“If you seek it, you will find it”. Methodology for the carpological study of the Middle Magdalenian of Cova de les Cendres site (Teulada-Moraira, Alicante)
La carpología, el estudio de los frutos, semillas, tubérculos, rizomas y bulbos recuperados en yacimientos arqueológicos, ha sido aplicada mayoritariamente a contextos correspondientes a sociedades productoras, mientras que los estudios carpológicos de yacimientos de cazadores-recolectores son escasos. En los últimos años, estos han experimentado un incremento, desvelándose el valor de la información que proporcionan: económica, cultural, botánica y ecológica. Presentamos en este artículo la metodología aplicada para el análisis carpológico de un conjunto de muestras procedentes de un nivel fechado en el Magdaleniense medio de la Cova de les Cendres (Teulada-Moraira, Alicante).
The early Upper Palaeolithic of Cova de les Cendres (Alicante, Spain)
Abstract This paper presents a synthesis of the Early Upper Palaeolithic of Cova de les Cendres. Points of special attention are the sedimentary and micromorphological characterisation of level XVI, the analysis of the vegetal and animal resources and their incidence on the economy of the Gravettian human groups, and the characterisation of the landscape during this period. Furthermore, the paper offers important information of the lithic and bone assemblages, economic behaviour and radiocarbon dates of sub-levels XVIA and XVIB, related to the Gravettian, and XVIC and XVID, corresponding to the Aurignacian. Finally, the Gravettian and Aurignacian regional contexts in the Mediterranean Basin…
Could the central‐eastern Iberian Mediterranean region be defined as a refugium? Fauna and flora in MIS 5–3 and their implications for Palaeolithic human behaviour
Different parts of the same plants. Charcoals and seeds from Cova de les Cendres (Alicante, Spain)
Abstract The analysis of archaeobotanical macroremains from Cova de les Cendres (Teulada-Moraira, Alicante, Spain) allows a better understanding of the dynamic of the vegetation during the Upper Palaeolithic in the region. The anthracological sequence shows that Pinus type nigra/sylvestris dominates in the area during the Upper Palaeolithic, while more open formations of Juniperus and Fabaceae spread in Upper Solutrean and Early-Middle Magdalenian. The carpological analysis that has been carried out in the Middle Magdalenian level has brought to light different species of Juniperus (J. sabina, J. communis and J. oxycedrus). This information indicates that during the period, Cova de les Cend…
Abric de la Ratlla del Bubo (Crevillent, Alicante). Results of the 1986-1991 campaigns. New data on its palaeolithic sequence
El Abric de la Ratlla del Bubo (Crevillent, Alicante) es uno de los yacimientos clave para el conocimiento del Paleolítico superior en el área central del Mediterráneo ibérico, especialmente en lo que a sus fases iniciales se refiere. El yacimiento ha sido objeto de varias intervenciones arqueológicas, tanto clandestinas como científicas. Sin embargo, hasta este trabajo, la información disponible era parcial y, en muchos casos, remitía a materiales sin referencia estratigráfica. En este estudio se exponen los resultados del análisis del material lítico, del registro vegetal y de la fauna recuperada en las campañas de 1986 a 1991. Además, se presenta una amplia serie de dataciones radiocarbó…
Climate, environment and human behaviour in the Middle Palaeolithic of Abrigo de la Quebrada (Valencia, Spain): The evidence from charred plant and micromammal remains
Abstract The Abrigo de la Quebrada rock shelter was occupied by Neanderthal groups during the early Upper Pleistocene, yielding evidence for their subsistence practices and local resource exploitation. This paper focuses on the plant macroremains and the micromammals, which provide information about occupation patterns, the surrounding landscape, the use of resources, and the environment. Mountain pine forests and permanent grass formations containing humid zones and open spaces that would have harboured an eurythermal microfauna were the dominant landscape type. Cold-climate pines provided most of the firewood. The data are consistent with a recurrent, seasonal occupation pattern, in which…
Corema album archaeobotanical remains in western Mediterranean basin. Assessing fruit consumption during Upper Palaeolithic in Cova de les Cendres (Alicante, Spain)
[EN] Information about plant gathering by Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers in Europe is scarce because of the problems of preservation of plant remains in archaeological sites and due to the lack of application of archaebotanical analysis in many of them. Botanical macroremains wood charcoal, seeds, fruits, leaves, etc. - provide information not only about palaeoeconomy of hunter-gatherers, but also about climate, landscape and vegetation dynamics. In Gravettian and Solutrean levels of Cova de les Cendres (Alicante, Spain), Corema album pyrenes (Empetraceae or crowberries family) have been identified. On the contrary, wood charcoal of this species has not been documented among the remains of f…
Preservation and decay of plant remains in two Palaeolithic sites: Abrigo de la Quebrada and Cova de les Cendres (Eastern Spain). What information can be derived?
Abstract Plant remains are quickly affected by post-depositional processes once they are deposited in archaeological sites. In normal conditions, decomposing organisms cause their decay and final disappearance unless a preservation agent, as carbonisation or mineralisation, inhibit their activity. Moreover, physical and chemical processes could also lead to the partial or total destruction of the archaeobotanical assemblage. Thus, an analysis of their characteristics is useful for an assessing of the taphonomic processes. Archaeobotanical assemblages from two Palaeolithic sites, Abrigo de la Quebrada and Cova de les Cendres, have been analysed in terms of taxonomic composition of the assemb…