The Palaeolithic locality Schöningen (Germany): A review of the mammalian record

Abstract

Quaternary deposits had to be removed to get access to, and to explore the Palaeogene lignite in the area east of the village of Schöningen (Germany), and by removing the top-layers a number of archaeological sites have been discovered. In 1992 the first Palaeolithic artefacts were found and the locality became world-famous after one of the highlights of the Schöningen project, the discovery in 1995 of the Palaeolithic wooden throwing spears at the site Schö 13 II-4. The spears are found among remains of butchered horses. The mammalian fossil record of that site comprises >12,000 larger mammal and several thousands of small mammal remains. The faunal record (representing at least 30 taxa) includes remains that are scattered over the excavated area and interpreted as a natural background fossil record in a palaeolandscape in which early hominins operated. The site Schö 13 II-4 yielded, in addition to the scattered “natural background” fossils, several thousands of horse remains, many of which are smashed and butchered, from the more or less complete carcasses of 20–25 horses.Different stratigraphic horizons in the Schöningen Channels I and II, correlated with respectively the Holsteinian Interglacial (MIS 11) and the succeeding Reinsdorf Interglacial (MIS 9), yielded Palaeolithic artefacts and a large number of archaeozoological finds, including both larger and smaller mammals. The oldest fauna is Schö 13 I is from the Schöningen Channel I deposits that overlie the Elsterian glacial deposits. The faunal assemblage represents at least 11 different mammalian taxa; the assemblage does not include indicators for exclusive glacial or interglacial conditions. The Channel II deposits yielded a number of faunal assemblages dating to the second half of the Reinsdorf Interglacial. The faunal assemblages from Channel II levels 1–5 are from a period of changing climate, spanning the transition from an interglacial optimum at the base to the beginning of the following cold stage at the top. The faunal changes are, however, relatively minor which might indicate that the mammalian fauna has a high degree of resilience for the recorded climate changes.The Reinsdorf Interglacial mammalian record includes relict species such as Sorex (Drepanosorex) sp. and Trogontherium cuvieri. Their occurrences, as well as the evolutionary stage of the Arvicola molars from Schöningen Channel II, are biostratigraphic markers that indicate that the faunas have a post-Elsterian age. They are younger than the faunas such as Boxgrove (UK), Miesenheim I, Mauer, Mosbach (Germany) and older than late Middle Pleistocene faunas from sites such as Maastricht–Belvédère (The Netherlands) and Weimar–Ehringsdorf (Germany).