The Eurogeul—First Report of the Palaeontological, Palynological And

ARTICLE IN PRESS

Quaternary International 142–143 (2006) 178–185

The Eurogeul—first report of the palaeontological, palynological and archaeological investigations of this part of the North Sea

Dick Mola,Ã, Klaas Postb, Jelle W.F. Reumerb, Johannes van der Plichtc, John de Vosd, Bas van Geele, Guido van Reenene, Jan Peter Palsf, Jan Glimmerveeng

aCERPOLEX/Mammuthus and Natural History Museum Rotterdam, P.O. Box 23452, NL-3001 KL Rotterdam, The Netherlands bNatural History Museum Rotterdam, P.O. Box 23452, NL-3001 KL Rotterdam, The Netherlands cCentre for Isotope Research, Radiocarbon Laboratory, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, NL-9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands dNational Museum of Natural History Naturalis, P.O. Box 9517, NL-2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands eInstitute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 318, NL-1098 SM Amsterdam, The Netherlands fAmsterdam Archaeological Centre, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, NL-1018 VZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands gCERPOLEX/Mammuthus, Anna Paulownastraat 25A, NL-2518 BA Den Haag, The Netherlands

Available online 17 May 2005

Abstract

The Eurogeul is the shipping-lane gully in front of Rotterdam harbour. Due to the combination of suction-dredging and fishing activities, diverse faunae are found on its bottom. This paper briefly describes the fauna, consisting of 13 terrestrial mammals and six marine mammal species. Radiocarbon dating gave two time-periods from which the bones originate: ca. 37,500–48,500 BP, and ca. 7–8000 BP. Pollen sampling gave similar results (respectively, an interstadial before the Last Glacial Maximum, and the Early Holocene Boreal period). Human artefacts dating from the Boreal period add to our understanding of the Quaternary history of the southern North Sea area. r 2005 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction The extraordinary circumstances of the Eurogeul locality make this location pre-eminently suitable to In 2000 an interdisciplinary investigation started in achieve the goal of the project for this part of the North the Eurogeul, a North Sea location off the coast near Sea. The seafloor is extremely rich in fossils of terrestrial Rotterdam. The Eurogeul expeditions are part of a and marine mammals with an excellent state of larger project, with the working title ‘‘the North Sea preservation. Since the Eurogeul is part of the Southern project’’. The goal of this project is to achieve an Bight of the North Sea, the results of the investigations accurate description of the successive florae and faunae, have to be compared to already known data and facts. which occurred during the Pleistocene in what is now the Here, the first results of the Eurogeul-expeditions and Southern Bight of the North Sea situated between the investigations are presented. The provisional conclu- British Isles and The Netherlands. sions provide a few unexpected and rather surprising perspectives.

ÃCorresponding author. Tel.: +31 23 56 29 461. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (D. Mol), klaas@ fiskano.nl (K. Post), [email protected] (J.W.F. Reumer), plicht@ 2. Collection and investigation in the past phys.rug.nl (J. van der Plicht), [email protected] (J. de Vos), [email protected] (B. van Geel), [email protected] (G. van Reenen), [email protected] (J.P. Pals), j.c.glimmerveen@ Hundreds of thousands of fossil bones of Pleistocene minfin.nl (J. Glimmerveen). mammals, both terrestrial and marine, have been fished

1040-6182/$ - see front matter r 2005 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2005.03.015 ARTICLE IN PRESS D. Mol et al. / Quaternary International 142– 143 (2006) 178–185 179 from the bottom of the North Sea between Great Britain on board are not only willing to cede the material for and The Netherlands (Mulder, 1973; Mol, 1989, 1991; research purposes, but they also provide GPS coordi- Mol et al., 1999; Van Essen and Mol, 1996). Most of this nates for the exact localities from where the material was material, first brought ashore as a bycatch as early as fished (Mol et al., 2003). In this way, a profusion of data 1874, is without exact locality data (De Man, 1875, have been assembled that provide reasonable knowledge 1878, 1880). Large quantities of this material have been about the places where either Early, Middle, or Late assembled in public and private collections. The collec- Pleistocene fauna is found. Geological data from the tions in the National Museum of Natural History Southern Bight, at The Netherlands Institute of Applied (Naturalis, Leiden) are considered the largest. Today, Geoscience (TNO-NITG) and the Geological Survey of some 7500 specimens of woolly mammoth (Mammuthus Britain, allow confirmation of the correlation of primigenius) are to be found in this museum, in addition material as either from the Early, Middle, or Late to other taxa. The most common ‘‘locality’’ name on the Pleistocene. labels is ‘‘Bruine Bank’’, or ‘‘Brown Bank’’, a shallow region where many fishing vessels catch flat-fish such as sole, dab, turbot, or plaice. Marine mammalian remains have been considered of interglacial origin when sea- 4. Brown Bank locality level was high (Mol, 1991), whereas the fossil bones of terrestrial mammals are considered to represent glacial The Southern Bight of the North Sea, and especially periods with a low sea level. During this time, Britain the Brown Bank area, provides a large quantity of fossil and the Low Countries were connected by what is now material of Late Pleistocene fauna. To date, only a few the Southern Bight of the North Sea. Based on the radiocarbon dates of Late Pleistocene mammals have morphology in combination with the state of fossiliza- been published. A series of new, unpublished radio- tion, the mammal bones have been placed in the Early, carbon dates are shown in Table 1. Middle, or Late Pleistocene. Two important specimens were found on another location of the Southern Bight of the North Sea. The first, a calcaneum of Rangifer tarandus was found and radiocarbon dated 44,100 BP (Glimmerveen et al., 3. Recent investigations in the North Sea 2005). The second, a mandible of the Late Pleistocene saber-toothed cat Homotherium latidens, described by Intensive cooperation between collectors and the Reumer et al. (2003), was found and radiocarbon dated fishing industry during the last decade have brought ca. 28,000 BP. The latter radiocarbon date proved that several tens of thousands of mammal fossils ashore that Homotherium was still part of the NW European became available for scientific research. Crew members mammoth fauna (the Late Pleistocene ecosystem) by

Table 1 Radiocarbon dates on mammal bone from the Brown Bank locality in the North Sea

Mammuthus primigenius, metacarpal IV dext. Tucson Az. 17634a DG fieldnumber 412 33,80071200 BP Mammuthus primigenius, M3 inf. dext. Tucson Az. 17645a DG fieldnumber 423b 35,20072000 BP Mammuthus primigenius, M3 inf. dext. Tucson Az. 17643a DG fieldnumber 421b 436,200 BP Mammuthus primigenius, M3 sup. sin. Tucson Az. 17647a DG fieldnumber 425b 36,80072400 BP Mammuthus primigenius, M3 sup. dext. Tucson Az. 17642a DG fieldnumber 420b 37,90072800 BP Mammuthus primigenius, atlas Tucson Az. 17637a DG fieldnumber 415b 39,80073400 BP Mammuthus primigenius, M3 sup. dext. Tucson Az. 17648a DG fieldnumber 426b 438,600 BP Mammuthus primigenius, lunatum dext. Tucson Az. 17638a DG fieldnumber 416b 438,900 BP Mammuthus primigenius, fibula dext. Tucson Az. 17636a DG fieldnumber 414b 439,000 BP Mammuthus primigenius, triquetrum dext. Tucson Az. 17639a DG fieldnumber 417b 439,300 BP Mammuthus primigenius, axis Tucson Az. 17635a DG fieldnumber 413b 440,000 BP Mammuthus primigenius, M3 sup. dext. Tucson Az. 17640a DG fieldnumber 418b 441,100 BP Mammuthus primigenius, axis GrA 11640c 445,000 BP Crocuta crocuta, Ulna GrA 11643c 40,6607350–300 BP Ovibos moschatus, metacarpal GrA 11641c 36,7407230 BP Ovibos moschatus, metacarpal OxA 6307d 35,60071200 BP Megaloceros giganteus, metacarpal OxA 6308d 36,30071100 BP

Abbreviations used: dext. ¼ dexter (right); sin. ¼ sinister (left); inf. ¼ inferior (lower); sup. ¼ superior (upper). aTucson, Arizona AMS radiocarbon dating. bWith acknowledgement to Dr. R. Dale Guthrie ( ¼ DG), Fairbanks, Alaska. cGroningen AMS radiocarbon dating. dOxford University, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art AMS Radiocarbon Dating. ARTICLE IN PRESS 180 D. Mol et al. / Quaternary International 142– 143 (2006) 178–185

Table 2 Synopsis of the stratigraphy of the Eurogeul locality; layers are indicated from the top ( ¼ the bottom of the sea) downward

1. The Middle Holocene to recent Blight Bank member of the Southern Bight Formation 2. Early Holocene lagoonal sediments 3. A Late Weichselian/Early Holocene grey clay of the Naaldwijk Formation 4. The Eemian to Late Weichselian fossiliferous Kreftenheye Formation 5. Late Saalian fluviatile deposits (not exposed in the Eurogeul) of the Urk Formation. that time. These radiocarbon dates suggest that the Late Pleistocene ‘‘Mammoth Fauna’’ with M. primigenius, H. latidens, Megaloceros giganteus, Ovibos moschatus, R. tarandus,andCrocuta crocuta existed in the Southern Bight of the North Sea at least from 44,100 to 28,000 BP.

5. The ‘‘Eurogeul’’ locality( Fig. 1)

A concentration of mammoth bones is found some 5 nautical miles west of the Rotterdam harbour mouth, close to the buoy ‘‘Maas Centre’’ and on the bottom of the so-called ‘‘Eurogeul’’ (the dredged shipping lane). These mammalian remains are perfectly preserved and often show intricate anatomical detail. Sometimes, bones belonged to the same individual, e.g., a mammoth skull with accompanying mandible. In the Eurogeul, Fig. 1. The Eurogeul locality. complete skeletons or parts of skeletons are found, which indicates a lack of secondary transportation. Mammoth skeletons represent animals of all ontoge- National Museum of Natural History in Leiden, has led netic ages, fetus to very mature adults. Silting upof the several 1-day expeditions to the area. Table 3 shows the Eurogeul is being prevented by sand-removing suction- diverse taxa of large mammals that have been found in dredgers in order to facilitate the entry of heavy-draught the Eurogeul locality. ships into the port of Rotterdam. Larger fossils, especially those of Mammuthus, are being freed from 5.2. Radiocarbon dating the sediment and stay behind on the bottom of the Eurogeul. Subsequently, smaller fishing vessels (so- Samples for radiocarbon dating purposes were taken called Euro-cutters) entangle these bones in their from all terrestrial and marine species found in the dredge-nets while fishing. The locality where this takes Eurogeul locality. Eleven results are so far available place is at 521 010 N–031 490 E, with a depth of ca. 28 m (Tables 4 and 5). Other samples are being processed at below the surface. The geology at the locality is rather the Centre for Isotope Research, Radiocarbon Labora- complicated and subject to further study. Presently tory, University of Groningen (The Netherlands). available knowledge is outlined in Table 2 (Fig. 1). The Kreftenheye Formation (layer 4 in Table 2), in 5.3. Terrestrial mammals which the Eurogeul mammals of Pleistocene age are found, can be divided into three layers: the uppermost With the exception of Cervus elaphus and Alces alces, fine-grained fluviatile sands, underlain by fluviatile the fauna (Table 3) can be considered a typical sands without marine indicators, and the lowermost mammoth fauna as found in many places in Eurasia sands containing Eemian marine molluscs. The age of (Vereshchagin and Baryshnikov, 1984; Kahlke, 1999). this Formation is Eemian to Late Weichselian (Laban et Three antler fragments of C. elaphus clearly show traces al., 1984; Laban and Rijsdijk, 2002). of human activity and they are probably, and in one case with certainty, of early Holocene age. 5.1. Faunal list Coelodonta antiquitatis was an extremely common element during the Late Pleistocene in the southern part CERPOLEX/Mammuthus, in close collaboration of the North Sea (Mol, 1991) and is also common in with the Natural History Museum Rotterdam and the the Eurogeul fauna. No other region in Eurasia is this ARTICLE IN PRESS D. Mol et al. / Quaternary International 142– 143 (2006) 178–185 181 species found in such abundance. This fact must be due Pleistocene mammoth steppe of Northeast Siberia to biotope characteristics and/or to biogeographical may then be the reason why this species never reached phenomena. Woolly rhino had a wide distribution, from North America. However, food remains found in dental Britain in the west to Northeast Siberia in the east. It is, crevices and in the intestinal tract (e.g., in the however, completely absent from North America Churapachi rhino from Yakutia; Lazarev, 1977) showed (Boeskorov, 2001), indicating woolly rhino did not cross that tough grasses were the major food source. Nowa- the Bering land bridge. days (Ermolova, 1978; Boeskorov, 2001) it is postulated Flerov (1967) suggested that leaves and twigs of that large parts of the extreme Northeast were covered shrubs must have been the major foodsource for the with hard layers of frozen snow during the Late woolly rhino. The absence of shrubs in the Late Pleistocene, hampering the spread of woolly rhino to North America. C. antiquitatis is also absent from the mammoth fauna on the entire Taimyr Peninsula Table 3 (MacPhee et al., 2002). Large mammals from the Eurogeul locality

Proboscidea 5.4. Marine mammals Mammuthus primigenius—woolly mammoth Artiodactyla Marine taxa from the Pleistocene are known from the Bison priscus—bison southern part of the North Sea and the Eurogeul. Based Ovibos moschatus—musk ox on morphology and radiocarbon dates, the fossils from Rangifer tarandus—reindeer Megaloceros giganteus—Irish elk the Eurogeul locality belong to a cold Late Pleistocene Alces alces—moose fauna (Table 3). For fossil walrus, the North Sea is Cervus elaphus—red deer probably the richest source in the world. Thousands of Perissodactyla skeletal parts and hundreds of (sometimes complete) Equus caballus—horse skulls have been found. Ages lie between 448,500 and Coelodonta antiquitatis—woolly rhino Carnivora—Fissipedia 23,500 BP (Aaris-Sørensen et al., 1990; Post, 1999), Ursus arctos—brown bear indicating that walrus occurred for a long period of time Crocuta crocuta—hyaena (albeit perhaps intermittently). This rather southern Panthera spelaea—cave lion occurrence of walrus has a parallel in the Pacific Canis lupus—wolf Ocean (Hoshimi and Akagi, 1994). Apparently, a global Carnivora—Pinnipedia Phocidae Pagophilus groenlandica—harpseal Pusa hispida—ringed seal Table 5 Odobenidae Radiocarbon dates of marine mammals from the Eurogeul locality Odobenus rosmarus—walrus Cetacea—Odontoceti Species and skeletal part Laboratory Results Monodontidae number

Delphinapterus leucas—beluga a Delphinidae Eschrichtius robustus, vertebra GrA 22182 445,400 BP Delphinapterus leucas, axis GrA 22179a 447,500 BP Orcinus orca—killer whale a Cetacea – Mysticeti Odobenus rosmarus, cranium GrA 22178 448,500 BP Eschrichtidae fragment Eschrichtius robustus—gray whale aGroningen AMS radiocarbon dating.

Table 4 Radiocarbon dates of terrestrial mammals from the Eurogeul locality

Species and skeletal part Laboratory number Results

Cervus elaphus, modified antler GrA 22999a 8,070 750 BP Alces alces, antler GrA 23201a 7,970760 BP Mammuthus primigenius, fragment cranium GrN 27410b 37,580740/+810 BP Coelodonta antiquitatis, palvic fragment GrN 27411b 39,910950/+1070 BP Panthera leo spelaea, ulna GrA 23151a 42,230530/+570 BP Equus cf. caballus, ulna GrA 22585a 43,5501050/+1200 BP Mammuthus primigenius, fibula juvenile individual GrA 20134a 43,800550/+600 BP Canis lupus, left femur GrA 22183a 48,4003300/+5800 BP

aGroningen AMS radiocarbon dating. bGroningen Conventional radiocarbon dating. ARTICLE IN PRESS 182 D. Mol et al. / Quaternary International 142– 143 (2006) 178–185 climate change forced the species to move southwards in origin is uncertain due to the lack of radiometric dates. both Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Some ‘‘warm’’ indicators, such as Acanthocardia tuber- Pleistocene occurrence of beluga and harpseal clearly culata, Mactra glauca, and Mimachlamys varia, pre- is evidenced by North Sea fossils (Post and Kompanje, viously have been attributed an Eemian age. However, 1995; Post, 1999). Datings of beluga material (from the the lack or scarcity of other typical warm Eemian coast of Zeeland and the Bruine Bank) have resulted in indicators, such as Lucinella divaricata, Timoclea ovata, ages of 38,5007800 and 34,600 400/+500 BP, respec- and Bittium reticulatum, may indicate suboptimal tively (Post, 1999). Harpseal must have occurred also in climatic conditions, either from the beginning or from vast colonies along the Dutch coast. Only one fossil the later Eemian/Early Weichselian stages. The very from the Brown Bank has been dated (45,00071500 BP; large Cerastoderma edule forma major also may be Post, 1999). attributed to this suboptimal climatic stage. Finally, the The coasts of the present North Sea have yielded stratigraphic origin of the boreal-arctic Astarte borealis, many fossils of gray whale and proved the Early common on the Maasvlakte, but not found during the Holocene Atlantic presence of this extant Pacific whale Eurogeul-expeditions, remains enigmatic. A co-occur- (Van Deinse and Junge, 1937; Bryant, 1995). However, rence with the cool ca. 50,000 year old marine mammals fossils from the Eurogeul confirm with certainty the reported herein cannot be outruled. However, the latter Late Pleistocene occurrence of this species in the species also might represent an older cold stage. Atlantic Ocean. All species found are either bound to coastal environments (the pinnipeds), or are species that can 6. Palynological dating of sediments and palaeo- thrive in very shallow water (beluga, gray whale, and environmental reconstructions killer whale). Within the framework of the multidisciplinary Euro- geul-investigations, large pieces of sediment were fished 5.5. Molluscs from the bottom of the Eurogeul area together with the bones. Subsamples of ca. 10 10 10 cm were cut from Fossil molluscs were collected during the various 50 different pieces. Contamination was avoided by Eurogeul expeditions (Table 6). The provisional mala- cutting undisturbed material from inside large pieces. cological investigations of the Eurogeul molluscs in- Pollen samples were prepared of all the subsamples and dicate that these molluscs are also known from the their contents were screened in order to be able to date Maasvlakte. This is an artificial peninsula off the coast the sediments by using the palynological record from of the province of South Holland constructed of sand The Netherlands, and to obtain an impression of the suppletions originating from the North Sea. The sand existing environments. The pollen spectra were com- comes partially from the Eurogeul. A number of taxa pared with Weichselian and Holocene radiocarbon from this fauna are very distinct, but their stratigraphic dated pollen records (van Geel et al., 1981, 1989; Ran, 1990). Two periods appeared to be represented in the Table 6 sediments. Some of the samples showed the palynolo- Mollusc species from the Eurogeul locality gical characteristics of Weichselian interstadials and other samples appeared to be of Boreal age. The Natica catena (Da Costa, 1778) microfossil and macrofossil records of two samples Buccinum undatum Linnaeus, 1758 Nassarius reticulatus (Linnaeus, 1758) (NRZ-1 and NRZ-2) are shown in Tables 7 (micro- Mytilus edulis Linnaeus, 1758 fossils) and 8 (macrofossils). Chlamys varia (Linnaeus, 1758) Sample NRZ-1 consists of peat, mainly formed by Ostrea edulis Linnaeus, 1758 mosses of the Amblystegiaceae. The pollen spectrum is Acanthocardia tuberculata (Linnaeus, 1758) dominated by Cyperaceae. The presence of some lumps Cerastoderma edule edule (Linnaeus, 1758) Cerastoderma edule major Bucqoy, Dautzenberg and Dollfuss, 1895 of pollen of Cyperaceae, in combination with hyphopo- Cerastoderma glaucum (Poiret, 1789) dia of Gaeumannomyces (parasitic fungus on Carex Laevicardium crassum (Gmelin, 1791) species; Pals et al., 1980; van Geel et al., 1989) points to Mactra corallina plistoneerlandica van Regteren Altena, 1937 a local occurrence of Cyperaceae. The macrofossil Mactra glauca(Born, 1778 record shows that a species of Carex sect. Acutae was Spisula elliptica (Brown, 1827) Spisula solida (Linnaeus, 1758) growing at the sampling site. Combined with the Lutraria lutraria (Linnaeus, 1758) abundance of the mosses Calliergonella cuspidata, Macoma balthica (Linnaeus, 1758) Scorpidium scorpidioides, S. revolvens,andDrepanocla- Venerupis aurea senescens (Cocconi, 1873) dus sp., this situation indicates an association of the Mya truncata Linnaeus, 1758) Parvocaricetea. This vegetation class presently occurs in Zirfaea crispata (Linnaeus, 1758) large areas of North America, North and East Europe, ARTICLE IN PRESS D. Mol et al. / Quaternary International 142– 143 (2006) 178–185 183

Table 7 Table 8 Percentages of botanical microfossils in two sediment samples from the Botanical macrofossils and some other fossil groups (presence/ Eurogeul locality absence) in two sediment samples from the Eurogeul

Taxa/samples NRZ-1 NRZ-2 Taxa Sample NRZ-1 NRZ-2

*Alnus 0.8 Alisma plantago-aquatica, fruits + *Betula 3.0 Carex pseudocyperus, perigynium + *Corylus 38.8 Carex rostrata/vesicaria, achenes + *Pinus 0.5 24.2 Carex vesicaria, perigynia + *Picea 0.5 0.4 Carex sect. Acutae, achenes + *Quercus 10.4 Eupatorium cannabinum, fruit + *Salix 1.0 1.9 Mentha aquatica, achenes + *Tilia 1.5 Myrica gale, fruit + *Ulmus 3.0 Phragmites australis, seeds + *Apiaceae 1.5 Ranunculus flammula, achenes + *Artemisia + Typha, seeds + *Cyperaceae 90.1 7.3 Equisetum, vegetative remains + *Ericales 0.5 Calliergonella cuspidata, leaves ++ Fabaceae + Scorpidium scorpidioides, leaves ++ *Humulus 0.4 Scorpidium revolvens, leaves + Iris pseudacorus 0.4 Drepanocladus sp., leaves + *Poaceae 5.4 6.5 charred cuticles Poaceae + Acari + Bryozoa, statoblasts + Potentilla type + Bythinia *Ranunculaceae 0.4 , opercula + Scabiosa + Cladocera, ephippia + Sparganium 5.4 Fresh water sponges, gemmules + *Thalictrum 1.0 Typha angustifolia 0.8 Monolete verrucate fern spores 0.5 1.8 NRZ-1 is older than ca. 26,000 BP and probably Monolete psilate fern spores 0.8 younger than ca. 50,000 BP. Equisetum 238.2 Pediastrum 10.3 0.4 Sample NRZ-2 consists of peaty clay. Arboreal taxa Botryococcus 3.2 (mainly Corylus, Pinus, and Quercus) dominate the Mougeotia laetevirens type 0.4 pollen spectrum. The representation of Tilia and Ulmus Spirogyra 1.6 0.4 indicates that these trees already had immigrated into Type 128A 6.5 2.7 the region. Comparison with a complete record of the Type 128B 0.5 0.8 Rivularia-type 0.4 early Holocene vegetation history in The Netherlands Gaeumannomyces, hyphopodia 2.2 (van Geel et al., 1981) points to a Boreal age (dominance Ustulina deusta, ascospores 0.8 of Corylus and absence of Alnus; period between ca. Charred particles ++ 9150 and ca. 7900 BP). Charred particles of botanical Taxa included in the pollen sum (base of percentage calculations) have origin are present in the pollen slides and in the been marked with an asterisk. macrofossil samples. Some of the charred microfossils were recognizable as cuticles of grasses (Poaceae). Mesolithic people may have been responsible for fires and Siberia (Schamine´ e et al., 1995). S. scorpidioides is while creating open hunting areas, but the possibility of known to be abundant in consistently wet spots of natural fires cannot be excluded. Local taxa indicate particularly minerotrophic fens and the presence of shallow fresh-water which was in a phase of terrestria- Scorpidium revolvens indicates a quaking fen-like vege- lization, considering the dominance of Equisetum tation. The algae Pediastrum, Botryococcus, and Spir- (spores and vegetative remains) together with Alisma ogyra, combined with Types 128A and 128B (probably plantago-aquatica, Eupatorium cannabinum, Iris pseuda- algal spores; van Geel et al., 1989) point to stagnant corus, Mentha aquatica, Phragmites australis, Sparga- shallow fresh-water. nium, Bythinia, Cladocera, fresh water sponges and The extremely low amount of tree pollen reflects a algae (Spirogyra, Mougeotia). treeless landscape. The number of pollen of ‘‘dry’’ herbaceous taxa is very limited and their representation indicates a low diversity of the vegetation. Comparison 7. Evidence of holocene human occupation of the with the detailed palynological studies by Ran (1990) Eurogeul locality point to Weichselian interstadial conditions and an age preceding the Upper Pleniglacial of the Weichselian The Eurogeul was not only inhabited by terrestrial (during which polar desert conditions prevailed). Sample and marine mammals during the Late Pleistocene and ARTICLE IN PRESS 184 D. Mol et al. / Quaternary International 142– 143 (2006) 178–185

Early Holocene, but by people as well (see also the date found for the other parts of the Southern Bight Glimmerveen et al., 2005). Sophisticatedly carved tools, of the North Sea (Mol et al., 1999). Palynological especially from antler of red deer and bone (metapodals) investigation supports this conclusion. However, the of aurochs (see for example Louwe Kooijmans, 1970/ same conclusion cannot be drawn for the marine 1971), definitely Mesolithic material, have been salvaged mammals. Although the marine species found in the from the bottom of the southern North Sea. Many other Eurogeul correspond with those from the North Sea and finds imply that Mesolithic people hunted moose, horse, belong to a cold Late Pleistocene fauna, radiocarbon and wild boar as well in this area. Recent finds which dates do not provide conclusive evidence. Provisional have been radiocarbon dated confirm this hypothesis malacological investigations do not show marine taxa (Post, 2000; Glimmerveen et al., 2005). from this period either. Therefore, Mesolithic people must have inhabited the Although the Eurogeul investigation has just started area and indeed remains of Mesolithic people have been and produced its first, still limited, data, a very recovered from the bottom of the North Sea; four of interesting and rather spectacular hypothesis for further these have been radiocarbon dated. In addition, radio- investigations can be posed. This hypothesis is that the carbon dating of two recently found samples of red deer locality during the Late Pleistocene was part of the phalanges confirms that this animal inhabited the North Rhine-Meuse delta system, a large estuary fading out in Sea Basin during the same period as Mesolithic people a shallow North Sea. Marine mammals, such as did (Glimmerveen et al., 2005). pinnipeds, beluga and gray whale could easily enter Recently, three artefacts made of red deer antler have this system and their remains must have been de- been fished from the bottom of the Eurogeul. These posited together with carcasses of terrestrial mammals, artefacts bear no marks at all of secondary transporta- such as the woolly mammoth and woolly rhinoceros, tion and appear to have been found on more or less the which were caught for whatever reason by the river original place where they were left behind. Radiocarbon system. dating of one of these artefacts (the first entry in Table The Eurogeul area was inhabited by terrestrial 4) constitutes further evidence for the co-existence of mammals and by people during the early Holocene, Mesolithic people and red deer in the southern North especially the Boreal, as palynological investigations and Sea and in the area of the Eurogeul, in particular. This paleogeographical and archeological evidence point out. 8070 BP dated modified antler of the Mesolithic period Further investigations are required in order to be able to can be placed in the Boreal age (ca. 9150–7900 BP). All compare the data with continental cultures and to three artefacts, which are quite similar, match with other explore the possibility of Palaeolithic occurrence of artefacts of red deer antler found elsewhere on the people in the area and answer the question if people bottom of the southern North Sea and with finds on were part of the Mammoth fauna. both sides of the North Sea in Great Britain and on the The first results of the expeditions and investigations continent especially in The Netherlands (see for example are encouraging and show the necessity and the Louwe Kooijmans, 2001). intriguing possibilities of further multidisciplinary in- The findings and the palynological data provide vestigations. evidence that Mesolithic people lived and probably hunted in various ways in wooded environments in the surroundings of the present day Eurogeul. This part of the southern North Sea Basin formed the habitat of red Acknowledgements deer Cervus elaphus, and wild boar Sus scrofa. We are grateful to Mr. Bernard Buigues (Saint Made´ , France), General Director of CERPOLEX, for provid- 8. Discussion and conclusion ing funds which enabled us to make several expeditions on the Eurogeul. Dr. Cees Laban (NITG-TNO, Utrecht, Based on the data of beluga and walrus fossils from The Netherlands), for providing information on the the North Sea floor and recent radiocarbon dates on geology of the Southern Bight of the North Sea. To Mr. North Sea specimen of the Mammoth fauna, marine as Frank Wesselingh and Mr. Anton Jansse (both National well as terrestrial mammals, albeit with intervals, were Museum for Natural History Naturalis, Leiden, The present in what is now the Southern Bight of the North Netherlands), for their participation in the research Sea between the British Islands and The Netherlands project on the Eurogeul and their contribution on the from 44,100 till 28,000 BP. Therefore, at least for a part molluscs. An anonymous reviewer improved the manu- (or parts) of this period, marine and terrestrial mammals script for which we are grateful. Last, but not least, we might have been contemporaneous. thank skipper Maarten de Waal and his crew for the The first few data of terrestrial mammals of the outstanding operations on the North Sea with the Mammoth steppe ecosystem from the Eurogeul confirm fishing vessel ‘‘De Hinder’’ (GO 33). ARTICLE IN PRESS D. Mol et al. / Quaternary International 142– 143 (2006) 178–185 185

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