Author:

Keywords:

Middle paleolithic, pollen, vertebrates, Late Pleistocene, Science & Technology, Physical Sciences, Geography, Physical, Geosciences, Multidisciplinary, Physical Geography, Geology, Bulgaria, Paleoenvironment, Middle Paleolithic, Vertebrates, Pollen, HYENA COPROLITES, POLLEN ANALYSIS, CROCUTA-CROCUTA, TEPHRA LAYERS, DISTAL TEPHRA, SOUTH-AFRICA, VEGETATION, HOLOCENE, PALYNOLOGY, DISPERSAL, 0403 Geology, 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience, 2101 Archaeology, Paleontology, 3705 Geology, 3709 Physical geography and environmental geoscience, 4301 Archaeology

Abstract:

Two trenches excavated at Magura Cave, north-west Bulgaria, have provided Late Pleistocene lithic artefacts as well as environmental evidence in the form of large and small mammals, herpetofauna and pollen recovered from Crocuta coprolites. One of the trenches also has a visible tephra layer which has been confirmed as representing the major Campanian Ignimbrite eruption and is accurately dated at the source area to 39,280 ± 55 yrs and radiocarbon determinations have added to chronological resolution at the site. The palaeoenvironment of the region during the Late Pleistocene is discussed in the context of hominin presence and shows a mosaic landscape in a region considered a crucial refugium for both plants and mammals, including hominins.