 Reference Base  Position of the Steinheim interglacial sequence within th... |
|
Asperen, E.N. v., 2012. Position of the Steinheim interglacial sequence within the marine oxygen isotope record based on mammal biostratigraphy. Quaternary International 279-280: 551
|
|
|
|
| |
| Location: |
Europe - Western Europe - Germany |
| Subject: |
Ecology |
| Species: |
Fossil |
 |
|
|
Since the recovery, in 1933, of a Homo heidelbergensis skull from the interglacial Antiquus -Schotter in sediments of the River Murr, the site of Steinheim (Germany) has been regarded as an iconic hominin locality for the Middle Pleistocene of Europe. Based on the morphology of the specimen, stratigraphical considerations and the characteristics of the associated faunal assemblage, the Steinheim skull has generally been assigned to the Holsteinian Interglacial. Over the last decades, developments in the knowledge of the complexity of the Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles have rendered this date increasingly problematic. Analyses of caballoid horse remains from the site using log ratio diagrams and principal components analysis reveal striking morphological differences with German horse remains from sites attributed to the Holsteinian or marine isotope stages (MIS) 11 and 9. The morphology of the Steinheim horses is similar to that of horse specimens from MIS 9 sites in southern France, and to a lesser degree there are similarities with MIS 9 horses from northern France and British MIS 11 and 9 horse fossils. This indicates that during the Anglian/Elsterian glacial, European horse populations were split into two lineages. During MIS 11, the western lineage is present in the British Isles and at Steinheim, whereas the German Holsteinian samples belong to the eastern lineage. A date in different substages of MIS 11 is a further possible source of morphological variation between these assemblages. By MIS 9, a degree of admixture had taken place between the eastern and western lineages.
|
|
|
File available
details
Original text on this topic: