Archaeopetrological approximation to the lithic procurement of the neolithic axes and adzes from Can Sadurní’s cave (Begues, NE Iberian Peninsula)

Can Sadurní’s cave, located in Begues (NE Iberian Peninsula), in the Baix Llobregat region, is an archaeological site with a wide stratigraphic sequence covering from the Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers societies at the beginning of the Holocene to Roman times. During the excavations of the last years a large number of different raw materials used for the manufacture of axes have been recovered.The present study is focused on the Neolithic sequence. 31 axes and adzes have been characterised petrographically with the aid of a binocular microscope and transmission microscope. A great variety of rocks constitute the raw materials of these stone tools, ranging from contact and regional metamorphic rocks to plutonic and porphyric igneous rocks. The formers are the most abundant (up to 78%) and include hornfels, spotted phyllites, marbles, quartzites, slates and phyllites. The igneous rocks consist of granodiorite, porphyry and aplites. Such a great assemblage of rocks matches in a geological context representative of a plutonic intrusion and its metamorphic contact aureole. Following that scenario we suggest that the most likely source area for all these materials occur at the Collserola hills, at 27 km far to the east from the cave, at the other side of the Llobregat River, where an Hercynian granodiorite and related igneous rocks intruding Ordovician metasedimentary materials are presented.

Productions and technical knowledge in the Early Neolithic in Catalonia

The development of the economic activities inherent to the establishment of Neolithic farming activities entails an increasing technical specialization. This is often visible through the exploitation of specific resources, the development of suitable techniques for the manufacture of consumption goods as well as new ways of using and consuming them. We briefly present the main features of the technical productions carried out by the first Neolithic populations in the northeast of Iberia, trying to characterize the technical knowledge spent on all of them and making their signs of specialization clear.[FR] Le développement des activités économiques inhérent à l’implantation des activités agricoles et d’élevage du Néolithique entraîne une spécialisation technique croissante. Cela se traduit souvent par l’exploitation de ressources spécifiques, le développement de techniques appropriées pour la fabrication de biens de consommation, et de nouvelles façons de les utiliser et de les consommer. Nous présentons brièvement les principales caractéristiques des productions techniques réalisées par les premières populations néolithiques du nord-est de la péninsule ibérique, en essayant de caractériser les connaissances techniques dépensées dans chacune d’elles et en mettant en évidence leurs indications de spécialisation

Early experience and quality of life in SBRT prostate cancer boost of 9 Gy in a phase II trial

Purpose or ObjectiveExtracranial stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) allows delivering high doses per fraction with high accuracy to the prostatic gland in a low number of fractions.Dose escalation in normofractionaded radiation prostate cancer trials showed an increased toxicity.In order to evaluate the feasibility and toxicity of a regimen of a single dose hypofractionated prostate stereotactic boost a phase II study was undertaken. Self-reported quality of life (QOL) measures were also obtained in order to better define the possible deleterious effect of treatment

L’aprofitament dels recursos vegetals silvestres al jaciment de la Cova de Can Sadurní. Des de l’epipaleolític al neolític final

Els recursos vegetals silvestres són essencials en la vida de les comunitats prehistòriques. De la re- lació entre l’oferta ambiental i les societats, sem- pre canviants, han resultat unes estratègies de gestió dels recursos vegetals que expliquen el re- gistre arqueològic documentat. La cova de Can Sadurní és un exemple privi- legiat d’un punt d’ocupació reiterat durant la pre- història recent al Garraf. En aquesta comunicació presentem les dades disponibles respecte a la gestió dels recursos vegetals silvestres pels grups que van ocupar la cova entre l’Epipaleolític i el Neolític final, en el marc de les diverses acti- vitats productives que es van dur a terme en ca- dascuna de les fases (producció d’instruments i consum d’aliments, tancament del bestiar, enter- rament, etc.)

Changes in the perception of and the interaction with the environment from the Mesolithic (10300-8500 cal BC) to the Early Neolithic (c. 5400 cal BC) in Can Sadurní Cave (Begues, Barcelona province, Spain). A view from the archaeobotanical data

Societies build a determinate perception of and certain ways of interaction with the environment in order to maintain their systems of production and reproduction. Perception in Prehistory can be studied from the material evidences left by the interaction between different groups and their environment. In this paper, we will be approaching interaction mainly from the archaeobotanical data (both charcoal and seed/fruit remains) of the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic layers of Can Sadurní Cave (Barcelona, Spain). Our results show clear differences in resource exploitation between the last hunters and gatherers and the first farmers of the area, which are not only related to the changes in the environment but also to the use of the space in the cave (the interaction with the environment) and the social perception of the environment

Archaeopetrological approximation to the lithic procurement of the neolithic axes and adzes from Can Sadurní's cave (Begues, NE Iberian Peninsula)

Can Sadurní's cave, located in Begues (NE Iberian Peninsula), in the Baix Llobregat region, is an archaeological site with a wide stratigraphic sequence covering from the Epipaleolithic hunter-gatherers societies at the beginning of the Holocene to Roman times. During the excavations of the last years a large number of different raw materials used for the manufacture of axes have been recovered. The present study is focused on the Neolithic sequence. 31 axes and adzes have been characterised petrographically with the aid of a binocular microscope and transmission microscope. A great variety of rocks constitute the raw materials of these stone tools, ranging from contact and regional metamorphic rocks to plutonic and porphyric igneous rocks. The formers are the most abundant (up to 78%) and include hornfels, spotted phyllites, marbles, quartzites, slates and phyllites. The igneous rocks consist of granodiorite, porphyry and aplites. Such a great assemblage of rocks matches in a geological context representative of a plutonic intrusion and its metamorphic contact aureole. Following that scenario we suggest that the most likely source area for all these materials occur at the Collserola hills, at 27 km far to the east from the cave, at the other side of the Llobregat River, where an Hercynian granodiorite and related igneous rocks intruding Ordovician metasedimentary materials are presente

Risk factors of new fractures after vertebroplasty

PURPOSE: To evaluate the risk factors of new fractures after vertebroplasty (VP). PATIENTS AND METHOD: Prospective, non-randomized study including patients with acute osteoporotic fractures treated with VP. Baseline visit included clinical and densitometric data. At 30, 90 and 180 days, changes in clinical data and side effects (cement leakage and new fractures) were recorded. To establish the predictive factors of a new fracture, differences between the group of patients with new fractures (R1) and those without fractures (R0) were evaluated. RESULTS: Vertebroplasty was performed in 43 patients (82 vertebrae). Cement leakage into a disc appeared in 11 cases (11,5%) and 12 new fractures occurred in 9 patients. No statistical differences were detected between groups R1 and R0 in the following variables: sex, age, vitamin D levels, T-score, kyphosis angle, primary/secondary osteoporosis, preexisting fractures, number of treated vertebrae and amount of cement injected. A positive, statistical significant correlation, was established between cement leakage into a disk and incidence of adjacent new fractures (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Cement leakage into a disc increases the risk of adjacent new fractures after vertebroplasty

Chronostratigraphy in karst records from the Epipaleolithic to the Early Neolithic (c. 13.0 – 6.0 cal ka BP) in the Catalan Coastal Mountains of NE Iberia: environmental changes, sedimentary processes and human activity

The stratigraphic, sedimentary and palaeoenvironmental features reflected in cavities in the Catalan Coastal Ranges of NE Iberia (Can Sadurní and Guineu caves) characterize the periods of pronounced climatic and human complexity that occurred c. 13.0–6.0 cal ka BP. This includes the stages of the Younger Dryas and Mid/Early Holocene, the latter being one of the periods of so-called Rapid Climatic Changes (RCCs). These caves, like others in Mediterranean contexts, are the result of an old duct originating in the saturated zone of the karst system and open to the outside; recording a succession of different detrital and anthropic episodes of the Epipaleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic communities. From this study it can be seen that paleoclimatic events do not always present clear signals in the karst records, especially c. 12.7–7.4 cal ka BP, corresponding to the Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic. It is characterized by a stratigraphic discontinuity in which there are phases with predominantly detrital sedimentation alternating with hiatus intervals. Detrital sedimentation formed by fine material colluvium with gravitational movements or solifluction processes in fresh and humid conditions. It appears in the following chronological intervals: 12.7–12.2 cal ka BP, 11.5/11.1–10.7/10.4 cal ka BP and 8.2–8.0 cal ka BP (less humid). Hiatus phases are represented in the rest of the sequence up to c. 7.4 cal ka BP. From the sedimentary point of view these stages of hiatus are indicative of phases of stability or lack of episodes with seasonal contrasts; a fact that would cause interruptions to detrital deposition in the interior of the caves. In contrast, in the period c. 7.4 to 6.0 cal ka BP, attributed to the Middle and Early Neolithic, there is a certain stratigraphic continuity. From the sedimentary point of view it is distinguished by a variability of processes that responds to accumulative episodes of short duration characteristic of morphogenesis of the slopes in an arid Mediterranean environment, identified in our records as RCCs, (c. 7.4–7.2 cal ka BP- Cardial Neolithic; c. 6.8–6.3 cal ka BP-Early Postcardial Middle Neolithic and c. 6.2–5.7 cal ka BP- Late Postcardial Middle Neolithic) alternating with episodes of stability, more humid and coinciding with a better sedimentary record of the pastoral activity in the cavities during Epicardial and Late Cardial Neolithic (c. 7.1–6.7 cal ka BP) and Postcardial Middle Neolithic (c. 6.6–5.9 cal ka BP). It is during this period that Holocene climate variability has better resolution in caves in the Catalan Coastal Ranges of NE Iberia

Ancient DNA from an Early Neolithic Iberian population supports a pioneer colonisation by first farmers

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