Lateglacial insect assemblages from the Palaeolithic site Slotseng: New evidence concerning climate and environment in SW Denmark

The Slotseng site represents Paleolithic settlements of the Havelte phase of the Hamburgian culture (c. 15 to 14 cal ka BP). The Lateglacial sediment stratigraphy of an adjacent kettle hole was studied in a multidisciplinary project, including the analysis of pollen, macroscopic plant remains, vertebrate bones, and insect remains. In this article the results from the insect analysis are presented. Twelve samples were analysed from a monolith, which chronologically spans from ca. 15,500 to 13,600 cal BP. 108 taxa of Coleoptera and 15 taxa of Trichoptera, Hemiptera, Megaloptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera were recorded. The beetle assemblages indicate an open heath environment with shrub and herb vegetation during this period, with only minor changes during the stadials and interstadials. This is in good agreement with the interpretations based on pollen and plant macrofossil analyses. The presence of dung beetles indicates that reindeer herds grazed in the vicinity of the site. A number of finds of the carrion beetle Thanatophilus dispar suggest that fish may have been a complementary food resource for the hunters at Slotseng. MCR reconstructions indicate arctic/subarctic climate conditions during the periods GS-2a (Pre-Bølling) and GI-1d (Older Dryas) with mean summer temperatures ∼9-13 °C and mean winter temperatures ∼−3 to −20 °C. During the interstadials GI-1e (Bølling) and GI-1c (Allerød 1) mean summer temperatures were ∼14-16 °C, but mean winter temperatures remained similar to those during the colder periods. The reconstructed environments and living conditions for the Paleolithic hunters show striking similarities with contemporaneous conditions reconstructed for Magdalenian/Azilian sites at Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland.