Paleoclimate and intersite correlations from late Pleistocene/Holocene cave sites: Results from southern Europe

During the last 10 years or so, magnetic susceptibility (MS) measurements o f cave sediments from archaeological sites have been used for intrasite cor relation and paleoclimate estimation. This is possible, if the context is a ppropriate, because the MS of these sediments result from climate processes active outside eaves causing variations in magnetic properties of the sedi ments ultimately accumulating inside of caves. Once deposited, these materi als are preserved, and their stratigraphy provides a climate proxy that can be extracted. Here, using the magnetosusceptibility event and cyclostratig raphy (MSEC) method and graphic correlation, we present a paleoclimatic fra mework for the last 40,000 years for southern Europe and demonstrate the in tersite correlation power of the method. Our preliminary result for souther n Europe represents climate fluctuations from similar to 43,000 to similar to3,000 yr B.P. (we use here uncalibrated ages). The results correlate well with independent climate indicators, and because these data are robust, th ey can be used in relative dating. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.