Search

The study of cut marks in archaeological contexts is of great importance for understanding the subsistence strategies of past human groups. Many authors have indicated differences to exist between the cut marks produced by different tools and when the same types of tool have been made from different raw materials. The present work examines the cut marks made during the experimental butchering of a red deer (Cervus elaphus) using simple quartz flakes, with those found on fossilised animal remains at the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter site (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain) likely to have been made with similar flakes. The methodology followed was that of Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. (2009), which was originally designed to differentiate between cut marks and trampling marks, but which here was tested as a method of distinguishing between the raw materials from which cutting tools were made. The results were also compared to those made with other types of tool/raw material reported in the literature. The present results confirm the above ideas: the marks made experimentally by the quartz flakes are very similar to those seen on the faunal remains from the level F of Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter site, but different to those made by other tools or by flakes made from other materials. They also show, however, that different cut mark morphologies are largely independent of the size of the animal butchered, and of the anatomical element on which they appear., Comunidad de Madrid, Museo Arqueológico Regional de la Comunidad de Madrid, Grupo Mahou, Canal de Isabel II-Gestión, AGAUR, Generalitat de Catalunya, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

The study of wear marks on Palaeolithic quartz tools allows an understanding of how they were used. The present work reports a functional study of a sample of Mousterian quartz industry from Level F of the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain). This level, a palimpsest, preserves the remains of a Neanderthal occupation. Traceological inspection revealed the tools made at the site were very versatile., Comunidad de Madrid, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

Lagomorph remains at Pleistocene sites may accumulate through the action of hominins, raptors or carnivores. Actualistic studies have described reliable taphonomic indicators that allow human and nonhuman involvement in such accumulations to be distinguished. However, discriminating between possible animal predators is not easy, because the prey remnants they leave may undergo the same kinds of taphonomic transformation. The main aim of the present work was to identify the agent, human or non-human, that accumulated the lagomorph remains at the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter site (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid). For this, 1) established taphonomic criteria, such as anatomical representation, were taken into account, 2) the presence of infant lagomorphs was examined by determining the age of the individual animals, 3) and coprolite remains adhered to fossils were identified. This new use of the latter two criteria aided in the identification of the predator responsible for the accumulation of remains. The results suggest that this was a small carnivore, probably an Iberian lynx., Comunidad de Madrid, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, inpress