Here be Reindeer: Geoarchaeological Approaches to the Transspecies Lifeworlds of the Sámi Reindeer Herder Camps on the Tundra

In this paper we present ongoing geoarchaeological research of Sámi reindeer pastoralist campsites. The discussion is based on three case study sites situated at the Lake Gilbbesjávri region (Finland) in northern Sápmi. All the sites are historical-period reindeer herder camps, likely used as temporary summer encampments by the nomadic herders in the 17th–19th centuries. The sites were prospected with systematic soil sampling and geoarchaeological analyses, which have been previously successfully applied in the study of Sámi habitation sites on both intrasite and intra-dwelling levels. The changes in the soil phosphate, pH and electric conductivity values were analysed and interpreted based on ethnographic analogies. These allow insight into the outwardly invisible taskscapes and spatialities of the herders and their animals at the campsites. The different geoarchaeological factors highlight differing aspects of the use of space at the historical Sámi reindeer pastoralist campsites, such as potential reindeer corralling areas, and provide comparative material for the analyses of prehistoric Sámi hunter-gatherer-herder sites

Early evidence of fire in south-western Europe: the Acheulean site of Gruta da Aroeira (Torres Novas, Portugal)

The site of Gruta da Aroeira (Torres Novas, Portugal), with evidence of human occupancy dating to ca. 400 ka (Marine Isotope Stage 11), is one of the very few Middle Pleistocene localities to have provided a fossil hominin cranium associated with Acheulean bifaces in a cave context. The multi-analytic study reported here of the by-products of burning recorded in layer X suggests the presence of anthropogenic fires at the site, among the oldest such evidence in south-western Europe. The burnt material consists of bone, charcoal and, possibly, quartzite cobbles. These finds were made in a small area of the cave and in two separate occupation horizons. Our results add to our still-limited knowledge about the controlled use of fire in the Lower Palaeolithic and contribute to ongoing debates on the behavioural complexity of the Acheulean of Europe.Financial support for the archaeological fieldwork undertaken at the Almonda karst sites was provided by the Municipality of Torres Novas and by projects PTDC/HIS-ARQ/098164/2008 and PTDC/HAR-ARQ/30413/2017, funded by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal). This study was supported by the Governments of Spain—projects HAR2017-86509 and PGC2018-093925-B-C33 (MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE), Catalonia—project 2017SGR-00011- and France—the International Research Network (IRN 0871 CNRS-INEE): Taphonomy European Network (TaphEN). M. Sanz and J. Daura were supported by Juan de la Cierva (IJCI-2017–33908) and Ramon y Cajal (RYC-2015–17667) postdoctoral grants, respectively. Á. Carrancho gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Junta de Castilla y León (project BU235P18) as well as FEDER funding and project AEI/10.13039/501100011033

Fuel sources, natural vegetation and subsistence at a high-altitude aboriginal settlement in Tenerife, Canary Islands: Microcontextual geoarchaeological data from Roques de García Rockshelter

High-altitude island environments, with their characteristic strong seasonal contrast and limited resources, are challenging contexts for human subsistence. However, although archaeological contexts in this kind of setting hold great potential to explore the diversity of human biological and cultural adaptations, such sites are rare. In this paper, we present the results of a microcontextual geoarchaeological study carried out at Rogues de Garcia Rockshelter, the highest altitude cave archaeological site in the Canary Islands (Spain). The site was inhabited by the aboriginal population of the island and has yielded a rich archaeological context derived from combustion activity. We carried out soil micromorphology to characterize site function and lipid biomarker analysis to investigate the natural and anthropogenic organic record. Our data indicate that the aboriginal groups that occupied the site kept goats with them (in the rockshelter) and probably used Juniperus turbinata (sabina) wood, a current distant fuel source. These results suggest that the aboriginal societies of Tenerife occupied the highlands regularly, taking their herds and firewood with them. Further research is necessary to explore the use and exploitation of fuel sources, the seasonality of these occupations and their differences with lowland sites.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Occupation and mobility in high-mountain agropastoral societies: a proposal for an ethnoarchaeological study in the Jbel Sirwa (Anti-Atlas, Morocco)

Desde los orígenes de la domesticación, las sociedades agropastoriles de alta montaña han sido un ejemplo excepcional de adaptación y resiliencia a territorios inhóspitos, ya que requieren de un delicado equilibrio entre las actividades de trashumancia y cultivo para poder asegurar la continuidad del grupo. Los trabajos arqueológicos sobre estas sociedades han dejado tras de sí numerosas preguntas sobre la relación entre los humanos y el medio de montaña. Todos estos interrogantes nos han llevado a estudiar la materialidad de la vida cotidiana de las poblaciones agropastoriles del Jbel Sirwa. Así pues, desde el proyecto ARCHEOMOBAS, ofrecemos esta propuesta metodológica interdisciplinar para llevar a cabo estudios etnoarqueológicos de este tipo de comunidades en territorios montañosos.Since the first days of domestication, high mountain agropastoral societies have provided an exceptional example of adaptation and resilience to inhospitable territories, as the maintenance of population groups requires a delicate balance between transhumance and cultivation activities. Archaeological research into these societies has left numerous questions about the relationship between humans and the mountain environment unresolved. These questions have motivated the authors to explore the materiality of the daily life of the agropastoral populations of the Jbel Sirwa. Thus, with this proposal, the ARCHEOMOBAS project outlines an interdisciplinary methodological approach intended to carry out ethnoarchaeological studies of this kind of community in mountainous territories

Reconstructing formation processes at the Canary Islands indigenous site of Belmaco Cave (La Palma, Spain) through a multiproxy geoarchaeological approach

The indigenous populations of La Palma (Canary Islands), who arrived on the island from Northwest Africa ca. 2000 years B.P., were predominantly pastoralists. Yet, many aspects of their subsistence economy such as the procurement, management, and use of wild plant resources remain largely unknown. To explore this, we studied the 600–1100-year-old archaeological site of Belmaco Cave, which comprises a stratified sedimentary deposit representative of a fumier. Here, we present a high-resolution, multiproxy geoarchaeological study combining soil micromorphology, lipid biomarker analysis, X-ray diffraction, μ-X-ray diffraction, μ-X-ray fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and μ-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, to characterize formation processes and explore plant sources. Recurrent goat/sheep habitation and maintenance activities are represented by interstratified layers of unburned dung, charcoal-rich sediment, and dung ash. Lipid biomarker data show a herd diet mainly composed of herbaceous plants, which is key to understanding the mobility of indigenous shepherds. Our results also revealed an unusual suite of authigenic minerals including hazenite, aragonite, and sylvite, possibly formed through diagenetic processes involving interaction between ash, dung, urine, volcanogenic components, and bacterial activity, coupled with arid and alkaline conditions. Our study shows the potential of a multiproxy approach to a fumier deposit in a volcanogenic sedimentary context.publishedVersio

A new chronological framework and site formation history for Cova del Gegant (Barcelona): Implications for Neanderthal and Anatomically Modern Human occupation of NE Iberian Peninsula

The chronological framework for Neanderthal occupation and demise across Europe continues to be debated. In particular, there is still uncertainty regarding the nature, timing and regional expressions of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition associated with the disappearance of Neanderthals and the broader expansion of modern human populations in Europe around 42e40 thousand years ago (ka). The geographical and chronological distribution of Neanderthal populations also remains difficult to evaluate owing to the practical challenges of directly dating human fossils at many sites, and the fact that a large proportion of Neanderthals sites lie close to, or well-beyond, the limits of radiocarbon dating. Cova del Gegant e one of the few sites in north-eastern Iberian Peninsula to yield Neanderthal fossil remains, associated Mousterian archaeological layers, and occupations related to the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic transition e is a key locality for informing these ongoing debates. Here we provide a comprehensive chronological framework for the Cova del Gegant site using multiple radiometric dating techniques (uranium-thorium (UeTh), radiocarbon and luminescence dating), sedimentological and micromorphological analyses, and Bayesian modelling. This integrated chronostratigraphic approach enables us to reliably reconstruct site formation processes and history, and undertake improved correlations with other sites regionally. The results allow us to sub-divide the Cova del Gegant sequence into three sections spanning ~94 ka to ~32 ka, namely: a Middle Palaeolithic sequence covering ~94e59 ka, a Châtelperronian/Aurignacian section spanning ~43e39 ka, and a Late Aurignacian/Gravettian section spanning ~34e32 ka. The Neanderthal fossil remains accumulated in the cave between the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5/MIS 4 and the beginning of MIS 3, during two different events dated to ~72e67 ka and ~60e52 ka. The chronological framework for Cova del Gegant is in accordance with that reported for other Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites in north-eastern Iberian Peninsula, and reveals a record of successive human occupation coinciding with a period of progressive global cooling and lowering sea levels (end of MIS 5 through to MIS 2). Sedimentological evidence points to the emergence of a coastal platform in front of the cave and indicates that local palaeoenvironmental conditions likely benefited human displacements along the littoral margin, and favoured repeated occupation of the cave during the Late Pleistocene

Not seen before. Unveiling depositional context and Mammuthus meridionalis exploitation at Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, southern Iberia) through taphonomy and microstratigraphy

Meat consumption by early hominins is a hotly debated issue. A key question concerns their access to large mammal carcasses, including megafauna. Currently, the evidence of anthropic cut marks on proboscidean bones older than -or close to- 1.0 Ma are restricted to the archaeological sites of Dmanisi (Georgia), Olduvai (Tanzania), Gona (Ethiopia), Olorgesailie (Kenya) and La Boella (Spain). During an inspection of the almost complete carcass of Mammuthus meridionalis (FN3-5-MPS) from the Oldowan site of Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Spain, c. 1.2 Ma), a few traces compatible with human-made cut marks and carnivore tooth marks were found. From this finding and previous interpretations the following questions arise: When and under what conditions was FN3-5-MPS deposited? What is the nature of the marks found on the surface of the bones of this mammoth? To answer, we have conducted a high-resolution analysis of these remains, combining both taphonomic and microstratigraphic data. Our results, using microstratigraphic and micromorphological analyses of sediments based on thin-sections, show that this individual was deposited in a marshy environment. Subsequently, the carcass was exploited by hominins and large felids that left their marks on the surface of some of its bones. For this purpose, the identification and characterisation of both cut marks and tooth marks were performed using high-resolution 3D modelling, geometric morphometrics, and artificially intelligent algorithms. Based on the anatomical position of both the cut and tooth marks, we propose that both the hominins and the saber-toothed cats had early access to the animal. Finally, this paper shows how an interdisciplinary approach can shed detailed light on the particular story regarding the death and processing of the carcass of a female mammoth, deposited at Fuente Nueva 3.This research has been carried out thanks to projects PID 2021.125098NB.I00 funding by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER Una manera de hacer Europa and ProyExcel_00274 funding by Dirección General de Planificación de la Investigación (Consejería de Universidad, Investigación e Innovación, Junta de Andalucía). In addition, this research has been supported by the following projects of the Spanish government: PID2021-122533NB-I00, PID2021-123092NB-C21, PID2022-136832NB-I00. We also acknowledge the support provided by the PALARQ Foundation through the project Ref: PR2004_19/01

Here be reindeer:geoarchaeological approaches to the transspecies lifeworlds of the Sámi reindeer herder camps on the tundra

Abstract In this paper we present ongoing geoarchaeological research of Sámi reindeer pastoralist campsites. The discussion is based on three case study sites situated at the Lake Gilbbesjávri region (Finland) in northern Sápmi. All the sites are historical-period reindeer herder camps, likely used as temporary summer encampments by the nomadic herders in the 17th–19th centuries. The sites were prospected with systematic soil sampling and geoarchaeological analyses, which have been previously successfully applied in the study of Sámi habitation sites on both intrasite and intra-dwelling levels. The changes in the soil phosphate, pH and electric conductivity values were analysed and interpreted based on ethnographic analogies. These allow insight into the outwardly invisible taskscapes and spatialities of the herders and their animals at the campsites. The different geoarchaeological factors highlight differing aspects of the use of space at the historical Sámi reindeer pastoralist campsites, such as potential reindeer corralling areas, and provide comparative material for the analyses of prehistoric Sámi hunter-gatherer-herder sites

On the track of anthropogenic activity in carnivore dens: altered combustion structures in Cova del Gegant (NE Iberian Peninsula)

Cova del Gegant (Barcelona, NE Iberian Peninsula) is a Middle Palaeolithic site presenting evidence of carnivore occupations with some sporadic Neanderthal activity. The rapid, fine sedimentation in layer IIIa permitted the preservation of the remains of carnivore activity and an ephemeral combustion area, although lithics are absent. We used a detailed excavation procedure in combination with Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, soil micromorphological, zooarchaeological and taphonomical analyses, and coprogenic analysis to evaluate the interactions of humans and carnivores in the same area of the cave.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Not only hyenids: A multi-scale analysis of Upper Pleistocene carnivore coprolites in Cova del Coll Verdaguer (NE Iberian Peninsula)

International audienceThree morphotypes of fossil fecal material (coprolites) have been identified from the Upper Pleistocene site of Cova del Coll Verdaguer (NE Iberian Peninsula). Coprolites are commonly found in Pleistocene records and also in places in which human and carnivore activities co-occurred. However, coprolite identification is typically limited to hyenids, the most readily recognizable fossilized feces, owing to their distinctive shape and good preservation, although non-hyena carnivore coprolites are also likely to be present in these assemblages. Several criteria for a multi-scale integrative analysis are proposed here for discriminating different morphotypes. Hence, this analysis provides an opportunity to assess the involvement of several carnivores in bone accumulations, to identify carnivores not specifically represented by skeletal remains and to evaluate interactions between humans and the carnivore guild, especially medium and small carnivores