Ictiofaunas musterienses de la Península Ibérica : ¿Evidencias de pesca Neandertal?

Una recopilación de restos óseos de peces musteriense en la Península Ibérica es aprovechada para llevar a cabo una valoración preliminar de su importancia de cara a definir el nicho ecológico del Hombre de Neandertal. Lo limitado de estas faunas y la dificultad para determinar la procedencia de los materiales no aclara, desgarciadamente, el papel desempeñado por los Neandertales en la génesis de estos acúmulos, participación que parece, cuando menos, intuirse en el caso de una de las asocaciones, a saber, el abrigo de Cueva Millán en la provincia de Burgos. En ausencia de un modelo definido de estrategias de subsistencia para este homínido tampoco nos resulta posible valorar en que medida una eventual actividad pesquera entraría dentro de su repertorio normal de comportamientos o constituiría un hecho excepcional. En tanto no se aclare ello, consideramos más prudente alejarnos de dicotoías simplistas del tipo "Neandertal-cazador-Cromañon-cazador/pescador

The fishes from Cova Fosca (Castellón, Spain): ¿Lost signatures of a hunter gatherer tradition?

The small collection of marine fish remains retrieved at the Epipaleolithic-Neolithic site of Cova Fosca is presented. The relevance of these presumably food items is not quantitative but qualitatively, as it reveals a movement of people between the mountains and the shore taking place for at least 6 millennia rather than a movement of objects, a phenomenon that is discussed from the standpoint of the characteristics of the fish remains themselves but also their ecology and taphonomy, in the context of the archaeological sequenceEn este trabajo se detalla la minúscula colección de peces recuperados en el yacimiento Epipaleolítico-Neolítico de Cova Fosca. La importancia de estos presumibles restos de comida no es tanto cuantitativa como cualitativa dado que creemos evidencia un movimiento regular de gente, y no sólo de restos animales, entre la costa y la montaña que se prolongó durante, cuando menos, seis milenios. El fenómeno se valora desde la perspectiva de las características de los restos ícticos, así como de la ecología de los peces, su tafonomía y el contexto de la secuencia arqueológic

Las Náyades (Mollusca, Unionoida) del Calcolítico de Camino de las Yeseras (San Fernando de Henares, Madrid)

[ES] El registro pretérito de las náyades o almejas de agua dulce ibéricas continúa siendo muy pobre a pesar del auge de los análisis arqueomalacológicos en la Península durante la pasada década. Las náyades recuperadas en el yacimiento de Camino de Las Yeseras representan, por ello, una importante aportación que proporciona información sobre tres aspectos independientes: (i) el uso dado a estas náyades, que presumiblemente abarcaba tanto actividades utilitarias como rituales, (ii) la paleobiogeografía de estas especies y (iii) la calidad de las aguas en el entorno del yacimiento durante el Calcolítico. El estudio valora la presencia de los peces recuperados en Camino de las Yeseras desde la perspectiva de potenciales hospedadores de las larvas (gloquidios) de las náyades.[EN] The ancient record of the Iberian naiads is still poorly documented despite the development of archaeomalacological research that has taken place over the past decade in the peninsula. The naiad remains retrieved at Camino de las Yeseras thus constitute a welcome addition that provides information concerning three diferent aspects, namely: (i) the use given to these molluscs, which apparently was of both utilitarian and ritual connotations, (ii) the paleobiogeography of the group, and (iii) the quality of the waters close to the site during the Chalcolithic period. The study discusses the presence of the fish taxa documented at Camino de las Yeseras from the standpoint of their role as hosts of the naiads’ larval stages (glochidia).Peer reviewe

La ictiofauna del yacimiento tartésico de la calle del Puerto, número 10 (Huelva) : consideraciones generales

La ictiofauna del yacimiento tartésico de la calle del Puerto, número 10, está siendo objeto en estos momentos de un estudio pormenorizado que verá la luz en breve (Roselló y Morales, en prep.)- Debido al interés que tanto cultural como ambientalmente reviste este sector de la fauna arqueológica consideramos oportuno realizar un avance de dicho informe en donde se comenta la importancia e implicaciones de estos hallazgos. Éste, a su vez, conlleva implicaciones adicionales sobre la actividad pesquera en el litoral sudoccidental durante el phmer milenio a.C. que puede ser de importancia capital a la hora de elaborar teorías sobre la economía de las culturas locales

Refugia of marine fish in the northeast Atlantic during the last glacial maximum: concordant assessment from archaeozoology and palaeotemperature reconstructions

Archaeozoological finds of the remains of marine and amphihaline fish from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ca. 21 ka ago show evidence of very different species ranges compared to the present. We have shown how an ecological niche model (ENM) based on palaeoclimatic reconstructions of sea surface temperature and bathymetry can be used to effectively predict the spatial range of marine fish during the LGM. The results indicate that the ranges of marine fish species now in northwestern Europe were displaced significantly southwards from the modern distribution, challenging an existing paradigm of marine glacial refugia. The model presents strong evidence that there was an invasion of important fish through the Straits of Gibraltar in glacial times, where they were exploited by Palaeolithic human populations around the western Mediterranean Sea. The ENM results are important for ongoing studies of molecular ecology that aim to assess marine glacial refugia from the genetic structure of living populations, and they pose questions about the genetic identity of vanished marine populations during the LGM. Economically, the approach may be used to understand how the ranges of exploited fish species may be displaced with the future climate warming. The research presents a challenge for future archaeozoological work to delimit the glacial refugia and to verify palaeoclimatic reconstructions based on deep-sea core record

Fish- and Shellmiddens from Galicia (Northwest Spain): Reflections upon a Neglected Coastal Cultural Heritage from the Iberian Peninsula

[EN] The physiographical features of the Galician sea, in particular its temperature, marine currents and plankton richness, have turned its waters into one of the most biologically diversified marine regions of the planet. The 1500 km of shorelines from this Northwest Iberian region are dotted with rías (Galician fjords) where settlements devoted to fishing and trade have existed since prehistoric times. These activities left abundant testimonies in terms of archaeological deposits. In recent decades, urban/industrial development, as well as a number of natural agents (e.g., storms, sea level rise, climate change), is rapidly erasing the evidences of this rich cultural heritage. Loss of fish and shellmiddens in particular will hamper our ability to infer traditional lifeways, doing away with evidence that is crucial to monitoring past climatic changes and to inferring those biological conditions under which marine species and coastal populations thrived in the past. This paper surveys some issues dealing with the coastal bio-archaeological heritage of Galicia, and the risks these deposits face. It concludes with a proposal to save this increasingly threatened marine heritage.S

Elucidating historical fisheries’ networks in the Iberian Peninsula using stable isotopes

[EN] Processed fish is known to have been systematically traded in Europe since the Early Middle Ages to meet increasing demand of incipient markets and religious precepts, yet specific details regarding the supply of different fish in Southern Europe is often missing. Here, we address this gap through an integrated approach involving bone metrics and stable isotopic analysis of archaeological European hake (Merluccius merluccius, Merluccidae) from the Iberian Peninsula. The results offer new insights regarding historical fisheries production systems, including the regions exploited and commercial routes, whilst also revealing biological differences between archaeological and present-day hake populations in the North-east Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. This research highlights the fruitful result of combining ichthyoarchaeological and historical data for tracking down the origin and development of historical fisheries in south-western Europe and their bearing on modern fisheries.SIThis research was mainly supported by the European Commission through the FISHARC-IF 658022 Marie-Curie-Sklodowska-IF fellowship for Career development. Additional support was received by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [HAR 2014-55722-P (Ictioarqueologia de la Prehistoria cantábrica: Modelos para la caracterización de las primeras pesquerías europeas), HAR 2017-88325-P (Historical archaeobiology of the European hake (Merluccius merluccius, L.1758) in the NE Atlantic: The Iberian evidence (AD 10th–18th)), and the European Molecular Biology Organization (ASTF 354-2016). The research is also under the framework of the the Leidse Universiteit Fonds-Bakels 2021 fund, the PID-118662GB-100 (FISHCIIS - Fishing Isotopes) project from the Ministry of Science and Innovation, and the Research Group of Cultural Landscapes and Heritage of the University of the Basque Country. We finally want to thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions that have improved the quality of this paper. This work contributes to the “María de Maeztu” Programme for Units of Excellence of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CEX2019-000940-M)

Ancient DNA evidence for the ecological globalization of cod fishing in medieval and post-medieval Europe

Understanding the historical emergence and growth of long-range fisheries can provide fundamental insights into the timing of ecological impacts and the development of coastal communities during the last millennium. Whole-genome sequencing approaches can improve such understanding by determining the origin of archaeological fish specimens that may have been obtained from historic trade or distant water. Here, we used genome-wide data to individually infer the biological source of 37 ancient Atlantic cod specimens (ca 1050-1950 CE) from England and Spain. Our findings provide novel genetic evidence that eleventh- to twelfth-century specimens from London were predominantly obtained from nearby populations, while thirteenth- to fourteenth-century specimens were derived from distant sources. Our results further suggest that Icelandic cod was indeed exported to London earlier than previously reported. Our observations confirm the chronology and geography of the trans-Atlantic cod trade from Newfoundland to Spain starting by the early sixteenth century. Our findings demonstrate the utility of whole-genome sequencing and ancient DNA approaches to describe the globalization of marine fisheries and increase our understanding regarding the extent of the North Atlantic fish trade and long-range fisheries in medieval and early modern time