Search results for "assemblage"
showing 10 items of 143 documents
Un assemblage inhabituel d’insectivores au Miocène inférieur du Sud-Ouest de l’Europe : les talpidés et les dimylidés du bassin de Ribesalbes–Alcora …
2019
The Miocene record of talpids and dimylids in south-western Europe is very scarce. In the present work, we study for the first time the talpids and complete the description of the dimylids, already started with a new species of the genus Plesiodimylus from the Ribesalbes–Alcora Basin (MN4, lower Aragonian, early Miocene) by Crespo et al. (2018). The talpids recovered inRibesalbes–Alcora comprise themost common Desmanodon daamsi and Desmanella fejfari, for which the last known occurrence is recorded here. The dimylids comprise the species Plesiodimylus ilercavonicus, which expands the biostratigraphic record of the genus and species and has been found in a new site. On the other hand, we dis…
Debitage by fracturing in the osseous industry of Cova del Parpalló (Gandía-Valencia, Spain): A preliminary study
2016
Abstract The excavations carried out by L. Pericot from 1929 to 1931 in the Cova del Parpallo documented the Gravettian in the base, a Solutrean layer, and a Magdalenian. This sequences comprise an exceptional assemblage of portable art because of the number of plaquets/objects and the great chronological amplitude. With all this information, Parpallo was included in the reduced list of reference sites to organize the European Upper Paleolithic sequence in the first half of the 20th century. The Magdalenian layers were organized in four phases, following H. Breuil's classical proposal. Changes in bases morphology and decorative topics on osseous points permitted this correlation, identifyin…
Firewood and hearths: Middle Palaeolithic woody taxa distribution from El Salt, stratigraphic unit Xb (Eastern Iberia)
2017
Abstract Spatial analyses of Palaeolithic sites typically defined by hearth-related assemblages have been mostly based on lithic and faunal remains. By using spatial analysis methods in conjunction with analytical units with higher temporal resolution than typical stratigraphic units, synchronic and diachronic relationships between artifacts deposited during successive occupation events have been elucidated. Spatial analyses applied to archaeobotanical remains are scarce, and when available, are typically focused on carpological remains (seeds and fruits). The lack of spatial indicators among anthracological remains hampers obtaining significant data linked to the relationships established …
Interpreting the Schöningen 13II-4 butchery sequence using the Harris Matrix
2021
Abstract The Schoningen 13II-4 site is well known for the discovery of multiple wooden spears in association with a large assemblage of Middle Pleistocene fauna. Such extraordinary organic preservation also extends to a wide array of bone surface modifications that can be used to reconstruct Middle Pleistocene hominin butchery practices. On bones with few hominin-induced marks, the butchery sequence can be determined quite easily. However, the sequence becomes increasingly more difficult to decipher in bones that include a high number and diversity of biotic and abiotic modifications. To aid in this process, we developed a simple approach for determining the order of bone surface modificati…
Dietary freshwater reservoir effects and the radiocarbon ages of prehistoric human bones from Zvejnieki, Latvia
2016
Abstract Aquatic food resources (fish and molluscs) were exploited intensively at Riņņukalns, a Neolithic freshwater shell midden at the outlet of Lake Burtnieks, north-eastern Latvia. Stable isotope data (δ 15 N and δ 13 C) from a rich fishbone assemblage and a wide range of terrestrial species complement published results on faunal samples from the famous prehistoric cemetery and settlement at Zvejnieki, on the same lake. Stable isotope data show that freshwater food resources made substantial but varying contributions to human diets at Zvejnieki and Riņņukalns throughout the Mesolithic and Neolithic. Our research has also shown significant radiocarbon freshwater reservoir effects (FRE) i…
Priedaine: A Neolithic Site at the Head of the Gulf of Riga
2016
The Neolithic site of Priedaine in Jūrmala was excavated on a small scale in 2007–2008, yielding an assemblage of Comb Ceramics, along with unique wooden implements and fragments of pine-lath fishing structures. The environment and subsistence resources are indicated by plant macrofossil remains and a small faunal collection. Located by a palaeolake and also very close to the sea, the site, dated to c. 3700–3500 cal BC, would have been oriented towards aquatic resource exploitation. However, it had a wider range of functions, as indicated by the evidence of flint and amber processing. Key words: Neolithic, pottery, fishing gear, plant macro-remains, faunal remains, lake, coastal settlement.…
Improving the accuracy of small vertebrate-based palaeoclimatic reconstructions derived from the Mutual Ecogeographic Range. A case study using geogr…
2019
Abstract Understanding past climate and the mechanisms of climate change remain major challenges in scientific research. The Mutual Ecogeographic Range (MER) method for climatic reconstruction uses the current geographical distribution of fossil assemblages to infer palaeoclimatic conditions. Current species distributions used in the MER method are usually obtained from biogeographic atlases that record the absence/presence of species in a 10 × 10 km grid. A 10 × 10 km area is quite broad and the method only records presence/absence, without considering the real area occupied by any given species. Thus, the method overlooks the fact that environmental heterogeneity is strongly related to to…
Ceramic productions and human interactions during the Early Bronze Age in northern Iberia
2021
The Early Bronze Age ceramic collection found into the caves of La Llana and El Toral III in Asturias (Spain) presents common decoration such as that found in the centre of Cantabrian Spain from the same period, which resembles others found in the Ebro Valley and Atlantic Europe. Therefore, the main objective of this study it is to identify the raw material origin and understand the pottery production process during the Early Bronze Age in the Cantabrian region. A methodological approach based on the chemical and mineralogical analysis of vessels and experimentally fired clay samples collected all over the centre of this region was developed. Furthermore, the post-depositional processes aff…
Identifying fossil rabbit warrens: Insights from a taphonomical analysis of a modern warren
2016
14 pages; International audience; The European rabbit is a small burrowing mammal that is particularly abundant in Western Europe since the Pleistocene and introduced around the world over the last few centuries. Rabbit bones are regularly recovered from archaeological and palaeontological sites; however, demonstrating their contemporaneity with associated material is often difficult. Additionally, determining the origin of rabbit remains in fossil sites is equally problematic due to the lack of reference collections for natural accumulations. In order to address these issues, we excavated a modern rabbit warren in southwestern France using modern archaeological field methods and techniques…
The Borschovo section of the Gauja and Amata regional stages (Leningrad Region, Russia): sedimentology and biostratigraphy
2018
The results of the detailed sedimentological study and bed-by-bed collecting of fossils from the Borschovo section exposing the upper Givetian–lower Frasnian boundary beds are discussed. The succession consists of sandstones alternating with argillaceous and clayey packages that contain vertebrate and plant remains in the upper part. The grain size, sedimentary structures and cross-bed orientation considerably differ in the Oredezh Beds and the Staritsa Beds. Fine- to coarse-grained cross-stratified sandstones of the Oredezh Beds most probably are fluvial deposits, whereas the sandstones of the Staritsa Beds yielding tidal structures that show variable directions of the cross-bedding were a…