Evidence for Marine Consumption During the Upper Palaeolithic at “El Pirulejo” Inland Rock-Shelter (Southern Iberia Peninsula, Spain)

During the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation, the Iberian Peninsula served as a faunal and human population refugium. Human foodways have always played a pivotal role in understanding social and cultural practices in prehistory. Nonetheless, the limited number of archaeological sites and human remains in this region hinders the complete understanding of these critical communities’ diet. To increase our knowledge about human consumption patterns, we selected three Magdalenian levels from the site of El Pirulejo (Southern Iberia Peninsula, Spain). These levels are characterized by a high abundance of rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) remains (76–97% MNI), initially suggesting that rabbits were the primary source of protein for site inhabitants. Stable isotope analysis was conducted on two human teeth in tandem with stable isotope analysis of the rabbit teeth. Contrary to the expectations derived from the zooarchaeological analysis, rabbits were not a significant source of dietary protein. Carbon and nitrogen bulk isotopic values are the most enriched found in sampled human remains for this area and context. Our data supports aquatic food resource inclusion and increased resource diversity among Iberian hunter-gatherers during the Magdalenian. This study is consistent with previous studies that suggested a socio-economic network among human groups between inland and coastal regions in the terminal Pleistocene Southern Iberia.his paper is a contribution of project HUM-949-PAI by the Junta de Andalucía and ICAREHB. The studies on El Pirulejo arefinanced by Project HAR2016-77789-P sponsored by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competividad, and Junta de Andalucía and FEDER Funds US-126407. This study was also financially supported in part by the JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (17H05018) and Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory) (20K21445) to YIN

Multi-purpose fossils? The reappraisal of an Elephas antiquus molar from El Pirulejo (Magdalenian; Cordoba, Spain)

Fossil gathering by humans has been rarely documented in the Iberian Peninsula. In the present paper, a multidisciplinary approach has been taken to analyze a straight-tusked elephant (Elephas antiquus) molar retrieved in a Magdalenian deposit at the rock shelter of El Pirulejo in southern Spain. The taphonomical analyses revealed a multifarious use of a tooth that had not only been worked into an anvil-sort-of-tool but also used as a core and partly tainted with a composite pigment. The dating and geochemical analyses further evidenced that the molar derived from an animal that had lived in a rather arid landscape with a temperature range between 12.3 and 14.3 A degrees C coincident with a cold episode within marine isotope stage (MIS) 6.6 and probably fed on herbaceous plants. These analyses evidence the potential fossils from archaeological sites bear for addressing a wide range of issues that include both the cultural and paleoenvironmental realms.Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competividad [HAR2013-44269-P, HAR 2014-55722-P, HAR2012-34620]Programa Seneca [19438/PI/14]University of SevilleMarie Curie Intra-European Fellowship within the 7th Framework Program for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (European Commission) [PIEF-GA-2013-623027