1. Combustion at the late early pleistocene site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Rio Quipar (Murcia, Spain)
- Author
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Walker, M.J., Anesin, D., Angelucci, D.E., Aviles-Fernandez, A., Berna, F., Buitrago-Lopez, A.T., Fernandez-Jalvo, Y., Haber-Uriarte, M., Lopez-Jimenez, A., Lopez-Martinez, M., Martin-Lerma, I., Ortega-Rodriganez, J., Polo-Camacho, J.-L., Rhodes, S.E., Richter, D., Rodriguez-Estrella, T., Schwenninger, J.-L., and Skinner, A.R.
- Subjects
Anthropological research ,Combustion -- Analysis -- Usage -- Technology application ,Radiation, Background -- Analysis -- Usage -- Technology application ,Sediments (Geology) -- Analysis -- Usage -- Technology application ,Technology application ,Anthropology/archeology/folklore - Abstract
Control of fire was a hallmark of developing human cognition and an essential technology for the colonisation of cooler latitudes. In Europe, the earliest evidence comes from recent work at the site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Rio Quipar in south-eastern Spain. Charred and calcined bone and thermally altered chert were recovered from a deep, 0.8-million-year-old sedimentary deposit. A combination of analyses indicated that these had been heated to 400-600°C, compatible with burning. Inspection of the sediment and hydroxyapatite also suggests combustion and degradation of the bone. The results provide new insight into Early Palaeolithic use of fire and its significance for human evolution. Keywords: Early Pleistocene, Palaeolithic, Acheulean, combustion, cognitive evolution, Introduction When do traces of combustion first appear at middle-latitude Palaeolithic sites? What do they say about cognitive evolution in early Homo dispersing throughout Eurasia? Inferences that European sites lacked [...]
- Published
- 2016
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