Preliminary study of the rodent assemblages of Goda Buticha: New insights on Late Quaternary environmental and cultural changes in southeastern Ethiopia
Emmanuelle Stoetzel
(1)
,
Workalemahu Bekele Sime
(1)
,
David Pleurdeau
(1)
,
Asfawossen Asrat
(2)
,
Zelalem Assefa
(3)
,
Emmanuel Desclaux
(4)
,
Christiane Denys
(5)
Emmanuelle Stoetzel
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 176261
- IdHAL : emmanuelle-stoetzel
- ORCID : 0000-0002-2724-5994
- IdRef : 155636413
Asfawossen Asrat
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 760324
- ORCID : 0000-0002-6312-8082
- IdRef : 070398585
Emmanuel Desclaux
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 1236274
- IdHAL : emmanuel-desclaux
Christiane Denys
- Fonction : Auteur
- PersonId : 738162
- IdHAL : christiane-denys
- ORCID : 0000-0002-1519-1546
- IdRef : 067306233
Résumé
Given its proximity to the Strait of Bab el Mandeb and the Red Sea, the Horn of Africa is particularly important for understanding human and faunal migration events to and from Africa. Towards the end of the Pleistocene, the Middle/Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) transition represents a critical step in human cultural evolution. However, in the Horn of Africa, the environmental conditions associated with this transition remain poorly understood. The Goda Buticha (Buticha cave) sequence, located in southeastern Ethiopia, and dated from ca. 63 ka cal BP to ca. 1 ka cal BP, provides a rare opportunity to examine the environmental contexts associated with major cultural sequences documented in the region during this time period. A preliminary analysis of the rich microvertebrate (and especially rodent) remains recovered from the levels dated between 43 and 4 ka BP identified fourteen different rodent genera, including two species that are locally extinct in southeastern Ethiopia today. While the taphonomic signature is similar throughout the sequence, indicating an in situ accumulation by an owl without major perturbation, the palaeoecological analysis showed environmental change through time, characterized by open-dry setting during the Late Pleistocene, shifting to wetter and more wooded conditions heading to the Holocene. These results are generally consistent with other diverse records which include the large mammals, speleothems and lake basins records, and allow a better understanding of the dynamics of environmental contexts associated with observed cultural change and continuity in eastern Africa from the Late Pleistocene to Late Holocene.
Format du dépôt | Notice |
---|---|
Type de dépôt | Article dans une revue |
Titre |
en
Preliminary study of the rodent assemblages of Goda Buticha: New insights on Late Quaternary environmental and cultural changes in southeastern Ethiopia
|
Résumé |
en
Given its proximity to the Strait of Bab el Mandeb and the Red Sea, the Horn of Africa is particularly important for understanding human and faunal migration events to and from Africa. Towards the end of the Pleistocene, the Middle/Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) transition represents a critical step in human cultural evolution. However, in the Horn of Africa, the environmental conditions associated with this transition remain poorly understood. The Goda Buticha (Buticha cave) sequence, located in southeastern Ethiopia, and dated from ca. 63 ka cal BP to ca. 1 ka cal BP, provides a rare opportunity to examine the environmental contexts associated with major cultural sequences documented in the region during this time period. A preliminary analysis of the rich microvertebrate (and especially rodent) remains recovered from the levels dated between 43 and 4 ka BP identified fourteen different rodent genera, including two species that are locally extinct in southeastern Ethiopia today. While the taphonomic signature is similar throughout the sequence, indicating an in situ accumulation by an owl without major perturbation, the palaeoecological analysis showed environmental change through time, characterized by open-dry setting during the Late Pleistocene, shifting to wetter and more wooded conditions heading to the Holocene. These results are generally consistent with other diverse records which include the large mammals, speleothems and lake basins records, and allow a better understanding of the dynamics of environmental contexts associated with observed cultural change and continuity in eastern Africa from the Late Pleistocene to Late Holocene.
|
Auteur(s) |
Emmanuelle Stoetzel
1
, Workalemahu Bekele Sime
1
, David Pleurdeau
1
, Asfawossen Asrat
2
, Zelalem Assefa
3
, Emmanuel Desclaux
4
, Christiane Denys
5
1
HNHP -
Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique
( 121947 )
- Institut de Paléontologie Humaine - 1, rue René Panhard - 75013 Paris
- France
2
AAU -
Addis Ababa University
( 313390 )
- Éthiopie
3
National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20008, USA.
( 220402 )
- États-Unis
4
CEPAM -
Culture et Environnements, Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age
( 199355 )
- Université Côte d'Azur Pôle universitaire Saint-Jean-d'Angély - SJA3 24, avenue des Diables Bleus 06357 Nice Cedex 4
- France
5
ISYEB -
Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité
( 542193 )
- 57 rue Cuvier - CP 50 - 75005 Paris
- France
|
Date de publication |
2018-03
|
Langue du document |
Anglais
|
Nom de la revue |
|
Vulgarisation |
Non
|
Comité de lecture |
Oui
|
Audience |
Internationale
|
Volume |
471
|
Page/Identifiant |
21-34
|
Domaine(s) |
|
Projet(s) ANR |
|
Financement |
|
DOI | 10.1016/j.quaint.2017.08.050 |
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