imperial College, United Kingdom
E-mail address: s.gupta@imperial.ac.uk
Late Quaternary sea-level fluctuations exposed large expanses of the
continental shelf during glacial periods resulting in the formation and
preservation of distinctive relict subaerial and coastal geomorphic features.
Shelf valley systems are particularly prominent features, and provide
a critical interface between fully marine and alluvial depositional realms.
Their importance lies in their potential to record the interaction of base-
level fluctuations and climatically controlled variation in sediment input
from river catchments. Linkage of results from new technologies to explore
the offshore realm with onshore findings are significantly enhancing our
understand of the evolution of sediment routing systems during the late
Quaternary. Here we examine drowned landscapes on the English Channel
continental shelf to reconstruct the morphology of shelf valley systems,
and show how this can be linked to the larger-scale evolution of sedi-
mentary systems during glacial cycles. We use a suite of high-resolution
bathymetry data derived from single-beam and multibeam sonar surveys
of the English Channel to map the morphology, distribution and dimen-
sions of relict landscape elements that record evidence for large-scale
subaerial flood erosion of the present-day bedrock seafloor of the Channel.
These data extend from the Dover Strait to the central English Channel
enabling a synoptic view of the system. These landforms are comparable to
features associated with catastrophic flooding in the Channeled Scabland
in the western USA, and other regions that have experienced catastrophic
megaflooding. These observations support the megaflood model, in which
breaching of a rock dam at the Dover Strait instigated catastrophic drainage
182 Abstracts / Quaternary International 279-280 (2012) 121–232
of a large pro-glacial lake in the Southern North Sea basin. We discuss this
interpretation in the light of more regional considerations of the late
Quaternary palaeogeographic evolution of NW Europe.
LARGE-SCALE RIVER CHANNEL SHIFTS ON THE WESTERN INDO-
GANGETIC PLAINS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE BRONZE-AGE
HARAPPAN CIVILISATION SETTLEMENT PATTERNS
Sanjeev Gupta. Imperial College, United Kingdom
E-mail address: s.gupta@imperial.ac.uk
The distribution of settlements in ancient societies is commonly linked to
the courses of large river systems. The Bronze Age Harappan civilisation
(4800-3500BP) is no exception with the major sites of Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro located along the Indus river system. However, the largest
collection of Harappan archaeological sites are associated with the
postulated surface trace of a large palaeo-river channel in the drainage
divide tract between the Ganges and Indus river systems, where no major
river currently flows. It has been proposed that this palaeo-channel was
occupied by a major river sourced in the Himalaya, and that this river
provided water resources to sustain the extensive Harappan sites located
along its ancient course. The abrupt abandonment of urban centres here
at w3500 BP has been explained by explanations such as river diversions
and abrupt monsoon weakening. These hypotheses have remained
untested because the stratigraphy and chronology of the postulated
palaeochannel has never been determined. Here we present an integrated
study of the Ghaggar-Hakra palaeochannel based on detailed analysis in
NW India. We use a combination of satellite image analysis, subsurface
geophysical analysis and detailed sediment coring to analyse the large-
scale planform geometry, and detailed sedimentary and stratigraphic
nature of the postulated palaeochannel in NW India. In particular we
focus our analysis on a tract of the proposed channel adjacent to the
major Harappan urban centre of Kalibangan in Rajastan State. We will
consider how changes in the course of the palaeochannel may have
influenced settlement patterns of the Harappan civilisation in present day
NW India.
THE POTENTIAL FOR OSL DATING USING SIGNALS FROM ZIRCON
INCLUSIONS WITHIN QUARTZ
Benny Guralnik. ETH, Switzerland
E-mail address: benny.guralnik@gmail.com
Quartz with immature sedimentary histories, as found within and around
most young mountain ranges such as the Alps, the Andes and the Hima-
layas, has what is considered at present to be poor or anomalous lumi-
nescence properties that restrict it from being successfully used for dating
(Preusser et al., 2009). At the same time, many developmental OSL appli-
cations, including OSL surface exposure dating (Habermann et al., 2000) or
OSL-thermochronology (Herman et al., 2010), involve direct measure-
ments of this poorly understood “bedrock” quartz. Here, we present and
evaluate the results of a combined geochemical and luminescence study,
which ties the observed infrared stimulation signals (IRSL) from “bedrock”
quartz (commonly interpreted as “feldspar contamination”) to zircon
inclusions within the quartz grains. We explore the potential to decon-
volve and separate the signals of the two minerals using time-resolved
pulsed OSL (e.g. Ankjaergaard et al., 2010). We envisage that both signals
(from zircon inclusions and the host quartz) may prove useful for OSL
dating of sediments and low-temperature thermochronology in mountain
ranges and tectonically active areas.
MODERN ANALOG STUDIES OF INDICATORS FOR GRAZING, OPENNESS
AND DEAD WOOD IN ANCIENT WOODLANDS OF SOUTHERN SWEDEN
Gunnar Gustavsson. Linnaeus University, Sweden
E-mail address: gunnar.gustavsson@kommunen.varberg.se
Palaeoecological interpretations mainly rely on information about the
present habitat requirements of plant and animal species, or species
assemblages associated with modern ecosystems. The order Coleoptera
(beetles) includes species that are valuable indicators for disturbances
such as grazing, forest fires and inundations; forest structures such as
openness, and woodland components including leaf litter and dead wood.
However, taphonomic as well as ecological factors are extremely impor-
tant in governing whether these indicator species are found in palae-
oarchives. These problems, as well as local landscape reconstructions,
were studied in an analysis of surface samples from a number of sites in
Southern Sweden situated within or adjacent to pastures or woodland. The
presence of obligate dung beetles correlates strongly with relatively
intense grazing. Obligate woodland and dead wood species were only
found at sites within wooded areas. These results provide us with
a stronger empirical basis for the reconstruction of past disturbances and
changes in the structures of ancient landscapes. They are also valuable for
nature conservation strategies and help in discussions on whether
particular landscapes are “natural” or anthropogenic.
LATE GLACIAL AND DEGLACIAL HISTORY OF NORTHERNMOST UNGAVA
AS REVEALED BY PINGUALUIT CRATER LAKE (NUNAVIK, CANADA)
SEDIMENTS: NEW INSIGHTS FROM A LATE PLEISTOCENE SUBGLACIAL
LAKE
Herve Guyard. ISMER, Canada
E-mail address: herve.guyard@UQAR.QC.CA
The Pingualuit crater was formed by a meteoritic impact ca. 1.4 million
years ago in the terrestrial Canadian Arctic. The Pingualuit Crater Lake
(depth ¼ 270 m) promises to yield a unique continuous sedimentary
sequence covering several glacial/interglacial cycles due to its geographical
position at the center of successive North American ice sheets and its basin
morphometry (shape and depth). Hydraulic potentials were computed
using LGM (Last Glacial Maximum) ice-surface elevation and bed derived
from a digital elevation model. The modeling results indicate the existence
a subglacial lake at least during the LGM. Here, we discuss the radiocarbon-
based stratigraphy and facies of a 9 m-long core retrieved from the deep
basin of the lake and present a multiproxy reconstruction of the last glacial
and deglacial history in northernmost Nunavik (Québec, Canada).
THE DATED CHRONOLOGY AND EURASIAN ICE SHEET RECONSTRUCTIONS
Richard Gyllencreutz. Stockholm University, Sweden
E-mail address: richard.gyllencreutz@geo.su.se
DATED is the name of our database and GIS with dates and geo-
morphologic features that are relevant for the Eurasian ice sheets through
the Last Glacial Maximum and the following deglaciation. All elements
incorporated in the database are from published sources. Based on the
DATED database, we made time-slice reconstructions of the Eurasian ice
sheet configuration at thousand-year intervals between 25 and 10 thou-
sand calendar years ago, with error estimates based on the data limita-
tions. These include dating uncertainty, geographic and stratigraphic
correlations, and lack of data, which all had to be translated into a pure ice
margin location uncertainty at the fixed time slice age. In DATED
- Data and reconstructions are stored in a digital format, easily
incorporated into models
- References are supplied for all data, facilitating validation,
reinterpretation and development
- The ice sheet reconstructions are supplied with error estimates
- The database and GIS can be searched using spatial queries, and
the reconstructions can be used for calculations. As an
example, we calculated the total ice sheet volume for the
Eurasian ice sheets in each time slice, based on established
area-volume relationships in modern ice sheets and ice caps.
These were calculated separately for each ice sheet for the max,
probable and min reconstructions, giving three sums of volume
in each time slice (max, prob, and min).
The first version of the DATED database, GIS, and reconstructions will be
made available on the internet during 2011. This will significantly facilitate