Search results for "Mousterian"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
Precise dating of the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition in Murcia (Spain) supports late Neandertal persistence in Iberia
2017
Abstract The late persistence in Southern Iberia of a Neandertal-associated Middle Paleolithic is supported by the archeological stratigraphy and the radiocarbon and luminescence dating of three newly excavated localities in the Mula basin of Murcia (Spain). At Cueva Anton, Mousterian layer I-k can be no more than 37,100 years-old. At La Boja, the basal Aurignacian can be no less than 36,500 years-old. The regional Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition process is thereby bounded to the first half of the 37th millennium Before Present, in agreement with evidence from Andalusia, Gibraltar and Portugal. This chronology represents a lag of minimally 3000 years with the rest of Europe, where th…
Neanderthal and carnivore activities at Llonin Cave, Asturias, northern Iberian Peninsula: Faunal study of Mousterian levels (MIS 3)
2018
Abstract This paper presents a study of the macromammalian fauna recovered from Mousterian levels of Llonin Cave. The sample is highly heterogeneous and comprises six species of ungulates, including Rupicapra pyrenaica, Capra pyrenaica, and Cervus elaphus, and seven species of carnivores, predominantly Ursus spelaeus, Crocuta spelaea, Canis/Cuon and Panthera pardus. The archaeozoological and taphonomic study of the remains shows preferential use of basal levels of the cave as a den for hyenas and leopards. Neanderthals were also present during this phase and they would have acted mainly on deer and some caprines, while the action of hyenas would mainly have been linked to scavenging of elem…
New Neandertal remains from Cova Negra (Valencia, Spain).
2005
New Neandertal fossils from the Mousterian site of Cova Negra in the Valencia region of Spain are described, and a comprehensive study of the entire human fossil sample is provided. The new specimens significantly augment the sample of human remains from this site and make Cova Negra one of the richest human paleontological sites on the Iberian Peninsula. The new specimens include cranial and postcranial elements from immature individuals and provide an opportunity to study the ontogenetic appearance of adult Neandertal characteristics in this Pleistocene population. Children younger than 10 years of age constitute four of the seven minimum number of individuals in the sample, and this rela…
Valorisation of a former eponymous site: Eger-Kőporos in the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of Northern Hungary
2012
Resume Une nouvelle analyse complete du materiel archeologique du site en plein air de Kőporos (pres d’Eger, Nord-est de la Hongrie), provenant de differentes fouilles (y compris les fouilles que nous avons realisees recemment) et de ramassages des amateurs, nous permet de formuler l’hypothese de plusieurs occupations successives et distinctes dans l’espace de ce site, considere comme eponyme pour un facies particulier du Mesolithique. Ces occupations se repartissent sur une echelle chronologique couvrant la fin du Paleolithique moyen (le Micoquien et deux facies du Mousterien) et la premiere moitie du Paleolithique superieur (industrie macrolaminaire du Paleolithique superieur initial, le …
The Neanderthalian molar from Hunas, Germany
2005
Abstract In this paper, we present a well-preserved isolated human molar found in 1986 in the Hunas cave ruin, south-east Bavaria. The tooth was located at the bottom of layer F2, which belongs to a long stratigraphic sequence comprising faunal remains as well as archaeological levels (Mousterian). A stalagmite from layer P at the base of the stratigraphic sequence was recently dated to 79.373±8.237 ka (base) and 76.872±9.686 ka (tip) by TIMS-U/Th (Stanford University). We identified the tooth as a right (possibly third) mandibular molar. Characteristic parameters such as crown and root morphology, fissure pattern, enamel thickness, occlusal and interproximal wear, dental dimensions and ind…
A Palaeoenvironmental Study in Semi-arid Southeastern Spain: the Palynological and Sedimentological Sequence at Perneras Cave (Lorca, Murcia)
1995
Abstract Results are presented of palynological and sedimentological research at the Palaeolithic site of Perneras Cave (coastal Murcia, southeastern Spain). Sedimentological features point to a warm, somewhat humid phase corresponding with the lowermost part of the Mousterian sequence, which was followed by a climatic deterioration which lasted throughout the later Mousterian and Upper Palaeolithic. The palynological study described here barely allows palaeoclimatological inferences to be drawn, but it does highlight interesting paleobotanical data, namely, the presence of Ibero-Maghrebian and Mediterranean elements, which suggest that the site was an important refuge for thermophilous tax…
L’histoire de La Balutie, un gisement oublié, voisin de Lascaux et de Regourdou
2023
Cette contribution a pour objet de retranscrire l’histoire du site paléolithique de La Balutie (Montignac-Lascaux, Dordogne, France). L’histoire de ce site très tôt oublié, n’est ni sensationnelle, ni exceptionnelle, mais s’avère retranscrire l’atmosphère caractérisant les débuts des explorations des gisements préhistoriques de Dordogne. On y retrouve de grands noms de la Préhistoire de Dordogne qui n’ont légué que peu d’écrits sur le site, du mobilier trié (surtout lithique) du Paléolithique moyen et supérieur qui a alimenté de nombreuses collections privées avant d’être dispersé au sein de diverses institutions, et un contexte local compliqué et agrémenté de conflits. Notre connaissance d…
Luminescence Dating of Fluvial Deposits in the Rock Shelter of Cueva Antón, Spain
2015
Abstract The fluvial sediments at Cueva Antón, a Middle Palaeolithic rock shelter located in the valley of the River Mula (Southeast Spain), produced abundant lithic assemblages of Mousterian affinities. Radiocarbon dates are available for the upper part of the archaeological succession, while for the middle to lower parts chronometric data have been missing. Here we present luminescence dating results for these parts of the succession. Quartz OSL on small aliquots and single grain measurements yield ages ranging from 69 ± 7 ka to 82 ± 8 ka with a weighted mean of 72 ± 4 ka for sub-complexes AS2 to AS5. Equivalent dose estimates from large aliquots were highest and inconsistent with those f…