Middle Paleolithic complex technology and a Neandertal tar-backed tool from the Dutch North Sea.

We report the discovery of a 50,000-y-old birch tar-hafted flint tool found off the present-day coastline of The Netherlands. The production of adhesives and multicomponent tools is considered complex technology and has a prominent place in discussions about the evolution of human behavior. This find provides evidence on the technological capabilities of Neandertals and illuminates the currently debated conditions under which these technologies could be maintained.

Fuel remains in archaeological contexts: Experimental and archaeological evidence for recognizing remains in hearths used by Iron Age farmers who lived in peatlands.

In the archaeological record, ash and charred organic material are the only indications of the type of fuel used by ancient societies to feed their fires. This potential source of information may help further understanding of past human behaviour in relation to fuel selection, applied type of fire and function of fires lit in hearths. This study examined ash from reference samples and ash and char samples recovered from an Iron Age peatland site in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands.

Pollution and Oral Bioaccessibility of Pb in Soils of Villages and Cities with a Long Habitation History.

The Dutch cities Utrecht and Wijk bij Duurstede were founded by the Romans around 50 B.C. and the village Fijnaart and Graft-De Rijp around 1600 A.

Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving.

The manufacture of geometric engravings is generally interpreted as indicative of modern cognition and behaviour. Key questions in the debate on the origin of such behaviour are whether this innovation is restricted to Homo sapiens, and whether it has a uniquely African origin. Here we report on a fossil freshwater shell assemblage from the Hauptknochenschicht ('main bone layer') of Trinil (Java, Indonesia), the type locality of Homo erectus discovered by Eugène Dubois in 1891 (refs 2 and 3).

Influence of hydropower dams on the composition of the suspended and riverbank sediments in the Danube.

Large hydropower dams have major impacts on flow regime, sediment transport and the characteristics of water and sediment in downstream rivers. The Gabcikovo and Iron Gate dams divide the studied Danube transect (rkm 1895-795) into three parts. In the Gabcikovo Reservoir (length of 40km) only a part of the incoming suspended sediments were deposited.

Comparison of toxicity of zinc for soil microbial processes between laboratory-contamined and polluted field soils.

Soil microbial processes are readily disturbed by added zinc (Zn) in laboratory ecotoxicity tests. This study compares Zn toxicity between freshly spiked soils and soils that have been contaminated with Zn in the field. Soils were sampled in three transects (< 80 m) toward galvanized electricity transmission towers (pylons).