Search results for "Archaeological record"
showing 10 items of 15 documents
Early Holocene ritual complexity in South America: the archaeological record of Lapa do Santo (east-central Brazil)
2016
Early Archaic human skeletal remains found in a burial context in Lapa do Santo in east-central Brazil provide a rare glimpse into the lives of hunter-gatherer communities in South America, including their rituals for dealing with the dead. These included the reduction of the body by means of mutilation, defleshing, tooth removal, exposure to fire and possibly cannibalism, followed by the secondary burial of the remains according to strict rules. In a later period, pits were filled with disarticulated bones of a single individual without signs of body manipulation, demonstrating that the region was inhabited by dynamic groups in constant transformation over a period of centuries.
Mobility across the pre-Pyrenean mountain ranges during the Chalcolithic through strontium isotopes in human enamel: La Cueva de los Cristales (Sarsa…
2020
Abstract There is an increasing abundance in the archaeological record in Iberia for the Late Neolithic and the beginning of the Chalcolithic periods, mostly regarding burials. The higher pre-Pyrenean areas began to be settled more frequently, but the poor weather conditions have led researchers to suggest that human presence mostly took the form of sporadic visits. This argument has provoked substantial controversy given the increase not only in the archaeological artefacts recorded but also in the number of burial sites in less accessible places. To shed more light on the knowledge of these Chalcolithic mountain groups, we have carried out strontium isotope analysis of human enamel of ind…
A tale of two gorges: Late Quaternary site formation and surface dynamics in the Mula basin (Murcia, Spain)
2018
Abstract We present a case-study in Palaeolithic archaeology focusing on formation processes at cave- and rock-shelter-sites in a Mediterranean context and on the correlation between site deposits, Quaternary surface sediments and the morphology of the surrounding land. We study three sites located in the basin of River Mula (Murcia, Spain): the cave-site of Cueva Anton and the rock-shelters of Finca Dona Martina and Abrigo de la Boja, in the Rambla Perea valley. They are examined through an integrated geoarchaeological approach that takes into account geomorphological, stratigraphic and soil micromorphological data. The three sites are found within a short distance and cover similar time s…
Cultural evolution and environmental change in Central Europe between 40 and 15 ka
2020
The role of environmental change in the evolution of cultural traits is a topic of long-standing scientific debate with strongly contrasting views. Major obstacles for assessing environmental impacts on the evolution of material culture are the fragmentary nature of archaeological and – to a somewhat lesser extent – geoscientific archives and the insufficient chronological resolution of these archives and related proxy data. Together these aspects are causing difficulties in data synchronization. By no means does this paper attempt to solve these issues, but rather aims at shifting the focus from demonstrating strict chains of causes and events to describing roughly contemporaneous developm…
Raw material, gestures, artefacts. An approach to the work of bone and ivory in the Iron Age in the Iberian peninsula
2018
Abstract This work seeks to give visibility to the industry of hard animal materials that is documented during the Iron Age in the Iberian peninsula. We focus on the analysis of three common artefacts within the bone and ivory industry in the Iberian culture (between the 6th to the 1st Century BC): pins, perforated plates and combs. We have studied these objects from a technological point of view, thanks to a series of experimental work carried out in order to meet different operational chains, necessary to manufacture each one of these items and tools that could be used for this purpose. So, we searched the archaeological tool models to work bone and ivory, and whenever it has been possibl…
Changing patterns of eastern Mediterranean shellfish exploitation in the Late Glacial and Early Holocene: Oxygen isotope evidence from gastropod in E…
2016
Abstract The seasonal pattern of shellfish foraging at the archaeological site of Haua Fteah in the Gebel Akhdar, Libya was investigated from the Epipaleolithic to the Neolithic via oxygen isotope (δ 18 O) analyses of the topshell Phorcus (Osilinus) turbinatus . To validate this species as faithful year-round palaeoenvironmental recorder, the intra-annual variability of δ 18 O in modern shells and sea water was analysed and compared with measured sea surface temperature (SST). The shells were found to be good candidates for seasonal shellfish forging studies as they preserve nearly the complete annual SST cycle in their shell δ 18 O with minimal slowing or stoppage of growth. During the ter…
Breaking the waves: Human use of marine bivalves in a microtidal range coast during the Upper Pleistocene and the Early Holocene, Vestíbulo chamber, …
2016
Abstract This paper presents the results obtained from the study of the bivalves recovered during the archaeological excavations in the Vestibulo chamber of Nerja Cave (Malaga, southern Spain) carried out by Professor Francisco Jorda Cerda between 1983 and 1987. These excavations recovered the archaeological record of the sequence from the Gravettian to the Neolithic. The mollusc remains from the Vestibulo chamber of Nerja Cave record constitute an extraordinary collection, composed of more than 136000 specimens which correspond to more than 78 kg. In this work, only marine bivalves were studied. The bivalve remains are more than 124000 specimens, corresponding to more than 65 kg from 31 ta…
‘Adaptive cycles’ and climate fluctuations: a case study from Linear Pottery Culture in western Central Europe
2014
Abstract By applying cycle-based resilience theory the dynamics of the Early Neolithic west-central European Linear Pottery Culture (LBK) are investigated. These are interpreted as resulting from a combination of internal socio-economic processes as well as external environmental parameters. Resilience theory is helpful in understanding periods of increased vulnerability and inherent trends to social complexity. Cycles and threshold levels also help to understand why societies experience periods of increasing fragility and subsequent decline. Results are based on the correlation of a typology and dendrochronology-based archaeological chronology for western LBK and various palaeoclimatic pro…
Middle Paleolithic lithic assemblages in Western Mediterranean Europe from MIS 5 to 3
2018
This paper focuses on an overview of the sites featuring lithic industries ascribed to Middle Palaeolithic based upon a raw materials, technological organization and toolkit management. This is a synthetic analysis of the Western Mediterranean area where sites featuring broad stratigraphic sequences are abundant and enable an adequate assessment of the available record. Presenting all the data organized according to geographical regions contributed to the homogeneity of the results and allowed us to contextualize a regional synthesis, from a broad territorial and chronological point of view. This perspective was compared to other distant European spheres which in turn enabled establishing a…
Paleoenvironments and human adaptations during the Last Glacial Maximum in the Iberian Peninsula: A review
2021
Abstract The Iberian Peninsula is considered one of the most well-suited regions in Europe to develop studies on the relationship between environmental changes and human adaptations across the Late Pleistocene. Due to its southwesternmost cul-de-sac position and eco-geographical diversity, Paleolithic Iberia was the stage of cyclical cultural/technological changes, linked to fluctuations in climate and environments, human demographics, and the size, extension, and type of social exchange networks. Such dynamics are particularly evident during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) timeframe, with a series of innovations emerging in the archaeological record, marking the transitions between the trad…