28 research outputs found
Contribución al conocimiento del primer poblamiento humano de Europa
En los últimos años numerosas investigaciones han contribuido a un mejor conocimiento de los primeros habitantes de Europa. Si en los años ochenta, Francia parecía situarse en el centro del debate con yacimientos como Chilhac, Soleilhac oVallonet; los hallazgos en la región del
Caúcaso yOrienteMedio (Dmanisi yUbeidiya), la Península Itálica (Ceprano) y la Península Ibérica (Orce) en los años noventa, han desplazado el debate a las puertas deEuropa.La cuestión sobre las rutas alternativas de Gibraltar o Sicilia permanece abierta. Las industrias líticas
descubiertas en los yacimientos del Pleistoceno Inferior de Barranco León y Fuente Nueva 3 de Orce (Granada) se sitúan actualmente en el corazón de este debate.An important number of researches about the first inhabitants ofEurope have been developed. If France was the centre of the debate during eighties through the sites of Chilhac, Soleilhac or Vallonet, during nineties the debate was displaced at the gates of Europe: The founds of
the Caucasian region and theMiddleEast (Dmanisi andUbeidiya), the ItalianPeninsula (Ceprano) and the Iberian Peninsula (Orce). The questions about alternative routes, Gibraltar or Sicily, remains open. The lithic artefacts found at the Lower Pleistocene sites of Barranco León and
Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Granada) are now in the core of this debate
Palynology and chronology of hyaena coprolites from the Piñar karstic Caves Las Ventanas and Carihuela, southern Spain
This paper presents pollen analyses and radiocarbon dating on Crocuta coprolites from Las Ventanas (LV) and Carihuela (Car) Caves in southern Spain (Granada), with the aim of reconstructing the environmental conditions of these hominin sites. The LV coprolites are radiocarbon dated from c. 37,890 to 6980 cal yr BP, and the Car coprolites from c. 31,063 to 7861 cal yr BP. Overall, the palaeoecological scenario inferred from both coprolite series display similar patterns, with Pinus, Poaceae, and Artemisia as dominant during the full Pleistocene, and an important contribution of Quercus in the most recently dated coprolite samples. While the palynology is consistent with results of former investigations on the past environments in the region as obtained from other deposits (peat bogs, cave infills), the Late Glacial and Holocene chronology of several coprolites in both sites is in conflict with the generally accepted timing of extinction of Crocuta in western Europe. A discussion on the taphonomical processes and potential sources of carbon contamination of the radiocarbon samples is provided. The correlation between pollen from coprolites and from sedimentary records, and the paucity of the fossil bone record suggests nevertheless, that a late survival of Crocuta in southern Spain should not be categorically discarded
Age and date for early arrival of the Acheulian in Europe (Barranc de la Boella, la Canonja, Spain)
The first arrivals of hominin populations into Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene are currently considered to have occurred
as short and poorly dated biological dispersions. Questions as to the tempo and mode of these early prehistoric settlements
have given rise to debates concerning the taxonomic significance of the lithic assemblages, as trace fossils, and the
geographical distribution of the technological traditions found in the Lower Palaeolithic record. Here, we report on the
Barranc de la Boella site which has yielded a lithic assemblage dating to ,1 million years ago that includes large cutting
tools (LCT). We argue that distinct technological traditions coexisted in the Iberian archaeological repertoires of the late
Early Pleistocene age in a similar way to the earliest sub-Saharan African artefact assemblages. These differences between
stone tool assemblages may be attributed to the different chronologies of hominin dispersal events. The archaeological
record of Barranc de la Boella completes the geographical distribution of LCT assemblages across southern Eurasia during
the EMPT (Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition, circa 942 to 641 kyr). Up to now, chronology of the earliest European LCT
assemblages is based on the abundant Palaeolithic record found in terrace river sequences which have been dated to the
end of the EMPT and later. However, the findings at Barranc de la Boella suggest that early LCT lithic assemblages appeared
in the SW of Europe during earlier hominin dispersal episodes before the definitive colonization of temperate Eurasia took
place.The research at Barranc de la Boella has been carried out with the financial support of the Spanish Ministerio de Economı´a y Competitividad (CGL2012-
36682; CGL2012-38358, CGL2012-38434-C03-03 and CGL2010-15326; MICINN project HAR2009-7223/HIST), Generalitat de Catalunya, AGAUR agence (projects
2014SGR-901; 2014SGR-899; 2009SGR-324, 2009PBR-0033 and 2009SGR-188) and Junta de Castilla y Leo´n BU1004A09. Financial support for Barranc de la Boella
field work and archaeological excavations is provided by the Ajuntament de la Canonja and Departament de Cultura (Servei d’Arqueologia i Paleontologia) de la
Generalitat de Catalunya. A. Carrancho’s research was funded by the International Excellence Programme, Reinforcement subprogramme of the Spanish Ministry
of Education. I. Lozano-Ferna´ndez acknowledges the pre-doctoral grant from the Fundacio´n Atapuerca. The funders had no role in study design, data collection
and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
Flake modification in European Early and Early-Middle Pleistocene stone tool assemblages
10.1016/j.quaint.2013.05.02
L'Homme Préhistorique et son environnement
Catalogue de l'exposition L'Homme préhistorique et son environnement
Active percussion tools from the Oldowan site of Barranco León (Orce, Andalusia, Spain): The fundamental role of pounding activities in hominin lifeways
Dated to 1.4 Mya, the Barranco León site (Orce, Andalusia, Spain) is currently the oldest and richest late Lower Pleistocene stone tool assemblage discovered so far in Europe. Archeological and paleontological remains are found clearly associated in lacustrine deposits traversed by a small channel. This paper provides new data about the lithic assemblage from level D, focusing on the abundant active percussion implements that form a part of the highly divers set of limestone macro-tools unique to this assemblage. Morpho-technological and experimental analysis of these tools allows us to hypothesize about the kinds of activities that might have been carried out by hominins at this site. Experimental work allows us to define percussive trace morphologies and to identify new types of percussion tools in the collection, beyond those of classical, ellipsoidal morphology. Analysis of the stone surfaces used for active percussion demonstrates that, while some of the tools could have been used for stone knapping, other hammer morphologies are not well adapted for this kind of activity. The morphology of the tools and the type of percussion damage displayed on their active surfaces provide criteria with which to widen the activity range of the hominins that used them. This study of the percussion instruments from Barranco León contributes essential data with which to buttress the growing interest in the macro component of Oldowan stone toolkits African and Eurasian sites and their possible uses
L'Homme Préhistorique et son environnement
Catalogue de l'exposition L'Homme préhistorique et son environnement
The sequence at Carihuela Cave and its potential for research into Neanderthal ecology and the Mousterian in southern Spain
Hitherto unpublished 14C and 230Th234U determinations from Carihuela Cave (Granada province, Andalusia, Spain) raise a possibility of late survival here of Neanderthals and their Mousterian technocomplex into an advanced stage of the Late Pleistocene (MIS-3), when anatomically-modern humans with Upper Palaeolithic toolkits were penetrating the region, and when also several carnivore taxa competed for access to the cave. Previous palaeopalynological studies are reinforced by new pollen analyses of samples extracted from coprolites. The palaeoecological and sedimentological records bear comparison with new data from the Padul peat deposits in the Sierra Nevada, and are in line with the view that there was late persistence of the Mousterian in Granada. There is a pressing need for renewed international multidisciplinary research at Carihuela Cave, with up-to-date lithostratigraphical and dating techniques that can expand on results obtained from fieldwork undertaken by a previous generation of researchers. Carihuela Cave continues to hold out great promise for analysing Neanderthal palaeoecology during the Late Pleistocene up to the appearance in southeastern Iberian Peninsula of anatomically-modern Upper Palaeolithic people, particularly with regard to the earlier phases of the Middle Palaeolithic at the cave which await intensive excavation but apparently extend back in time to the last interglacial period