Relation of loess units and prehistoric find density in the Garzweiler open-cast mine, Lower Rhine

Abstract

Based on a detailed loess stratigraphy in the loess plateau of the western Lower Rhine a statistical investigation budgets the shares of the main loess units from a wall area of 11,000 square meters. Therein the Brabant Loess (younger Late Würmian Pleniglacial, MIS2)occupies 45%, nearly half of the preserved loess budget, the Hesbaye Loess(older Late WürmianPleniglacial, MIS2) about 5%. A quarter of the whole loess budget (25%) attributes to the Keldach Loess (Early Würmian Pleniglacial, MIS 4), only a small share (1,5%) to the Rheingau Loess (MIS 5). The pre-Eemian loesses take the last quarter (24%) of the whole preservedloess mass. Astatistical search for prehistoric finds recovered during prospections yielded 131 Palaeolithic bones and artefacts that could be assigned to the detailed stratigraphy. The bulkof the finds belongs to two periods, MIS4 and MIS2 -remarkably to two cold periods. The lack of interglacial finds such as known from the surroundings of this loess plateau are due to strong periglacial denudation processes on the loess plateau. The present finds testify local hunting activity during wet periods of MIS4 for the first time within this area. Whether the finds from MIS2 are autochthonous or reworked from older stratais stillopen. Copyright: