The earliest occupation of north-west Europe: a coastal perspective
The earliest occupation of north-west Europe: a coastal perspective
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西北欧的最早占领：沿海视角
DOI：
10.1016/j.quaint.2011.11.003
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发表时间：
2012
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
P. Gibbard
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
K. Cohen;K. MacDonald;J. Joordens;W. Roebroeks;P. Gibbard
最近在帕克菲尔德和哈皮斯堡（英国）的发现，为西北欧出乎意料的早期人类活动提供了明确的证据。这些遗址发现于古北海海岸南部边缘的间冰期河流和河口的沉积物中，跨越了“克罗默里亚复合体”阶段的较老和较年轻的部分。这些遗址中最古老的一个基于Mimomys微型哺乳动物群的存在而早于10.5 Ma，可能为0.78-1.0 Ma。在欧洲大陆，石制工艺品毫无疑问来自地中海。在阿尔卑斯山以北的欧洲内陆发现的最早的考古学证据与Arvicola动物群（小于10.5 Ma）有关，并在流入北海的河流附近的温和条件下沉积。只有在“克罗默复合体”之后，才有证据表明人类在较冷的条件下活动，而且在莱茵河河谷以东的地区也有活动。尽管在欧洲西北部的研究历史悠久，而且在海岸和河流中存在相同年龄的沉积物，但这种空间和时间分布模式仍然存在。本文探讨的想法，在网站分布的变化之前和之后的“克罗默情结”的信号，早期人类占领在北方欧洲的早期是一个“大西洋”的现象，即仅限于温和的温带气候在沿海大陆地区。扩散到更多的内陆栖息地起源于沿海地区。从地质学的角度解释保存最古老的网站的条件进行了调查，提供了一个地理，气候和栖息地的网站更广泛的环境背景。由于在河流和沿海环境中保存考古学的潜力存在差异，沿海沉积环境的长期保存较差，遗址数量较少，因此很难将人类栖息地偏好（甚至：容忍度）的影响与栖息地保护分开。然而，欧洲最早的人类仅限于欧洲温带大西洋地区的假设为评估未来的考古发现提供了一个可检验的框架，并使人们有可能制定研究策略，以确定欧洲，特别是大西洋地区的新人类居住地。
Recent discoveries from Pakefield and Happisburgh (Britain) have provided clear evidence for an unexpectedly early hominin occupation of north-west Europe. The sites, found in the deposits of interglacial rivers and estuaries on the southern rim of the ancient North Sea coast, span the older and younger parts of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ Stage. The older of these sites pre-date ∼0.5 Ma based on the presence of a Mimomys micromammal fauna, and may be as old as 0.78–1.0 Ma. On the European continent, stone artefacts unambiguously as old derive from the Mediterranean. The earliest archaeological evidence that has been discovered inland in Europe north of the Alps is associated with an Arvicola fauna (younger than ∼0.5 Ma), and was deposited in temperate conditions near rivers that flowed into the North Sea. Only after the ‘Cromerian Complex’ is there evidence for hominin activity in cooler conditions, and also in locations east of the Rhine valley. This spatial and temporal pattern in site distribution occurs despite the long history of research in north-west Europe and the presence of deposits of the same age from both the coast and rivers. This paper explores the idea that the changes in site distribution before and after the ‘Cromerian Complex’ signal that early hominin occupation in northern Europe during the earlier period was an ‘Atlantic’ phenomenon, i.e. restricted to the milder temperate climates in the coastal continental regions. Dispersal to more inland habitats originated in the coastal regions. The conditions explaining preservation of the oldest sites from a geological perspective are investigated, providing a geographical, climatological and habitat context for the wider surroundings of the sites. Because of differences in the potential for preserving archaeology in fluvial and coastal contexts, poor long-term preservation of coastal depositional contexts and low numbers of sites, it is difficult to disentangle the influence of hominin habitat preference (or even: tolerance) from habitat preservation. However, the hypothesis that the earliest hominins in Europe were restricted to the temperate Atlantic parts of Europe provides a testable framework for evaluating future archaeological discoveries, and makes it possible to formulate research strategies for locating new hominin occupation sites in Europe, especially its Atlantic regions.