Archaeological sites

To analyse whether Schöningen 13 II reflects a fossil assemblage representative for the Middle Pleistocene, I compare the composition of this fossil record with that of six other sites from Early and Middle Pleistocene contexts. The sites selected for this research are Bilzingsleben, Hoxne, Swanscombe, Boxgrove 4C, Repolusthöhle and Untermassfeld. The first five sites date to the Middle Pleistocene and Untermassfeld to the Early Pleisto- cene. Despite the age discrepancy I decided to include this site because of the non- analogous large mammal composition. The site is especially remarkable for its high amount of large carnivore species.

Figure 17 Site location of the archaeological sites (blue) relative to the modern analogue sites (black). Bi = Bilzingsleben, Bo = Boxgrove, Ho = Hoxne, Re = Repolusthöhle, Sc = Schöningen, Sw = Swanscombe, Un = Untermaßfeld.

The archaeological sites used as comparative sites in this study are chosen for their age and/or geographic position. It is expected that the large mammal assemblages in Middle Pleistocene contexts are comparable, but not necessarily the same. The similarity in large herbivore compositions in the archaeological sites could give information on the presence of certain carnivore species. The virtual absence of large carnivores in Schöningen does not fit the average pattern in Middle Pleistocene sites. The presence of large carnivores at

contemporaneous sites with a similar large herbivore fauna could suggest a similar large carnivore assemblage at Schö 13 II.

Site Country Period Type site Latitude Longitude Bilzingsleben Germany Middle Pleistocene Open air 51oN 11oE

Hoxne United Kingdom Middle Pleistocene Open air 52oN 1oE

Swanscombe United Kingdom Middle Pleistocene Open air 51oN 0 oE

Boxgrove United Kingdom Middle Pleistocene Open air 50oN 1oW

Repolusthöhle Austria Middle Pleistocene Cave 47oN 15oE

Untermaβfeld Germany Early Pleistocene Open air 50oN 100E

Table 4 Archaeological sites and their relative age

The archaeological sites in this thesis are selected on basis of the fossil content of the sites, as well as age and location. A total of six archaeological sites is included; three from the UK (Boxgrove, Hoxne and Swanscombe), two from Germany (Untermaßfeld and Bilzingsleben) and an Austrian cave site (Repolusthöhle).

Bilzingsleben

Bilzingsleben is a Middle Pleistocene site in Central Germany, approximately 130 km south of Schöningen. It is situated in the northern part of the Mittelgebirge, between the Harz mountains and the Thüringian forest, 50 km south of the North German Tiefland (Mania 1980, 44). Geologically, the site is situated on the edge of the Thüringer Basin. The surrounding sediments (sandstone, mollusc rich chalk) date from the Thüringian Trias(Mania 1980, 45). The archaeological site is positioned within the range of the El- sterian ice expansion, but it falls outside the range of the Saalian ice advance, in contrary to the Schöningen sites. The maximum range of the Elsterian ice expansion ended ap- proximately 35km south of the site, whereas the Saalian ice extent reached the site to 30 km north o the location (Mania 1980, 47).

Hoxne

Hoxne is the type locality for the Hoxnian Interglacial (Ashton et al. 2008). This British interglacial is often correlated to Holsteinian Interglacial on the continent. The sediments represent lacustrine and fluviatile deposits. Chalky gravels and silts are the characteristic fill of the strata. The fill of Stratum B is interlayered and covered with coarser sandy gravels (Wymer and Singer 1993, 9-10). The Hoxnian data used in this thesis originates from Stratum B (Gladfelter 1993). The fauna at this level is indicative for interglacial conditions (Stuart et al. 1993).

Swanscombe

The archaeological site of Swanscombe is a fluviatile sequence in a former terrace of the Lower Thames river. The faunal data used in this thesis originated from the Lower Loam, a channel infill, superiposing the two underlying gravels (Basal Gravel and Lower

Gravel) (Ashton et al. 1995). The Lower Loam predominantly consists of clayey sands. the site is associated with the Hoxnian Interglacial, correlated to MIS 11 (Schreve 2001). The palynology of the site suggests temperate late interglacial conditions. This site yields a relatively rich mammal fauna, comparable to the Schö 13 II fauna.

Boxgrove

The archaeological site Boxgrove is correlated to the Cromerian Complex, dating to the early Middle Pleistocene. The site is situated in a chalk quarry on the West Sussex Coastal Plain (Roberts 1999, 26). The archaeological unit used in this thesis is Unit 4C. The Boxgrve sequence consists of Slindon silts and gravels ant the base, followed by various marine cycles of trangsgression and regression phases. These cycles are suc- ceeded by the Slindon sits, Unit 4 (Collcutt 1999, 86). The sediments in this sequence mainly consist of muds. The lower boundary of this unit is difficult to establish because of post-depositional deformation (bioturbation) and chemical alteration (Collcutt 1999, 86). Unit 4C represents the final stage of the transition from marine to (damp) terrestrial conditions (Collcutt 1999, 87).

Repolusthöhle

Repolusthöhle is a Middle Pleistocene cave site in Austria. The site is dated to 200-220 ka (Fladerer 2000, 210). The faunal remains from this site were interpreted to represent an interglacial character, although some faunal elements are indicative of colder tempera- tures, for example Rangifer tarandus. The fauna of Repolusthöhle is rich, compared to other Middle Pleistocene sites (Döppes et al. 2008). This can be the result of specific preservational conditions, because of a CaCO3-rich environment and accumulation in

cave sites (Rosendahl et al. 2007, 455).

Untermaßfeld

Untermaßfeld is an Early Pleistocene site situated in the Thüringian Basin. The site yields a rich and diverse large mammal fauna, including an uncharacteristcly rich large carni- vore fauna, but with a poor small carnivore assemblage. The remains of Untermaßfeld are presumably accumulated by a catastrophic event (Kahlke 2001, 943). Indicators for a catastrophic event are the age profiles of Bison menneri as well as the presence of species indicative for a wide variety of biotopes (Kahlke 2001, 972). This site is included to get insight in the potential number of predator species relative to prey species in fossil sites.