Human Paleoecology During the Magdalenian in the Swabian Jura of Southwestern Germany
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Human Paleoecology during the Magdalenian in the Swabian Jura of Southwestern Germany Dissertation der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen zur Erlangung des Grades eines Doktors der Naturwissenschaften (Dr. rer. nat.) vorgelegt von Gillian L. Wong aus Fresno/USA Tübingen 2020 Gedruckt mit Genehmigung der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. Tag der mündlichen Qualifikation: 12.06.2020 Dekan: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Rosenstiel 1. Berichterstatter: Prof. Nicholas J. Conard, PhD 2. Berichterstatter: PD Dr. Britt M. Starkovich ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ v Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................... viii Summary ............................................................................................................................... ix Zusammenfassung ................................................................................................................. xi List of Publications ............................................................................................................. xiii Personal Contribution .......................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Magdalenian in Central Europe .............................................................................. 2 1.2 The Swabian Jura .......................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Environments During the Late Glacial .......................................................................... 8 Chapter 2: Langmahdhalde Rock Shelter .............................................................................. 11 Chapter 3: Methods .............................................................................................................. 15 3.1 Macrofauna ................................................................................................................. 15 3.2 Stable Isotope Analysis ............................................................................................... 18 3.3 Microfauna ................................................................................................................. 20 3.3.1 Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions .................................................................... 20 3.3.2 Taphonomy .......................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 4: Results................................................................................................................. 30 4.1 Macrofauna ................................................................................................................. 30 4.1.1 Density Mediated Attrition ................................................................................... 30 4.1.2 Taxonomic Representation ................................................................................... 30 4.1.3 Taphonomy .......................................................................................................... 32 4.1.4 Age at Death Information ..................................................................................... 33 4.1.5 Skeletal Element Representation .......................................................................... 35 4.2 Stable Isotopes ............................................................................................................ 35 4.3 Microfauna ................................................................................................................. 36 4.3.1 Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions .................................................................... 36 4.3.2 Taphonomy .......................................................................................................... 37 Chapter 5: Discussion ........................................................................................................... 41 5.1 Human Use of Langmahdhalde ................................................................................... 41 5.2 Accumulators of the microfaunal remains ................................................................... 42 5.3 Late Glacial Paleoecology in the Lone Valley ............................................................. 46 5.3.1 Environments in the Lone Valley ......................................................................... 46 5.3.2 Ungulates on the landscape .................................................................................. 49 iii 5.3.3 Environmental diversity ....................................................................................... 50 5.4 Recolonization of the Swabian Jura During the Magdalenian ...................................... 51 Chapter 6: Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 53 References ............................................................................................................................ 54 Appendix 1 Appendix 2 Appendix 3 iv Acknowledgements My success in writing this dissertation has depended strongly on my family, friends, and colleagues. Without their support, this would not have been possible. Most important has been the support of my husband, who encouraged me to pursue my career and take on the challenges of this Ph.D. program despite the time it took away from him. I also have to thank my parents, sister, and other family members who have never stopped supporting my love of archaeology and a career that has taken me all over the world but very rarely home to visit them. Thank you for visiting me across the U.S. and in Germany and for listening patiently to boring lectures about bones and archaeology for more than a decade. This project would not exist without my two supervisors, Nicholas Conard and Britt Starkovich. I am very grateful that they were both willing to give a student who was determined to find a way to be an archaeologist in Germany a chance to be part of this program. To Nick, thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with you in the Swabian Jura. It has been an honor. I am grateful for the opportunities you have given me and for what you have taught me about archaeology, field work, theory, and research. To Britt, thank you for everything. You welcomed me to this program and never stopped pushing me to do high- end scientific research. You have made me the zooarchaeologist I am today. I will be forever grateful for your never-ending support for me as a woman in science, a student, and as a researcher. I also need to thank Dorothée Drucker, who has acted as my third adviser since before I was even officially enrolled at the University. Thank you for not only providing advice and scientific knowledge but also for being a great boss. It has been a pleasure to learn from you, work with you, and laugh with you. I am grateful for the mentorship provided by Reinhard Ziegler, who took time away from his work and retirement to teach me to identify European micromammals, check my work, and provide helpful suggestions along the way. I am also grateful to Sara Rhodes for mentorship on micromammal taphonomy and Amira Adaileh and Johanna Dreier for translating my dissertation summary into German. To Alexander Janas and Mohsen Zeidi, my Lonetal bosses and my field family: how can I ever express how grateful I am to work with you every season in the field and throughout the year, as you deal with my questions and random requests for figures. It has been a pleasure. v Thank you for being my friends and thank you for putting up with my bad singing and long lectures about microfauna during excavation. Thank you also to all of the technicians and students who have made my work easier: Maria Malina, Sarah Rudolf, Lennard, Muzi, and Luka. A special shout out to Sarah Rudolf who became one of my first friends in the field and never tired of helping me learn the Tübingen excavation system and going on runs with me in the evening. Thank you to all of the students and researchers who excavated at Langmahdhalde or worked in the Langmahdhalde lab. Your work made this dissertation possible. A huge thank you to the members of the zooarchaeology working group, who have spent a lot of time answering my questions about coding, faunal identification, taphonomy, density mediated attrition, and how to get the printer to print double-sided. I particularly have to thank Susanne Münzel and Angel Blanco Lapaz. Thank you, Susanne, for guiding me through many bone identifications and zooarchaeology questions. Thank you, Angel, for doing it all: photos, organization, artifact sorting, microscope help, getting me the right equipment, and so much more. But mostly importantly, thank you for being my friends. Thank you to Anika Heck and Julia Zastrow for sorting much of the Langmahdhalde microfaunal assemblage. Thank you also to the biogeology working group in the Department of Geosciences. I had a blast working with you and learning about stable isotopes from you. I am also grateful that this working group helped fund the stable isotope analyses that are part of this dissertation. I am very proud to have