The American-European dialogue in the study of the Upper Paleolithic : some reflections on international collaboration in honor of Jesus Altuna

Arqueologos norteamericanos se han implicado en la investigación del Paleolitico superior europeo desde los trabajos de G.G. McCurdy entre las dos guerras mundiales, pero especialmente desde las excavaciones de Hallam Movius en la Colombiere y l'Abri Pataud en los años 1950, con una clara aceleración en las últimas décadas. Han surgido desafíos intelectuales al paradigma cultural-histórico dominante en los estudios del Paleolítico superior europeo, especialmente con la aparición de la arqueologia procesual en los EE.UU (y de la prehistoria económica en Inglaterra). Aunque todavía pueden existir elementos de la verdad en el argumento de que hay diferencias trasatlanticas en cuanto a la definición operacional del concepto de "cultura" y en la pretendida capacidad de los prehistoriadores paleolíticos de identificar grupos étnicos reales, hay convergencias crecientes (Y algunas pre-existentes) sobre cuestiones de la "teoría a nivel intermedio" de la metodología, e incluso de la difinición de los problemas aptos para la investigación. Un simposio organizado por el autor en el Congreso de la UISPP en Lieja intentó esclarecer las áreas de convergencia y de divergencia entre los investigadores norteamericanos y europeos y evaluar las contribuciones -positivas y negativas- de los primeros, a fin de continuar un debate trasatlántico fructífero

Terminal Paleolithic and Early Mesolithic research at Abri Dufaure, Southwest France.

Se presentan algunos resultados preliminares de la excavación y análisis del yacimiento Magdaleniense y Aziliense de «Abri Dufaure» en Sorde-l'Abbaye, al límite septentrional del País   Vasco francés. Se hace balance de los hallazgos arqueológicos y faunísticos, de la crono-estratigrafía y de la estacionalidad de las ocupaciones humanas en el Magdaleniense Final (Alleröd). También se hacen unas comparaciones con el yacimiento vecino de «Abri Duruthy». Dufaure y Duruthy forman parte del importante conjunto de yacimientos tardiglaciares a la base del tajo de «Pastou» que domina un vado en el Gabe d'Oloron. «Pastou» representa un lugar de habitación y caza del reno invernal preferido de los grupos del final del Paleolítico en la región pirenáica occidental

The Mirón Cave (Ramales de la Vistoria, Cantabria): excavations 1996-1999

RESUMEN: Las cuatro campañas de excavación desarrolladas en la Cueva del Mirón, con una estratigrafía continua que abarca por ahora desde el Bronce inicial hasta el Solutrense, han puesto de manifiesto la importancia de este yacimiento para el conocimiento de las sociedades humanas de las áreas interiores de la Región Cantábrica a lo largo de buena parte de la Prehistoria. Los procedimientos de excavación aplicados han permitido documentar en detalle espacios domésticos del Calcolítico, el Neolítico y el Paleolítico Superior ñnal y recoger gran cantidad de testimonios industriales y ambientales, junto con muestras de arte parietal paleolítico. Las cuarenta dataciones radiocarbónicas obtenidas hasta el momento la convierten en la secuencia más completa del Cantábrico, incluyendo una interesante serie de fechas para los momentos iniciales del Neolítico regional. Los datos de la prospección geofísica señalan una potencia sedimentaria que asegura la posible continuación en profundidad de los depósitos arqueológicos.ABSTRACT: The four excavation campaigns carried out to date in El Miron Cave, with a complete stratigraphie sequence from the early Bronze Age through theSolutrean, have demonstrated the importance of this site to the understanding of human societies in the montane interior of the Cantabrian Region during much of its prehistory. The excavation methods that have been applied especially document in detail residential areas pertaining to the Chalcolithic, Neolithic, and early-mid Magdalenian periods within this large cave. They also have provided large quantities of paleoenviron mental and cultural data that are currently under analysis. Numerous examples of parietal engravings have been discovered and, in some cases, strati graphic ally dated to the Magdalenian. The forty radiocarbon dates obtained so far already constitute the largest series for any Cantabrian site and include a number of important dates for the beginning of the regional Neolithic sequence at c. 5800 BP (uncal.). Results of geophysical survey indicate the existence of a sedimentary infilling in the cave vestibule that could include archeological deposits well below the 19,000 year-old Solutrean layers reached so far

Structuring domestic space in the Lower Magdalenian: an analysis of the fauna from Level 115 of El Mirón Cave, Cantabria

Documenting the intentional structuring of space by hunter-gatherers can be challenging, especially in complex cave contexts. One approach is the spatial analysis of discard patterns. Here, the authors consider the spatial distribution of faunal remains from the Lower Magdalenian Level 115 in El Mirón Cave, Cantabria, to assess a possible structuring function for an unusual alignment of rocks. Although it is impossible to determine whether the alignment was intentionally constructed, differences in the distributions of taxa and in specimen sizes on different sides of this feature suggest that it played a role in structuring the living space of the cave's inhabitants.Jones’s analysis of the El Mirón Level 115 archaeofauna was supported by a Spain Fulbright Scholar Award and by a Faculty Field Research Grant from the Latin American and Iberian Institute of the University of New Mexico. The excavation of El Mirón Cave, directed by Straus and González Morales since 1996, has been authorised and partially funded by the Gobierno de Cantabria, with additional funding from the US National Science Foundation, Fundación M. Botín, L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, National Geographic Society, University of New Mexico, UNM Foundation Stone Age Research Fund (J. and R. Auel, principal donors), and material support from the IIIPC and Town of Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria

Evidencia adicional del Solutrense en la Cueva del Mirón (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria)

Resumen: En 2010 y 2011, el área del sondeo en el cual niveles solutrenses habían sido expuestos en la Cueva del Mirón fué duplicada. Estos depósitos, en contraste marcado con los niveles del Magdaleniense Inicial e Inferior superyacentes (que yacen casi horizontalmente y que son extraordinariamente ricos en materia orgánica y toda clase de residuos culturales–artefactos de todo tipo, estructuras y restos de fauna—indicativos de importantes ocupaciones residenciales repetidas y multifuncionales de la cueva), siguen la pendiente de 15 grados de la cara erosiva del relleno aluvial del interior de la cueva y son culturalmente bastante pobres. Los niveles solutrenses están datados por el radiocarbono entre 19,230 y 18,390 BP (sin calibrar), aunque el nivel más alto (121) es ambíguo debido a la ausencia de puntas solutrenses al menos en la pequeña área (ahora 4 m2) que ha sido excavada. Los otros niveles solutrenses (122-127) son particularmente ricos en fragmentos de puntas foliadas y de muesca de diversos tipos (incluyendo a las de base cóncava) y deshecho lítico, pero con relativamente pocos otros utensilios retocados, lo cual sugiere unas expediciones de caza en el interior montañoso del Este de Cantabria en parte en momentos de amelioración climática durante el Ultimo Máximo Glacial (sensu lato– justo después del Evento Heinrich 2, durante o poco después del Interestadio Greenland 2), cuando, sin embargo, los glaciares todavía recubrían las laderas superiores de la vecina Cordillera. Otros indicios de la caza incluyen a unas azagayas de asta, algunas de las cuales tienen formas y decoraciones grabadas típicas del Solutrense cantábrico. Por otro lado estos niveles son extraordinariamente ricos en conchas marinas (de diversas especies), muchas de las cuales están perforadas. Estas están acompañadas por otros objetos perforados (caninos de ciervo, huesos y piedras tallados en forma de caninos), asi confimando el patrón revelado en el sondeo excavado en 1998 y 2000. Los restos de fauna están presentes, pero no son abundantes, lo cual podria sugerir o que los reses fueron descuartizados y depositados en otra(s) parte(s) de la cueva o llevados a otros sitios para su consumo, tal vez en la parte baja y así más habitable del valle del Río Asón

Microremains from El Mirón Cave human dental calculus suggest a mixed plant/animal subsistence economy during the Magdalenian in Northern Iberia

Despite more than a century of detailed investigation of the Magdalenian period in Northern Iberia, our understanding of the diets during this period is limited. Methodologies for the reconstruction of Late Glacial subsistence strategies have overwhelmingly targeted animal exploitation, thus revealing only a portion of the dietary spectrum. Retrieving food debris from calculus offers a means to provide missing information on other components of diet.We undertook analysis of human dental calculus samples from Magdalenian individuals (including the ¿Red Lady¿) at El Mir on Cave (Cantabria, Spain), as well as several control samples, to better understand the less visible dietary components. Dental calculus yielded a diverse assemblage of microremains from plant, fungal, animal and mineral sources that may provide data on diet and environment. The types of microremains show that the individuals at El Mir on consumed a variety of plants, including seeds and underground storage organs, as well as other foods, including possibly bolete mushrooms. These findings suggest that plant and plant-like foods were parts of her diet, supplementing staples derived from animal foods. As faunal evidence suggests that the Magdalenian Cantabrian diet included a large proportion of animal foods, we argue here for a mixed subsistence pattern

Chalcolithic/early Bronze Age and additional Magdalenian radiocarbon dates for El Mirón Cave (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria, Spain). Date list VII

There are now 101 radiocarbon dates from the long Paleolithic and post-Paleolithic culture-stratigraphic sequence in El Mirón Cave, Cantabrian Spain. Here we report on two dates on bone from two different humans whose remains were found in disturbed surface sediments in the cave vestibule rear and that confirm the existence of burials in addition to previously reported residential occupations in the vestibule front pertaining to the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Age periods (ca. 5500-3500 cal BP). In another attempt to resolve problems of stratigraphic incoherence of dates from the early Magdalenian periods in the vestibule rear, six new assays on faunal remains from Levels 119, 117, 114, 108, and 106 were run at Queen's University in Belfast. There continue to be date inversions in the Lower Magdalenian range of levels that may be explained by a combination of intensive anthropic and rodent activity, major rock fall, slope wash and gravity-caused object movements, as well as possible problems in following some thin levels during excavations over a large area and across many years of work in the cave vestibule interior, particularly in the absence of any layers that are culturally sterile or even poor. Nonetheless, the coherent age of the Initial Magdalenian is fully confirmed by a new date from Level 21 in the vestibule front at ca. 22,000-20,500 cal BP), as is the general age range of the Lower Magdalenian (ca. 20,500-18,000 cal BP).Excavations in El Mir ´on directed by Straus and González Morales between 1996–2013 were authorized and partially funded by the Gobierno de Cantabria, with additional funding from the US National Science Foundation, Fundación M. Botín, L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, National Geographic Society, University of New Mexico, UNM Foundation Stone Age Research Fund (J. and R. Auel, principal donors), and material support from the Town of Ramales de la Victoria and the Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria. González Rabanal’s doctoral research was funded by a predoctoral contract from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MINECO) within the “Cambio global, respuestas locales: impacto del cambio climático en las sociedades terminales de cazadores recolectores y el inicio de las economías productivas (HAR2016-5605-R)” Project directed by González Morales, supplemented by projects directed by A. B. Marín-Arroyo, namely the Spanish Government project “Efecto de las oscilaciones climáticas abruptas durante el MIS3 en las poblaciones humanas-ABRUPT (HAR2017-84997-P)” and the European Research Council Consolidator project “Subsistence and human resilience to sudden climatic events in Europe during MIS3–SUBSILIENCE (818299)”. The new 14C dates were funded by a grant from the Gobierno de Cantabria to Gutiérrez Zugasti and González Morales

THE HUMAN OCCUPATIONS OF EL MIRÓN CAVE (RAMALES DE LA VICTORIA, CANTABRIA, SPAIN) DURING THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM/SOLUTREAN PERIOD

El Mirón Cave (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria, Spain) has evidence of brief visits (by hunting parties) to the montane zone of the upper Asón valley in easternmost Cantabria during the Last Glacial Maximum with 14C dates ranging between 19.2-18.4 kya uncal BP. Landscapes were largely treeless (scattered pines), with varying degrees of humidity and some amelioration at the end of the sequence of seven levels. Armed with a variety of Solutrean foliate, concave base and shouldered stone points and antler sagaies, decorated with beads of shell, tooth, bone and stone, the visitors camped repeatedly at the rear of the cave vestibule, made informal hearths, hunted red deer and ibex and caught fish, and did some stone knapping of both local and high-quality non-local raw materials. This is one of relatively few montane Solutrean sites known in the Cantabrian region, where, in fact, all major Solutrean base camps are in the coastal zone.La cueva del Mirón (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria, España) conserva el testimonio de breves visitas de grupos de cazadores al alto valle del Asón, en la zona más oriental de Cantabria, durante el Último Máximo Glacial, con fechas de radiocarbono que oscilan entre los 19200 y 18400 uncal BP. Durante este tiempo, el paisaje carecía casi por completo de árboles (acaso pinos dispersos), con diversos grados de humedad y una leve mejora climática al final de la secuencia de los siete niveles solutrenses. Armados con una variedad de puntas foliáceas, puntas de base cóncava y de muesca, azagayas de asta, y adornados con cuentas de concha, diente, hueso e incluso piedra, los visitantes acamparon repetidas veces al fondo del vestíbulo de la cueva, hicieron varias hogueras ocasionales, cazaron ciervos y cabras, pescaron salmones y realizaron actividades de talla con materias primas locales y con otras no locales de alta calidad. Este yacimiento es uno de los pocos yacimientos solutrenses de la región cantábrica situado en una zona montañosa, donde de hecho, todos los principales campamentos base solutrenses se encuentran en zonas costeras.</p

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival