Agricultura, alimentación y uso del combustible: aplicación de modelos etnográficos en Arqueobotánica

We present ethnographical infomation particularly from the Jbala region in northern Marocco in order to offer archaeologists and archaeobotanists new data that may help in the questions and hypothesis we address to the archaeological record. We deal with these subjects: 1) the cultivation of einkorn (Triticum monococcum), agrarian practices and processing; 2) Conservation and storage of plant foods; 3) Use of cow dung as fuel, tempering of floors and walls and for recipient making; 4) Fuelwood: use, collection, leaf-foddering residues and woodland conservation.El trabajo etnoarqueológico en Marruecos se realiza en el marco del proyecto: Las primeras comunidades campesinas de la Región Cantábrica. El aporte de la etnoarqueología en Marruecos, financiado por la Fundación Marcelino Botín.Peer reviewe

Flint ‘figurines’ from the Early Neolithic site of Kharaysin, Jordan

During the Early Neolithic in the Near East, particularly from the mid ninth millennium cal BC onwards, human iconography became more widespread. Explanations for this development, however, remain elusive. This article presents a unique assemblage of flint artefacts from the Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (eighth millennium BC) site of Kharaysin in Jordan. Contextual, morphological, statistical and use-wear analyses of these artefacts suggest that they are not tools but rather human figurines. Their close association with burial contexts suggests that they were manufactured and discarded during mortuary rituals and remembrance ceremonies that included the extraction, manipulation and redeposition of human remains.This research is funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Project numbers: HAR2016-74999-P, PGC2018-096634-B-I00, RYC-2016-21108. The fieldwork is funded by the Palarq Foundation. J.S. was funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (European Commission GA 750460; H2020-MSCA-IF-2016). We also acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer reviewe

Les occupations du natoufien et du PPNB ancien à Qarassa (Suweida, Syrie du sud). Premiers résultats et perspectives

Peer Reviewe

Variabilité des techniques de récolte et traitements des céréales dans l'occident Méditerranéen au Néolithique Ancien et Moyen: facteurs environnementaux, économiques et sociaux

La reconstitution des techniques agricoles préhistoriques constitue un élément fondamental pour la compréhension du processus d’expansion de l’agriculture en Méditerranée occidentale. Dans le cadre d’un projet européen rassemblant des tracéologues et des carpologues espagnols et français, nous avons, dans une première phase, étudié les méthodes de récolte des céréales pratiquées durant le Néolithique en Espagne et dans le Sud de la France, du Néolithique ancien au Néolithique moyen. L’étude des outils de récolte a permis de distinguer trois aires distinctes. Le Sud-Est de l’Espagne est caractérisé par des faucilles courbes avec des éléments insérés obliquement dans le manche. En Catalogne, Languedoc et Provence, la majorité des faucilles sont constituées de longues lames emmanchées parallèlement au manche, mais d’autres modèles existent. En Espagne cantabrique, les céréales étaient récoltées sans faucille. Nos travaux en cours explorent différents facteurs pouvant expliquer cette variabilité : conditions environnementales, types de céréales cultivées, finalités techniques et alimentaires de la culture des céréales, techniques de conservation des céréales, rôle de l’agriculture céréalière dans l’économie, dynamiques historiques de l’expansion et de l’adoption des innovations néolithiques.Peer Reviewe

Pottery technology of levels IV and III in Kobaederra site (Cortézubi, Bizkaia). Supply and modification of raw material

RESUMEN: El estudio tecnológico del material cerámico requiere de la aplicación de técnicas de análisis arqueométrico que permitan un acercamiento a su mineralogía y composición química, con la fi nalidad de identifi car las etapas de su secuencia de elaboración. Este artículo presenta el análisis tecnológico de la cerámica neolítica documentada en los niveles inferiores del yacimiento de Kobaederra (Cortézubi, Bizkaia), a partir de su análisis mineralógico (petrografía y difracción de rayos X, DRX) y geoquímico (microscopio electrónico de barrido-espectómetro de dispersión de energía, MEB-EDS). Su objetivo es discriminar las potenciales áreas de aprovisionamiento de las materias primas y su modifi cación mediante la adición de desgrasantes. Por último, se discuten las implicaciones de los resultados obtenidos en relación con el resto de las evidencias arqueológicas disponibles para los niveles IV y III de Kobaederra.ABSRTACT: The technological study of ceramic materials requires the application of archaeometric analytical techniques to approach both their mineralogy and chemical composition, with the aim of identifying steps in their production sequence. This paper presents the technological analysis of the Neolithic pottery documented in the lower levels of the Kobaederra site (Cortézubi, Bizkaia) on the basis of their mineralogical (petrography and X-ray diffraction, XRD) and geochemical (SEM-EDS) analysis. Its goal is to discriminate the possible areas of raw materials supply and their modifi cation through the addition of tempers. Finally, the implications of the results in relation to the rest of available archaeological evidences from the IV and the III levels of the Kobaederra site are discussed

Arqueología al oeste de Homs: sondeos en los yacimientos de Jeftelik (Natufiense), Tell Marj (Neolítico cerámico) y prospecciones de monumentos megalíticos: campaña 2009

RESUMEN: En el artículo se presentan los resultados de los trabajos de campo desarrollados en el marco del proyecto "Arqueología al oeste de Homs" en 2009. Se han excavado los yacimientos de Jeftelik y Tell Marj y se ha continuado la prospección de las necrópolis megalíticas en la región. Jeftelik es un yacimiento natufiense antiguo en el que se ha localizado una probable estructura de habitación a la que está asociado una gran cantidad de material lítico tallado. Sus características y cronología ponen en cuestión los modelos convencionales sobre el origen y expansión del natufiense. Tell Marj es un poblado construido al final del neolítico en el que las casas cuentan con muros de basalto bien escuadrados. En el lugar se han reconocido dos fases de ocupación por el momento, la más antigua de las cuales muestra varias reconstrucciones y superposiciones de casas. Entre el material arqueológico destaca la extraordinaria abundancia de puntas de proyectil y la presencia de restos que sugieren la implantación de formas económicas y sociales complejas, con intercambios a larga distancia y almacenamiento a gran escala. Las necrópolis megalíticas reconocidas destacan por la gran extensión de las áreas ocupadas, de decenas de km., y por la existencia de monumentos complejos que a veces asocian otro tipo de estructuras a las construcciones funerarias propiamente dichas.ABSTRACT: This paper presents the results of the fieldwork carried out within the Project "Archaeology to the West of Homs" in 2009. The sites at Jeftelik and Tell Marj have been excavated and the work surveying the megalithic necropolis in the área has continued. Jeftelik is an early Natufian site, with a probable habitation structure associated with a large amount of knapped lithic objects. Its characteristics and chronology question conventional models about the origin and expansion of the Natufian. Tell Marj is a late Neolithic settlement, with houses with well-built rectangular basalt walls. Two occupation phases have been identified to date, in which the older phase exhibits several stages of re-building and superimposition of houses. The archaeological material found includes large numbers of projectile points and remains suggesting the incorporation of complex economic and social forms, with long-distance exchange networks and large-scale storage. The megalithic necropolises that have been studied cover large areas, several tens of square kilometres. Complex monuments have been identified, sometimes, associated with other types of structures apart from the funerary constructions themselves.Este proyecto está financiado por el Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (proyectos i+D+i HUM2007-66128-C02-01 y 02), el Instituto de Patrimonio Cultural de España del Ministerio de Cultura, el programa EXCAVA de la Generalitat de Catalunya, la Universidad Saint-Joseph de Beirut y la Universidad de Cantabria

Multiproxy approach to reconstruct fossil primate feeding behavior: Case study for macaque from the Plio-Pleistocene site Guefaït-4.2 (eastern Morocco)

The genus Macaca belongs to Cercopithecidae (Old World monkeys), Cercopithecinae, Papionini. The presence of Macaca in North Africa is well known from the Late Miocene to the Late Pleistocene. However, the diet of fossil Macaca has been poorly described in the literature. In this study, we investigated the feeding habits of Macaca cf. sylvanus (n = 4) from the Plio-Pleistocene site Guefaït-4.2 in eastern Morocco through multiproxy analysis combining analyses of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes from tooth enamel, buccal microtexture, and low-magnification occlusal dental microwear. For both microwear analyses, we compared the macaques with a new reference collection of extant members of Cercopithecoidea. Our occlusal microwear results show for the fossil macaque a pattern similar to the extant Cercocebus atys and Lophocebus albigena, African forest-dwelling species that are characterized by a durophagous diet based mainly on hard fruit and seed intake. Buccal microtexture results also suggest the consumption of some grasses and the exploitation of more open habitats, similar to that observed in Theropithecus gelada. The δ13C of M. cf. sylvanus indicates a C3 based-diet without the presence of C4 plants typical of the savanna grassland in eastern Africa during this period. The high δ18O values of M. cf. sylvanus, compared with the contemporary ungulates recovered from Guefaït-4.2, could be associated with the consumption of a different resource by the primate such as leaves or fresh fruits from the upper part of trees. The complementarity of these methods allows for a dietary reconstruction covering a large part of the individual’s life.This work has been funded by Palarq Foundation, Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport (Ref: 42-T002018N0000042853 and 170-T002019N0000038589), Direction of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture and Communication, Morocco), Faculty of Sciences (Mohamed 1r University of Oujda, Morocco), INSAP (Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine), Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Ref: CGL2016-80975-P, CGL2016-80000-P, PGC2018-095489-B-I00, and PID2021- 122355NB-C33), Research Groups Support of the Generalitat de Catalunya (2017 SGR 836, 2017 SGR 1040, 2017 SGR 102, and 2017 SGR 859) and PDC2021-121613-I00 and PID2020-112963GB-I00 by ERDF A way of making Europe, by the European Union. RS-R, MC, AR-H, and CT research was funded by CERCA Programme Generalitat de Catalunya. IR-P is beneficiary of predoctoral fellowship (2020-FI-B-00731) funded by AGAUR and the Fons Social Europeu (FSE). AA and is beneficiary of a fellowship from the Erasmus Mundus Program to do the Master in Quaternary and Prehistory at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain). CT was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “Ramón y Cajal” program (RYC2020-029404-I). The Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA) has received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “María de Maeztu” program for Units of Excellence (CEX2019-000945-M), including the postdoctoral fellowships of AR-H.With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence" accreditation CEX2019-000945-M.Peer reviewe

Stratigraphie et répartition des architectures de Mureybet

En: Ibáñez,JJ (ed.) 2008. Le site Neolithique de Tell Mureybet. En hommage à Jacques Cauvin. BAR Int Series, 1843Estratigrafía y restos de arquitectura encontrados en el yacimiento neolítico de tell Mureybet (Siria)Shelby White-Leon Levy FoundationPeer reviewe