Search results for " taphonomy"
showing 10 items of 13 documents
The beginning of the Neolithic in Nerja cave and la Cova de la Sarsa. Archaeological context and radiocarbon dating
2018
Las dataciones radiocarbónicas resultan una herramienta útil para establecer el marco cronológicode los contextos arqueológicos, aunque en ocasiones el adjetivo de «absoluto» se convierte en una categoría. En el caso del Neolítico antiguo, la selección de muestras singulares de vida corta de especies domésticas o restos de Homo sapiens en contextos neolíticos pretendía definir con mayor precisión la cronología de los momentos iniciales de su llegada a la península ibérica. Los casos documentados en las cuevas de Nerja y Sarsa son un buen ejemplo del debate que generan sus resultados, la problemática de sus secuencias y el contexto de discusión regional. Se muestran los resultados tras la va…
The role of fire within Neolithic collective burials: Spatial analyses of cremains from the site of La Truie Pendue, France
2016
International audience; The use of collective graves is one of the main features of the western European Late Neolithic. A single gravesite received the successive deposition of dozens or sometimes hundreds of individuals. While cremations or even full-fired inhumation layers are often found within these funerary deposits, the actual role of fire is still poorly understood. Recently discovered within the important archaeological complex of Passy (Yonne, France), the burned collective grave of La Truie-Pendue provides an outstanding case study to examine the use of fire within Neolithic funerary rites. In this study, we develop a new contextual approach to bone alterations in order to recons…
From sepulchre to butchery-cooking: Facies analysis, taphonomy and stratigraphy of the Upper Palaeolithic post burial layer from the San Teodoro Cave…
2020
Abstract The San Teodoro Cave is considered the most significant witness of the first, Epigravettian, human colonization of Sicily from the Italian continent. Furthermore the site is a paradigmatic horizon in the Pleistocene faunal record, demonstrating a progressive transition from mega faunas to smaller-sized, Boreal, faunas. The site has been repeatedly studied and excavated, with different aims and approaches, leading to an interpretation of Epigravettian burial site and daily attendance. Here we propose a reappraisal of the study of the stratigraphy of the site, and in particular of the bone-rich layer (PAL) accumulated over the red ochre layer that apparently sealed all the different …
Poggetti Vecchi (Tuscany, Italy): A late Middle Pleistocene case of human-elephant interaction
2019
Abstract A paleosurface with a concentration of wooden-, bone-, and stone-tools interspersed among an accumulation of fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus, was found at the bottom of a pool, fed by hot springs, that was excavated at Poggetti Vecchi, near Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy). The site is radiometrically dated to the late Middle Pleistocene, around 171,000 years BP. Notable is the association of the artifacts with the elephant bones, and in particular the presence of digging sticks made from boxwood (Buxus sp.). Although stone tools show evidence of use mainly on animal tissues, indicating some form of interaction between hominins and an…
Architectural effects on fossil preservation. The case of macaroni coralline algae
2020
Coralline red algae with protuberances in their thalli are common and instructive examples of fabricational effects on fossil preservation. The body (thallus) of non-geniculate coralline algae is a coherent mass of cell filaments. All vegetative cells, except the epithallial ones at the tip of each filament are enclosed by a high-Mg calcite wall. Many extant and extinct species of coralline algae have protuberances in their thalli. Protuberances appear both on the dorsal surface of algae that grow attached to a rigid substrate and in unattached specimens living on loose sediment. In either case, protuberances develop due to a higher growth rate of fi laments in their centre. In each growth …
Taphonomical peculiarities and formation conditions of Baltic Devonian vertebrate fossil assemblages
2013
Devona mugurkaulnieku atrodņu tafonomiskais raksturojums un veidošanās apstākļi dienvidaustrumu Baltijā Pirmo reizi paleontoloģisko pētījumu vēsturē Baltijā ir veikta detalizēta Živetas, Franas un Famenas mugurkaulnieku atrodņu tafonomisko īpašību analīze, izmantojot mūsdienu metodiku. Savā starpā ir salīdzinātas vidējā un augšējā devona oriktocenozes Latvijas teritorijā, bet Baltijas (Galvenā devona lauka) fosiliju atrodnes ir salīdzinātas ar sakopojumiem Dienvidu Timanā. Ir secināts, ka, neskatoties uz tafonomisko pazīmju atšķirībām, Franas un Famenas klastiskās slāņkopas, kā arī vidus- un augšdevona mugurkaulnieku sakopojumu veidošanās mehānismi Baltijā ir bijuši visai līdzīgi. Ir noteik…
Indagini archeozoologiche della Palermo antica: la Gancia, Palazzo Bonagia e Via Imera.
L’analisi archeozoologica della Palermo medioevale qui presentata si inserisce nell’ambito degli studi di antropologia e di archeologia medievale che da oltre un decennio stanno interessando il centro storico della città. Il presente studio mira alla ricostruzione dell’ecologia umana durante il periodo di islamizzazione della Sicilia e di Palermo, attraverso l’analisi dei resti faunistici di tre siti inediti del centro storico di Palermo, la Gancia, Palazzo Bonagia e Via Imera, in un periodo compreso tra la fine del IX e il X sec. d.C., e l’analisi comparativa di resti provenienti da centri rurali siciliani, alcuni di questi databili fino al XV secolo. L’analisi ha messo in evidenza alcuni …
Paleoecological insight into the straight-tusked elephant population from the late Middle Pleistocene site of Poggetti Vecchi
Il progetto di ricerca s’incentra sullo studio della macrofauna rinvenuta nel sito paleontologico e archeologico di Poggetti Vecchi, scoperto nella località di Roselle situata in provincia di Grosseto. Nello specifico esso è stato focalizzato sulla ricostruzione paleoambientale e paleoecologica dell’area. L’analisi paleobiologica e tafonomica dei resti faunistici è stata perciò inserita all’interno di un progetto multidisciplinare e l’integrazione di tutti i dati paleontologici (relativi a vertebrati, invertebrati, macroresti vegetali e pollini) con quelli stratigrafici ha permesso di ricostruire dettagliatamente l’evoluzione paleoambientale. Nella seconda parte, lo studio paleoecologico è …
The reinterpretation of Cova Negra archaeological and stratigraphical sequence and its implications in the knowledge of the Middle Palaeolithic Iberi…
2020
This paper presents new data from the reinterpretation of the Cova Negra sequence from a chronological and stratigraphic perspective. The primary aim is to reorder the lithic industry from the excavations of the 1950s in light of the stratigraphic sequence, paying particular attention to raw materials, knapping methods and tools. The reconstruction, carried out from a taphonomic perspective, is specified in sectors B, C and F, and the archaeological levels and the included material are adjusted to the stratigraphic levels. Although the number of remains involved in the proposed chronology is reduced in relation to previous work, it is an arrangement that relies on a more precise chronostrat…
PALAEOECOLOGY AND TAPHONOMY OF THE STRAIGHT-TUSKED ELEPHANT LATE MIDDLE PLEISTOCENE SITE OF POGGETTI VECCHI (SOUTHERN TUSCANY, ITALY)
2018
Works for the construction of thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi, near Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy) exposed an accumulation of fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus, mixed up with stone and wooden tools. The site is radiometrically dated to the late Middle Pleistocene, and the artefacts were thus created by early Neanderthals. Palaeobiological and taphonomic analyses of the fauna remains are part of a more general, multiproxy study of the site that provides new information on MIS 7-6 transition, as well as on human-animal interactions.