Los Batanes (Biescas, Spain), a roost site for horseshoe bats in the Pyrenees during the late Pleistocene

Los Batanes C4 is a cave-site in the Spanish Pyrenees, the minimum sediment calendar age was determined to be 15, 234 ± 223 cal BP by radiocarbon dating. The cave opens on the northern bank of an eastern tributary of the River Gállego, at an altitude of 1025 m. The small vertebrates recorded are mainly bats, in order of abundance Rhinolophus euryale, R. ferrumequinum, Myotis sp. and Miniopterus schreibersii. The association suggests that at the time of the accumulation the climate was reasonably similar to the current climate; we situate it within a period of local retreat of the ice-cover in the Gállego Valley during the Lateglacial. This is the highest record of these species of Rhinolophus in the Iberian Quaternary, showing that the R. euryale altitudinal range was similar to its extant range during the favourable periods of the Lateglacial. This could indicate that this taxon was relatively quick in spreading into higher regions whenever climate conditions allowed it

Funerary practices or food delicatessen? Human remains with anthropic marks from the Western Mediterranean Mesolithic

The identification of unarticulated human remains with anthropic marks in archaeological contexts normally involves solving two issues: a general one associated with the analysis and description of the anthropic manipulation marks, and another with regard to the interpretation of their purpose. In this paper we present new evidence of anthropophagic behaviour amongst hunter-gatherer groups of the Mediterranean Mesolithic. A total of 30 human remains with anthropic manipulation marks have been found in the Mesolithic layers of Coves de Santa Maira (Castell de Castells, Alicante, Spain), dating from ca. 10.2-9 cal ky BP. We describe the different marks identified on both human and faunal remains at the site (lithic, tooth, percussion and fire marks on bone cortex). As well as describing these marks, and considering that both human and faunal remains at the site present similar depositional and taphonomic features, this paper also contextualizes them within the archaeological context and subsistence patterns described for Mesolithic groups in the region. We cannot entirely rule out the possibility that these practices may be the result of periodic food stress suffered by the human populations. These anthropophagic events at the site coincide with a cultural change at the regional Epipalaeolithic-Mesolithic transition

Taphonomic Criteria for Identifying Iberian Lynx Dens in Quaternary Deposits

For decades, taphonomists have dedicated their efforts to assessing the nature of the massive leporid accumulations recovered at archaeological sites in the northwestern Mediterranean region. Their interest lying in the fact that the European rabbit constituted a critical part of human subsistence during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. However, rabbits are also a key prey in the food webs of Mediterranean ecosystems and the base of the diet for several specialist predators, including the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus). For this reason, the origin of rabbit accumulations in northwestern Mediterranean sites has proved a veritable conundrum. Here, we present the zooarchaeological and taphonomic study of more than 3000 faunal and 140 coprolite remains recovered in layer IIIa of Cova del Gegant (Catalonia, Spain). Our analysis indicates that this layer served primarily as a den for the Iberian lynx. The lynxes modified and accumulated rabbit remains and also died at the site creating an accumulation dominated by the two taxa. However, other agents and processes, including human, intervened in the final configuration of the assemblage. Our study contributes to characterizing the Iberian lynx fossil accumulation differentiating between the faunal assemblages accumulated by lynxes and hominins

Territorial mobility and subsistence strategies during the Ebro Basin Late Neolithic-Chalcolithic: A multi-isotope approach from San Juan cave (Loarre, Spain)

The use of isotopic analysis in human and animal remains from the Holocene has proved to be a very useful tool to explore the exploitation and adaptation of past populations to different environments. In this study we present isotopic analysis results of carbon, nitrogen and strontium from the Late Neolithic-Chalcolithic site of San Juan cave (Loarre, Spain). We analysed 33 humans, divided in adult and subadult groups, and 16 animals recovered from the same archaeological context. Stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen has allowed to distinguish an homogeneous subsistence pattern during the Late Neolithic-Chalcolithic transition. The use of strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) in human dental enamel suggests 19% (4 out of 21) are non-local individuals, based on comparison with the local bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr range calculated using microfauna teeth from the archaeological context, modern plants and snails. This new study gives information about Late Neolithic communities located in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula, and it allows inference of the socio-economic structure, territorial mobility and individual provenance of humans.Fil: Villalba Mouco, Vanessa. Universidad de Zaragoza; EspañaFil: Sauqué Latas, Víctor. Universidad de Zaragoza; España. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Sarasketa Gartzia, Izaskun. Universidad del País Vasco; EspañaFil: Pastor, M. Victoria. Universidad de Zaragoza; EspañaFil: le Roux, Petrus J.. Cape Town Universtity; SudáfricaFil: Vicente, Diana. Universidad de Zaragoza; EspañaFil: Utrilla, Pilar. Universidad de Zaragoza; EspañaFil: Salazar García, Domingo C.. Cape Town Universtity; Sudáfrica. Universidad del País Vasco; Españ

Neandertal spatial patterns and occupation dynamics: a regional focus on the central region in Mediterranean Iberia

En el siguiente trabajo se estudian varios conjuntos pertenecientes al Paleolítico medio procedentes del mediterráneo peninsular ibérico con el objetivo de examinar los patrones de ocupación y las estrategias de gestión del territorio. Se presta especial atención al abastecimiento de las materias primas y los comportamientos tecnológicos, los datos procedentes de la fauna y los análisis microespaciales. La variabilidad en los tipos de ocupación de los distintos conjuntos nos muestra una gran diversidad y una multitud de factores, aunque no parece tener una sola explicación cultural, funcional, temporal o ambiental. Más bien son explicaciones que responden a una amplia variabilidad en los comportamientos técnicos observados y que se explican en función de las propias necesidades de las poblaciones dentro de cada región. Los resultados obtenidos nos permiten analizar los datos y compararlos en el contexto del sudoeste de Europa de cara a elaborar un primer enfoque de las estrategias de subsistencia de los neandertales y su movilidad en una región hasta ahora poco conocida desde este punto de vista.HAR2017-85,153-P/MICINNPROMETEO/2017/060HAR2016-76,760-C3-1-P/MICINNThis paper focuses on the study of some Middle Palaeolithic assemblages from Mediterranean Iberia to examine Neanderthal occupation patterns and territory management strategies, paying special attention to raw material procurement and technological behaviours, zooarchaeological data and microspatial patterning. The site occupation types are variable, and some of the results may have more importance than is immediately apparent, but there does not seem to be a single cultural, functional, temporal or environmental explanation. Rather, the wide variability in the technical behaviours observed can be explained with reference to the particular requirements of the populations in each specific region. The results obtained allow us to interrogate the data and, drawing comparisons with the southwest European context, establish an initial approach to Neanderthal subsistence strategies and mobility in a region so far little known in this regard