Interdisciplinary investigations of the late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel”. Hugo Obermaier Society for Quaternary Research and Archaeology of the Stone Age: 57th Annual Meeting in Heidenheim, 7th – 11th April 2015, 36-37.
Liane Giemsch, Susanne C. Feine, Kurt W. Alt, Qiaomei Fu, Corina Knipper, Johannes Krause, Sarah ... more Liane Giemsch, Susanne C. Feine, Kurt W. Alt, Qiaomei Fu, Corina Knipper, Johannes Krause, Sarah Lacy, Olaf Nehlich, Constanze Niess, Svante Pääbo, Alfred Pawlik, Michael P. Richards, Verena Schünemann, Martin Street, Olaf Thalmann, Johann Tinnes, Erik Trinkaus & Ralf W. Schmitz.
Interdisciplinary investigations of the late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel
The late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel, with its unique combination of finds is one of the most important research sources for the Late Glacial in Central Europe. Due to the large number of questions concerning the find ensemble, late Palaeolithic humans in general, and also due to the approaching 100th anniversary of the discovery, the University of Bonn and the LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn has launched a complete scientific reinvestigation of the find complex. The anthropological studies of the human skeletons provided in addition to their sex and the attained age also answers to the questions of injuries and diseases of the two individuals. Stable isotope analyzes yielded answers to questions about nutrition and to determine the regions where the individuals grew up. With the help of a forensic facial reconstruction method we get an idea of the physical appearance of our ancestors from Oberkassel. The genetic studies on the human skeletons provide further information about their degree of relationship to each other and their phylogenetic position within the populations of Europe; they also help to date the expansion of modern humans out of Africa. Important questions regarding the domestication of wolves could be answered using mtDNA-analysis at the Oberkasseler dog and confirm that the Oberkasseler animal skeleton is a direct ancestor of today’s dogs. Among other things microCT-scans and experimental reconstructions clarified the motive and the material from which the grave goods are made. In 2012 we conducted fieldwork at the site in the quarry in Bonn-Oberkassel, aiming at the location of still undisturbed glacial layers and shifted sediments from the destroyed burial and thus to gain important insights into the chronology and the original site. In fact it might also reveal whether the burial from the Rabenlay is a singular event, part of a repeatedly visited burial site or whether it corresponds to a nearby, as yet undiscovered living site.
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Interdisciplinary investigations of the late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel
The late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel, with its unique combination of finds is one of the most important research sources for the Late Glacial in Central Europe. Due to the large number of questions concerning the find ensemble, late Palaeolithic humans in general, and also due to the approaching 100th anniversary of the discovery, the University of Bonn and the LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn has launched a complete scientific reinvestigation of the find complex. The anthropological studies of the human skeletons provided in addition to their sex and the attained age also answers to the questions of injuries and diseases of the two individuals. Stable isotope analyzes yielded answers to questions about nutrition and to determine the regions where the individuals grew up. With the help of a forensic facial reconstruction method we get an idea of the physical appearance of our ancestors from Oberkassel. The genetic studies on the human skeletons provide further information about their degree of relationship to each other and their phylogenetic position within the populations of Europe; they also help to date the expansion of modern humans out of Africa. Important questions regarding the domestication of wolves could be answered using mtDNA-analysis at the Oberkasseler dog and confirm that the Oberkasseler animal skeleton is a direct ancestor of today’s dogs. Among other things microCT-scans and experimental reconstructions clarified the motive and the material from which the grave goods are made. In 2012 we conducted fieldwork at the site in the quarry in Bonn-Oberkassel, aiming at the location of still undisturbed glacial layers and shifted sediments from the destroyed burial and thus to gain important insights into the chronology and the original site. In fact it might also reveal whether the burial from the Rabenlay is a singular event, part of a repeatedly visited burial site or whether it corresponds to a nearby, as yet undiscovered living site.