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Plant use and local vegetation patterns during the second half of the Late Pleistocene in southwestern Germany

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Abstract

In light of recent discoveries of early figurative art in Paleolithic sites of southwestern Germany, gaining an improved understanding of biological, cultural, and social development of these hunter-gatherer populations under past environmental conditions is essential. The analysis of botanical micro- and macrofossils from the Hohle Fels Cave contributes to the limited floral record from this region. These data suggest generally open vegetation, with the presence of wood near Hohle Fels, as indicated by pollen, phytoliths, and evidence from wood charcoal throughout the whole sequence of occupation. The Aurignacian horizons (early Upper Paleolithic, starting around 44,200 calibrated years before present (cal yr BP) correlate with prevailing shrub tundra. Few arboreal pollen in the transitional section from the Aurignacian to the Gravettian horizons (middle Upper Paleolithic, until ca. 32 cal yr BP) supports the model of an interglacial tundra with a mosaic of cold steppe elements and some patches of woody species. In the Gravettian, the macrobotanical and the palynological records indicate colder climatic conditions and a generally reduced presence of wood patches. Few seed remains, mostly of the Asteraceae and Poaceae families suggesting the use of these plants. The collection of bearberry (Arctostaphylos sp.) for specific purposes is indicated by large amounts of bark fragments.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Cornelia Dilger (Department of Botany, University of Tübingen) for access to the herbarium, Bärbel Albrecht for palynological preparation and identification, and Dr. Alexandra Golyeva (Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) for conducting phytolith analysis. We also wish to thank Dr. Ernestina Badal-García and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on our manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senckenberg Center of Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070, Tübingen, Germany

    Simone Riehl & Nicholas J. Conard

  2. Center for Archaeological Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200E, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

    Elena Marinova

  3. Institut für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070, Tübingen, Germany

    Simone Riehl & Katleen Deckers

  4. Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070, Tübingen, Germany

    Maria Malina

  5. Institut für ältere Urgeschichte, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany

    Nicholas J. Conard

  6. Department Palaeontology, Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, B-1000, Brussels, Belgium

    Elena Marinova

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Riehl, S., Marinova, E., Deckers, K. et al. Plant use and local vegetation patterns during the second half of the Late Pleistocene in southwestern Germany. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 7, 151–167 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-014-0182-7

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