The Laschamps event (~41 ka BP) straddles the Mousterian-Châtelperronian transition in Western Europe

Abstract

The Laschamps event (named after the type site in the Massif Central in France) was one of the first geomagnetic excursions to be identified, and has since been found in both sedimentary and volcanic contexts across the planet [1]. The event is currently dated to around 41 thousand years ago (ka BP) and had a duration of less than one thousand years ([1] and ref therein). Given its proximity to the estimated disappearance date of Neandertals from the fossil record, the Laschamps event may serve as an important geochronological marker to refine our spatiotemporal understanding of the transition from Neandertals to Homo sapiens across Eurasia. The event caused a large increase in atmospheric 14C and is considered by some as a driver of global environmental and evolutionary changes.