Organizers of the section:

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1 Eurasian archaeological, anthropological and palaeoenvironmental patterns synchronous to H4 event or palaeomagnetic excursion Laschamp or Campanian Ignimbrite catastrophe and their role in Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transition. Organizers of the section: Galina Levkovskaya (Institute of History of Material Cultural RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia), e mail: gmleaa@yandex.ru Paolo Gambassiny (Universita degli studi di Siena; Siena, Italy), e mail: ronchitelli@unisi.it Nikolai Anisutkin (Institute of History of Material Cultural RAS, St. Petersburg, Russia) AnnaMaria Ronchitelly (Universita degli studi di Siena; Siena, Italy), e mail: ronchitelli@unisi.it Palaeomagnetic excursion Laschamp (about cal. years BP, by Guillou et al., 2004), Campanian Ignimbrite eruption (CI=Y5) in Southern Italy (about years BP, by Fedele et al., 2003; it influenced on global climatic processes) and H4 event (extremely cold and dry global climatic oscillation with abrupt climatic transition to it) are the best palaeoenvironmental markers for intercontinental correlations of Late Middle Palaeolithic or Early Upper Palaeolithic material culture complexes, anthropological finds and palaeoenvironmental patterns of Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transition time called by some archaeologists [Bar Jozef, 2000, 2002; Vishnyatsky, 2000] even as the Upper Palaeolithic revolution time. This revolution was characterized by very complicated cultural and anthropological processes: by the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transitions, Neanderthals extinctions and Homo sapiens sapiens migrations in many regions of Eurasia between years BP but by appearance of such innovations at other territories later than 35 kyr. BP (as example at Black sea area of Western Caucasus Upper Palaeolithic sites appeared only about years BP [Liubin, 1977; Amirkhanov et al, 1993; Chistyakov, 1995; Kulakov, 2005] though the most ancient Upper Palaeolithic cultures existed in Eurasia before Campanian Ignimbrite and Laschamp excursion in the Kostenki Borshevo region of Russian Plain [see Science from ], in Uzbekistan (Obi Rahmat), Altai [Деревянко, Шуньков, 2004; Деревянко, 2005] and possibly in other regions..

2 These complicated processes and the causes of their differences could be understood only as a result of the intercontinental correct correlations of the regional archaeological, anthropological and palaeoenvironmental patterns. The EAA Wenner Gren Foundation grants for the scientists from the Eastern Europe and the publication in English of some abstracts about the new archaeological, anthropological and palaeoenvironmental materials which were published during last years in Russian and are practically unknown to West European scientists due to kirilliza print give the unique chance to organize the meeting of scientists which are working on the same problems but on materials from different parts of our continent and to solve some intercontinental problems of Middle/Upper Palaeolithic transition, based on comparing of materials from many regions of Eurasia (Mediterranean, Central and Western Europe, Caucasus, Siberia, etc.). It is planned to discuss on the section four groups of the problems: A) different archaeological problems; B) problems with dating of the complexes of material culture of chronological interval years BP; C) problems of interactions (or noninteractions) of some cultural historical and palaeoenvironmental processes of Middle/Upper Palaeolithic "revolution" time; D) palaeoenvironmental discussions on interval years BP which are especially important for archaeology. A. Group of archaeological problems: the specificity of Late Middle Palaeolithic archaeological complexes of different regions of Eurasia; the specificity of Early Upper Palaeolithic complexes; the time and the place of appearance of Early Upper Palaeolithic in Eurasia; problem of existence or non existence of lacunas between the times of Neanderthals extinctions and appearance of Homo sapiens sapiens in different regions of Eurasia; B. Chronological problems: difficulties in synchronizations of archaeological processes because now many archaeologists use for their conclusions chronology of the sites based on C14 noncalibrated dating but others the calendar chronology based on different methods (including calibrated C14 dating), besides this they use different scales for these calibrations. But the ages of some noncalibrated and calibrated C14 dating differ from each other (sometimes even for about years).

3 As example the noncalibrated C14 datings of the Protoaurignacian layer under CI volcanic ash in cave site Serina from Southern Italy [Accorsi et al, 1979; Fedele et al., 2003] and Early Upper Palaeolithic layer in CI tephra at Kostenki 14 site [Sinizin, 2003] are 31200±650 and 32420±440 years BP. The calibrations of mentioned above Kostenki 14 dating 32420±440 (GrA 18053) showed that its calendar ages are only a little younger than age of Campanian Ignimbrite. They are following: 36800±400 or 37300±500 or 37300±600 or 37835±814 Cal.years BP. These calibrations were carried out by D.Pyle [Pyle et al., 2005] and J.Hoffecker [Hoffecker et al., in press] on the basis of correlation of dating with GRIP scale dated by varvochronology or using different calibration curves [Weinger and Cal Pal, 2004; Cal Pal, 2005; Fairbanks et al., 2005; the last curve is based on 230 Th/ 234 U/ 238 U on pristine coral samples]. The section will allow to analyze some dating (ORSL/IRSL,TL, 40 Th /39 Th, C14 calibrated and C14 noncalibrated, etc.) of the sediments with archaeological complexes from the point of view of their correlations or non correlations with the ages of some stadialsinterstadials, rapid oscillations on δ18o or δ13c isotope glacial, marine or stalagmite curves (GRIP, GISP, Villars cave, etc.) and on best dated regional pollen standards (like published by different scientists famous pollen diagrams of sediments of Monticchio lake in Italy with 14 buried horizons of volcanic ashes, Dzigutski peat bog in Abhazia with 7 radiocarbon dating from to years BP or Kurtak section in Eastern Siberia, etc.) C. Problems of interactions of cultural and palaeoenvironmental processes: types of cultural "answers" on three most significant events or catastrophes of isotope stage 3 (palaeomagnetic excursion Laschamp, Campanian Ignimbrite eruption of the Flegrean Fields in Italy and HE4 event), which influenced on many palaeoenvironmental factors of all Northern Hemisphere (soils, sediments, vegetation, palaeozoological complexes, global climatic processes, etc.) and could be (in some regions) even the causes of geobotanical crises, that recently [Levkovskaya et al., 2005] showed the results of using statistical palynoteratical method: [Levkovskaya, 1999] for studying of the layer with tephra from Kostenki 12 site. It is planned to discuss the possible role of some mentioned above palaeoenvironmental factors in change of material culture comlexes, areals of some Late Middle Palaeolithic or Early Upper Palaeolithic archaeological cultures, migration processes of Homo sapiens sapiens, extinctions of Neanderthals, disappearing of Middle Palaeolithic palaeozoogical complexes, etc.

4 D. Problems of the quantity and chronology of some geological markers which are especially important for dating or interregional correlations of Late Middle or Early Upper Palaeolithic sites: problem of influence of one (or some) eruptions with trachytic volcanic ash on appearance of tephra (or tephras) in sections of some Late Palaeolithic or Early Upper Palaeolithic sites of Europe: in Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Kostenki Borshevo region of Russian plain, etc. It is important to discuss the last problem in context of: 1) finds in Adriatic sea of four tephras of the same geochemical trachytic composition from one Flegrian Fields volcanic province but with datings: 40,0 +/ 2,0 kyr (C 13), 41,8 +/ 2,0 kyr (C 14), 51,0 +/ 2,2 kyr (C 16) and 55,4 +/ 2,2 kyr BP (C 17) [by Paterne, 1992]; 2) discovery of tephras in Kostenki in the buried soils and in mineral sediments; 3) correlations of some tephras from Flegrian Fields eruptions in Monticchio lake section with different pollen zones; some Lashamp problems: 1) causes of long or short chronology of palaeomagnetic excursion Lashamp Kargapolovo ( or about years BP); 2) existence of one or two Lashamp excursions; 3) correlations of excursions Lashamp, Olby and (in Russia) Kargapolovo; problem of palaeoclimatic specificity of H4 event (cold and extremely dry or dry and extremely cold) and criteria of its differentiation from other cold and dry oscillations of isotope stage 3; hypotheses about the close stratigraphic relationship [Bond et al., 1999; Voelker et al., 2000; Yiou et al., 1997; Fedele et al., 2003] between: 1) the CI tephra (У5 in marine Mediterranean 2 sediments); 2) the isotope signal of this eruption about years BP in stratosphere: SO 4 peak of 375 ppb on the GISP2 Greenland ice core isotope scale; 3) the drastic abrupt event Heinrich H4 (this abrupt fall of temperature could be the result of CI eruption: of the large 2 quantity of SO 4 aerosols in stratosphere); 4) the Laschamp excursion (this excursion began before CI); 5) the isotope signal of this excursion in stratosphere: Be 10 peak which corresponds to the minimum of geomagnetic field intensity within the isotope stage 3 [by Fedele et al., 2003, p.311]. The idea of organization of this section is the result of scientific researches of organizers of this section. But only the financial support of EAA and Wenner Grenn Foundation will allow to combine the efforts of scientists from Eastern and Western Europe and specialists on different methods of researches of materials from archaeological sites for joint deciding of some most important for Palaeolithic archaeology problems

5 List of titles of planned ( ) abstracts to the EAA section "Eurasian archaeological, anthropological and palaeoenvironmental patterns synchronous to HE4 event or palaeomagnetic excursion Laschamp or Campanian Ignimbrite catastrophe (in context of Middle/Upper Paleolithic transition)". 1. N.Anisutkin (Institute for the History of Material Culture RAN, St. Petersburg, Russia): "Place and time of appearance of Late Palaeolithic in Eurasia" 2. G.Levkovskaya (Institute for the History of Material Culture RAN, St. Petersburg, Russia), Hoffecker J., Housley R., Anikovich M., Popov S., Lisizin S., Anisutkin N., Pospelova G. "Archaeological and abrupt environmental "answers" on Campanian Ignimbrite (Italy) and H4 event in Kostenki region with most ancient in Europe Upper Palaeolithic sites." 3. M.Anikovich (Institute for the History of Material Culture RAN, St. Petersburg, Russia): "Some patterns of transitions from Middle to Upper Palaeolithic (in context of new data on Early Upper Palaeolithic of Eastern Europe)". 4. S.Lisizin (Institute for the History of Material Culture RAN, St. Petersburg, Russia): "Discussion problems stratigraphy of CI tephra in Kostenki region". 5. V.Popov (Museum reservation "Kostenki", Voronezh, Russia): "Some new data on stratigraphy of the sediments with most ancient Upper Palaeolithic layers of Kostenki Borshevo region". 6. G.Pospelova (Institute of the Physics of the Earth of O.J.Schmidt RAN, Moscow, Russia): "Magnetic and palaeomagnetic characteristics of Kostenki Borshevo region Early Upper Palaeolithic sediments (in the context of discussion problems of palaeomagnetic excursion Lashamp Kargapolovo)". 7. M.Sablin (Zoological Institute RAN, St. Petersburg, Russia): "New researches of the Kostenki fauna complexes of the sediments under Y5 (CI) tephra (K1, K12, K17 sites)". 8. L. Vishnyatsky (Institute for the History of Material Culture RAN, St. Petersburg, Russia): "A quantitative approach to the study of cultural dynamics in the Middle and early Upper Paleolithic". 9. Report of P.Gambassiny and Anna Maria Ronchitelli (Universita degli studi di Siena; Siena, Italy) (Italian archaeology) 10. Report of Sulpizio () (about CI tephras)