Praehistoria 7-8. 2006-2007 [antikvár]

EDITOR'S FOREWORD Dietrich Mania (193 8-) and Ursula Mania (1937-) have played major roles in Eastern-German Palaeolithic and Quaternary research for more than four decades. They have advanced scientific knowledge not only through the discovery and excavation of sites, but alsó through their results in the methodology of complex interdisciplinary research. Königsaue, Markkleeberg, Neumark-Nord, Schöningen, and especially Bilzingsleben have largely expanded our knowledge of the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic of Central Europe. These sites and their scientific publications are highly acknowledged in international research. The detailed natural scientific investigations of brown coal mines and travertines in Saxony and Thuringia - in close co-operation with specialists in geology, geomorphology, palaeontology, palaeobotany and palaeoanthropology - resulted in exemplary palaeoecological analyses. These works reconstructed the Pleistocene climate and environmental history of the Elba and Saale regions and allowed for the correlation of sedimentation sequences with travertine and terrace sequences. This largely contributed to a better understanding of Northern-European Middle and Upper Pleistocene climatic cycles. Similarly to the Gábori couple, the Manias were alsó aided by good luck as well as scientific qualities. They initiated the journal Prehistoria Thuringiaca, which created a high-quality publication fórum for the presentation of scientific results. In the joint 7-8 volumes of Praehistoria, we publish richly illustrated and exemplary studies by Dietrich and Ursula Mania, offering our tribute to their scientific oeuvre. r Árpád Ringer Editor-in-Chief