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Figure 13.4 Transects across Europe from south to north showing schematic repre-
sentations of the vegetation belts associated with glacial and interglacial stages (modi-
fi ed from van der Hammen et al., 1971). We know from the long pollen records in
the Mediterranean that trees survived in the south throughout the Pleistocene.
Without the presence of long-term refugia in the south, northern tree populations
could not be re-established during interglacials.
of the Alps and the Mediterranean region is shown as a steppe environment. Each
ecosystem would have supported a range of fauna including large herbivores such
as mammoths, reindeer and horses, and each presented a range of opportunities and
challenges for human societies (Gamble, 1986). These and other fauna have been
recorded from the bone assemblages recovered from the excavation of Middle and
Upper Palaeolithic sites across the region. These animals are also represented in the
cave paintings of France and northern Spain where the galleries provide wonderful
insights into the geography of ice age Europe and showcase the creativity and skill
of Upper Palaeolithic human groups (Figure 13.2). The cold stage geography of
Europe will be discussed in more detail below.
The Quiet Revolution: Rapid Climate Change
Shackleton continued to work on much longer cores throughout the 1970s and
1980s and he extended the oxygen isotope record back for the entire Quaternary
and deep into pre-Quaternary time. This work provided the fi rst indications of a
Quaternary geography that was far more dynamic than anyone had previously
contemplated. Figure 13.5 shows four long proxy climate records. Figure 13.5a is
an oxygen isotope curve for the entire Quaternary from ODP Site 677. This is a
much longer record than the one from core V28-238 shown in fi gure 13.3 as it
shows changes in global ice volume over the last 2.5 million years. This remarkable
pattern of environmental change was compiled by Shackleton and Crowhurst (1996)
and it includes several magnetic reversals back to MIS 104. There is an important
step change around 900,000 years BP (MIS 22) known as the mid-Pleistocene Revo-
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