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Neanderthals and Monkeys in the Würmian of Central Europe: The Middle Paleolithic Site of Hunas, Southern Germany

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Neanderthal Lifeways, Subsistence and Technology

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series ((VERT))

Abstract

The site of Hunas is a cave ruin, filled with bedded sediments up to the roof. About 20 m sediments from the top down were excavated and yielded Middle Paleolithic artifacts as well as numerous faunal remains, including Macaca. With a single human molar, the site is one of the rare Neanderthalian localities in Germany. New TIMS-U/Th dating of speleothems at the base of the profile indicate that the whole sequence was not deposited during the late Middle Pleistocene as previously thought, but during the last glacial. According to the new chronological results, Hunas is the only place which shows the coexistence of man and monkey in the Würmian of Central Europe. The Macaca remains are the most recent evidence of magots in Central Europe so far.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, C5 Zeughaus, 68159, Mannheim, Germany

    Wilfried Rosendahl

  2. Institut für Paläontologie, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstr. 28, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Dieta Ambros & Brigitte Hilpert

  3. Labor für Paläo- & Umweltmagnetik (PUM), LS Geomorphologie, Universität Bayreuth, 95440, Bayreuth, Germany

    Ulrich Hambach

  4. Institut für Anthropologie, Universität Mainz, Saarstr. 21, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Kurt W. Alt

  5. Institut für Botanik, Universität Hohenheim, Garbenstr. 30, 70593, Stuttgart, Germany

    Maria Knipping

  6. Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Kochstr. 4/18, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Ludwig Reisch & Brigitte Kaulich

Authors
  1. Wilfried Rosendahl
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  2. Dieta Ambros
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  3. Brigitte Hilpert
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  4. Ulrich Hambach
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  5. Kurt W. Alt
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  6. Maria Knipping
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  7. Ludwig Reisch
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  8. Brigitte Kaulich
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wilfried Rosendahl .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters Abteilung Ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany

    Nicholas J. Conard

  2. Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Universität zu Köln, Weyertal 125, 50923, Köln, Germany

    Jürgen Richter

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Rosendahl, W. et al. (2011). Neanderthals and Monkeys in the Würmian of Central Europe: The Middle Paleolithic Site of Hunas, Southern Germany. In: Conard, N.J., Richter, J. (eds) Neanderthal Lifeways, Subsistence and Technology. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0415-2_3

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