Papers by Dimitri De Loecker
K. Di Modica, S. Pirson & M. Toussaint (eds.), Middle Palaeolithic in North-West Europe: Multidisciplinary Approaches , 2016
We present a concise overview of Middle Palaeolithic research in the Netherlands. The area, which... more We present a concise overview of Middle Palaeolithic research in the Netherlands. The area, which is situated along the northwestern edge of the known Neanderthal world, is very divers in terms of geological development. As a result of glacial cycles, hominin occupation can be characterised as intermittent and probably sparse. Well-preserved sites are primarily known from the loess region in the southern part of the province of Limburg and to a certain extent from the Roer Valley Graben. Further to the north artefacts do occur ‘geological in situ’, i.e. in the ice-pushed ridges in the central Netherlands and on the DrentheeFrisian till plateau in the northernmost part of the country, but primary archaeological in situ situations have yet to be discovered. The oldest traces of occupation date to MIS 9 or MIS 7 (Belvedere quarry and the ‘Rhenen Industry’), the youngest (stray finds) can be attributed to the Blattspitzengruppen and the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (MIS 3). The (Upper) Acheulian, several Mousterian variants and the Keilmessergruppen are also attested. This paper serves as a starting point for future research.
Proceedings of the …, Jan 1, 2012
The use of manganese and iron oxides by late Neandertals is well documented in Europe, especially... more The use of manganese and iron oxides by late Neandertals is well documented in Europe, especially for the period 60–40 kya. Such finds often have been interpreted as pigments even though their exact function is largely unknown. Here we report significantly older iron oxide finds that constitute the earliest documented use of red ochre by Neandertals. These finds were small concentrates of red material retrieved during excavations at Maastricht-Belvédère, The Netherlands. The excavations exposed a series of well-preserved flint artifact (and occasionally bone) scatters, formed in a river valley setting during a late Middle Pleistocene full interglacial period. Samples of the reddish material were submitted to various forms of analyses to study their physical properties. All analyses identified the red material as hematite. This is a nonlocal material that was imported to the site, possibly over dozens of kilometers. Identification of the Maastricht-Belvédère finds as hematite pushes the use of red ochre by (early) Neandertals back in time significantly, to minimally 200–250 kya (i.e., to the same time range as the early ochre use in the African record).
The use of manganese and iron oxides by late Neandertals is well documented in Europe, especially... more The use of manganese and iron oxides by late Neandertals is well documented in Europe, especially for the period 60–40 kya. Such finds often have been interpreted as pigments even though their exact function is largely unknown. Here we report significantly older iron oxide finds that constitute the earliest documented use of red ochre by Neandertals. These finds were small concentrates of red material retrieved during excavations at Maastricht-Belvédère, The Netherlands. The excavations exposed a series of well-preserved flint artifact (and occasionally bone) scatters, formed in a river valley setting during a late Middle Pleistocene full interglacial period. Samples of the reddish material were submitted to various forms of analyses to study their physical properties. All analyses identified the red material as hematite. This is a nonlocal material that was imported to the site, possibly over dozens of kilometers. Identification of the Maastricht-Belvédère finds as hematite pushes the use of red ochre by (early) Neandertals back in time significantly, to minimally 200–250 kya (i.e., to the same time range as the early ochre use in the African record).
Quaternary …, Jan 1, 2010
An interdisciplinary study of a small sedimentary basin at Neumark Nord 2 (NN2), Germany, has yie... more An interdisciplinary study of a small sedimentary basin at Neumark Nord 2 (NN2), Germany, has yielded a high-resolution record of the palaeomagnetic Blake Event, which we are able to place at the early part of the last interglacial pollen sequence documented from the same section. We use this data to calculate the duration of this stratigraphically important event at 3400±350 yr. More importantly, the Neumark Nord 2 data enables precise terrestrial–marine correlation for the Eemian stage in central Europe. This shows a remarkably large time lag of ca. 5000 yr between the MIS 5e ‘peak’ in the marine record and the start of the last interglacial in this region.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Jan 7, 2012
The use of manganese and iron oxides by late Neandertals is well documented in Europe, especially... more The use of manganese and iron oxides by late Neandertals is well documented in Europe, especially for the period 60-40 kya. Such finds often have been interpreted as pigments even though their exact function is largely unknown. Here we report significantly older iron oxide finds that constitute the earliest documented use of red ochre by Neandertals. These finds were small concentrates of red material retrieved during excavations at Maastricht-Belvédère, The Netherlands. The excavations exposed a series of well-preserved flint artifact (and occasionally bone) scatters, formed in a river valley setting during a late Middle Pleistocene full interglacial period. Samples of the reddish material were submitted to various forms of analyses to study their physical properties. All analyses identified the red material as hematite. This is a nonlocal material that was imported to the site, possibly over dozens of kilometers. Identification of the Maastricht-Belvédère finds as hematite pushes ...
Quaternary Research, 2011
An interdisciplinary study of a small sedimentary basin at Neumark Nord 2 (NN2), Germany, has yie... more An interdisciplinary study of a small sedimentary basin at Neumark Nord 2 (NN2), Germany, has yielded a high-resolution record of the palaeomagnetic Blake Event, which we are able to place at the early part of the last interglacial pollen sequence documented from the same section. We use this data to calculate the duration of this stratigraphically important event at 3400 ± 350 yr. More importantly, the Neumark Nord 2 data enables precise terrestrial-marine correlation for the Eemian stage in central Europe. This shows a remarkably large time lag of ca. 5000 yr between the MIS 5e 'peak' in the marine record and the start of the last interglacial in this region.
The potential for Middle Palaeolithic sites to survive beneath the sea in northern latitudes has ... more The potential for Middle Palaeolithic sites to survive beneath the sea in northern latitudes has been established by intensive investigation within Area 240, a marine aggregate licence area situated in the North Sea, 11km off the coast of Norfolk, England. The fortuitous discovery of bifacial handaxes, and Levallois flakes and cores, led to a major programme of fieldwork and analysis between 2008 and 2013. The artefacts were primarily recovered from Marine Isotope Stage 8/7 floodplain sediments deposited between 250 and 200 ka. It is considered that the hand axes and Levallois products are contemporaneous in geological terms with taphonomically complex sedimentary contexts, as observed in several north-west European sites. The Early Middle Palaeolithic (EMP) lithics have survived multiple phases of glaciation and marine transgression. The investigations confirm that the artefacts are not a ‘chance’ find, but indicate clear relationships to submerged and buried landscapes that, although complex, can be examined in detail using a variety of existing fieldwork and analytical methods. The palaeogeographical context of the finds also offers expanded interpretations of the distribution of EMP hominins in the southern North Sea, not predictable from onshore archaeological records.
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Papers by Dimitri De Loecker