Regional marine climate scenarios in the NE Atlantic sector close to the Spanish shores

[EN] We present an overview of the changes expected during the 21st century in key marine parameters (sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, sea level and waves) in the sector of the NE Atlantic Ocean close to the Spanish shores. Under the A1B scenario, open-sea surface temperatures would increase by 1°C to 1.5°C by 2050 as a consequence of global ocean warming. Near the continental margin, however, the global temperature rise would be counteracted by an enhancement of the seasonal upwelling. Sea surface salinity is likely to decrease in the future, mainly due to the advection of high-latitude fresher waters from ice melting. Mean sea level rise has been quantified as 15-20 cm by 2050, but two contributions not accounted for by our models must be added: the mass redistribution derived from changes in the large-scale circulation (which in the NE Atlantic may be as large as 15 cm in 2050 or 35 cm by 2100) and the increase in the ocean mass content due to the melting of continental ice (for which estimates are still uncertain). The meteorological tide shows very small changes, and therefore extreme sea levels would be higher in the 21st century, but mostly due to the increase in mean sea level, not to an increase in the storminess. The wave projections point towards slightly smaller significant wave heights, but the changes projected are of the same order as the natural variability.[ES]En este trabajo se presenta una visión de conjunto de los cambios esperados en el siglo XXI en los principales parámetros marinos (temperatura y salinidad superficiales, nivel del mar y oleaje) en el sector NE del Océano Atlántico más cercano a las costas españolas. Bajo el escenario A1B, se prevé que la temperatura superficial en mar abierto suba del orden de 1-1.5°C para el año 2050, como consecuencia del calentamiento global del océano. Cerca del margen continental, sin embargo, el aumento de la temperatura superficial podría ser contrarrestado por un aumento del afloramiento estacional. La salinidad superficial es probable que disminuya en el futuro, debido principalmente a la advección desde latitudes más altas de aguas provenientes de la fusión de hielos polares. El aumento del nivel del mar obtenido de los modelos se ha cuantificado en 15 a 20 cm para el año 2050, pero esa estima no incluye dos contribuciones adicionales que deben ser añadidas: la redistribución de masa derivada de los cambios en la circulación a gran escala (que en el Atlántico NE se ha estimado en unos 15 cm para 2050 i en 35 cm para 2100) y el aumento de masa debido a la fusión de hielos continentales (para el cual las estimas son todavía inciertas). La marea meteorológica muestra cambios muy pequeños, y por tanto el aumento de los niveles extremos del mar en el siglo XXI serán debidos principalmente al aumento del nivel medio, no a un aumento en la intensidad de las tormentas. Las proyecciones de oleaje apuntan a olas de altura significante ligeramente más pequeñas; de todos modos, los cambios proyectados son del mismo orden que la variabilidad natural.The computational work of this paper was carried out in the framework of two projects: VANIMEDAT-2 (CTM2009-10163-C02-01), funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) and the E-Plan of the Spanish Government; and ESCENARIOS, funded by the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET). Some of the analysis and summary efforts were carried out in the framework of the subsequent project CLIMPACT (CGL2014-54246-C2-1-R), also funded by MINECO

Assesing use and suitability of scanning electron microscopy in the analysis of micro remains in dental calculus

Dental calculus is increasingly recognized as a major reservoir of dietary information. Palaeodietary studies using plant and animal micro remains (e.g. phytoliths, pollen, sponge spicules, and starch grains) trapped in calculus have the potential to revise our knowledge of the dietary role of plants in past populations. The conventional methods used to isolate and identify these micro remains rely on removing them from their microenvironment in the calculus, thus the microenvironment that traps and preserves micro remains is not understood. By using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEMeEDX) on modern chimpanzee calculus from the Taï Forest, Côte d¿Ivoire, and human calculus from the Chalcolithic site of Camino del Molino, Spain, we present the first reported observations on characteristics of the matrix setting that are conducive to the survival of starch in dental calculus. We also assess the potential for SEMeEDX to detect starch and differentiate it from structurally and molecularly similar substrates. We demonstrate that SEMeEDX may offer a nondestructive technique for studying micro remains in certain contexts. Finally, we compare traditional optical analytical techniques (OM) with less invasive electron microscopy. The results indicate that SEM-EDX and OM are both effective for observing micro remains in calculus, but differ in their analytical resolution to identify different micro remains, and we therefore recommend a sequential use of both techniques

Orphan crops of archaeology-based crop history research

So-called ‘forgotten’ or ‘orphan’ crops are an important component of strategies aimed at preserving and promoting biodiversity. Knowledge of historical cultivation, usage, and geographic and evolutionary trajectories of plants, that is, crop history research, is important for the long-term success of such efforts. However, research biases in the crops chosen for study may present hurdles. This review attempts to systematically identify patterns in crop species representativeness within archaeology-based crop history research. A meta-analysis and synthesis of archaeo- botanical evidence (and lack thereof) is presented for 268 species known to have been cultivated for food prior to 1492 CE from the Mediterranean region to South Asia. We identified 39 genera with known crop plants in this geographical and histor- ical context that are currently absent from its archaeobotanical record, constituting ‘orphan’ crops of archaeobotany. In addition, a worldwide synthesis of crop species studied using geometric morphometric, archaeogenetic and stable isotope analyses of archaeological plant remains is presented, and biases in the species represented in these disciplines are discussed. Both disciplinary methodological biases and economic agenda-based biases affecting species representativeness in crop history research are apparent. This study also highlights the limited geographic diffusion of most crops and the potential for deeper historical perspectives on how crops become marginal- ized and ‘forgotten’

Releyendo el fenómeno de la neolitización en el Bajo Aragón a la luz de la excavación del Cingle de Valmayor XI (Mequinenza, Zaragoza)

Este trabajo presenta los resultados preliminares obtenidos en la excavación del Cingle de Valmayor XI, desarrollada dentro del proyecto de investigación ‘Los caminos del Neolítico’. A través del análisis de las dataciones radiocarbónicas y de una detallada lectura estratigráfica se han podido establecer tres horizontes de ocupación diferentes con cronologías que corresponden a distintos momentos del vi milenio cal bc. Se ofrece una descripción general de los eventos arqueológicos documentados en cada una de estas fases, así como de gran parte del material recuperado –cerámica, lítica, industria ósea, elementos de adorno, fauna y restos carpológicos–. Por otra parte, a la luz de las nuevas dataciones presentadas, se propone una revisión del fenómeno de la neolitización en la región del Bajo Aragón y, por extensión, en todo el valle del Ebro; también se cuestiona la identificación de contextos como propios de economías productoras simplemente a través de la presencia de ciertos elementos materiales considerados tradicionalmente como ‘marcadores neolíticos’, sin que existan variaciones con respecto a las estrategias subsistenciales o de explotación del territorio

La alimentación en una granja púnica de Cerdeña

Excavation of the Punic farm at Truncu’e Molas (Terralba, Sardinia) in the summer of 2007 allowed us to recover a substantial amount of pottery and stone artefacts as well as bio-archaeological remains, despite the partial destruction of the site. These now enable us to study the different food preparation techniques in use in this Punic rural context during the 4th-3rd centuries B.C. The so-called cooking pots, casseroles and tannur offer information about cooking methods, while the bio-archaeological remains suggest that the site’s inhabitants had specialised in wine-production and obtained much of their food from the surroundings area

Variabilité des techniques de récolte et traitement des céréales dans l’occident méditerranéen au Néolithique ancien et moyen : facteurs environnementaux économiques et sociaux.

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