Seminari d’Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques (SERP). Núcleo de cohesión en formación e investigación en Prehistoria de la Universitat de Barcelona desde 1987

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The anthracological sequence of the Parco cave (Alòs de Balaguer, Spain): Landscapes and firewood management among the last hunter-gatherers

10.1016/j.anthro.2013.08.00

New data concerning "large blades" in Catalonia : Apt-Forcalquier chert in the Gran Penedes (south of Barcelona) during the final Neolithic and Chalcolithic.

International audienc

La cova de l'Avi (Vallirana, Barcelona) et el inicio del Neolitico final en el N.-E. de la Peninsula Iberica. Inhumaciones collectivas y nuevas redes de intercambio.

National audienc

The Beginning of High Mountain Occupations in the Pyrenees. Human Settlements and Mobility from 18,000 cal BC to 2000 cal BC

During the last two decades, the archaeological research carried out in the Pyrenees challenged the traditional images of the past in this mountain area. The archaeological sequence of the range goes back and sites like Balma Margineda, treated until recently as an exception, now are seen as part of more global process. Actual data suggest that main valleys of the Pyrenean frequented by humans at the end of the last glacial period, with sites slightly over 1000 o.s.l. After the Younger Dryas, the human presence ascended to alpine and subalpine areas, in accordance with current archaeological data. The Neolisitation process was early in some hillsides, with intense remains of farming and pastoralism in many sites from dated in the second half of the 6th millennia cal BC. Human settlements like Coro Tracito, Els Trocs and El Sardo confirm the full introduction of agrarian activity in the central part of the Pyrenees between 5300 and 4600 cal BC. After 3500/3300 cal BC the indices oh sheepherding rises to alpine areas, with an abrupt increase of known archaeological sites in alpine areas, above the current timberline. This phenomena, as well as the signs of anthropic disturbance of the alpine environment in sedimentary sequences, suggests a more stable and ubiquitous human presence, probably largely associated with the development of mobile herding practices.This paper has been carried out in the frame of the GAAM/AGREST research activity. More specifically, this study is part of the projects “Análisi ecológico de la culturización del paisaje de alta montaña desde el Neolítico: los Parques Nacionales de montaña como modelo (CUL-PA)” funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Spain) and directed by J. Catalán and “Modelización de los espacios prehistóricos de montaña. Un SIG del patrimonio arqueológico y los territorios pastoriles” (HAR2015-66780-P, MINECO/FEDER) funded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain) and directed by E. Gassiot.Peer reviewe

Tracing Palaeolithic human routes through the geochemical characterisation of chert tools from Caune de Belvis (Aude, France)

Article number: 135International audienceCaune de Belvis (Aude, France) is located in the northern slopes of the eastern Pyrenees, in south-east France. Excavations at the site during the final decades of the past century identified several human occupations from the Late Mousterian (Maroto et al. 2003) and the Magdalenian periods (Sacchi 1993). The archaeological remains are mostly composed of faunal bones and a rich bone and stone industry. In this paper, we focused on the analysis of stone remains recovered in the Magdalenian levels. The goals of this study are to determine the territorial behaviour of Magdalenian groups settled at Caune de Belvis and to identify their lithic procurement strategies. To do so, we applied a range of techniques for analysing stone remains from the Magdalenian levels and geological samples from the geological formations that may have been used. First, macroscopic studies were carried out to determine the textural and micropalaeontological content; then, geochemical analyses were conducted to quantify the elemental chemical composition. Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) was used to quantify major and minor elements and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was then used to quantify trace elements. The results show that the Magdalenian groups from Caune de Belvis exploited a range of geological formations in the northern and southern Pyrenees. They also highlight the relationship existing between the two sides of the Pyrenees during the Upper Palaeolithic and bear witness to the inhabitants’ thorough knowledge of the Pyrenean area

Towards a complete in silico assessment of the outcome of cochlear implantation surgery

Cochlear implantation (CI) surgery is a very successful technique, performed on more than 300,000 people worldwide. However, since the challenge resides in obtaining an accurate surgical planning, computational models are considered to provide such accurate tools. They allow us to plan and simulate beforehand surgical procedures in order to maximally optimize surgery outcomes, and consequently provide valuable information to guide pre-operative decisions. The aim of this work is to develop and validate computational tools to completely assess the patient-specific functional outcome of the CI surgery. A complete automatic framework was developed to create and assess computationally CI models, focusing on the neural response of the auditory nerve fibers (ANF) induced by the electrical stimulation of the implant. The framework was applied to evaluate the effects of ANF degeneration and electrode intra-cochlear position on nerve activation. Results indicate that the intra-cochlear positioning of the electrode has a strong effect on the global performance of the CI. Lateral insertion provides better neural responses in case of peripheral process degeneration, and it is recommended, together with optimized intensity levels, in order to preserve the internal structures. Overall, the developed automatic framework provides an insight into the global performance of the implant in a patient-specific way. This enables to further optimize the functional performance and helps to select the best CI configuration and treatment strategy for a given patient.This work was financially supported by the European Commission (FP7 project number 304857, HEAR-EU), Generalitat de Catalunya (PRODUCTE program, project number 2016PROD00047) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Programme (MDM-2015-0502)

A Multiscale imaging and modelling dataset of the human inner ear

Understanding the human inner ear anatomy and its internal structures is paramount to advance hearing implant technology. While the emergence of imaging devices allowed researchers to improve understanding of intracochlear structures, the difficulties to collect appropriate data has resulted in studies conducted with few samples. To assist the cochlear research community, a large collection of human temporal bone images is being made available. This data descriptor, therefore, describes a rich set of image volumes acquired using cone beam computed tomography and micro-CT modalities, accompanied by manual delineations of the cochlea and sub-compartments, a statistical shape model encoding its anatomical variability, and data for electrode insertion and electrical simulations. This data makes an important asset for future studies in need of high-resolution data and related statistical data objects of the cochlea used to leverage scientific hypotheses. It is of relevance to anatomists, audiologists, computer scientists in the different domains of image analysis, computer simulations, imaging formation, and for biomedical engineers designing new strategies for cochlear implantations, electrode design, and others.This work was financially supported by the European Commission FP7 (HEAR-EU European project #304857 http://www.hear-eu.eu) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (Nano- Tera initiative project title Hear-Restore). In addition, this work is partly supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under the Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Programme (MDM-2015-0502)