0000000000116965
AUTHOR
Paloma Vidal-matutano
Macrobotanical evidence (wood charcoal and seeds) from the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt, Eastern Iberia: Palaeoenvironmental data and plant resources catchment areas
Despite the current growing number of studies that focus on macrobotanical remains from Middle Palaeolithiccontexts, plant use among hunter-gatherer societies remains unknown in many regions of Europe. Large-scaleflotation of archaeological sediments has made it possible to recover a large amount of plant remains (fruits,seeds and wood) from units VIII, IX, Xa and Xb at El Salt, Eastern Iberia (49.2–52.3 ka BP). The combination ofanthracological and carpological analyses has provided a more accurate picture of the Middle Palaeolithiclandscape in the Serpis valley, as well as significant information about other possible uses of plants, not only asfuel, but for woodworking or food, for instan…
Disentangling scattered charcoal assemblages for palimpsest dissection: Spatial analyses from El Salt Stratigraphic Unit Xb (Eastern Iberia)
International audience; Disentangling scattered charcoal assemblages for palimpsest dissection: spatial analyses from El Salt Stratigraphic unit Xb (Eastern Iberia)
Prácticas rituales ibéricas en La Cueva del Sapo (Chiva, Valencia): más allá del caliciforme
Se presentan los resultados del estudio interdisciplinar del yacimiento ibérico de la Cueva del Sapo (Chiva, Valencia). Las características del conjunto estudiado muestran un contexto ritual que sería frecuentado entre los SS. V-II a. C. La diversidad cronológica y material así como el volumen de restos indican la existencia de varias actividades rituales intermitentes, no generalizadas y que se suceden en el tiempo. Nos acercamos a ellas a través de la presencia de restos de fauna, con escasas evidencias de consumo que reflejan un ritual principal en torno a la figura del ciervo, huesos humanos sin incinerar con marcas que demuestran un tratamiento concreto del cadáver ligado a un complejo…
Late Glacial Landscape Dynamics Based on Macrobotanical Data: Evidence From Ifri El Baroud (NE Morocco)
The site of Ifri El Baroud has one of the longest sequences excavated in recent times in NE Morocco, covering a chronology of ca. 23–13 ka cal BP. The sequence includes Early and Late Iberomaurusia...
Firewood and hearths: Middle Palaeolithic woody taxa distribution from El Salt, stratigraphic unit Xb (Eastern Iberia)
Abstract Spatial analyses of Palaeolithic sites typically defined by hearth-related assemblages have been mostly based on lithic and faunal remains. By using spatial analysis methods in conjunction with analytical units with higher temporal resolution than typical stratigraphic units, synchronic and diachronic relationships between artifacts deposited during successive occupation events have been elucidated. Spatial analyses applied to archaeobotanical remains are scarce, and when available, are typically focused on carpological remains (seeds and fruits). The lack of spatial indicators among anthracological remains hampers obtaining significant data linked to the relationships established …
Dead wood gathering among Neanderthal groups: Charcoal evidence from Abric del Pastor and El Salt (Eastern Iberia)
International audience; We present here a new approach combining the microscopic characterization of fungal decay features and the fragmentation degree of the charcoal remains from Middle Palaeolithic combustion structures: features H4 and H11 from Abric del Pastor, unit IV (>75 ka BP) and features H50 and H57 from El Salt, unit Xb (ca. 52 ka BP), Eastern Iberia. The observation of wood degradation patterns that occurred prior to charring followed by their quantitative analysis according to previous experimental studies revealed differences between the alteration degrees of the firewood used in the hearths, highlighting the existence of firewood acquisition criteria based on dead wood gathe…
Human occupation and environmental change in the western Maghreb during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the Late Glacial. New evidence from the Iberomaurusian site Ifri El Baroud (northeast Morocco)
With the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), hunter-gatherers of the so-called Iberomaurusian techno-complex appeared in what is now the Mediterranean Maghreb. During a period of about seven thousand years, these groups left sandy occupation layers in a limited number of archaeological sites, while at the beginning of Greenland Interstadial (GI) 1, the sudden shift towards the deposition of shell-rich sediments and the increase in number of sites document clear changes in subsistence strategies as well as occupation density. It is highly likely that these shifts in human behaviour are related to paleoenvironmental changes in the area, which, so far, are poorly documented in geological …
Dataciones de contextos aborígenes y coloniales de la isla de Gran Canaria: una propuesta de protocolo de higiene radiocarbónica
Artículo enviado (13/07/2020) para su publicación en Tabona: Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueología de Canarias, 22 (editores del vol. J. Carballo y A. Calderón). Departamento de Geografía e Historia. Universidad de la Laguna. Artículo aceptado (19/01/2021) Resumen: El radiocarbono presenta problemas relacionados tanto con la naturaleza de la muestra fechada, así como con aquellos propios del método. Por ello, el principal objetivo de este trabajo consiste en realizar una exploración sistemática de los diferentes problemas. Para ello, hemos realizado una revisión crítica de las fechas disponibles en la isla de Gran Canaria. Finalmente, este análisis nos ha permitido categorizar las fechas en …
Cueva Maturras (Ciudad Real, España): El papel del fuego en un contexto funerario del III milenio A.C.
Durante las intervenciones arqueologicas en Cueva Maturras se excavo un enterramiento colectivo adscrito al III milenio a.C. con restos de madera carbonizada. Se presentan en este articulo los resultados del analisis de los carbones asociados, aportando datos en el debate existente en la interpretacion del papel del fuego en contextos funerarios del Neolitico final e inicios del Calcolitico. La presencia de un registro antracologico monoespecifico, con Juniperus sp. como especie predominante, conforma una aportacion mas en la discusion sobre la recoleccion de lena selectiva u oportunista en contextos de enterramiento.
Small vertebrates from a Holocene gravelly deposit at El Salt (Alcoi, Alicante)
The small-vertebrates’ assemblage recovered comes from Units I to IV from El Salt site (Alcoi, Spain). The sample is composed by nearly 310 remains, and includes one toad (Epidalea calamita), two lizards (Lacertidae indet. and Chalcides cf. bedriagai), two snakes (Coronella cf. girondica and cf. Coronella sp.), two insectivores (Crocidura sp. and Sorex sp.), one lagomorph (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and seven rodent taxa (Arvicola sapidus, Microtus sp., M. arvalis, M. cabrerae, M. duodecimcostatus, Apodemus sylvaticus, and Eliomys quercinus). All the species described in the present work are consistent with a Late Pleistocene-Holocene chronology. The presence of M. cabrerae (absent in the Middl…
Neanderthal firewood management: Evidence from Stratigraphic Unit IV of Abric del Pastor (Eastern Iberia)
This paper presents anthracological data from Abric del Pastor (Alcoi, Spain), a Middle Paleolithic rock shelter site. Analysis of 1077 wood charcoal remains from Stratigraphic Unit IV (S.U. IV), collected within archaeological combustion structures and from loose sediment outside of structures, allowed us to characterise the local landscape, as well as to approach the interaction between Neanderthal groups and their local environment. Taxonomic identification suggests that firewood was gathered from nearby sources, with predominance of juniper (Juniperus sp.) followed by thermophilous shrubby taxa. Additional analysis focussing on post-depositional processes affecting charcoal have shown f…
A multiproxy record of palaeoenvironmental conditions at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abric del Pastor (Eastern Iberia)
This paper presents a multiproxy palaeoenvironmental study from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain), a rock shelter which has yielded evidence for Middle Palaeolithic human occupation. The sedimentary sequence has been analysed for lipid biomarker n-alkane abundances (ACL, CPI), compound specific leaf wax δH and δC, and bulk organic geochemistry (TOC, %N, %S), providing a record of past climate and local vegetation dynamics. Site formation processes have been reconstructed through the application of soil micromorphology. Analyses of anthracological, microvertebrate and macrofaunal assemblages from selected subunits are also presented here. Our data indicates that a variable climate marked by pr…
Disentangling human from natural factors: Taphonomical value of microanatomical features on archaeological wood and charcoal assemblages
International audience; Archaeobotanical charcoal and wood analyses rely on the observation of different macro and microanatomical features affecting wood structure to variable extents. These features may result from a wide range of intrinsic and extrinsic factors alluding to different stages of the wood's taphonomical history: initial growth conditions, human selection, transformation/use and discard, post-depositional processes and archaeological sampling strategies. Papers in this volume address taphonomy in this broad sense, through recent methodological work mainly based on experimentation and case studies from a variety of chrono-cultural and geographical contexts. The authors present…
Arqueoentomología y arqueobotánica de los espacios de almacenamiento a largo plazo: el granero de Risco Pintado, Temisas (Gran Canaria)
This contribution aims at understanding the storage techniques used in the past by means of studying the entomological and plant remains present in the pre-hispanic granary of Risco Pintado, dated between the IX and XV centuries cal AD.This type of granary groups together a large number of silos excavated in the volcanic tuff, situated on steep escarpments, difficult to access and easy to defend.The exceptional environmental conditions of these infrastructures have allowed the desiccated remains of the stored plant products and the pests associated with such storage to be preserved within the silos.The domestic species documented include cereals (barley and wheat), legumes (broad beans and …
The Anthropogenic Use of Firewood During the European Middle Pleistocene: Charcoal Evidence from Levels XIII and XI of Bolomor Cave, Eastern Iberia (230–160 ka)
Human control of fire is a widely debated issue in the field of Palaeolithic archaeology, since it involved significant technological innovations for human subsistence. Although fire evidence has been the subject of intense debate regarding its natural or anthropogenic nature, most authors agree that combustion structures represent the most direct evidence of human control of fire. Wood charcoal fragments from these contexts represent the fuel remains that result from humans' collection of firewood, which means they can reveal significant behavioural and palaeoenvironmental information relevant to our understanding of Middle Palaeolithic societies. In this work, we present anthracological d…