A Spatial Distribution Study of Faunal Remains from Two Lower Magdalenian Occupation Levels in El Mirón Cave, Cantabria, Spain

Abstract: Human behaviour can be reconstructed by analysing specific activities and campsite organization using spatial analysis. The dense occupation layers of the Lower Cantabrian Magdalenian in the Northern Spain reveal varied aspects of Upper Palaeolithic lifeways, including evidence of specific localized activities. The outer vestibule of El Mirón cave has a particularly rich and intact Lower Magdalenian occupation horizon, Levels 15–17. The excavations in the outer vestibule “Cabin” area of the site revealed excellent bone preservation. Artefacts and faunal remains were individually recorded and sediments water-screened to yield a large sample of archaeological finds and spatial data. Zooarchaeological analysis provided the taxonomic, anatomic and taphonomic determination of the faunal individual finds. Smaller animal remains were categorized and counted; special attention was given to the identification of anthropogenic modifications such as burnt bones or bone flakes. These small refuse items are considered to be useful, in situ indicators of localized activities. The spatial distribution analysis of this dense and complex palimpsest of El Mirón Lower Cantabrian Magdalenian layers required GIS based methods including density analysis, heatmaps and cluster analysis. Based on the spatial distribution of Level 15 and 16 faunal remains, different activity areas were identified comprising hearth, working and dropping zones. These results imply the deliberately segregated use of space within the Lower Cantabrian Magdalenian site area, in which bone-processing activities played a central rol

Programmes expérimentaux en taphonomie

utilisation charbon augmente lors des périodes plus froide

Bone retouchers and site function in the Quina Mousterian : the case of Les Pradelles (Marillac-le-Franc, France)

International audienceBone retouchers and site function in the Quina Mousterian : the case of Les Pradelles (Marillac-le-Franc, France

Approaches to the acquisition and use of animal materials

Bison, red deer, horse, ibex, chamois and other large and small ungulates are the classic prey animals exploited by Neanderthals. The study of several sites has shown that Neanderthal hunting was not always restricted to this category of animals. Very large ungulates were also sometimes exploited. Cutmarks have been found on megaloceros bones in assemblages XII and XVIIc at Bolomor in Spain (Blasco, Fernández Peris, 2012) and a piece from Moula demonstrates the use of the bones of this animal for utilitarian purposes (Valensi et al., 2012). Several sites, located primarily but not exclusively in northern Europe, – have yielded megafaunal remains in abundance (mammoth, rhinoceros, straight-tusked elephant: for example La Cotte de Saint Brelade, Biache-Saint-Vaast, Mesvin IV, Spy, Tata, Ranville, Gröbern, and Lehringen); butchery marks have been identified on some remains at La Cotte de Saint Brelade, Biache-Saint-Vaast and Payre (Auguste, 1995; Daujeard, 2008; Smith, 2015), at Taubach (Bratlund, 1999), and at Bolomor and Preresa (Blasco, Fernández Peris, 2012; Yravedra et al., 2012). In Germany, the exploitation of elephants is demonstrated by 28 lithic artefacts found in association with a carcass at Gröbern and a spear discovered between the ribs of a carcass at Lehringen (Weber, 2001). At Asolo in Italy, a mammoth was recovered in association with Mousterian tools (Mussi, Villa, 2008)

New evidence of bones used as fuel in the Gravettian level at Coímbre cave, northern Iberian Peninsula

The use of bone as fuel has been already documented in some sites dated to the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. They contribute to a longer combustion time due to their durability; consequently, they are useful to reduce the need for firewood, a good advantage in open palaeoenvironmental contexts with limited arboreal vegetation. The use of bones as fuel can be identified by several lines of evidence. The main one is a large number of burned bones, with an intense cremation–charring or calcination, together with high fragmentation resulting from the long contact with the fire. Other features may be present, although they can also result from individual circumstances. They include either the presence of complete skeletal profiles–which implies using all the bones of the animal–or a selection of the anatomical parts which contribute better to combustion, i.e. epiphyses and axial elements. In this article, we argue that the faunal assemblage of level Co.B.6 of Coímbre cave fully corresponds to this model. Moreover, this level coincides with a cold palaeoclimatic event, which was correlative to the climatic deterioration that occurred at the end of MIS 3, and an open environment. Thus, we propose that this level contains the first known use of bones as fuel in the Cantabrian Gravettian

Nouveaux éléments de chronologie relative et radionumérique à Cussac (Dordogne, France)

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Le site moustérien de la grotte du noisetier, Pyrénées centrales françaises: une bilan interdisciplinaire après dix ans de fouille.

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