Taphonomy as a methodological framework for understanding surface funerary deposits: the human burial at the cave of El Espinoso (Ribadedeva, Asturias)

RESUMEN: Durante la Edad del Bronce en el norte de la Península Ibérica algunos grupos humanos inhumaban a sus congéneres sobre la superficie del suelo de cuevas de difícil acceso. Esta tradición cultural, muy arraigada en el País Vasco y en Cantabria, se extiende hasta la región oriental de Asturias. Este trabajo se centra en el estudio tafonómico de los restos humanos encontrados en 1993 en la cueva de El Espinoso (Ribadedeva, Asturias). La cueva fue utilizada como lugar de inhumación de un número mínimo de veinte individuos, de ambos sexos y diferentes edades. Este yacimiento constituye el único enterramiento múltiple en cueva de la Edad del Bronce documentado hasta ahora en Asturias, sumándose así a otros yacimientos de la Prehistoria Reciente de esta región, como son El Toral III, La Llana y Fuentenegroso y consolidando esta tradición funeraria a lo largo de dos mil años en el Oriente de Asturias. La tafonomía ha ofrecido un marco teórico y metodológico preciso para estudiar este tipo de yacimientos en superficie, afectados por complejos procesos post-deposicionales.ABSTRACT: During the Bronze Age the human groups of Cantabria buried their dead on the surface of narrow caves. This cultural tradition, common to the Basque Country and Cantabria, extends to eastern Asturias. This work focuses on the taphonomical study of the human remains found in 1993 in the cave of El Espinoso, located in Ribadedeva (Asturias). The cavity was used as a burial place for a minimum of twenty individuals of both sexes and different ages. This site constitutes the only collective burial cave currently known from the Bronze Age in Asturias (other later prehistoric burial caves in the region ?El Toral III, La Llana, Fuentenegroso, etc.? have single burials). A funerary tradition of cave burial lasted over two thousand years in eastern Asturias. The taphonomical analysis provides a theoritical and methodological framework adequate to the study this type of superficial deposits, affected by complex post-depositional processes.Este estudio se ha realizado a partir del Trabajo Fin de Máster del primero de los autores. La investigación ha sido apoyada por el Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria y financiada por el Proyecto “Tracing Climatic Abrupt Change Events and Their Social Impact during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene (15–7 ky calBP) (HAR2013-46802-P)” financiado por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España

Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers

Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants.This project has received funding by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements no. 803147-RESOLUTION (to S.T.), no. 771234-PALEoRIDER (to W.H.), no. 864358 (to K.M.), no. 724703 and no. 101019659 (to K.H.). K.H. is also supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG FOR 2237). E.A. has received funding from the Van de Kamp fonds. PACEA co-authors of this research benefited from the scientific framework of the University of Bordeaux’s IdEx Investments for the Future programme/GPR Human Past. A.G.-O. is supported by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2017-22558). L. Sineo, M.L. and D.C. have received funding from the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) PRIN 2017 grants 20177PJ9XF and 20174BTC4R_002. H. Rougier received support from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences of CSUN and the CSUN Competition for RSCA Awards. C.L.S. and T. Saupe received support from the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (project no. 2014-2020.4.01.16-0030) and C.L.S. received support from the Estonian Research Council grant PUT (PRG243). S. Shnaider received support from the Russian Science Foundation (no. 19-78 10053)

The arrival of millets to the Atlantic coast of northern Iberia

Despite being one of the most important crops in the recent prehistory of Eurasia, the arrival and exploitation of millets in the westernmost part of Europe are still largely underexplored. Here and for the first time, we report multipronged biomolecular evidence of millet consumption along the Atlantic façade of northern Iberia through a combination of radiocarbon dating, stable isotopes, and dental calculus analyses on the human individuals found in the burial site of El Espinoso cave (Asturias, Spain). The high-resolution chronological framework established for individuals placed the burials between 1235 and 1099 cal. BC. The discovery of high ?13C values on their bone collagen and the identification of polyhedral starch grains within their dental plaque underline the relevance of C4 plants in their diet and highlights the timing of the systematic consumption of millets in the Late Bronze Age. Our data support previous regional archaeobotanical evidence and establish a more precise chronology of the dispersal of millets into northern Iberia during the Bronze Age, becoming an essential crop until the arrival of maize from America after AD 1492. This study emphasizes the importance of multidisciplinary methods to ascertain the origin and development of agricultural practices during recent prehistory.This study is part of B.G.R.’s Doctoral dissertation, supervised by A.B.M.A. and M.R.G.M. This research is funded by the research projects of the Spanish Economy, Industry and Competitiveness Ministry HAR2016-75605-R to M.R.G.M. and HAR2017- 84997-P to A.B.M.A. Part of this research, including the stable isotope analyses, was funded by the ERC Consolidator Grant (SUBSILIENCE ref. 818299), awarded to A.B.M.A. Analysis of dental calculus was carried out in the framework of the ERC Starting Grant (HIDDEN FOODS ref. 639286), awarded to E.C. The authors would like to thank C. García de Castro and B. López for giving information and allowing the sampling of Los Cinchos cave. We are grateful to L. Agudo Perez for her invaluable help during the collagen extraction protocols. The authors wish to acknowledge Dr Lawrence G. Straus (University of New Mexico) for editing the English version of this manuscript. Finally, we also thanks to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that improved the manuscript

Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers

Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants.Open access funding provided by Max Planck Society. This project has received funding by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements no. 803147-RESOLUTION (to S.T.), no. 771234-PALEoRIDER (to W.H.), no. 864358 (to K.M.), no. 724703 and no. 101019659 (to K.H.). K.H. is also supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG FOR 2237). E.A. has received funding from the Van de Kamp fonds. PACEA co-authors of this research benefited from the scientific framework of the University of Bordeaux’s IdEx Investments for the Future programme/GPR Human Past. A.G.-O. is supported by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2017-22558). L. Sineo, M.L. and D.C. have received funding from the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) PRIN 2017 grants 20177PJ9XF and 20174BTC4R_002. H. Rougier received support from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences of CSUN and the CSUN Competition for RSCA Awards. C.L.S. and T. Saupe received support from the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (project no. 2014-2020.4.01.16-0030) and C.L.S. received support from the Estonian Research Council grant PUT (PRG243). S. Shnaider received support from the Russian Science Foundation (no. 19-78-10053).Peer reviewe

Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers

: Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants

Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to Neolithic European hunter-gatherers

Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s).Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdalenian culture that re-expanded northeastward after the Last Glacial Maximum. Conversely, we reveal a genetic turnover in southern Europe suggesting a local replacement of human groups around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, accompanied by a north-to-south dispersal of populations associated with the Epigravettian culture. From at least 14,000 years ago, an ancestry related to this culture spread from the south across the rest of Europe, largely replacing the Magdalenian-associated gene pool. After a period of limited admixture that spanned the beginning of the Mesolithic, we find genetic interactions between western and eastern European hunter-gatherers, who were also characterized by marked differences in phenotypically relevant variants.Peer reviewe

Population dynamics, diet and funerary practices of the last hunter-gatherers and first farming societies of the Cantabrian Region

RESUMEN: La neolitización supuso el cambio más radical en las sociedades humanas del pasado reciente, propiciando unas transformaciones biológicas, tecnológicas, socioeconómicas y culturales que se iniciaron en Oriente Próximo hace aproximadamente 12000 años. La región cantábrica fue una de las zonas europeas que más tarde recibió su impacto y donde el modelo de neolitización (difusión démica vs aculturación) ha sido más debatido. En esta tesis doctoral, por primera vez, se propone un acercamiento a este fenómeno a partir del estudio multidisciplinar de los restos humanos de dieciocho contextos funerarios datados entre el Aziliense y la Edad del Bronce. Con el objetivo de conocer las dinámicas de población, la dieta, la movilidad y las prácticas funerarias de los últimos cazadores-recolectores y primeras sociedades campesinas de la región cantábrica, esta investigación integra la datación y modelización bayesiana, los estudios antropológicos y tafonómicos, y el análisis de isótopos estables, cálculo dental y ADN de los individuos inhumados en estos yacimientos.ABSTRACT: Neolithisation was the most radical change in human societies of the recent past, leading to biological, technological, socioeconomic and cultural transformations that began in the Near East approximately 12,000 years ago. The Cantabrian Region was one of the European places that later received their impact and where the neolithisation model (demic diffusion vs. acculturation) has been most debated. In this PhD, for the first time, an approach of this phenomenon is proposed from the multidisciplinary study of the human remains of eighteen funerary contexts dated between the Azilian and the Bronze Age. With the aim of understanding the population dynamics, diet, mobility and funerary practices of the last hunter-gatherers and first farming societies of the Cantabrian Region, this research integrates radiocarbon dating and bayesian modelling, anthropological and taphonomic studies, and the analysis of stable isotopes, dental calculus and DNA of the individuals buried in these sites.Antes de citar todas aquellas personas que me han prestado su colaboración, debo agradecer al Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MINECO) del Gobierno de España la concesión de un contrato predoctoral para la realización de esta investigación, que se inserta dentro del proyecto “Cambio global, respuestas locales: impacto del cambio climático en las sociedades terminales de cazadores recolectores y el inicio de las economías productivas (HAR2016-75605-R)” otorgado a M. R. González Morales, que permitió la financiación de esta tesis doctoral. Otros proyectos concedidos a A. B. Marín-Arroyo han financiado parcialmente esta investigación predoctoral, por lo que debo de expresar mi gratitud a dichas instituciones. Estos son el proyecto nacional “Efecto de las oscilaciones climáticas abruptas durante el MIS3 en las poblaciones humanas-ABRUPT (HAR2017-84997-P)” y el proyecto europeo ERC Consolidator Grant “Subsistence and human resilience to sudden climatic events in Europe during MIS3-SUBSILIENCE (818299)”

Population dynamics, diet and funerary practices of the last hunter-gatherers and first farming societies of the Cantabrian Region

Tesis doctoral en período de exposición públicaArqueología Prehistóric

Estudio arqueológico y tafonómico de los restos humanos de la cueva sepulcral de El Espinoso (Ribadedeva, Asturias)

RESUMEN Durante el Calcolítico y la Edad del Bronce cantábrico, los grupos humanos inhumaban a sus muertos en cuevas de difícil acceso. Este Trabajo Fin de Máster se centra por primera vez en el estudio arqueológico, antropológico y tafonómico de los restos humanos encontrados en 1993 en la cueva de El Espinoso (Ribadedeva, Asturias). Este yacimiento constituye el único enterramiento colectivo de la Edad del Bronce en Asturias.ABSTRACT During the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in the Cantabrian Region, Spain, the human groups buried their dead depositing them in narrow caves. This Master dissertation is based on the anthropological, archaeological and taphonomic study of human remains found in 1993 in El Espinoso Cave, located in Ribadedeva (Asturias). This study presents novel methodological aspects and it constitutes the only collective burial known from the Bronze Age in Asturias.Máster en Prehistoria y Arqueologí

CHALCOLITHIC/EARLY BRONZE AGE AND ADDITIONAL MAGDALENIAN RADIOCARBON DATES FOR EL MIRÓN CAVE (RAMALES DE LA VICTORIA, CANTABRIA, SPAIN). DATE LIST VII

International audienceThere are now 101 radiocarbon dates from the long Paleolithic and post-Paleolithic culture-stratigraphic sequence in El Mirón Cave, Cantabrian Spain. Here we report on two dates on bone from two different humans whose remains were found in disturbed surface sediments in the cave vestibule rear and that confirm the existence of burials in addition to previously reported residential occupations in the vestibule front pertaining to the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Age periods (ca. 5500–3500 cal BP). In another attempt to resolve problems of stratigraphic incoherence of dates from the early Magdalenian periods in the vestibule rear, six new assays on faunal remains from Levels 119, 117, 114, 108, and 106 were run at Queen’s University in Belfast. There continue to be date inversions in the Lower Magdalenian range of levels that may be explained by a combination of intensive anthropic and rodent activity, major rock fall, slope wash and gravity-caused object movements, as well as possible problems in following some thin levels during excavations over a large area and across many years of work in the cave vestibule interior, particularly in the absence of any layers that are culturally sterile or even poor. Nonetheless, the coherent age of the Initial Magdalenian is fully confirmed by a new date from Level 21 in the vestibule front at ca. 22,000–20,500 cal BP), as is the general age range of the Lower Magdalenian (ca. 20,500–18,000 cal BP)