Search results for "Insula"
showing 10 items of 735 documents
Erratum to “Palaeoecological context for the extinction of the Neanderthals: A small mammal study of Stratigraphic Unit V of the El Salt site, Alcoi,…
2021
El Salt is an important reference site for understanding the extinction of Neanderthal populations in the eastern Iberian Peninsula during MIS 3. In this paper, we describe the small mammal assemblage from Stratigraphic Unit V, the youngest unit with evidence of human presence, based on nearly 1300 specimens. A total of seven rodents (Microtus arvalis, Microtus duodecimcostatus, Microtus cabrerae, Sciurus vulgaris, Arvicola sapidus, Eliomys quercinus and Apodemus sylvaticus), three insectivores (Talpa occidentalis, Crocidura sp., Sorex sp.) and one lagomorph (Oryctolagus cf. cuniculus) were identified. Palaeocological analyses point to drier conditions in this part of the stratigraphic sequ…
Middle Triassic sharks from the Catalan Coastal ranges (NE Spain) and faunal colonization patterns during the westward transgression of Tethys
2020
Abstract Palaeogeographic changes that occurred during the Middle Triassic in the westernmost Tethyan domain were governed by a westward marine transgression of the Tethys Ocean. The transgression flooded wide areas of the eastern part of Iberia, forming new epicontinental shallow-marine environments, which were subsequently colonized by diverse faunas, including chondrichthyans. The transgression is recorded by two successive transgressive–regressive cycles: (1) middle–late Anisian and (2) late Anisian–early Carnian. Here, we describe the chondrichthyan fauna recovered from several Middle Triassic stratigraphic sections (Pelsonian-Longobardian) located at the Catalan Coastal Basin (western…
A new highly diverse palynoflora from the Lower Devonian Nogueras Formation of the Iberian Peninsula
2015
AbstractA new well-preserved spore assemblage has been discovered from the Lower Devonian Nogueras Formation of Mezquita de Loscos (Teruel Province, north-eastern Spain). The palynoflora includes 34 spore species belonging to 20 genera, among which 14 are new for the locality, e.g. Apiculiretusispora, Brochotriletes, Cirratriradites, Iberoespora, Knoxisporites and Verrucosisporites. The assemblage is mainly composed of trilete spores, while tripapillate and monolete forms are also observed. An early Pragian age is suggested for the fossil site. Specimens of Latosporites ovalis, a species previously well-documented only from the late Pragian–Emsian of Saudi Arabia and Brazil, are found in th…
Amphibians and reptiles as palaeonvironmental proxies during the Late Pleistocene (MIS3): The case of Stratigraphic Unit V of El Salt, Alcoi, Spain
2021
The locality of El Salt (Alcoi, Spain) is a key site for understanding the extirpation of Neanderthals in the eastern part of Iberia. In this paper, we analyse an assemblage of amphibians and reptiles from Stratigraphic Unit V (45.2 ± 3.4 ka to 44.7 ± 3.4 ka), which corresponds to one of the last regional records of Neanderthals, to improve knowledge of the palaeoecology and palaeoclimate of this event. The assemblage comprises three anurans (Pelodytes sp., Alytes obstetricans, and Epidalea calamita), two lizards (Lacertidae indet. and Chalcides bedriagai), and five snakes (Colubridae indet., Coronella sp., Coronella sp./Zamenis sp., Natrix maura, and Vipera latastei). Palaeoclimatic recons…
Iberian Neolithic Networks: The Rise and Fall of the Cardial World
2017
Recent approaches have described the evolutionary dynamics of the first Neolithic societies as a cycle of rise and fall. Several authors, using mainly c14 dates as a demographic proxy, identified a general pattern of a boom in population coincident with the arrival of food production economies followed by a rapid decline some centuries afterwards in multiple European regions. Concerning Iberia, we also noted that this phenomenon correlates with an initial development of archaeological entities (i.e., ‘cultures’) over large areas (e.g. the Impresso-Cardial in West Mediterranean), followed by a phase of ‘cultural fragmentation’ by the end of Early Neolithic. These results in a picture of high…
The metamorphic rocks of the Nunatak Viedma in the Southern Patagonian Andes: Provenance sources and implications for the early Mesozoic Patagonia-An…
2019
The Nunatak Viedma within the Southern Patagonian Icefield has been considered as a volcanic center based on its geomorphologic features, despite the fact that field explorations by Eric Shipton determined its metamorphic nature 70 years ago. We carried out fieldwork to characterize this isolated outcrop and performed the first U-Pb dating in detrital zircons from the basement rocks located inside the Southern Patagonian Icefield. We recognized very-low grade metamorphic rocks, corresponding principally to metapelites and metapsammites, and scarce metabasites. Detrital zircons in three metapsammitic samples (composite group of 240 grains) yielded prominent age population peaks at ∼1090, ∼96…
Ammonite dating of latest Cretaceous mosasaurid reptiles (Squamata, Mosasauroidea) from Jordan—preliminary observations
2017
Newly collected ammonoid material from the uppermost Cretaceous portion of the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation exposed some 30 km southeast of the Qasr Al’Harrana area (east-central Jordan) includes medium-sized baculitids (Baculites ovatus auctorum, non Say), the sphenodiscid Libycoceras acutodorsatus (Noetling) and the pachydiscids Menuites fresvillensis (Seunes) and Pachydiscus (Pachydiscus) dossantosi (Maury). Of the two last named taxa, the former is a good marker species for the upper Maastrichtian, with records from Europe, central Chile, South India, Baluchistan (Pakistan), Australia, Madagascar and South Africa. The latter is known from the United Arab Emirates/Oman border area, from…
Cocina cave revisited: Bayesian radiocarbon chronology for the last hunter-gatherers and first farmers in Eastern Iberia
2018
Abstract Recent excavations and radiocarbon work conducted at Cocina Cave (Valencia region, Eastern Iberia) provide new insights into the transition from foraging to farming in the eastern Iberian Peninsula between 8000 and 7300 cal yrs. BP. Cocina cave was discovered in 1940 and excavated by L. Pericot from 1941 to 1945. J. Fortea continued excavations in the 70s. Despite early international recognition and great promise of significance, the materials recovered from these excavations have only been partially analyzed and published. A new project started in 2012 is focused on these cave deposits with the main goal of understanding the occupation sequence during the neolithization process in…
The early Upper Palaeolithic of Cova de les Cendres (Alicante, Spain)
2019
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…
Upper Paleolithic Bone and Antler Projectiles in the Spanish Mediterranean Region: The Magdalenian Period
2016
We have focused our study on the projectile points of Cova de Parpallo. The Magdalenian sequence in this archaeological site is one of the most complete in the Upper Paleolithic from the southwest of Europe. We have analyzed 334 pieces from an assemblage that includes well over 2000 finished objects, and consider these weapons as a representative sample from two well differentiated Magdalenian phases. The first period studied dates to the Badegoulian (layer 2.40–2.20 m), while the second is Upper Magdalenian (layer 0.80–1.00 m). The main aspects of this analysis are typological evaluation (hafting kinds or bases, sections, morphometry) and fracture patterns (position and kinds of fractures,…