Search results for "PLEISTOCENE"
showing 10 items of 298 documents
An approach to lithic raw material procurement at the middle Palaeolithic site Abrigo de la Quebrada (Chelva, Valencia)
2011
We offer a preliminary characterisation of the lithic raw-materials found in levels I-III of the Middle Paleolithic site of Abrigo de la Quebrada. The artifacts were excavated in the field seasons of 2004 and 2007, have already been the object of a preliminary technological assessment (Villaverde et al. 2008), and their analysis has been preceded by a survey of local procurement sources, carried out in 2008. We present, in a regional context, the different raw-material categories recognized (by means of a macroscopic study), and variants thereof, and we describe the different outcrops identified. Based on these data, we attempt a preliminary assessment of the resource catchments and mobilit…
Palaeolithic dogs and Pleistocene wolves revisited: a reply to Morey (2014)
2015
This is a reply to the comments of Morey (2014) on our identification of Palaeolithic dogs from several European Palaeolithic sites. In his comments Morey (2014) presents some misrepresentations and misunderstandings that we remedy here. In contrast to what Morey (2014) propounds, our results suggest that the domestication of the wolf was a long process that started early in the Upper Palaeolithic and that since that time two sympatric canid morphotypes can be seen in Eurasian sites: Pleistocene wolves and Palaeolithic dogs. Contrary to Morey (2014), we are convinced that the study of this domestication process should be multidisciplinary.
Rectilinear evolution in arvicoline rodents and numerical dating of Iberian Early Pleistocene sites
2014
Abstract Lozano-Fernandez et al. (2013a) have recently published a method intended for numerical dating of Early Pleistocene sites, which is based on the assumption of uniform, constant rate increase through time of mean lower molar tooth length of water voles ( Mimomys savini ) in a number of levels sampled in the stratigraphic sequence of Atapuerca TD site. They suggest that the regression equation obtained in this local section for site chronology on tooth size could be useful for estimating the numerical age of other localities from southwestern Europe. However, in our opinion this biostratigraphic approach has severe conceptual and methodological problems, which discourage its use as a…
Neanderthal firewood management: Evidence from Stratigraphic Unit IV of Abric del Pastor (Eastern Iberia)
2015
This paper presents anthracological data from Abric del Pastor (Alcoi, Spain), a Middle Paleolithic rock shelter site. Analysis of 1077 wood charcoal remains from Stratigraphic Unit IV (S.U. IV), collected within archaeological combustion structures and from loose sediment outside of structures, allowed us to characterise the local landscape, as well as to approach the interaction between Neanderthal groups and their local environment. Taxonomic identification suggests that firewood was gathered from nearby sources, with predominance of juniper (Juniperus sp.) followed by thermophilous shrubby taxa. Additional analysis focussing on post-depositional processes affecting charcoal have shown f…
La Cuevona de Avín (Avín, Asturias, North Spain): A new Late Pleistocene site in the lower valley of the River Güeña
2022
The archaeological investigations carried out in the last twenty years in the Lower Valley of the River Güeña (Asturias, central part of northern Spain) have documented different prehistoric sites, particularly with Middle and Upper Palaeolithic occupations. This paper presents the results of the archaeological excavation carried out in the cave of La Cuevona de Avín. From the systematic study of the biotic and abiotic remains, a total of three occupation phases (Phases 1 to 3) have been determined, dated in the Late Pleistocene. The lithic studies indicate the use of local raw materials (mainly quartzite), but also regional ones (different types of flint) in the whole sequence. Retouched i…
A 350,000-year climatic record from the loess sequence of Achenheim, Alsace, France
2008
Up to now the best Quaternary climatic sequences come from oceanic isotope studies, but terrestrial sequences are also well known, usually for pollen or ice core data. A new sequence providing climatic information for the last 500,000 years has been studied in the loess series of Achenheim (Alsace), using the mollusc record in relation to other stratigraphical data. Mollusc assemblages are analysed using a multivariate method. The correspondence analysis used here allows us to explain, in ecological terms, the general variability of the Achenheim set. Most Pleistocene mollusc species have the advantage that modem individuals live in the same assemhlages. So, the known ecology and distributi…
Presence of the genus Cuon in upper Pleistocene and initial Holocene sites of the Iberian Peninsula: new remains identified in archaeological context…
2010
The dhole (Cuon alpinus) has been documented on the Iberian Peninsula throughout the Middle and Upper Pleistocene in archaeological and palaeontological contexts. However, this is an uncommon species among the Iberian quaternary faunae as a whole. This paper focuses on the remains of the genus Cuon recovered in three different sites of the Iberian Mediterranean region and their morphological and osteometrical study. By comparing these with fourteen complete skeletons of Canis lupus, as well as with other remains of C. alpinus, we intend to highlight some anatomical and metrical differences between Cuon and Canis that, added to those already published, could be a functional base-line for the…
The Quaternary fossil record of the genus Testudo in the Iberian Peninsula. Archaeological implications and diachronic distribution in the western Me…
2009
This paper explores the presence of tortoise remains and its meaning in Palaeolithic archaeological contexts. We focus on two topics: (1) the presence or absence of the genus Testudo from the Early Pleistocene to the Holocene in SW Europe; and (2) the relationship between Testudo and the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental conditions diachronically. In order to address this objective, we collected published and unpublished data from different sites on the eastern Iberian Peninsula. The results obtained by this study demonstrate that Testudo hermanni was the only tortoise present in this area until recent times and its presence in archaeological sites is almost always related to anthropic…
First evidence of Pleistocene ochre production from bacteriogenic iron oxides. A case study of the Upper Palaeolithic site at the San Teodoro Cave (S…
2020
Abstract The use of iron pigments is well documented in the archaeological horizons of the different parts of the world since the Middle Pleistocene. The mineralogical and chemical composition of the pigments allowed defining, in most cases, their inorganic origin, which were then used after a limited transformation and manipulation. The use of a biogenic ochraceous pigment and its manipulation has recently been described in a late Holocene archaeological horizon of the American continent. Here we describe the earliest case of archaeological use of ferrous pigment produced by iron-oxidising bacteria (FeOB), the first identified in a European Epigravettian (late Upper Palaeolithic) layer, at…
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 …