The Châtelperronian Neanderthals of Cova Foradada (Calafell, Spain) used imperial eagle phalanges for symbolic purposes

Evidence for the symbolic behavior of Neanderthals in the use of personal ornaments is relatively scarce. Among the few ornaments documented, eagle talons, which were presumably used as pendants, are the most frequently recorded. This phenomenon appears concentrated in a specific area of southern Europe during a span of 80 thousand years. Here, we present the analysis of one eagle pedal phalange recovered from the Châtelperronian layer of Foradada Cave (Spain). Our research broadens the known geographical and temporal range of this symbolic behavior, providing the first documentation of its use among the Iberian populations, as well as of its oldest use in the peninsula. The recurrent appearance of large raptor talons throughout the Middle Paleolithic time frame, including their presence among the last Neanderthal populations, raises the question of the survival of some cultural elements of the Middle Paleolithic into the transitional Middle to Upper Paleolithic assemblages and beyond

El barranc de la Boella de la Canonja (Tarragonès) revisitat en la intervenció arqueològica preventiva de l'any 2007

El barranc de la Boella de la Canonja és un jaciment descobert en el primer terç del segle XX. Cinquanta anys després de la seva descoberta, la publicació d'aquest jaciment pels senyors R. Capdevila i S. Vilaseca va permetre actualitzar l'escàs coneixement de la bioestratigrafia del quaternari del Camp de Tarragona (Vilaseca, 1973). Tal com assenyala el mateix S. Vilaseca, la presència de fòssils de mamífers en el barranc va ser donada a conèixer per J. R. Bataller en la memòria explicativa del segon mapa geològic del full 473 de l'IGME corresponent a Tarragona (Bataller, 1935). El mateix S. Vilaseca apunta altres descobertes de mamífers ressenyades en el Camp de Tarragona, com la nota de Faura i Sans sobre un fragment de molar de proboscidi que Harlé determinaria com Elephas meridionalis el mateix any (Faura i Sans, 1920; Harlé, 1920). Aquesta resta va ser enviada per A. Romaní, aleshores director del Museu Balaguer de Vilanova i la Geltrú, a qui li van fer arribar des d'unes pedreres del Port de Tarragona. Els treballs geològics de M. Faura i Sans, J.R. Bataller i S. Vilaseca durant el primer quart del segle XX protagonitzaren el desenvolupament de la geologia, la paleontologia i la prehistòria en el marc del Servei del Mapa de la Mancomunitat de Catalunya

Les intervencions arqueològiques a la Balma de la Vall durant els anys 2011 fins el 2013: (Rojals-Montblanc, Conca de Barberà)

Les cultura material paleolítica és poc documentada en el registre arqueològic de les Muntanyes de Prades. La cronologia del poblament prehistòric d’aquest àmbit geogràfic ha estat basada en l’edat relativa proporcionada per la seriació de la cultura material (fòssils guia de pedra tallada, ceràmica, metall) establerta per l’enorme investigació realitzada pel Dr. Salvador Vilaseca. I en aquest treball tractem un dels principals resultats de les intervencions, en el què s’argumenta la cronologia pleistocena superior final d’un dels conjunts arqueològics de la Balma de la Vall (Rojals – Montblanc) mitjançant datacions relatives i radiomètriques. La datació i comparació dels conjunts arqueològics, estratificats en balmes i coves de les comarques de Tarragona, no va ser fàcil en temps del Dr. Salvador Vilaseca. Ni tampoc ara. En aquesta presentació es descriuen algunes de les dificultats per a datar els conjunts arqueològics d’aquest jaciment. Els principals obstacles tenen a veure amb els canvis ambientals que afecten a la sedimentació al peu de la balma i a les pertorbacions provocades per les poblacions humanes en temps històricsMuntanyes de Prades Paleolithic record is scarce. The chronology of prehistoric occupations is based on the relative age inferred from the typological ordination of the material culture (lithic fossil guides, pottery, metals...) built up by Dr. Salvador Vilaseca research. In this work we deal with the final Upper Pleistocene chronology of the Balma de la Vall (Rojals, Montblanc, Spain) lower archaeological assemblage. To compare and to date the archaeological assemblages excavated in rock-shelter and cave contexts in Tarragona region was not an easy task in Dr. Vilaseca times neither now. In this paper we describe some difficulties in order to date the archaeological assemblage from this site. The main problems are related with the environmental changes affecting to the depositional processes of the rock-shelter sedimentary filling and with the human perturbations during historical times.La cultura material paleolítica es poco documentada en el registro arqueológico de las Muntanyes de Prades. La cronología de los asentamientos prehistóricos en este ámbito geográfico se basa en la cronología relativa proporcionada por a seriación de la cultura material (fósiles guía de roca tallada, cerámica, metal) establecida por la enorme obra de investigación realizada por el Dr. Salvador Vilaseca. Y en este trabajo tratamos uno de los principales resultados de la intervención, en el que argumentamos la cronología pleistocena superior final para uno de los conjuntos arqueológicos de la Balma de la Vall (Rojals – Montblanc) mediante dataciones relativas y radiométricas. La datación y comparación de los conjuntos arqueológicos, estratificados en los abrigos y cuevas de las comarcas de Tarragona, no fue fácil en tiempos del Dr. Salvador Vilaseca. Ni tampoco ahora. En esta presentación describimos algunas de las dificultades para datar los conjuntos arqueológicos de este yacimiento. Los principales problemas estan relacionadas con los cambios ambientales que afectan a la sedimentación al pie de la cornisa del abrigo y a las perturbaciones provocadas por las poblaciones humanas durante tiempos histórico

Upper Palaeolithic ritualistic cannibalism at Gough's Cave (Somerset,UK): THE human remains from head to toe

A recurring theme of late Upper Palaeolithic Magdalenian human bone assemblages is the remarkable rarity of primary burials and the common occurrence of highly-fragmentary human remains mixed with occupation waste at many sites. One of the most extensive Magdalenian human bone assemblages comes from Gough's Cave, a sizeable limestone cave set in Cheddar Gorge (Somerset), UK. After its discovery in the 1880s, the site was developed as a show cave and largely emptied of sediment, at times with minimal archaeological supervision. Some of the last surviving remnants of sediment within the cave were excavated between 1986 and 1992. The excavations uncovered intensively-processed human bones intermingled with abundant butchered large mammal remains and a diverse range of flint, bone, antler, and ivory artefacts. New ultrafiltrated radiocarbon determinations demonstrate that the Upper Palaeolithic human remains were deposited over a very short period of time, possibly during a series of seasonal occupations, about 14,700 years BP (before present). The human remains have been the subject of several taphonomic studies, culminating in a detailed reanalysis of the cranial remains that showed they had been carefully modified to make skull-cups. Our present analysis of the postcrania has identified a far greater degree of human modification than recorded in earlier studies. We identify extensive evidence for defleshing, disarticulation, chewing, crushing of spongy bone, and the cracking of bones to extract marrow. The presence of human tooth marks on many of the postcranial bones provides incontrovertible evidence for cannibalism. In a wider context, the treatment of the human corpses and the manufacture and use of skull-cups at Gough Cave have parallels with other Magdalenian site

A multiproxy reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate of the Late Pleistocene in northeastern Iberia: Cova dels Xaragalls, Vimbodí-Poblet, Paratge Natural de Poblet, Catalonia

The Cova dels Xaragalls is a small open karst system, located in the municipality of Vimbodí-Poblet (Tarragona, Catalonia, NE Spain). It is an important Holocene archaeological site that was inspected in the 1970s but from which little has been published. New excavations starting in 2008 have exposed a deep Late Pleistocene stratigraphical sequence. In this paper, we present for the first time palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstructions of this Late Pleistocene succession on the basis of both the small-vertebrate assemblages and the charcoals. Results from the small-vertebrate associations along the sequence indicate that the landscape had open-woodland habitats in the vicinity of the Cova del Xaragalls, with wet points in the surrounding area. Woodland habitats were dominant throughout the sequence, as evidenced by the abundance of the species Apodemus sylvaticus, but were better developed during warm periods (layers C5 and C8), whereas during cold periods (layers C4 and C3) the environment was slightly more humid in response to higher mean annual precipitation and the opening of the landscape. The charcoal analysis indicates that the woodland surrounding the cave was composed mainly of Pinus (more than 90% was identified as Pinus), but that during the cold period (C3–C4) it incorporated some Quercus ilex/coccifera and Angiosperm indet., probably linked with greater precipitation. Comparisons are made with other long palaeoenvironmental sequences from the northeastern Iberian Peninsula and with global marine isotopic curves, providing a scenario for the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental changes that occurred during the Late Pleistocene in the woodland areas surrounding the Cova dels Xaragalls

Experimental butchering of a chimpanzee carcass for archaeological purposes

Two archaeological assemblages from the Sierra de Atapuerca sites show evidence of anthropogenic cannibalism. These are the late Early Pleistocene level TD6-2 at Gran Dolina, and the Bronze Age level MIR4 in the Mirador Cave. Despite the chronological distance between these two assemblages, they share the common feature that the human remains exhibit a high frequency of anthropogenic modifications (cut marks, percussion pits and notches and peeling). This frequency could denote special treatment of bodies, or else be the normal result of the butchering process. In order to test these possibilities, we subjected a chimpanzee carcass to a butchering process. The processing was intensive and intended to simulate preparation for consumption. In doing this, we used several simple flakes made from quartzite and chert from quarries in the Sierra de Atapuerca. The skull, long bones, metapodials and phalanges were also fractured in order to remove the brain and bone marrow. As a result, about 40% of the remains showed some kind of human modification. The frequency, distribution and characteristics of these modifications are very similar to those documented on the remains of Homo antecessor from TD6-2. In case of the MIR4 assemblage, the results are similar except in the treatment of skulls. Our results indicate that high frequencies of anthropogenic modifications are common after an intensive butchering process intended to prepare a hominin body for consumption in different contexts (both where there was possible ritual behavior and where this was not the case and the modifications are not the result of special treatment). © 2015 Saladié e