Preliminary study of the rodent assemblages of Goda Buticha: New insights on Late Quaternary environmental and cultural changes in southeastern Ethiopia

摘要: Given its proximity to the Strait of Bab el Mandeb and Red Sea, Horn Africa is particularly important for understanding human faunal migration events from Africa. Towards end Pleistocene, Middle/Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) transition represents a critical step in cultural evolution. However, Africa, environmental conditions associated with this remain poorly understood. The Goda Buticha (Buticha cave) sequence, located southeastern Ethiopia, dated ca. 63 ka cal BP 1 BP, provides rare opportunity examine contexts major sequences documented region during time period. A preliminary analysis rich microvertebrate (and especially rodent) remains recovered levels between 43 4 identified fourteen different rodent genera, including two species that are locally extinct Ethiopia today. While taphonomic signature similar throughout indicating an situ accumulation by owl without perturbation, palaeoecological showed change through time, characterized open-dry setting Late shifting wetter more wooded heading Holocene. These results generally consistent other diverse records which include large mammals, speleothems lake basins records, allow better dynamics observed continuity eastern Pleistocene