Continuidad y cambio. Problemas de la neolitización en el este de la Península Ibérica

This paper analyses the transition from a hunter-gatherer economy to another one based on agriculture and animal-husbandry in the eastern part of the Iberian Península. Based on a comparative study of epipaleolithic and early neolithic sites with radiocarbon dates and/ or studies of fauna or cereals finds, we propose three models to explain the archaeological record.Se analiza la transición de una economía de cazadores y recolectores a otra basada en la agricultura y el pastoreo en la zona este de la Península Ibérica. Partiendo de un estudio comparativo de los yacimientos del Epipaleolítico y Neolítico antiguo con dataciones de carbono- 14 y/o estudios de fauna y hallazgos de cereales se proponen tres modelos para explicar el registro arqueológico

Supplementary Materials for U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neanderthal origin of Iberian cave art

Materiales suplementarios al artículo de Science 2018 sobre las dataciones de arte rupestre en la Península Ibérica mediante U-TH

Combined Raman spectroscopic and Rietveld analyses as a useful and nondestructive approach to studying flint raw materials at prehistoric archaeological sites

Artículo sobre análisis de espectroscopía

Ocupaciones de la Cueva de Ardales y Sima de las Palomas de Teba por sociedades neandertales

Un equipo interdisciplinar internacional viene realizando nuevas investigaciones en Cueva de Ardales (Ardales, Málaga) y en Sima de las Palomas (Teba, Málaga), enmarcadas en un Proyecto General de Investigación autorizado por la Junta de Andalucía. Presentamos un avance de los datos obtenidos en ambas cavidades en relación a la ocupación vinculada a sociedades neandertales con tecnología de tipo Paleolítico Medio.An international interdisciplinary team is carrying out new research in Cueva de Ardales (Ardales, Málaga) and Sima de las Palomas (Teba, Málaga), framed in a General Research Project authorized by the Junta de Andalucía. We present here preliminary data of Neanderthal occupations and related Middle Palaeolithic technology from both cavities.Universidad Pablo de Olavid

The symbolic role of the underground world among Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals

Cueva de Ardales in Malaga, Spain, is one of the richest and bestpreserved Paleolithic painted caves of southwestern Europe, containing over a thousand graphic representations. Here, we study the red pigment in panel II.A.3 of Sala de las Estrellas, dated by U-Th to the Middle Paleolithic, to determine its composition, verify its anthropogenic nature, infer the associated behaviors, and discuss their implications. Using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction, we analyzed a set of samples from the panel and compared them to natural coloring materials collected from the floor and walls of the cave. The conspicuously different texture and composition of the geological samples indicates that the pigments used in the paintings do not come from the outcrops of colorant material known in the cave. We confirm that the paintings are not the result of natural processes and show that the composition of the paint is consistent with the artistic activity being recurrent. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that Neanderthals symbolically used these paintings and the large stalagmitic dome harboring them over an extended time span

The paleolithic site Sima de las Palomas de Teba, Southern Spain. Site formation processes and chronostratigraphy.

Abstract (The Palaeolithic site Sima de las Palomas de Teba, Southern Spain –Site formation processes and chronostratigraphy): The rockshelter sequence consists of 6 m thick stone-rich silty clay loam including several archaeological levels with artefacts of Mousterian affinity, bone and charcoal. Stratigraphy and site formation processes were characterised by sedimentological, geochemical and micromorphological investigations. Sediments were dated using IRSL and OSL and the time of the last heating of burnt silex using TL. At the base of the sequence, sediment units 10 and 9 are in-situ deposits recording intensive occupation. Luminescence dating places these layers either before 33 ka (IRSL, OSL) or before 43 ka (TL).The occupation ends with a rockfall (unit 8), followed by archaeologically sterile sediments (unit 7). Mousterian occupation is again documented in scattered artefacts of units 6 to 4 which might be affected by reworking. IRSL age estimates indicated sediment deposition before 15 ka. The sequence ends with a dung rich Holocene layer including a fragment of a human mandible dated to 4032 ± 39 BP. Overall, the sequence represents an important new site for studying the presence of Neanderthals in Southern Spain

Human Occupation during the Late Pleniglacial at Lapa do Picareiro (Portugal)

During Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2, abrupt climate changes created highly variable paleoenvironments inhabited by human populations across the Iberian Peninsula. Pollen and sedimentary analyses from deep-sea cores off Portugal provide records of regional-scale paleoenvironmental responses to the climate shifts that punctuated this period. Archaeological assemblages offer a regional and local-scale understanding of human- environment interactions during this period. One site in particular, Lapa do Picareiro, has yielded a continuous, stratified sedimentary sequence that provides a diachronic record for MIS 2 human occupation and environmental change. Here, we present archaeological data from the Late Gravettian through Solutrean occupations (Levels U-O) in order to show how local-scale, assemblage-level variability may or may not help our understanding of human-environment interactions and culture change during this period when we try to fit them into the traditional techno- typological framework. Lithic artifact assemblages record the technological changes associated with the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), including the Gravettian-Solutrean transition. Age control is provided by 23 radiocarbon dates from Levels U-O. The spatial distribution of artifacts, animal bones and charcoal concentrations shows a relatively high degree of assemblage integrity. The taphonomic study of the faunal remains informs on local paleoenvironments and human diet choice during the LGM. The combined results are used here to understand human responses to long-term environmental change in central Portugal

New evidence for the Mousterian and Gravettian at Rio Secco Cave, Italy

The dearth of evidence for late Neanderthals in Europe reduces our ability to understand the demise of their species and the impact of the biological and cultural changes that resulted from the spread of anatomically modern humans. In this light, a recently investigated cave in the northern Adriatic region at the border between the Italian Alps and the Great Adriatic Plain provides useful data about the last Neanderthals between 46·0 and 42·1 ky cal b.p. Their subsistence is inferred from zooarchaeological remains and patterns in Middle Palaeolithic lithic technology. Unexpected evidence of the ephemeral use of the cave during the early Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian period shows a change in lithic technology