The objective of the present revision is to complement the lithostratigraphy of the Ieper Group published in 2001 (Laga et al., 2001). This last publication reflected the activities in the Tertiary Subcommission at that time. The review published in 2001 framed in an initiative of the National Stratigraphic Commission and was limited to the lithostratigraphy at formation level. The Laga et al (2001) reference document has been the basis for the NCS website until now. The Ieper Group is characterised by clay−dominated sediments overlying, in most situations, the Landen Group strata and, if not outcropping, underlying the sand−dominated Zenne Group sediments. According to Laga et al. (2001) in their reference document for Paleogene and Neogene lithostratigraphy, the Ieper Group consists of the Kortrijk, Tielt and Gentbrugge Formations and ,members in these Formations are only listed. These subdivisions are also used on the 1:50 000 geological maps of Flanders, edited in the last decades of the 20th century. Especially the additional description of the members, and where possible, horizons, identified in the Formations, made the present review necessary and also modifications at the formation level itself arisen since 2001 needed to be integrated in a new synthesis. The present update is based on the earlier description of members in Maréchal & Laga (1988), Geets et al. (2000) and Steurbaut (1998) as far as appropriate. All modifications, discussions and additions are supported by the relevant literature references.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2016
Although questions of modern human origins and dispersal are subject to intense research within and outside Africa, the processes of modern human diversification during the Late Pleistocene are most often discussed within the context of recent human genetic data. This situation is due largely to the dearth of human fossil remains dating to the final Pleistocene in Africa and their almost total absence from West and Central Africa, thus limiting our perception of modern human diversification within Africa before the Holocene. Here, we present a morphometric comparative analysis of the earliest Late Pleistocene modern human remains from the Central African site of Ishango in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The early Late Stone Age layer (eLSA) of this site, dated to the Last Glacial Maximum (25–20 Ky), contains more than one hundred fragmentary human remains. The exceptional associated archaeological context suggests these remains derived from a community of hunter-fisher-gatherers exhibiting complex social and cognitive behaviors including substantial reliance on aquatic resources, development of fishing technology, possible mathematical notations and repetitive use of space, likely on a seasonal basis. Comparisons with large samples of Late Pleistocene and early Holocene modern human fossils from Africa and Eurasia show that the Ishango human remains exhibit distinctive characteristics and a higher phenotypic diversity in contrast to recent African populations. In many aspects, as is true for the inner ear conformation, these eLSA human remains have more affinities with Middle to early Late Pleistocene fossils worldwide than with extant local African populations. In addition, cross-sectional geometric properties of the long bones are consistent with archaeological evidence suggesting reduced terrestrial mobility resulting from greater investment in and use of aquatic resources. Our results on the Ishango human remains provide insights into past African modern human diversity and adaptation that are consistent with genetic theories about the deep sub-structure of Late Pleistocene African populations and their complex evolutionary history of isolation and diversification.
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