The Environmental Context of the Magdalenian in the Lone Valley of Southwest Germany

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Swabian Jura of Southwest Germany is home to some of the best studied Paleolithic archaeological sites in the world. These sites have diverse artifact assemblages that include bone and lithic artifacts, art objects, combustion features, microfaunal remains, and archaeobotanical remains. This diversity allows researchers to reconstruct past environments from sources that lie in direct association with cultural remains. Although studies in geoarchaeology, archaeobotany, geochemistry, and paleontology have reconstructed Paleolithic environments at these sites, very few reconstruct the local conditions during the Magdalenian. The Magdalenian (~16.3 to 12.7 cal kyr BP in Southwest Germany) has distinctly regional settlement patterns that are, at least in part, a result of local environmental conditions. We use faunal remains from Langmahdhalde, a recently discovered rockshelter site in the Lone Valley of the Swabian Jura, to reconstruct local-scale Magdalenian environments and climates. These reconstructions are based on microfaunal analysis and carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic analysis on horse (Equus ferus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) archaeofaunal remains. We use these data to discuss the characteristics of local ecosystems in the Lone Valley during the Magdalenian and apply this to current interpretations of settlement patterns during the Magdalenian in the Swabian Jura.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23793