Reprint of "Shell oxygen isotope values and sclerochronology of the limpet "Patella vulgata" Linnaeus 1758 from northern Iberia: Implications for the reconstruction of past seawater temperatures"
Abstract: Understanding environmental conditions faced by hunter-fisher-gatherers during the Pleistocene and Holocene, and interpretation of subsistence strategies, social organisation and settlement patterns, are key topics for the study of past human societies. In this respect, oxygen isotope values (?18O) of mollusc shell calcium carbonate can provide important information on palaeoclimate and the seasonality of shell collection at archaeological sites. In this paper, we tested P. vulgata shells from northern Iberia as a paleoclimate archive through the study of shell oxygen isotope values and sclerochronology of modern samples. Results showed that limpets formed their shells close to is…
Environment and subsistence strategies at La Viña rock shelter and Llonin cave (Asturias, Spain) during MIS3
The sites of La Viña and Llonin have an important archaeological sequence corresponding to Marine Isotope Stage 3: Mousterian, Aurignacian and Gravettian periods. La Viña is a complex rock shelter with continuous occupations, being some (basically the Mousterian and the Aurignacian in contact levels) altered by post-depositional processes as a consequence of the irregular bedrock morphology and the type of processes involved. The cave of Llonin mainly consists of occasional human/carnivores occupations during the Mousterian and the Gravettian. The current multidisciplinary research has allowed us to obtain and match several preliminary data: site formation processes, fauna and stable isotop…
Growth patterns of the topshell Phorcus lineatus (da Costa, 1778) in northern Iberia deduced from shell sclerochronology
Combined shell growth pattern and oxygen isotope analysis has become a powerful approach in palaeoclimate and archaeological studies for reconstructing palaeoclimate conditions and littoral exploitation patterns, respectively. Recent investigations have shown that the gastropod Phorcus lineatus (da Costa, 1778) forms its shell in conditions of near equilibrium with the oxygen isotope signature of the seawater environment, demonstrating the utility of this species for reconstruction of sea surface temperature and determination of the season of harvest in archaeological studies. In contrast, the shell growth patterns of this species have received virtually no attention despite providing infor…
Oxygen and carbon stable isotopes ofMytilus galloprovincialisLamarck, 1819 shells as environmental and provenance proxies
Mollusc shell stable isotopes are commonly used to reconstruct past environmental conditions. However, despite being abundant components of natural and anthropogenic fossil accumulations, the geochemical composition of mussel shells ( Mytilus spp.) has rarely received attention in palaeoenvironmental studies. This study tests the suitability of oxygen isotopes (δ18Os) of Mytilus galloprovincialis as palaeothermometer. For 1 year, mussels and water samples were collected twice a month from Berria Beach, in Northern Spain. The geochemical data of the shells indicate that water temperatures can be reconstructed with an average offset of 1.2 ± 0.7°C with respect to the measured values. Furtherm…
Supplementary_information – Supplemental material for Oxygen and carbon stable isotopes of Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819 shells as environmental and provenance proxies
Supplemental material, Supplementary_information for Oxygen and carbon stable isotopes of Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819 shells as environmental and provenance proxies by Stefania Milano, Bernd R Schöne and Igor Gutiérrez-Zugasti in The Holocene