Piezas toroides de arcilla en yacimientos ibéricos

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN028021 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Peines prehistóricos peninsulares

This paper has two aims: first, it seeks to bring together the varied and rich series of autochthonous bone, ivory and wooden combs recovered from Neolithic, Chalcolitic and Bronze Age sites located in the Iberian Peninsula; second, it attempts to understand the prehistoric use of these artefacts. Although, in some instances, the interpretation of their meaning has not been attained the issued bibliographic survey may help future studies on their cultural significance.Mediante la revisión, no exhaustiva, de una serie de objetos dentados de hueso, madera y marfil -clasificados como peines- hallados con relativa frecuencia, en fases del Neolítico, Calcolítico o Bronce en yacimientos ubicados en el actual territorio de España y Portugal, pretendemos analizar las distintas hipótesis emitidas sobre su empleo prehistórico. Aunque éste, en algunos casos, ha resultado problemático, la documentación bibliográfica acumulada puede facilitar el futuro estudio y reconocimiento de estos singulares elementos culturales

Fauna malacológica del Pleistoceno superior en el Abric Romani (Capellades, Barcelona)

Aquatic and terrestrial gastropod shells, recovered by water sieving of the sediments from the Middle Paleolithic sequence C.III, Level H, at the RomanI rockshelter, have confirmed the past waterlogged conditions of a distinctive living floor where diverse testimonies of human activity have been registered

Firewood and hearths: Middle Palaeolithic woody taxa distribution from El Salt, stratigraphic unit Xb (Eastern Iberia)

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 between the combustion features and scattered charcoal fragments recovered from excavated occupation surfaces. To address this problem, the charcoal assemblage from El Salt Stratigraphic Unit (SU) Xb (Archaeosedimentary Facies Association 2 [AFA 2]) is analyzed using spatial analysis methods. Results suggest that the integration of anthracological remains into a palimpsest dissection analyses is vital to better understand the relationship between combustion structures and activity areas. These results highlight the utility of spatial and statistical methods as important tools for future anthracological analyses to provide meaningful information related to taxa distribution and the last firewood used in combustion structures

A Middle Palaeolithic wooden digging stick from Aranbaltza III, Spain

Aranbaltza is an archaeological complex formed by at least three open-air sites. Between 2014 and 2015 a test excavation carried out in Aranbaltza III revealed the presence of a sand and clay sedimentary sequence formed in floodplain environments, within which six sedimentary units have been identified. This sequence was formed between 137±50 ka, and includes several archaeological horizons, attesting to the long-term presence of Neanderthal communities in this area. One of these horizons, corresponding with Unit 4, yielded two wooden tools. One of these tools is a beveled pointed tool that was shaped through a complex operational sequence involving branch shaping, bark peeling, twig removal, shaping, polishing, thermal exposition and chopping. A use-wear analysis of the tool shows it to have traces related with digging soil so it has been interpreted as representing a digging stick. This is the first time such a tool has been identified in a European Late Middle Palaeolithic context; it also represents one of the first well-preserved Middle Palaeolithic wooden tool found in southern Europe. This artefact represents one of the few examples available of wooden tool preservation for the European Palaeolithic, allowing us to further explore the role wooden technologies played in Neanderthal communities