Hydroclimate reconstruction through MIS 3 in the Middle Paleolithic site of Crvena Stijena (Montenegro) based on hydrogen-isotopic composition of sedimentary n-alkanes

• Autor(a) principal: Jambrina-Enríquez, Margarita
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Mallol, Carolina, Tostevin, Gilbert, Monnier, Gilliane, Pajović, Goran, Borovinić, Nikola, Baković, Mile
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/19031
• topic: Leaf waxes; Hydrogen isotopes; Paleohydrology; Balkan Peninsula; Last glacial-interglacial transition; Middle Paleolithic; Black layers

This study presents a hydroclimatic reconstruction from Crvena Stijena (Montenegro, Balkan Peninsula), a rock shelter that has yielded evidence for Middle Paleolithic human occupation. The integration of lipid biomarkers, hydrogen (dD) isotopic compositions of n-alkanes, and organic elemental geochemistry in the 7-m deep vertical sedimentary sequence enables reconstruction of the main hydrological and environmental changes during the MIS 3 and their correlation with the presence at the site. We apply agglomerative hierarchical clustering and principal component analysis to the geochemical, molecular, and stable isotopic data to obtain a robust hydrological record. We find evidence of three aridity trends from the studied period, one of them correlated with the Heinrich Event 5, and humid and cold -temperate conditions in archaeology-rich layers. Our dataset also contributes to the knowledge of past hydrological variability in the Balkan Peninsula, a sensitive area to short-lived climatic shifts, and overall, in the Mediterranean region during the last glacial/interglacial cycle.(c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).