Discriminación experimental de los rasgos técnicos en la talla bipolar y a mano alzada en lascas a través los cuarzos de Naibor Soit (Garganta de Olduvai, Tanzania)

La identificación de la talla bipolar puede ser controvertida debido fundamentalmente a la naturaleza petrográfica del cuarzo y a su fracturación heterogénea. Este trabajo pretende superar este problema mediante el desarrollo de un marco explicativo experimental destinado al reconocimiento de los rasgos diagnósticos en las lascas producidas por ambos métodos de talla en la reducción del cuarzo de Naibor Soit (Garganta de Olduvai, Tanzania). El objetivo final de este trabajo es el de utilizar un conjunto de variables relacionadas con la respuesta de esta materia prima a la fractura a mano alzada y bipolar en dos experimentos destinados a individualizar estadísticamente los rasgos técnicos diagnósticos que mejor identifican a la talla bipolar en este tipo de materia prima

The Origin of The Acheulean: The 1.7 Million-Year-Old Site of FLK West, Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania)

The appearance of the acheulean is one of the hallmarks of human evolution. It represents the emergence of a complex behavior, expressed in the recurrent manufacture of large-sized tools, with standardized forms, implying more advance forethought and planning by hominins than those required by the precedent Oldowan technology. The earliest known evidence of this technology dates back to c. 1.7 Ma. and is limited to two sites (Kokiselei [Kenya] and Konso [Ethiopia]), both of which lack functionally-associated fauna. The functionality of these earliest Acheulean assemblages remains unknown. Here we present the discovery of another early Acheulean site also dating to c. 1.7 Ma from Olduvai Gorge. This site provides evidence of the earliest steps in developing the Acheulean technology and is the oldest acheulean site in which stone tools occur spatially and functionally associated with the exploitation of fauna. Simple and elaborate large-cutting tools (LCT) and bifacial handaxes co-exist at FLK West, showing that complex cognition was present from the earliest stages of the acheulean. Here we provide a detailed technological study and evidence of the use of these tools on the butchery and consumption of fauna, probably by early Homo erectus sensu lato

FLK West (Lower Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania): a new early Acheulean site with evidence for human exploitation of fauna

This paper presents a detailed taphonomic study of the faunal assemblage from FLK West (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania), a site with an Acheulean component that dates to 1.7 Ma. The faunal sample analysed here is distributed in different archaeological levels and is associated with a significant lithic accumulation including several large format tools and handaxes. The fauna indicates the proliferation of open environments similar to those found in other Bed II and late Bed I sites. Evidence of anthropogenic activity (e.g. defleshing activities and marrow consumption) has been identified in the form of cut and percussion marks. A photogrammetric and morphometric analysis suggests that these marks were produced with quartzite flakes and not with handaxes. Evidence of interaction with carnivores was also noted; tooth marks were observed on some bones. Such interaction indicates the existence of competition between humans and carnivores for the same ecological niche, and might lead us to reflect on the survival strategies of Lower Pleistocene hominins

La ocupación neandertal en el Cañón de La Horadada (Mave, Palencia, España): Nuevas perspectivas arqueológicas en Cueva Corazón

En este artículo se presenta una primera síntesis de los resultados del proyecto de investigación arqueológica sobre la ocupación humana del Cañón de la Horadada durante el Pleistoceno superior que, desde 2005, estamos llevando a cabo. Incluimos aquí, a través de los trabajos en Cueva del Espino y, sobre todo, en Cueva Corazón, una interpretación sobre la génesis y el desarrollo del sistema kárstico de La Horadada. También describimos las características sedimentológicas del depósito fértil de Cueva Corazón que ha deparado un rico yacimiento arqueológico datado por TL en 96-95 Ka. y ha sido atribuido al Paleolítico medio. Se incluye una sucinta descripción de sus evidencias culturales y económicas