Chapter 2 - The climatic and environmental context of the Late Pleistocene

Abstract

Late Pleistocene orbital and millennial-to-centennial climate changes strongly affected European ecosystems, leading to a contrasted vegetation response following north–south and east–west gradients. The optimal Eemian forest development, c. 126ka, may have reduced the biomass of big mammals and triggered Neanderthal population decline. In contrast, the relatively warm and wet coastal areas of western Europe during the last glaciation, ~ 80–68ka, could have favoured high population density, residential mobility, and cultural diversity. During the full glacial, ~ 73–36ka, a contrasting magnitude of afforestation is observed at different latitudes in response to Dansgaard–Oeschger warming events. In the NW Mediterranean region, the largest North American iceberg discharges of Heinrich Event (HE) 4 were associated with weaker steppe expansion compared with HE 5. Southern Iberian semidesert development associated with HE 4, ~ 39ka, precluded the competition between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens giving Neanderthals the opportunity to survive a few more millennia in this region.