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The stratigraphy of Spy cave. A review of the available lithostratigraphic and archaeostratigraphic information.
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This chapter presents a general review of the lithostratigraphy associated with the various excavations carried out at Spy cave since the end of the 19th century, incorporating what little information is available concerning sedimentogenesis. In addition to reviewing the types and possible causes underlying the mixed nature of the Spy archaeological material, the history of the published archaeostratigraphic interpretations of the site is presented alongside the different techno-complexes identified amongst the Spy material. Finally, the stratigraphic position of the Neandertal remains is considered and an overall stratigraphy is proposed that takes into consideration the available chronostratigraphic data.
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History of excavations, discoveries and collections.
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Spy cave, also known as the Betche aux Rotches cave, is one of the most famous Palaeolithic sites in Belgium. Excavated on numerous occasions beginning in 1879, the remains of two adult Neandertals were discovered in 1886. For the first time in the history of palaeoanthropology, human fossils were found in a stratigraphic context associated with rich archaeological material including the remains of extinct megafauna. The history of work at Spy presented here is based on a review of publications concerning the various excavations, the Lohest and Vercheval-De Puydt family archives, as well as inventories and archives possessed by the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and the Royal Museums of Art and History. This archival review clarifies several aspects concerning the discovery of the two Neandertal specimens, particularly in light of new studies concerning the Spy material which is now dispersed amongst several public and private collections.
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Prologue
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Application du logiciel de modélisation musculosquelettique lhpFusionBox à une problématique paléoanthropologique. Spyrou le Néandertalien marche !
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Résumé LhpFusionBox est un logiciel développé pour des études biomécaniques et cliniques relatives au système musculosquelettique des hommes anatomiquement modernes (HAM). Il a été récemment adapté aux problématiques paléoanthropologiques et utilisé pour l’étude biomécanique de la locomotion des hominidés fossiles. Il n’existe aucun squelette de Néandertalien complet. Le but de notre étude a consisté à réaliser un modèle virtuel en trois dimensions (3D) du squelette relativement complet du Néandertalien Spy II et à tester la faisabilité d’une analyse biomécanique de la locomotion du genou et des bras de levier des muscles ischio-jambiers. Des ossements appartenant à d’autres individus néandertaliens ont été mis à l’échelle de ceux de Spy II afin de remplacer les ossements incomplets ou manquants. Ces études biomécaniques préliminaires semblent montrer que les Néandertaliens et les HAM ont une locomotion comparable. Les Néandertaliens semblent avoir des bras de levier plus grands au niveau des muscles de la cuisse, ce qui pourrait leur procurer un avantage biomécanique. Le squelette obtenu a été imprimé en 3D et a servi de base à la reconstruction artistique de Spyrou qui est hébergée en l’espace de l’homme de Spy (EHoS). [Application of the musculo-skeletal modelling software lhpFusionBox to a paleoanthropological problem: the Spyrou Neandertal moves!] Abstract LhpFusionBox is a program originally designed for biomechanical and clinical studies relating to the musculoskeletal system of anatomically modern humans (AMH). The program has recently been adapted for paleontological purposes and used to reconstruct and biomechanically analyse a fossil hominid. There is no complete Neandertal skeleton in the fossil record. The aim of the study was to reconstruct a complete three-dimensional (3D) model of a Neandertal using the relatively complete Spy II Neandertal and to conduct biomechanical feasibility studies on the knee and hamstring moment arms of the skeleton. Different Neandertal specimens were scaled to the size of Spy II to replace incomplete or missing bones. Biomechanical feasibility studies performed on the knee seem to show that Neandertal and AMHh gait is similar and Neandertals were shown to have larger moment arms in the hamstring muscles, which would have given them a mechanical advantage. The complete Neandertal was printed in 3D and used as the base to create the artistic model of “Spyrou” housed at l’Espace de l’Homme de Spy (EHoS) museum.
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Agora 3D: evaluating 3D imaging technology for the research, conservation and display of museum collections
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Environmental Roots of the Late Bronze Age Crisis.
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Early Eocene frogs from Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat, India
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The Ypresian Cambay Shale Formation of Vastan Lignite Mine in Gujarat, western India, has yielded a rich vertebrate fauna, including the earliest modern mammals of the Indian subcontinent. Here we describe its assemblage of four frogs,including two new genera and species, based on numerous, diverse and well−preserved ilia and vertebrae. An abundant frog, Eobarbourula delfinoi gen. and sp. nov., with a particular vertebral articulation similar to a zygosphene−zygantrum complex, represents the oldest record of the Bombinatoridae and might have been capable of displaying the Unken reflex. The large non−fossorial pelobatid Eopelobates, known from complete skeletons from the Eocene and Oligocene of Europe, is also identified at Vastan based on a single nearly complete ilium. An abundant “ranid” and a possible rhacophorid Indorana prasadi gen. and sp. nov. represent the earliest records of both families. The Vastan pelobatids and ranids confirm an early worldwide distribution of these families, and the bombinatorids and rhacophorids show possible origins of those clades on the Indian subcontinent.
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Ammonites from the Dababiya Quarry Corehole: Taxonomic notes and age assessment
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We describe a small collection of ammonites from the Dababiya Quarry corehole. It is almost entirely composed of heteromorph ammonites, in particular of scaphitids and baculitids. The presence of Indoscaphites pavana (Forbes 1848),which is for the first time reported from Egypt, points to a late to possibly latest Maastrichtian age for the interval DBD 80.36–DBD 99.11 of the Dababiya Quarry core. This is corroborated by preliminary data on planktonic foraminifera.
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The first record of Early Devonian ammonoids from Belgium and their stratigraphic significance
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The first ammonoids from the Lower Emsian (Devonian) of Belgium are described. They belong to the Anetoceratinae, which show the most plesiomorphic characters of all ammonoids. This is the second report of Early Emsian ammonoids within the Rhenish facies of the Rhenish Slate Mountains (Belgium, Germany), in this case from the Belgian part of the Eifel (Burg Reuland). It highlights the possible importance of ammonoids for the correlation of the Emsian in its traditional German sense and the Emsian in the global sense as delimited by the GSSPs. Newly collected, age-significant brachiopods of the genera Arduspirifer and Euryspirifer and other previously reported fossils indicate a middle or late Early Emsian (Singhofen or Vallendar) age (in German sense) for this locality. We extend the range of Ivoites schindewolfi outside of the Hunsrück Basin and further corroborate an age younger than Ulmen for parts of the Hunsrück Slate.
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Quantifying the CO2 storage potential in Belgium: Working with theoretical capacities.
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