Search

Abstract: The first lithic refit studies were carried out at the end of 19th century, but the method was not considered an area of real interest to archaeology until quite recently. Today, lithic refitting is applied in a multitude of areas of enquiry including lithic technology, intra-site and inter-site spatial distribution, archaeostratigraphy and formation processes. In this paper, we present a refit study of the lithic materials recovered in the base of the NW sector of level TD10 at the site of Gran Dolina (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). We aim to provide information about spatial distribution through identifying activity areas and the internal connections between those areas. Our work resulted in various refits whose connections reveal the movements of the pieces and/or knappers that once occupied the site. Our results also show the importance of studying the set of materials as a whole and the bias involved in analyzing only a small sample. The refits, connections and directions of movement allow us to infer areas in which an activity took place, but these results must be confirmed in future works covering the entire lithic assemblage of TD10. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Here we present a detailed palaeopathological study of the hominin mandible ATE9-1 found at the Sima del Elefante site (TE), Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain. This fossil represents the earliest hominin remains from Western Europe with an age of ca. 1.3 Ma. The specimen displays several dento-gnathic lesions; the antiquity and geographic location of this fossil justifies a detailed palaeopathological study to determine if the pathologies have significantly altered taxonomically relevant features. Our study reveals severe dental attrition combined with generalized hypercementosis, alveolar root exposure, mild periodontal disease, tooth dislocation, and an anomalous occlusal plane. We have also observed calculus deposits, two cystic lesions and an anomalous wear facet compatible with tooth picking. The majority of these pathological signs can be explained by compensatory eruption. We propose that these lesions are associated as causes, consequences, and amplifiers of one another within the framework of heavy and even traumatic occlusion, masticatory habits, or both traumatic occlusion and masticatory habits. Despite the severity of these lesions, occlusion was at least partially functional so it was unlikely to influence the survival of this individual. In addition, the lesions do not prohibit the taxonomic assessment of the mandible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We present a detailed morphological comparative study of the hominin mandible ATE9-1 recovered in 2007 from the Sima del Elefante cave site in Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, northern Spain. Paleomagnetic analyses, biostratigraphical studies, and quantitative data obtained through nuclide cosmogenic methods, place this specimen in the Early Pleistocene (1.2–1.3 Ma). This finding, together with archaeological evidence from different European sites, suggests that Western Europe was colonised shortly after the first hominin expansion out of Africa around the Olduvai subchron. Our analysis of the ATE9-1 mandible includes a geometric morphometric analysis of the lower second premolar (LP4), a combined and detailed external and internal assessment of ATE9-1 roots through CT and microCT techniques, as well as a comparative study of mandibular and other dental features. This analysis reveals some primitive Homo traits on the external aspect of the symphysis and the dentition shared with early African Homo and the Dmanisi hominins. In contrast, other mandibular traits on the internal aspect of the symphysis are derived with regard to African early Homo, indicating unexpectedly large departures from patterns observed in Africa. Reaching the most occidental part of the Eurasian continent implies that the first African emigrants had to cross narrow corridors and to overcome geographic barriers favouring genetic drift, long isolation periods, and adaptation to new climatic and seasonal conditions. Given these conditions and that we are dealing with a long time period, it is possible that one or more speciation events could have occurred in this extreme part of Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene, originating in the lineages represented by the Sima del Elefante-TE9 hominins and possibly by the Gran Dolina-TD6 hominins. In the absence of any additional evidence, we prefer not include the specimen ATE9-1 in any named taxon and refer to it as Homo sp. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The dispersal of hominins may have been favored by the opening of the landscape during the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition (EMP) in Western Europe. The structure of the small-vertebrate assemblages of the archaeo-paleontological karstic site of Gran Dolina in Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) shows important environmental and climatic changes in the faunal succession, across the Matuyama–Brunhes boundary at 780 ka. These changes are interpreted to indicate impoverishment of the forests, along with an increase in dry meadows, and open lands in general that entailed a tendency towards the loss of diversity in small-vertebrate communities above the EMP. We evaluate variation in diversity of the faunal succession of Gran Dolina using Shannon’s Second Theorem as an index of ecosystem structure. The long cultural-stratigraphic sequence of Gran Dolina during the EMP is somewhat similar in its completeness and continuity to that in the locality of Gesher Benot Ya''aqov in the Upper Jordan Valley. We also evaluate related data including faunal and floral (pollen) succession. Both localities present cold, dry and humid, warm fluctuations at the transition between the Early and the Middle Pleistocene. Comparisons between these sites present opportunities to understand large-scale climatic changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Low-grade metamorphics such as slates and schists tend to be subjected to relatively rapid surface deterioration by both weathering and fluvial wear. If the rate at which such processes are effective on these relatively soft rocks could be calibrated through their effects on surfaces of known ages, this would provide a possibility of estimating the age of petroglyphs on similar facies and in similar environments. An attempt of quantifying these processes is presented, using the petroglyph site of Siega Verde in western Spain as an example. A series of dated inscriptions occurring at a site of zoomorphic petroglyphs provide the data to plot rock surface deterioration against time. The involvement of numerous variables prevents this method from providing much precision, but it is adequate to offer indications of order of magnitude of age. The zoomorphs at Siega Verde have been attributed to the Upper Palaeolithic, but this method suggests that most of the site''s anthropic markings are under 200 years old. This finding is supported by several other factors, such as the degree of repatination of the supposedly Pleistocene petroglyphs, and the presence of a recent terrace predating these. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The consumption of small prey dates back to the Plio-Pleistocene chronologies in some African sites. However, the systematic acquisition and consumption of small prey in the pre-Upper Palaeolithic times is still a highly debated topic in Europe. Although the utilization of leporids has been recorded in several pre-Late Pleistocene European sites, the evidence of bird consumption is not as common for these periods. Nevertheless, Level XI (MIS 6) of Bolomor Cave has clear diagnostic elements to document the acquisition and use of birds (Aythya sp.) for food in the form of: (1) cutmarks on bones of both the front and hind limb; (2) presence of burning patterns on the extremities of the bones (areas of the skeleton with less meat); and (3) human toothmarks on limb bones. The capture of birds is classified as quick-flying game in the archaeological sites. The acquiring of fast-running (mostly lagomorphs) and quick-flying small prey requires a sophisticated technology and involves obtaining and processing ways different from those used for large- and medium-sized animals. From this perspective, the aim of this paper is to examine possible patterns in the processing sequence of birds from Level XI of Bolomor Cave and to improve the data on their butchery and human consumption in the Middle Pleistocene of Iberian Peninsula. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We present the description of a new mandibular specimen, ATD6-113, recovered in 2006 from the TD6 level of the Gran Dolina cave site in Sierra de Atapuerca, northern Spain. A detailed study of the lithostratigraphy of the top sequence of this level, the section from where all human remains have been recovered so far, is also presented. We have observed that the hominin stratum, previously defined as Aurora Stratum, represents a condensed deposit of at least six layers, which could not be distinguished in the test pit made in 1994–95. Therefore, the human fossil remains were probably deposited during a discrete and undetermined time period. The new mandibular fragment exhibits a very similar morphology to that of the most complete specimen, ATD6-96, which was recovered in 2003 from a different layer. This suggests that both specimens represent the same biological population. The two mandibles, as well as the small mandibular fragment ATD6-5 (which constitutes part of the holotype of Homo antecessor), present a morphological pattern clearly derived with regard to that of the African early Homo specimens usually included in H. habilis and H. rudolfensis, the mandibles D211 and D2735 from Dmanisi, and most of the early Pleistocene mandibles from Sangiran. The TD6 mandibles also exhibit some derived features with regard to the African early Pleistocene specimens included in H. ergaster (or African H. erectus). Thus, the TD6 hominins seem to represent a lineage different from other African and Asian lineages, although some (metric in particular) similarities with Chinese middle Pleistocene mandibles are noted. Interestingly, none of the apomorphic mandibular features of the European middle and early late Pleistocene hominins are present in the TD6 mandibles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this study we examine the labial and occlusal surfaces of incisors and canines of hominins recovered from the Sima de los Huesos (SH), middle Pleistocene site, in order to establish the possible extra-masticatory use of anterior teeth. We have compared the microwear of these fossils with microwear from the anterior teeth of Australian Aborigines, a population characterized by ethnographic evidence of the use of their teeth as a third hand. These two samples of teeth were microscopically analyzed using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Our results support the “cultural” origin of microwear observed on fossil teeth: we conclude that the SH hominins used their anterior teeth as a “third hand” for para- or extra-masticatory activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]