The past in dust: current trends and future directions in Pleistocene geoarcheology of European loess

Journal of Quaternary Science, vol. 36, pp. 1279–1292

Abstract

ABSTRACT Loess is a main archive of Pleistocene landscapes and environments and therefore has an important connection to the preservation and interpretation of Paleolithic sites. In Europe, anthropogenic sites have been found in loess because of past local occupation. At one extreme, sites are well preserved with minimal disturbance often accompanied by embedded proxies to estimate ecological parameters. On the other hand, loess deposits have undergone post‐depositional alterations such as weathering, pedogenesis or bioturbation due to changing environmental conditions or other disturbances that obscure anthropogenic sites. We outline the current state of research and connections between Paleolithic archeology and loess research while introducing a series of subsequent regional case studies as part of a special issue. We also make recommendations for future work to incorporate a wider variety of methods to create more robust inferences on hominin and environmental evolution and their connections.

Authors 2

1. Wei Chu corresponding

   Leiden University · University of Cologne

   Affiliation as printed

   Faculty of Archeology Leiden University Leiden The Netherlands

   Institute of Prehistoric Archeology University of Cologne Cologne Germany

   Faculty of Archeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

   Institute of Prehistoric Archeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

2. Janina J. Nett Aachen Department of Geography Physical Geography and Geoecology

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Physical Geography & Geoecology, Department of Geography, Aachen RWTH Aachen University Germany