PALEOPARASITOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF CAVE BEAR (URSUS KANIVETZ VERESHCHAGIN, 1973) COPROLITES FROM THE IGNATIEVSKAYA CAVE (SOUTHERN URAL)

The first paleoparasitological analysis of coprolites of a cave bear (Ursus kanivetz Vereshchagin, 1973) was performed. Material for research was obtained from different deeps at the excavation of Ignatievskaya Cave (Chelyabinsk Region, Southern Urals, Russia, 54°53’N 57°46’E). Fossil coprolites were find from the excavations N 1-2, situated et the 120 meters from the entry of cave. The depth of excavations was 1.9 m. Radiocarbon analysis show that the age of cave bear bones was more than 27500 years. Coprolites were analyzed by combine method and sedimentation. Slides were viewed under the Meiji microscope with Х100 and Х400 magnification and made a pictures by the Vision camera. Eggs were defined using scientific descriptions available in the national and foreign literature. As a result from the paleoparasitological analysis, the presence Nematodes eggs was detected. Eggs are belonged to Baylisascaris transfuga Rudolphi, 1819 – specific parasite of Ursidae. Obviously, that helminth infected different species of bears already at the Late Pleistocene period and had a wide spreading. This is the first finding of the nematode B. transfuga of Pleistocene age and the first finding of parasites in the cave bear coprolites.

THE SANGIRAN FOSSIL SHELL ASSEMBLAGES CATALOGUE

Abstrak. Katalog Himpunan Fosil Kerang Sangiran. Makalah ini merupakan pemutakhiran himpunan fosil cangkang Sangiran di Jawa Tengah. Tujuannya untuk mendokumentasikan dan menyajikan gastropoda dan kerang dari seri Kalibeng atas dan Pucangan Bawah Kubah Sangiran dari periode Plio-Pleistosen. Tercatat 61 taksa moluska hingga tingkat genus. Informasi yang dikumpulkan dari kumpulan moluska ditentukan oleh sejarah geologi dan lingkungan Sangiran. Mereka diasosiasikan dengan fasies yang berbeda: a) napal masif dan lempung biru, b) lapisan batugamping lempung, c) lempung kelabu berlumpur, d) breksi vulkanik dan lahar dan e) lempung hitam, dan terdiri dari sedimen yang merepresentasikan lingkungan laut hingga rawa yang mengarah ke perkembangan kontinental. Pola kuantitatif yang dicatat dalam kumpulan moluska menjelaskan palaeo-lingkungan dan hubungan antara kumpulan palaeodataset yang mapan dari analisis dan tingkat variabilitas dalam data paleontologi. Selain itu, cangkang yang teridentifikasi dapat digunakan sebagai referensi untuk perwakilan taksonomi Sangiran dan moluska di lapisan Kalibeng dan Pucangan Cekungan Solo di Jawa Tengah. Abstract. This paper is an update of fossil shell assemblages of Sangiran in Central Java. It is aimed to document and present the gastropods and bivalves from the Upper Kalibeng and Lower Pucangan series of the Sangiran dome from the Plio-Pleistocene period. There are 61 mollusc taxa recorded up to the genus level. Information gathered from mollusc assemblages are determined by the geological and environmental history of the Sangiran. They are associated with different facies: a) massive marls and blue clays, b) layered clayey limestone, c) silty gray clay, d) volcanic breccia and lahars and e) black clays, and composed of sediments representing marine to swampy environments leading to continental development. The quantitative patterns recorded in mollusc assemblages elucidate the palaeoenvironment and the relationship between the established palaeodatasets of analysis and the levels of variability in palaeontological data. Moreover, the identified shells may be utilized as a reference for Sangiran and molluscan taxonomic representative in Kalibeng and Pucangan layers of Solo Basin in Central Java.

The current state of Pleistocene Park, Russia (An experiment in the restoration of megafauna in a boreal environment)

Pleistocene Park is a protected area located near the Arctic Circle in the Eastern part of Russia. It was established by Sergey Zimov and his team in order to perform an experiment on the restoration of the environment that existed there during the Pleistocene period. It was expected that low-productivity boreal habitats would be replaced by highly-productive grasslands resembling African savanna. This experiment was launched in 1988, and its continuation is planned for the indefinite future. The territory of the park was surveyed recently and its actual state was characterized.

Hazar Gölü Sedimentinde Jeolojik Dönemlere Bağlı Olarak Bazı Elementlerin Konsantrasyonlarının Belirlenmesi

In this study, it was aimed to determine the concentrations of some elements in sediment along depht profile in core collected at the Lake Hazar (Elazıg) and to compared the results according to recent geological periods. For this purpose, the levels of arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), molybdenum (Mo), barium (Ba), uranium (U), tin (Sn), titanium (Ti), lanthanum (La) and beryllium (Be) on every 5 cm of the piston core samples taken as part of a TUBİTAK project (No: 111Y045) from Lake Hazar were detected. The lowest concentrations of Ba, Hg, La, Ti and U were found (111 ppm, 0.01 ppm, 4.4 ppm, 1190 ppm and 0.6 ppm respectively) at 81-83 cm in depth. It was determined that it belonged to 10 000 B.P. and to Holocene Period (10.5 thousand B.P.). The highest concentrations of As, Ba, Hg, Sn, La, Mo, Ti and U were found different depth in the core in Lake Hazar. The highest concentrations of Hg in the core were detected between 4-6 cm that this depth was determined corresponds to present day. The highest levels of As and Ba found that it belonged to Pre-Glacial Period/ Late Pleistocene Period (10.5 thousand B.P.). The highest concentration of other elements (Sn, La, Mo and Ti) determined that it belonged to Last Glacial Maximum Period/Late Pleistocene Period (between 23-16 thousand B.P.). The geological structure of the basin where the lake ecosystem is located, biological and hydrological processes, climatic and anthropogenic factors can be cited as the reasons for these differences.

Short Report: A déjeté Levallois tool from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan) and the role it plays in the chronology of the Pleistocene terraces of the Bannu Basin

This paper discusses the importance of the discovery of one déjeté Levallois tool from the surface of a dark grey and black patinated gravel terrace located ca. 500 m south-west of the Neolithic site of Sheri Khan Tarakai in the Bannu Basin (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan), and provides a detailed geomorphological description of the area where it was found. The Neolithic site rests on a large gravelly fan, at present terraced and dismembered by small seasonal streams. Scatters of black varnished pebbles, at the top of a thick ochre silt of possible alluvial origin, cover its surface. Amongst the numerous siliceous gravels forming the deposit, some are of a good quality chert, whose source can be found in the Tertiary Sulaiman Formation. The typological characteristics of the tool, the chert employed for its manufacture, its location and the presence of black patina on its cortex are all important elements that contribute to the definition of the Pleistocene period during which pebble terraces formed. The tool comes from a region where Middle Palaeolithic artefacts had never been found before, though the re-analysis of old collections would suggest their presence as far as the course of the Indus in Lower Sindh. Moreover, its discovery contributes to the study of the south-eastern spread of the Middle Palaeolithic Levallois technique, an important topic that still needs to be fully understood.

Jejak Budaya Paleolitik di Pulau Seram: Kajian Migrasi Manusia Awal di Wilayah Indonesia Timur

The province of Maluku is consists of number of islands (including Seram island) is served as of the areas in the eastern part of Indonesia that have a key role for study of life in the past. Geographically position as the bordered area between Australia and Irian island has played a strategic role as the routes for human and faunal migration. An indication for ancient human occupation in this areas has been shwoed by the presence of cultural remains of Palaeolithic tools. Palaeolithic culture (palaeo=ancient; lithic/lithos=stone) is stone tools used by Homo erectus from the Pleistocene period. The Palaeolithic cultural remains from Seram island is very limitedly known; and the results of archaeological researches by Puslit Arkenas (National Research Centre for Archaeology) in 2012 has been found of Palaeolithic tools on this areas. This fact proves that Seram island has interesting for migration routes of human ancient occupation and their culture in the eastern part of Indonesia. Study of palaeolithic culture used by comparative-exsplorative methods (contextual) and technologic overview. Provinsi Maluku yang terdiri beberapa kepulauan (salah satunya Pulau Seram) merupakan salah satu wilayah di Indonesia Timur yang mempunyai peranan penting dalam mengungkap sejarah kehidupan masa lalu. Secara geografis, posisi keletakannya yang sangat strategis di antara Pulau Irian dan benua Australia merupakan jalur lintasan migrasi bagi manusia dan fauna. Salah satu tujuan untuk mengetahui proses kedatangan awal manusia di wilayah ini adalah melalui tinggalan budayanya, yaitu alat-alat Paleolitik. Budaya Paleolitik (paleo = tua; litik/lithos = batu) adalah perkakas dari batu yang diduga digunakan oleh manusia awal (Homo erectus) sejak munculnya di muka bumi pada Kala Pleistosen. Tinggalan budaya Paleolitik di Pulau Seram selama ini sangat jarang sekali informasinya, namun hasil penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Puslit Arkenas pada tahun 2012 telah membuktikan adanya temuan alat-alat batu tua di wilayah ini. Bukti-bukti temuan ini menunjukkan bahwa Pulau Seram mempunyai peranan yang penting sebagai jalur migrasi manusia awal dan budayanya di wilayah Indonesia Timur. Kajian budaya paleolitik ini mempergunakan metode eksploratif-komparatif (kontekstual) dan pengamatan teknologis.

A review on paleoenvironment suitability for hominid fossils and other early vertebrate faunas: a case from Pucangan and Kabuh Formations, Central and East Java, Indonesia

The northern part of the East Java Basin has become a focus of research by earth scientists, among others, because of the existence of hominid fossils and remains of other vertebrate taxa within the Quaternary sedimentary sequence. Fossil-bearing layers are found in the Kendeng Zone, mostly within the well-known Pucangan and Kabuh Formations, which are distributed from Central to East Java. However, not all formations contain vertebrate fossils as well as hominid elements. It is important to consider what factors may have influenced the concentration of vertebrate fossils in those formations. In this study, we describe sedimentary facies at three key field locations: Sangiran, Ngawi, and Mojokerto. Our study indicates that vertebrate remains and hominid fossils mainly accumulated in continental sediments associated with lacustrine and fluvial systems. In this regard, Sangiran and Ngawi B offer the greatest prospect for yielding hominid remains, owing to their unique paleoenvironmental and paleogeographical settings as a highland during the Early–Middle Pleistocene period. Certain parts of the Kabuh Formation in the Mojokerto region also hold high potential, especially those displaying evidence of continental deposition.