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Article Reference La ville de Huy entre eaux et pierres.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Production de meules va-et-vient au Hallstatt final – La Tène ancienne au « Camp de Macquenoise » à Saint-Michel (Aisne) et contextes d’utilisation régionaux.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Une épingle “des palafiittes » du Bronze final (Xième s. av. n.è.), de l’habitat de Pitet (commune de Braives, prov. De Hesbaye liégeoise, Belgique). Nouvel examen.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Les glaçures plombifères médiévales mosanes : recettes et expérimentations.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference On a small collection of sea cucumbers from the Mediterranean continental slope with the first record and re-description of Pseudothyone serrifera (Oestergren, 1898) (Holothuroidea: Dendrochirotida), a new species for the Mediterranean Sea
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
Article Reference Waulsort Caverne X: A new cave site with Early Mesolithic human remains in Belgium
Caverne X in Waulsort (Namur province, Belgium), excavated in the 19th century, revealed a burial site which was unexpectedly dated to the Final Upper Paleolithic (10,820 ± 80 BP, OxA-6856) in the 1990’s. A re-examination of the collection and a new radiocarbon dating program was recently undertaken. The dates obtained on four left femurs (9285 ± 30 BP, ETH-74725; 9310 ± 30 BP, ETH-74726; 9340 ± 30 BP, ETH-74727; 9300 ± 30 BP, ETH-74728) revealed that the remains should in fact be attributed to the Early Mesolithic,consistent with 24 other 14 C dates obtained for eight cave sites in the Meuse Basin which range from ca . 9600 BP to 9000 BP. Caverne X contained 544 human remains belonging to at least nine individuals (one fetus, one perinatal/young child, one teenager, two adolescents/young adults and four adults), and 66 faunal remains consisting mainly of intrusive animals with the possible exception of a cervid antler, and one artefact (a small flint blade). Other than ochre deposits, all alterations (breakage, surface abrasion, impact scars and concretions) are post-depositional in origin. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis indicates a diet primarily based on terrestrial resources from an open landscape with proteins provided by large herbivores. Our study shows that Caverne X fits well with results already obtained for the Meuse Basin cave burials in terms of chronology, minimum number of individuals, funerary rituals and diet.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Dental microwear as a behavioral proxy for distinguishing between canids at the Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian) site of Předmostí, Czech Republic
Morphological and genetic evidence put dog domestication during the Paleolithic, sometime between 40,000 and 15,000 years ago, with identification of the earliest dogs debated. We predict that these earliest dogs (referred to herein as protodogs), while potentially difficult to distinguish morphologically from wolves, experienced behavioral shifts, including changes in diet. Specifically, protodogs may have consumed more bone and other less desirable scraps within human settlement areas. Here we apply Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA) to canids from the Gravettian site of Předmostí (approx. 28,500 BP), which were previously assigned to the Paleolithic dog or Pleistocene wolf morphotypes. We test whether these groups separate out significantly by diet-related variation in microwear patterning. Results are consistent with differences in dietary breadth, with the Paleolithic dog morphotype showing evidence of greater durophagy than those assigned to the wolf morphotype. This supports the presence of two morphologically and behaviorally distinct canid types at this middle Upper Paleolithic site. Our primary goal here was to test whether these two morphotypes expressed notable differences in dietary behavior. However, in the context of a major Gravettian settlement, this may also support evidence of early stage dog domestication. Dental microwear is a behavioral signal that may appear generations before morphological changes are established in a population. It shows promise for distinguishing protodogs from wolves in the Pleistocene and domesticated dogs from wolves elsewhere in the archaeological record.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Size of the lower carnassial in the arctic and the red fox from Late Pleistocene in Belgium compared to other ancient and extant populations
Lengths, widths, and size proportions (length to width) of the lower carnassial were measured in 45 teeth of the arctic fox and 35 teeth of the red fox from Belgium radiocarbon dated to 46 640–14 120 ka BP. Data the Late Pleistocene foxes from Belgium were compared to 20 ancient and extant populations form Europe, Asia, and North America. The Pleistocene arctic fox from Belgium showed larger carnassial than in all recent samples of this species, whereas the Belgian fossil red foxes were characterized by the carnassial size comparable to that of the recent Siberian red foxes. Both fox species from the Pleistocene of Belgium showed the highest index of the carnassials length to width, which means increase in carnivorous adaptation. We conclude that the higher level of carnivorous specialization reached by the Belgian arctic and red foxes at the end of the Late Pleistocene reflected their scavenging on kills of large carnivores and human hunters (remains of megafauna). Harsh environmental conditions of that period and specific composition of ecosystems led to adapting to a more carnivorous food niche in both foxes.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Were ancient foxes far more carnivorous than recent ones? Carnassial morphological evidence
Crown shape variation of the first lower molar in the arctic (Vulpes lagopus) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) was analyzed using five groups of morphotypes. Carnassial morphologies were compared between the species and between spatially and temporally distant populations: one Late Pleistocene (n = 45) and seven modern populations of the arctic fox (n = 259), and one Late Pleistocene (n = 35) and eight modern populations of the red fox (n = 606). The dentition of Holocene red foxes had larger morphotype variability than that of arctic foxes. The lower carnassials of the red fox kept have some primitive characters (additional cusps and stylids, complex shape of transverse cristid), whereas the first lower molars of the arctic fox have undergone crown shape simplification, with the occlusal part of the tooth undergoing a more pronounced adaptation to a more carnivorous diet. From the Late Pleistocene of Belgium to the present days, the arctic fox’s crown shape has been simplified and some primitive characters have disappeared. In the red fox chronological changes in the morphology of the lower carnassials were not clearly identified. The phyletic tree based on morphotype carnassial characteristics indicated the distinctiveness of both foxes: in the arctic fox line, the ancient population from Belgium and recent Greenland made separate branches, whereas in the red foxes the ancient population from Belgium was most similar to modern red foxes from Belgium and Italy.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Pollen-derived biomes in the Eastern Mediterranean–Black Sea–Caspian-Corridor
Aim To evaluate the biomization technique for reconstructing past vegetation in the Eastern Mediterranean–Black Sea–Caspian-Corridor using an extensive modern pollen data set and comparing reconstructions to potential vegetation and observed land cover data. Location The region between 28–48°N and 22–62°E. Methods We apply the biomization technique to 1,387 modern pollen samples, representing 1,107 entities, to reconstruct the distribution of 13 broad vegetation categories (biomes). We assess the results using estimates of potential natural vegetation from the European Vegetation Map and the Physico-Geographic Atlas of the World. We test whether anthropogenic disturbance affects reconstruction quality using land use information from the Global Land Cover data set. Results The biomization scheme successfully predicts the broadscale patterns of vegetation across the region, including changes with elevation. The technique discriminates deserts from shrublands, the prevalence of woodlands in moister lowland sites, and the presence of temperate and mixed forests at higher elevations. Quantitative assessment of the reconstructions is less satisfactory: the biome is predicted correctly at 44% of the sites in Europe and 33% of the sites overall. The low success rate is not a reflection of anthropogenic impacts: only 33% of the samples are correctly assigned after the removal of sites in anthropogenically altered environments. Open vegetation is less successfully predicted (33%) than forest types (73%), reflecting the under-representation of herbaceous taxa in pollen assemblages and the impact of long-distance pollen transport into open environments. Samples from small basins (<1 km2) are more likely to be reconstructed accurately, with 58% of the sites in Europe and 66% of all sites correctly predicted, probably because they sample an appropriate pollen source area to reflect regional vegetation patterns in relatively heterogeneous landscapes. While methodological biases exist, the low confidence of the quantitative comparisons should not be over-emphasized because the target maps themselves are not accurate representations of vegetation patterns in this region. Main Conclusions The biomization scheme yields reasonable reconstructions of the broadscale vegetation patterns in the Eastern Mediterranean–Black Sea–Caspian-Corridor, particularly if appropriate-sized sampling sites are used. Our results indicate biomization could be used to reconstruct changing patterns of vegetation in response to past climate changes in this region.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017