La Pileta (Benaoján, Málaga) cien años después. Aportaciones al conocimiento de su secuencia arqueológica

La cueva de La Pileta es un yacimiento muy conocido por la riqueza de las manifestaciones artísticas parietales prehistóricas que atesora. Sin embargo, el conocimiento de la secuencia cronocultural documentada en las excavaciones arqueológicas llevadas a cabo en 1912 y 1942 es muy pobre. En este trabajo hacemos un repaso del registro arqueológico de La Pileta a partir de la revisión historiográfica y del estudio de los materiales depositados en el Museo de Málaga y de algunos documentos del archivo de esta institución. Los resultados, aunque limitados, permiten deducir la existencia de una secuencia más amplia de la conocida por lo general, compuesta por niveles del Paleolítico medio, Paleolítico superior; Neolítico, Calcolítico, Edad del Bronce y Edad Media

Arte paleolítico en Gorham's Cave (Gibraltar)

En este trabajo presentamos las novedades sobre el arte paleolítico de la cueva de Gorham. En el apartado mobiliar, abordamos una aproximación multidisciplinar en la que se analizan los datos petrográficos, deposicionales, diagenéticos, tafonómicos y antrópicos (técnicos o iconográficos) identificados en dos plaquetas de arte mueble. El arte parietal de Gorham se amplía con las manifestaciones localizadas en una Galería ubicada al final del cavernamiento. En ambos casos, la procedencia estratigráfica o los rasgos estilísticos permiten su atribución al Magdaleniense.We present the news on Palaeolithic art of Gorham’s cave. In paragraph of mobiliary art, we discuss a multidisciplinary approach in analyzing the petrographic, depositional, diagenetic, taphonomic and anthropic (technical or iconographic) data identified of two plaquettes of portable art. The Gorham’s cave art expands with the paintings located in the gallery located at the end of the cave. In both cases, the stratigraphic provenance or stylistic features allow its attribution to the Magdalenian

The first evidence of Paleolithic portable art in southern Portugal

This paper presents the first evidence for Palaeolithic portable art in Southern Portugal. This include two plaques, dated between 20,500 and 19,500 BP from Solutrean levels from the site of Vale Boi, Western Algarve (Portugal). One of the pieces is a small engraved schist plaque (14,6 x 8,1 mm) with abstract lines on one side. The other artefact is an 8 x 5 cm schist plaque. One side is an oxide natural deposit, used to produce dye; the other side has three aurochs and a probable cervid. Stilistic information and the engraving sequence indicate probably production by a single artist. The stylistic characteristics are in full agreement withi those from late Gravettian and early Solutrean art known from Valencia, Andalucia (Spain) and the Coa valley (Portugal), thus confirming the absolute AMS dates from the Vale Boi Levels.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Earliest Known Use of Marine Resources by Neanderthals

Numerous studies along the northern Mediterranean borderland have documented the use of shellfish by Neanderthals but none of these finds are prior to Marine Isotopic Stage 3 (MIS 3). In this paper we present evidence that gathering and consumption of mollusks can now be traced back to the lowest level of the archaeological sequence at Bajondillo Cave (Málaga, Spain), dated during the MIS 6. The paper describes the taxonomical and taphonomical features of the mollusk assemblages from this level Bj19 and briefly touches upon those retrieved in levels Bj18 (MIS 5) and Bj17 (MIS 4), evidencing a continuity of the shellfishing activity that reaches to MIS 3. This evidence is substantiated on 29 datings through radiocarbon, thermoluminescence and U series methods. Obtained dates and paleoenvironmental records from the cave include isotopic, pollen, lithostratigraphic and sedimentological analyses and they are fully coherent with paleoclimate conditions expected for the different stages. We conclude that described use of shellfish resources by Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis) in Southern Spain started ∼150 ka and were almost contemporaneous to Pinnacle Point (South Africa), when shellfishing is first documented in archaic modern humans

The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in southern Iberia

New data and a review of historiographic information from Neolithic sites of the Malaga and Algarve coasts (southern Iberian Peninsula) and from the Maghreb (North Africa) reveal the existence of a Neolithic settlement at least from 7.5 cal ka BP. The agricultural and pastoralist food producing economy of that population rapidly replaced the coastal economies of the Mesolithic populations. The timing of this population and economic turnover coincided with major changes in the continental and marine ecosystems, including upwelling intensity, sea-level changes and increased aridity in the Sahara and along the Iberian coast. These changes likely impacted the subsistence strategies of the Mesolithic populations along the Iberian seascapes and resulted in abandonments manifested as sedimentary hiatuses in some areas during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. The rapid expansion and area of dispersal of the early Neolithic traits suggest the use of marine technology. Different evidences for a Maghrebian origin for the first colonists have been summarized. The recognition of an early North-African Neolithic influence in Southern Iberia and the Maghreb is vital for understanding the appearance and development of the Neolithic in Western Europe. Our review suggests links between climate change, resource allocation, and population turnover. (C) 2011 University of Washington. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portugal); European Science Foundation [PTDC/HAH/64548/2006]; European Union; Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Spain [HAR 2008-1920, CGL2009-07603, CTM2009-07715, CSD2006-00041, HAR2008-06477-C03-03/HIST]; European Research Council [2008-AdG 230561]; MARM [200800050084447]; Project RNM [05212]; Junta de Andalucia, Spain [0179]; FCT [SFRH/BPD/26525/2006]; CSIC "JAE-Doc"info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

La fauna de mamíferos del Solutrense en la Cueva de Nerja

La Cueva de Nerja constituye uno de los principales yacimientos arqueológicos para el conocimiento del Paleolítico Superior en el sur de la Península Ibérica. Entre 1962 y 1963 se llevó a cabo una excavación sistemática sobre 14 metros cuadrados de la Sala del Vestíbulo, en la que se documentó una amplia secuencia con ocupaciones del Paleolítico Superior, Epipaleolitico y Neolítico. No obstante, los materiales recuperados en las citadas intervenciones permanecían por diversas circunstancias sin estudiar. En este trabajo abordamos la colección de mamíferos porvedentes de los tres niveles solutrenses, comprendidos cronológicamente entre c. 20-17.5 ka B.P., rango cronológico del cual apenas contamos con registros bien publicados en el contexto meridional peninsular

An early Aurignacian arrival in southwestern Europe

Westernmost Europe constitutes a key location in determining the timing of the replacement of Neanderthals by anatomically modern humans (AMHs). In this study, the replacement of late Mousterian industries by Aurignacian ones at the site of Bajondillo Cave (Málaga, southern Spain) is reported. On the basis of Bayesian analyses, a total of 26 radiocarbon dates, including 17 new ones, show that replacement at Bajondillo took place in the millennia centring on ~45–43 calibrated thousand years before the present (cal ka BP)—well before the onset of Heinrich event 4 (~40.2–38.3 cal ka BP). These dates indicate that the arrival of AMHs at the southernmost tip of Iberia was essentially synchronous with that recorded in other regions of Europe, and significantly increases the areal expansion reached by early AMHs at that time. In agreement with human dispersal scenarios on other continents, such rapid expansion points to coastal corridors as favoured routes for early AMH. The new radiocarbon dates align Iberian chronologies with AMH dispersal patterns in Eurasia

Manos en la oscuridad: arte Paleolítico en Gorham´S Cave (Gibraltar)

The work in the inner area of Gorham’s Cave, Gibraltar, has added to the Palaeolithic art located in the cave. Although work continues on the surveying and the study of the evidence found up to now, we present here a preview consisting of a representation of a red deer, and also a hand stencil, alongside numerous marks which have been found scattered throughout the inner cave. In this paper we present new data on the Upper Palaeolithic rock art in Gorham’s Cave (Gibraltar) including direct dating of a hand stencil. Situating this dating in the archaeological context of the stencil, we conclude that it is associated with the Solutrean technocomplexe. This is particularly significant in the light of recent reviews which put European hand stencils in the context of the Early or Initial Upper Palaeolithic. In this context, the Gorham data opens the discussion on the systematic chronological correlation of all hands in negatives of European Palaeolithic rock art.Los trabajos en la zona más interior de la cueva de Gorham (Gibraltar) han ampliado la zona con arte rupestre paleolítico en la cavidad. Aunque los trabajos continúan, presentamos en este trabajo un avance de los nuevos hallazgos, un ciervo y una mano en negativo, así como numerosos trazos. Así mismo, damos a conocer la datación directa mediante 14C-AMS de una mano en negativo y situamos el resultado obtenido en el contexto del registro arqueológico de Gorham, que nos lleva a proponer una ejecución durante el Solutrense evolucionado. El resultado es particularmente significativo a la luz del encuadre convencional a este tipo de de motivos, atribuidos normalmente a momentos antiguos del Paleolítico Superior. En este contexto, el dato de Gorham abre la discusión sobre esta correlación sistemática de todas las manos en negativos del arte paleolítico europeo.This study is sponsored by Proyects HAR2013-44269-P and HAR2016-77789-P from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad. This paper is a contribution of Project HUM-949 (Tellus. Prehistory and Archaeology in the South of Iberia) and the Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour (University of Algarve, Portugal)

The southern Iberian Solutrean: The core of the province of Málaga

[EN] The province of Malaga is one of the areas with the greatest number of Solutrean sites in southern Iberia. In this paper we treat the sedimentary, chronological and paleoenvironmental contexts of the Solutrean in this area, especially from the analysis in Bajondillo Cave. We also analysed its correlation with other records in the Iberian Mediterranean. Also, the techno-sequence analysis, the subsistence strategies as well as the symbolic manifestations allow the identification of the main characteristics of the regional Solutrean.[ES] La provincia de Málaga es una de las áreas con mayor número de yacimientos solutrenses del sur de la Península Ibérica. En este trabajo abordamos el contexto estratigráfico, sedimentario y paleoambiental del Solutrense en esta área, sobre todo a partir de los análisis efectuados en Cueva Bajondillo, y tratamos su correlación con otros registros del Mediterráneo ibérico. Así mismo, el análisis de la secuencia tecnocultural, las estrategias de subsistencia desde una perspectiva morfológica y funcional o de las manifestaciones simbólicas nos permiten identificar los principales rasgos culturales del Solutrense en este ámbito geográfico.Este trabajo es una versión actualizada del presentado al Colloque international Le Solutréen 40 ans après la publication du Smith’66 celebrado en Preuilly-sur-Claise (Francia), 28-31 de octubre de 2007 y que nunca llegó a publicarse. Los resultados de este artículo han sido patrocinados por la Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal) and the European Science Foundation (III Community Support Framework) y se han obtenido en el marco del proyecto “Estudio y contextualización de las antiguas excavaciones del Patronato de la Cueva de Nerja. 1959-1978” autorizado por la Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía.Peer Reviewe