Patrick M.M.A. Bringmans
Encyclopedia
Patrick M.M.A. Bringmans was born November 28, 1970 in Hasselt, Belgium
to Albert and Elly Bringmans-Jans. He is a Belgian archaeologist and paleoanthropologist whose main field of study has been the Palaeolithic period.
, Belgium
, where he received a bachelor's degree in Archaeology
and Art History
and where he received a master's degree in Archaeology
.
Bringmans then continued at the same university at the Laboratory of Prehistory (Dir. Prof. Dr. (now Emeritus
) Pierre M. Vermeersch), where he spent his early career, for a Ph.D. in Archaeology
. His doctoral dissertation (2006) read: "Multiple Middle Palaeolithic Occupations in a Loess-soil Sequence at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
, Limburg, Belgium".
Patrick M.M.A. Bringmans wrote his dissertation under the direction of Prof. Dr. Pierre M. Vermeersch, a Belgian geographer and archaeologist who had been trained in European prehistoric archaeology by Belgian geologist Frans Gullentops and French prehistorian François Bordes
. Vermeersch worked on both the Paleolithic
of Europe
and Africa
.
ian sites including Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
, Belgium
and Sodmein Cave, Egypt
. Bringmans was the field director of excavations at the Middle Paleolithic site of Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
from 1998 to 2005. He has also been co-director of the "Belgian Middle Egypt Prehistoric Project" in 1999 and 2001. This research project of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
was established in 1976 by Prof. Dr. Pierre M. Vermeersch, who remained the head-director until 2003.
In 2006, Bringmans was appointed as Head Curator at the archaeological museum in Heerlen
, The Netherlands.
In 2008, Dr. Bringmans was invited to serve as a Guest Professor of Paleoanthropology
at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
, Belgium.
and teaching interests include archaeological method and theory, Quaternary
research, geoarchaeology
, especially loess
-stratigraphy
and paleosols, lithic
technology, dating methods in archaeology
and human evolution
.
The majority of Bringmans' archaeological work has been centered around Neandertals in Western Europe
, and more particularly on the stone tools, which are thought to have been the primary mode of their "technology complex".
One of his main research
interests concerns the changing pattern of human
dispersal under shifting late Middle and Late Pleistocene
climates in NW Europe
. In his Ph.D. dissertation Bringmans has combined climatic modeling
, geology
, archaeology
and oxygen isotope analysis to find out when and how NW Europe
could have been occupied by Neandertals.
He claims that terrestrial sediment archives (e.g. loess
) provide detailed records of past climatic variability and change on millennial and sub-millennial time scales. Climate
-proxy
records can be obtained from most terrestrial sediments, as has been the case at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
.
Bringmans believes that NW Europe
was too hostile for humans during the interglacial
/glacial climate extremes. He also claims that NW Europe
seems to have been a bit of a wasteland during much of the late Middle and Late Pleistocene
as well.
According to Bringmans, only a few well-preserved archaeological sites such as Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
, Maastricht
-Belvédère and Rheindahlen
offer unique snapshots of Middle Paleolithic
people appearing in NW Europe
for a short spell and then going away again.
Bringmans claims that the number of Neandertals present in NW Europe
may have fluctuated significantly from one period to the next, especially near the margins of ecological tolerance.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
to Albert and Elly Bringmans-Jans. He is a Belgian archaeologist and paleoanthropologist whose main field of study has been the Palaeolithic period.
Education
Bringmans enrolled at the Katholieke Universiteit LeuvenKatholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, where he received a bachelor's degree in Archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and Art History
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
and where he received a master's degree in Archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
.
Bringmans then continued at the same university at the Laboratory of Prehistory (Dir. Prof. Dr. (now Emeritus
Emeritus
Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...
) Pierre M. Vermeersch), where he spent his early career, for a Ph.D. in Archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
. His doctoral dissertation (2006) read: "Multiple Middle Palaeolithic Occupations in a Loess-soil Sequence at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
Veldwezelt-Hezerwater is a Palaeolithic archaeological site in the municipality of Lanaken in the province of Limburg, Belgium.-Context:The successive archaeological excavation campaigns at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater, Belgium, provide important remains of at least five separate Middle Palaeolithic...
, Limburg, Belgium".
Patrick M.M.A. Bringmans wrote his dissertation under the direction of Prof. Dr. Pierre M. Vermeersch, a Belgian geographer and archaeologist who had been trained in European prehistoric archaeology by Belgian geologist Frans Gullentops and French prehistorian François Bordes
François Bordes
François Bordes , also known by the pen name of Francis Carsac, was a French scientist, geologist, and archaeologist. He was a professor of prehistory and quaternary geology at the Science Faculty of Bordeaux...
. Vermeersch worked on both the Paleolithic
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
Archaeological work
Dr. Bringmans has excavated widely on prehistoric Belgian and EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian sites including Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
Veldwezelt-Hezerwater is a Palaeolithic archaeological site in the municipality of Lanaken in the province of Limburg, Belgium.-Context:The successive archaeological excavation campaigns at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater, Belgium, provide important remains of at least five separate Middle Palaeolithic...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Sodmein Cave, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. Bringmans was the field director of excavations at the Middle Paleolithic site of Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
Veldwezelt-Hezerwater is a Palaeolithic archaeological site in the municipality of Lanaken in the province of Limburg, Belgium.-Context:The successive archaeological excavation campaigns at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater, Belgium, provide important remains of at least five separate Middle Palaeolithic...
from 1998 to 2005. He has also been co-director of the "Belgian Middle Egypt Prehistoric Project" in 1999 and 2001. This research project of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
was established in 1976 by Prof. Dr. Pierre M. Vermeersch, who remained the head-director until 2003.
In 2006, Bringmans was appointed as Head Curator at the archaeological museum in Heerlen
Heerlen
Heerlen is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the province of Limburg. It forms part of Parkstad Limburg, , an agglomeration of about 220,000 inhabitants.After its early Roman beginnings and a rather modest medieval period, Heerlen...
, The Netherlands.
In 2008, Dr. Bringmans was invited to serve as a Guest Professor of Paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints.-19th century:...
at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a Dutch-speaking university in Flanders, Belgium.It is located at the centre of the historic town of Leuven, and is a prominent part of the city, home to the university since 1425...
, Belgium.
Archaeological theories
Bringmans' researchResearch
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
and teaching interests include archaeological method and theory, Quaternary
Quaternary
The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...
research, geoarchaeology
Geoarchaeology
Geoarchaeology is a multi-disciplinary approach which uses the techniques and subject matter of geography, geology and other Earth sciences to examine topics which inform archaeological knowledge and thought...
, especially loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
-stratigraphy
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphy, a branch of geology, studies rock layers and layering . It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks....
and paleosols, lithic
Lithic
Lithic may refer to:*a stone tool*Lithic analysis*Lithic stage*Lithic core *Lithic reduction *Lithic technology *Lithic flake *Lithic fragment...
technology, dating methods in archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and human evolution
Human evolution
Human evolution refers to the evolutionary history of the genus Homo, including the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species and as a unique category of hominids and mammals...
.
The majority of Bringmans' archaeological work has been centered around Neandertals in Western Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and more particularly on the stone tools, which are thought to have been the primary mode of their "technology complex".
One of his main research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
interests concerns the changing pattern of human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
dispersal under shifting late Middle and Late Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
climates in NW Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. In his Ph.D. dissertation Bringmans has combined climatic modeling
Scientific modelling
Scientific modelling is the process of generating abstract, conceptual, graphical and/or mathematical models. Science offers a growing collection of methods, techniques and theory about all kinds of specialized scientific modelling...
, geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and oxygen isotope analysis to find out when and how NW Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
could have been occupied by Neandertals.
He claims that terrestrial sediment archives (e.g. loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
) provide detailed records of past climatic variability and change on millennial and sub-millennial time scales. Climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
-proxy
Proxy (climate)
In the study of past climates is known as paleoclimatology, climate proxies are preserved physical characteristics of the past that stand in for direct measurements , to enable scientists to reconstruct the climatic conditions that prevailed during much of the Earth's history...
records can be obtained from most terrestrial sediments, as has been the case at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
Veldwezelt-Hezerwater is a Palaeolithic archaeological site in the municipality of Lanaken in the province of Limburg, Belgium.-Context:The successive archaeological excavation campaigns at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater, Belgium, provide important remains of at least five separate Middle Palaeolithic...
.
Bringmans believes that NW Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
was too hostile for humans during the interglacial
Interglacial
An Interglacial period is a geological interval of warmer global average temperature lasting thousands of years that separates consecutive glacial periods within an ice age...
/glacial climate extremes. He also claims that NW Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
seems to have been a bit of a wasteland during much of the late Middle and Late Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
as well.
According to Bringmans, only a few well-preserved archaeological sites such as Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
Veldwezelt-Hezerwater
Veldwezelt-Hezerwater is a Palaeolithic archaeological site in the municipality of Lanaken in the province of Limburg, Belgium.-Context:The successive archaeological excavation campaigns at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater, Belgium, provide important remains of at least five separate Middle Palaeolithic...
, Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
-Belvédère and Rheindahlen
Rheindahlen
Rheindahlen may refer to*RAF Rheindahlen*Rheindahlen Military Complex*Rheindahlen, Mönchengladbach...
offer unique snapshots of Middle Paleolithic
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
people appearing in NW Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
for a short spell and then going away again.
Bringmans claims that the number of Neandertals present in NW Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
may have fluctuated significantly from one period to the next, especially near the margins of ecological tolerance.
Selected bibliography
- Bringmans, P.M.M.A., Vermeersch, P.M., Gullentops, F., Groenendijk, A.J., Meijs, E.P.M., de Warrimont, J.-P. & Cordy, J.-M. 2003. Preliminary Excavation Report on the Middle Palaeolithic Valley Settlements at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater (prov. of Limburg). Archeologie in Vlaanderen - Archaeology in Flanders 1999/2000 VII: 9-30.
- Bringmans, P.M.M.A., Vermeersch, P.M., Groenendijk, A.J., Meijs, E.P.M., de Warrimont, J.-P. & Gullentops, F. 2004. The Late Saalian Middle Palaeolithic "Lower-Sites" at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater (Limburg - Belgium). In: Le Secrétariat du Congrès (eds), Acts of the XIVth UISPP Congress, University of Liège, Belgium. September 2–8, 2001. Section 5: The Middle Palaeolithic. Oxford. British Archaeological Reports (BAR) International Series 1239: 187-195.
See also
- Veldwezelt-HezerwaterVeldwezelt-HezerwaterVeldwezelt-Hezerwater is a Palaeolithic archaeological site in the municipality of Lanaken in the province of Limburg, Belgium.-Context:The successive archaeological excavation campaigns at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater, Belgium, provide important remains of at least five separate Middle Palaeolithic...
- Middle PaleolithicMiddle PaleolithicThe Middle Paleolithic is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleolithic in African archeology. The Middle Paleolithic and the Middle Stone Age...
- ArchaeologyArchaeologyArchaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
- Stone ageStone AgeThe Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
- LevalloisLevalloisLevallois may refer to:*Levallois-Perret, a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France.*Levallois technique *Nicolas-Eugène Levallois*Levallois SC, a current French football club...
- NeanderthalNeanderthalThe Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
- PaleoanthropologyPaleoanthropologyPaleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints.-19th century:...
- Prepared-core techniquePrepared-core techniqueThe prepared-core technique is means of producing stone tools by first preparing common stone cores that can then be shaped into the desired implement.-First evidence:...
Sources
- http://www.kuleuven.be/doctoraatsverdediging/cm/3E98/3E980460.htm