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. Archaeological research in high mountain regions has gotten a lot more attention sincethe discovery of the copper age mummy called “Ötzi” in the ÖtztalerAlps in 1991. In the Tyrolean Stubai Alps, the Mesolithic site Ullafelsen at1869 m a.s.l. (above sea level) close to the recent upper timberline in the Fotsch Valleyrepresents, on the one hand, a very important archaeological reference siteand offers, on the other hand, intriguing research questions related to, amongstothers, pedogenesis. Given that no biomarkers and stable isotopeshave been hitherto investigated, we aimed at contributing with respective analyses andadditional radiocarbon dating to a better understanding of the landscapeevolution and pedogenesis on and around the Ullafelsen. Our results for modern vegetation suggest that leaf-wax-derived n-alkanesallow us to chemotaxonomically distinguish between subalpine deciduous trees(nC27 predominance) versus (sub)alpine grasses, herbs and dwarf shrubs(nC29, nC31 and/or nC33 predominance). Except for Juniperus, conifersproduce no or extremely low n-alkane contents. Although no clear vegetationchanges could be inferred from the n-alkane patterns of the investigated soilprofiles, the total n-alkane content (TAC) was developed for the first timeas an unambiguous proxy for distinguishing between buried (= fossil) topsoils(2Ahb horizons) and humus-enriched subsoils such as Bh horizons of podzols.Based on this leaf wax proxy, we can rule out that the 2Ahb?/Bh? horizonsunder question on the Ullafelsen are buried topsoils as suggestedpreviously. Dating of the H2O2-pretreated soil samples yielded14C ages for the podzol Bh horizons ranging from 6.7 to 5.4 cal kyr BP. This is clearly younger than the overlying Mesolithic living floor (LL)(10.9 to 9.5 cal kyr BP) but pre-dates the assumed intensification ofalpine pasturing from the Bronze Age onwards. Both the LL and the directlyoverlying OAh3 horizon yielded black carbon maxima and benzenepolycarboxylic acid patterns reflecting fire-induced human impact during theMesolithic. The discrepancy between the Mesolithic charcoal 14C ages(ages of ≥ 9.5 cal kyr BP) versus the 14C ages obtained for bulkn-alkanes ranging from 8.2 to 4.9 cal kyr BP suggests that non-alkane-producing conifers predominated the vegetation on and around the Ullafelsenafter the Mesolithic occupation. Only with the anthropo-zoological loweringof the timberline associated with alpine pasturing since the Neolithic andespecially the Bronze Age has an n-alkane-producing vegetation cover (grasses,herbs or dwarf shrubs) started to predominate.

eiszeitalter und gegenwart

Revisiting the subalpine Mesolithic site Ullafelsen in the Fotsch Valley, Stubai Alps, Austria – new insights into pedogenesis and landscape evolution from leaf-wax-derived &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;n&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;-alkanes, black carbon and radiocarbon dating