Search

Los retocadores óseos son considerados como parte de la industria ósea de los grupos humanos pleistocenos. Normalmente se caracterizan por ser fragmentos de diáfisis de ungulados empleados para retocar el filo de una herramienta lítica. Estos objetos son relativamente abundantes en contextos del Paleolítico Medio, aunque hay una amplia variabilidad según los diferentes yacimientos. En este trabajo presentamos dos nuevas evidencias de retocadores óseos identificados en el nivel F-D del yacimiento del Paleolítico Medio del Abrigo de Navalmaíllo (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, España), localizado en la parte central de la Península Ibérica. Este yacimiento forma parte del conjunto de yacimientos del Calvero de la Higuera y ha sido caracterizado como un campamento de caza neandertal. Los retocadores encontrados en el Abrigo de Navalmaíllo se caracterizan por ser fragmentos diafisarios de bovino que además presentan un gran tamaño en comparación con otros especímenes recuperados en yacimientos del periodo. El análisis de los retocadores óseos ha permitido concluir que fueron empleados para retocar herramientas líticas de una materia prima diferente al cuarzo (probablemente sílex). Esto tiene gran interés debido a que el cuarzo es la principal materia prima del yacimiento. Los retocadores analizados aportan una información arqueológica muy interesante sobre las actividades desarrolladas en el yacimiento, sirviendo para incrementar el conocimiento relativo a sus actividades de subsistencia y el tipo de ocupaciones llevadas a cabo en el Abrigo de Navalmaíllo por los grupos humanos., Bone retouchers are considered as a part of the osseous industry of the Pleistocene hominin groups. They are usually identified as mid-shaft fragments of ungulate limb bones used to retouch the edge of a lithic tool. These tools are relatively abundant in Middle Paleolithic contexts, although there is wide variability between different archaeological sites. In this work we present two new cases of bone retouchers identified in the level F of the Middle Paleolithic site of the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain), located in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula. This site is one of the different Middle Paleolithic sites of the Calvero de la Higuera archaeological complex and it has been characterized as a Neanderthal hunting camp. The bone retouchers found in the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter are characterized by being diaphyseal fragments of bovine metatarsals. They are significatively large in comparison with other bone retouchers from Middle Paleolithic contexts. The analysis of the bone retouchers allows to conclude that they were used to retouch lithic tools of a raw material that was not quartz (probably chert). This is of great interest because quartz is the main raw material in this archaeological site. The bone retouchers from Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter provide interesting archaeological information about the Neanderthal activities carried out on the site. This information serves us to increase the knowledge regarding subsistence activities and the occupation patterns developed by Neanderthals groups in the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter., Junta de Castilla y León, Fondo Social Europeo, MCIU/AEI/ FEDER, UE, MICINN-FEDER, Comunidad de Madrid, Grupo Mahou, Canal de Isabel II-Gestión, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

Buena Pinta Cave (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid) has been interpreted as a hyena den with sporadic occupations of Homo neanderthalensis in the western part of the site (level 23). In order to identify the different formation processes in this area of the site, spatial analyses have been carried out with GIS and spatial statistics based on the taphonomic analysis of the faunal remains. Based on the vertical and sectional analyses of the assemblage, it has been possible to determine that level 23 actually corresponds to three archaeological levels with well-differentiated characteristics: a lower level with few faunal remains and fossil-diagenetic alterations related to humid environments associated with clays; an intermediate level with a high percentage of remains with water-related modifications and evidences of transport; and an upper level delimited mainly thanks to by a paraconformity evidenced by the concentration of weathered remains in this area and a significant reduction in remains with water-related alterations above. The results obtained show the necessity to redefine field layers and the usefulness of integrating taphonomic data and spatial studies., Ministerio de Universidades, European Union “NextGenerationEU/PRTR”, Comunidad de Madrid, European Social Fund, Agencia Estatal de Investigación del Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, MAPR, Grupo Mahou, Canal de Isabel II-Gestión, CRUE-CSIC, Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Fac. de Ciencias Geológicas, TRUE, pub

La fracturación ósea ha sido ampliamente trabajada buscando entender tanto el proceso como el agente que la genera. Moclán y otros (2019) mostraron la eficacia de una nueva metodología para clasificar correctamente el agente (i.e. humanos, hienas o lobos) de fracturación de huesos de animales de talla media (50-200 kg) mediante algoritmos de aprendizaje automático. Se presentan los resultados de un experimento basado en la fracturación mediante percusión directa de animales de talla pequeña (10-50 kg) y se clasifican con los algoritmos entrenados previamente por Moclán y otros (2019). Los resultados sugieren que el modelo es aplicable a muestras antrópicas de talla pequeña, al haber clasificado correctamente hasta el 87% de la muestra., Bone breakage has been extensively researched in order to understand both the process and the agency. Moclán et al. (2019) showed the efficacy of a new methodology to correctly classify the agent (i.e. humans, hyenas or wolves) of bone breakage in medium-sized animals (50-200kg) using machine learning algorithms. We present the results of an experiment based on the fracturing of small animals (10-50kg) and classify them with the algorithms previously trained by Moclán et al. (2019). The results suggest that the model is applicable to small-sized anthropic samples, having correctly classified up to 87% of the sample.

Here, we present a thorough taphonomic analysis of the 1.84 million-year-old site of Phillip Tobias Korongo (PTK), Bed I, Olduvai Gorge. PTK is one of the new archaeological sites documented on the FLK Zinj paleolandscape, in which FLK 22 level was deposited and covered by Tuff IC. Therefore, PTK is pene-contemporary with these sites: FLK Zinj, DS, AMK and AGS. The occurrence of these sites within a thin clay unit of ∼20 cm, occupying not only the same vertically discrete stratigraphic unit, but also the same paleosurface, with an exceptional preservation of the archaeological record in its primary depositional locus, constitutes a unique opportunity to explore early hominin behavioral diversity at the most limited geochronological scale possible. The Olduvai Bed I sites have been the core of behavioral modelling for the past half a century, and the newly discovered sites, excavated with 21st century technology, will increase significantly our understanding of early human adaptive patterns. Here, we present PTK as another assemblage where faunal resources were acquired by hominins prior to any carnivore, and where stone-tool assisted bulk defleshing was carried out. The abundance of juvenile individuals extends our understanding, as in Kanjera (Kenya), about the hunting skills of early Homo sensu lato. The increasing number of sites, where bulk defleshing of small and medium-sized carcasses took place is underscoring the importance of meat in the diets of some of the early hominins, and their patterned use of the space for food processing and consumption. The patterning emerging has a profound importance for the evolution of some of the features that have traditionally been used to identify the behavior of the genus Homo.

Here, we present a thorough taphonomic analysis of the 1.84 million-year-old site of Phillip Tobias Korongo (PTK), Bed I, Olduvai Gorge. PTK is one of the new archaeological sites documented on the FLK Zinj paleolandscape, in which FLK 22 level was deposited and covered by Tuff IC. Therefore, PTK is pene- contemporary with these sites: FLK Zinj, DS, AMK and AGS. The occurrence of these sites within a thin clay unit of ~20 cm, occupying not only the same vertically discrete stratigraphic unit, but also the same paleosurface, with an exceptional preservation of the archaeological record in its primary depositional locus, constitutes a unique opportunity to explore early hominin behavioral diversity at the most limited geochronological scale possible. The Olduvai Bed I sites have been the core of behavioral modelling for the past half a century, and the newly discovered sites, excavated with 21st century technology, will increase significantly our understanding of early human adaptive patterns. Here, we present PTK as another assemblage where faunal resources were acquired by hominins prior to any carnivore, and where stone-tool assisted bulk defleshing was carried out. The abundance of juvenile individuals extends our understanding, as in Kanjera (Kenya), about the hunting skills of early Homo sensu lato. The increasing number of sites, where bulk defleshing of small and medium-sized carcasses took place is underscoring the importance of meat in the diets of some of the early hominins, and their patterned use of the space for food processing and consumption. The patterning emerging has a profound importance for the evolution of some of the features that have traditionally been used to identify the behavior of the genus Homo.

This work examines the possible behaviour of Neanderthal groups at the Cueva Des-Cubierta (central Spain) via the analysis of the latter’s archaeological assemblage. Alongside evidence of Mousterian lithic industry, Level 3 of the cave infll was found to contain an assemblage of mammalian bone remains dominated by the crania of large ungulates, some associated with small hearths. The scarcity of post-cranial elements, teeth, mandibles and maxillae, along with evidence of anthropogenic modifcation of the crania (cut and percussion marks), indicates that the carcasses of the corresponding animals were initially processed outside the cave, and the crania were later brought inside. A second round of processing then took place, possibly related to the removal of the brain. The continued presence of crania throughout Level 3 indicates that this behaviour was recurrent during this level’s formation. This behaviour seems to have no subsistence-related purpose but to be more symbolic in its intent.

Here, we present a thorough taphonomic analysis of the 1.84 million-year-old site of Phillip Tobias Korongo (PTK), Bed I, Olduvai Gorge. PTK is one of the new archaeological sites documented on the FLK Zinj paleolandscape, in which FLK 22 level was deposited and covered by Tuff IC. Therefore, PTK is pene-contemporary with these sites: FLK Zinj, DS, AMK and AGS. The occurrence of these sites within a thin clay unit of ∼20 cm, occupying not only the same vertically discrete stratigraphic unit, but also the same paleosurface, with an exceptional preservation of the archaeological record in its primary depositional locus, constitutes a unique opportunity to explore early hominin behavioral diversity at the most limited geochronological scale possible. The Olduvai Bed I sites have been the core of behavioral modelling for the past half a century, and the newly discovered sites, excavated with 21st century technology, will increase significantly our understanding of early human adaptive patterns. Here, we present PTK as another assemblage where faunal resources were acquired by hominins prior to any carnivore, and where stone-tool assisted bulk defleshing was carried out. The abundance of juvenile individuals extends our understanding, as in Kanjera (Kenya), about the hunting skills of early Homo sensu lato. The increasing number of sites, where bulk defleshing of small and medium-sized carcasses took place is underscoring the importance of meat in the diets of some of the early hominins, and their patterned use of the space for food processing and consumption. The patterning emerging has a profound importance for the evolution of some of the features that have traditionally been used to identify the behavior of the genus Homo.

Spatial analysis has been much used to examine the distribution of archaeological remains at Pleistocene sites. However, little is known about the distribution patterns at sites identified as hunting camps, i.e., places occupied over multiple short periods for the capture of animals later transported to a base camp. The present work examines a Neanderthal hunting camp (the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter in Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain) to determine whether different activities were undertaken in different areas of the site. A spatial pattern was detected with a main cluster of materials (lithic tools, faunal remains, and coprolites) clearly related to the presence of nearby hearths—the backbone of the utilised space. This main cluster appears to have been related to collaborative and repetitive activities undertaken by the hunting parties that used the site. Spatial analysis also detected a small, isolated area perhaps related to carcasses processing at some point in time and another slightly altered by water.

Neanderthals have been claimed to have had a selective adaptation to rugged, wooded landscapes that would have partially compensate their high basal metabolic rate and locomotor energetic costs through reducing search time and increasing diet breadth. The archaeological site of the Navalmaíllo rockshelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid), located in a mountain environment in central Iberian Peninsula, has been interpreted as a repeated short-term occupation hunting camp by Neanderthal groups, mainly focused on primary access to large bovids and cervids. Navalmaíllo rockshelter has also furnished fish, toads, frogs, tortoises, lizards and snakes remains. This association of amphibians and reptiles suggests a much warmer climate (þ 2.8ºC) for layer F than at present, with similar temperatures during the summer but higher temperatures throughout the remaining months. Rainfall was slightly more abundant (þ180.6 mm) than today, with a more contrasted regime during the year, with rainier winters and drier summers. A two-month period of aridity is observed during summer, representing a similar duration to present-day climatic conditions. Reconstructed landscapes are mainly constituted by open areas with dry grassland and rocky or stony areas, evolving laterally to humid meadows, probably close to the aquatic and peri-aquatic areas, such as rivers or ponds with riverside vegetation. Woodland environments are lso well represented around the site, with medium scrublands to forest formations. Fish complete this reconstruction by documenting the presence of a pre-mountain well-developed river system characterized by relatively cold, permanent, oxygen-rich, and running waters. Such reconstruction is in disagreement with previous pollen interpretation for Layer F that suggested a very open and cold environment. Our new interpretation suggests that the Neanderthal occupation of the Navalmaíllo rockshelter occurred during a somewhat temperate and humid period, probably within the later

Ambrona y Torralba son yacimientos fundamentales para el estudio del poblamiento europeo de la segunda mitad del Pleistoceno medio. El inicio de su investigación, a principios del siglo XX, fue pionero y tuvo gran repercusión internacional, ya que fueron de los primeros yacimientos en los que se demostró la contemporaneidad del hombre con faunas extintas en un momento en el que se discutía sobre la naturaleza y la antigüedad de las primeras etapas de la humanidad. Por otra parte, estos yacimientos han preservado las mayores concentraciones de Europa de huesos de elefante antiguo, de los que parte se pueden contemplar en Ambrona desde 1963 en su posición original, constituyendo uno de los pocos ejemplos de museos de estas características en Europa y el único en España. Los Miembro Inferior de Ambrona se depositaron hace unos 500.000-400.000 años, y han preservado lítica achelense y numerosos restos de elefantes y uros, entre otros mamíferos, y herramientas líticas elaboradas con tecnología achelense, con la que actuaron de forma marginal sobre la fauna (Santonja et al., 2014). El sílex empleado en la realización de parte de estos útiles líticos demuestran que los homíninos se desplazaron a lo largo de decenas de kilómetros en busca de recursos. En el Miembro Medio de Ambrona, depositados hace entre 374.000 y 300.000 años, los restos óseos son mayoritariamente de caballo, apenas se han hallado restos de elefante o uro, la tecnología empleada en la elaboración de útiles líticos es la desarrollada por los neandertales, siendo uno de los yacimientos más antiguos de Europa donde se comienza a definir esta tecnología. Torralba, formado hace unos 200.000 años es uno de los yacimientos achelenses de fecha más reciente del sur de Europa, que además podría haber preservado industria del Paleolítico Medio. De este modo, Ambrona y Torralba, han protagonizado los debates más relevantes respecto a la naturaleza de los grupos humanos del Pleistoceno Medio a lo largo del siglo en el

El yacimiento de Cuesta de la Bajada (Teruel) es uno de los pocos yacimientos de la península ibérica que muestra una tecnología de Paleolítico Medio Antiguo en fechas del MIS9/8. El conjunto faunístico presenta en diferentes niveles claras evidencias de antropización, que han permitido caracterizar el yacimiento como un kill/butchering site. En este trabajo nos centramos en el estudio zooarqueológico y tafonómico del nivel CB3, donde se evidencia la presencia de un elevado número de carcasas de équidos (MNI = 23) y cérvidos (MNI = 11), que habrían sido captadas en las cercanías. Estas carcasas muestran, además de una clara antropización, evidencias de haber sido transportadas de manera diferente a otro lugar de hábitat, transportándose más completas las carcasas de los cérvidos que las de los équidos. La actividad de los carnívoros se ha identificado solo por la actividad de carroñeo secundario sobre las carcasas abandonadas por los grupos humanos.

The interior of the Iberian Peninsula has few Middle Palaeolithic sites, especially when compared to other areas of the Mediterranean Basin and the northern Spanish region. Few in number too are the zooarchaeological and taphonomic studies that throw light on the relationships between Neanderthal groups, their environment, and the use they made of it. The present work examines, both zooarchaeo-logically and taphonomically, the faunal remains of levels F and D of the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain) - the largest collection of such remains ever studied from the Iberian interior. The results allow this site to be interpreted as a Neanderthal hunting camp where occupations were short-term. Neanderthal people were the main agents that accumulated the site's faunal remains - largely those of large bovids and to a lesser extent medium-sized cervids. The activity of carnivores was also identified, but these animals mostly left behind the remains of small prey or fed upon carcasses abandoned at the camp by human hunters.

In recent years, reports on bone breakage at archaeological sites have become more common in the taphonomic literature. The present work tests a recently published method, based on the use of machine learning algorithms for analysing the processes involved in bone breakage, to identify the agent that broke the bones of medium-sized animals at the Mousterian Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid). This is the first time this method has been used in an archaeological setting. The results show that these bones were mostly broken by anthropic action, while some were slightly ravaged by carnivores, probably hyaenas. These findings agree very well with published interpretations of the site, and show the method used to be useful in taphonomic studies of archaeological materials with poorly preserved cortical surfaces.

To understand the identity of the early Acheulean, it is necessary to discriminate between the variables that influenced the selection of technological strategies. Functionality of the archaeological sites is crucial in assessing the manufacturing strategies of lithic tools. To achieve this goal, analysis of the post-depositional processes must be evaluated. When bone remains have been preserved, anthropic animal processing can be identified through zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses, and the spatial relationships among all the components can also be assessed, especially when bone surface is not sufficiently preserved. There are two levels present at Thiongo Korongo, ~1.3 Ma, TKLF and TKSF. These are in autochthonous position with no significant temporal diachrony but with substantial technological differences in the manufacturing of the lithic tools, which enables the analysis of the influence of human activities on technological behaviour. In order to evaluate this issue at TKSF, we present lithic, faunal, taphonomic, fabric, and spatial analyses. An assemblage of megaherbivores, among which Sivatherium is outstanding, dominate the TKSF faunal remains. Cortical preservation is poor; there is no intervention of carnivores, the rate of green fractures is low, and a few cut marks on size 5 and 3b animals were identified. Hence, apparently human intervention on the fauna was not intensive. Spatial and geostatistical analyses hints of a specific area where megaherbivores were processed by humans. Through wear use and biomarker analyses on stone tools, we are currently trying to understand the activities that were carried out in the remaining paleosurface. At paleosurface TKLF, the main anthropogenic input could be related to activities other than animal resource exploitation, in which large handaxes were necessary. Without the assessment of site functionality and chronological context, this data could have lead to the differences observed at TKLF and TKSF being, Depto. de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueología, Fac. de Geografía e Historia, TRUE, pub

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.