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En 2018 se cumplió el 150 aniversario de la publicación Descripción con planos de la llamada Cueva de Atapuerca. Este es el primer libro de carácter científico sobre la Sierra de Atapuerca. Desde entonces, varios yacimientos de este... more
En 2018 se cumplió el 150 aniversario de la publicación Descripción con planos de la llamada Cueva de Atapuerca. Este es el primer libro de carácter científico sobre la Sierra de Atapuerca. Desde entonces, varios yacimientos de este territorio burgalés comenzaron a formar parte de los inventarios arqueológicos de nuestro país. Sin embargo, hubo que esperar hasta 1978 para que un joven equipo de arqueólogos, biólogos y geólogos comenzaran a trabajar de forma sistemática en estos yacimientos. Desde entonces, 1.500 personas, entre estudiantes, profesores e investigadores, han participado, verano tras verano, en las diferentes campañas de excavación. Hasta la actualidad se ha intervenido en 15 yacimientos que permiten estudiar la evolución de los grupos humanos en Europa Occidental desde hace más de un millón de años hasta nuestros días. Este trabajo de campo se ha materializado en un millar de publicaciones científicas que ha situado al Equipo de Investigaciones de Atapuerca a la cabez...
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Poster presentado en: 6th Annual Meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution: Madrid, Spain, 14-17 september, 2016
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Research Interests: Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Geology, Procurement, Lithic Technology, and 10 moreForaging ecology, Upper Paleolithic, Prehistory, Lithic Raw Materials, Lithic Raw Material Sourcing, Chert Source Provenance Studies, Lithic Raw Material, Raw Material, Chert Sourcing, and Procurement Strategies
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Research Interests: Geography, Archaeology, Experimental Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Geology, and 12 moreNeolithic Archaeology, Pastoralism (Archaeology), Neolithic Spain, Prehistory, Quaternary, Archaeological Site Formation Processes, Pergamon, Livestock, Livestock Production Economics, Dung burning, Fumier, and Grottes-bergeries
Caracterización De Materia Colorante y Agentes De Deterioro en Las Placas Grabadas Paleolíticas Del Molí Del Salt (Vimbodí, Conca De Barberà, Tarragona) Colouring Material and Deterioration Agents of the Engrabed Palaeolithic Plaques from Molí Del Salt Site (Vimbodí, Conca De Barberà, Tarragona)more
In this work is presented the analytical techniques used during the cleaning and conservation processes of two plaques with Palaeolithic engravings discovered at the archaeological site of Molí del Salt (Vimbodí, Conca del Barberá,... more
In this work is presented the analytical techniques used during the cleaning and conservation processes of two plaques with Palaeolithic engravings discovered at the archaeological site of Molí del Salt (Vimbodí, Conca del Barberá, Tarragona). After the excavation, the plaques had concre- tions at all over of their surfaces and remains of colouring material. The nature of concretions was evaluated using an optical microscopy and chemical reagents. The pigments were analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental microanalysis with energy dispersive spec- trometry (EDS). Different molecular biology tools were used (PCR and sequencing) to identify microorganisms that may have intervened in the formation of concretions or in the conservation state of the pieces. The results reveal that the nature of concretions are calcitic. The composition of the colouring material is aluminium-silicate with iron oxides. The microbiological analyses shows the presence of spore-forming ...
Research Interests: Geography, Archaeology, Geology, Paleontology, Lithic Technology, and 15 moreCosmogenic Nuclide Dating, Archaeology of the Iberian Peninsula, Palaeontology, Palaeomagnetism, Quaternary, Spain, Europe, Early Pleistocene, Dating, Acheulean, Cosmogenic isotopes, Death and Burial Archaeology, Elsevier, Late Early Pleistocene, and Butchering Site
Our microstratigraphic study, based on microfacies analyses of large thin sections, aims to improve our perception of level J deposits obtained by field observations during its extensive excavation. The refined understanding of... more
Our microstratigraphic study, based on microfacies analyses of large thin sections, aims to improve our perception of level J deposits obtained by field observations during its extensive excavation. The refined understanding of pedo-sedimentary processes is at first expected to decipher the mineralogical homogeneity of carbonate sedimentary facies as a suite of depositional episodes controlled by distinctive changes in climate-linked factors (hydrology, thermal regime, vegetation) in a karstic setting. Estimating the magnitude, timing and duration of these processes at the finest level of resolution helps to sketch an image of the changing environmental setting of human occupation in this rockshelter. It provides a paleoecological reconstruction, which offers a framework for the paleoethnographic analysis of microfacies and contributes to the multidisciplinary prehistoric archaeological project undertaken at the Abric Romani.
Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
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Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Geography, Archaeology, Anthropology, Human Evolution, and 15 moreLithic Technology, Ancient Greek History, Paleolithic Europe, Medicine, Lower Paleolithic, Early Pleistocene, Atapuerca, Animals, Middle Pleistocene, Biological evolution, Human Settlement, Hominidae, Occupations, Academic, and Geologic Sediments
The goal of this final chapter is to dicuss some issues raised by the study of Abric Romani level J. We will focus our attention on three main questions: the adaptation of Neanderthals to their environment through subsistence strategies... more
The goal of this final chapter is to dicuss some issues raised by the study of Abric Romani level J. We will focus our attention on three main questions: the adaptation of Neanderthals to their environment through subsistence strategies and settlement patterns; the characterization of Abric Romani as a residential site; and the consequences of time resolution on assemblage formation and archeological interpretation.
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The excavation strategy at the Abric Romani has been largely guided by spatial criteria. Moreover, spatial data are fundamental for explaining the archeological assemblages and this spatial perspective is present in most chapters of this... more
The excavation strategy at the Abric Romani has been largely guided by spatial criteria. Moreover, spatial data are fundamental for explaining the archeological assemblages and this spatial perspective is present in most chapters of this book, especially in those dealing with lithic and faunal remains. The primary goal of this chapter is to show a preliminary outline of spatial patterns in level J, advancing some issues that will be further developed in the following chapters. The spatial distribution of both natural and cultural features is presented, paying especial attention to hearths, which played a central role in the spatial organization of Neanderthals. An archeostratigraphic analysis is also carried out, allowing the two main stratigraphic units of level J—sublevels Ja and Jb—to be distinguished.
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Research Interests: Geography, Archaeology, Paleoanthropology, Geology, Paleontology, and 10 morePalaeolithic Archaeology, Neolithic Archaeology, Lithic Technology, Pleistocene Vertebrate, Paleolithic Europe, Acheulian (Archaeology), Lower Paleolithic, Pleistocene, Middle Palaeolithic, and Evolution of Hominin and Human Behaviour
ABSTRACT Several recent works have suggested that Neanderthal spatial behaviour may have been more complex than previously thought. One of the archaeological sites that has contributed the most data on this issue is the Abric Romaní... more
ABSTRACT Several recent works have suggested that Neanderthal spatial behaviour may have been more complex than previously thought. One of the archaeological sites that has contributed the most data on this issue is the Abric Romaní (Capellades, Barcelona, Spain). This paper focuses on the study of Neanderthal ac-tivities related to animal resources that took place in Level O of Abric Romaní, dated to around 55 ka. For this study, all of the faunal remains recovered from the level (including fragments smaller than 2 cm) have been analysed, with special attention paid to their distribution over the surface. Our study has two main goals: firstly, to identify activity areas related to Neanderthal activities and, secondly, to evaluate the information that small bone fragments, which are generally ignored, can provide. Among other re-sults, the methods applied during the course of the study have led to the identification of an accumu-lation of calcined bones, possibly related to the complementary use of bones as fuel and/or the presence of a systematic toss zone within a hearth. In addition, this work stresses the importance of examining the small faunal remains recovered in archaeological sites, particularly when identifying human activity areas or when assessing the intensity of human activities.
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ABSTRACT Several studies have attempted to identify diagnostic criteria for distinguishing between evidence of trampling and cut marks, two common modifications at archaeological sites. These studies have brought to light, with relative... more
ABSTRACT Several studies have attempted to identify diagnostic criteria for distinguishing between evidence of trampling and cut marks, two common modifications at archaeological sites. These studies have brought to light, with relative precision, the features that identify and differentiate the two types of modifications. However, few studies differentiate these modifications after they have been affected by other factors. Chemical alteration, related to lixiviated sediments, is documented in a relatively high number of archaeological sites. Following the criteria established by Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. (2009), the aim of this paper is to know if diagnostic criteria that would allow modifications resulting from trampling to be differentiated from cut mark modifications are preserved, after undergoing chemical alterations. The results have been applied to unidentified marks located on faunal skeletal remains from the La Mina site, at the Barranc de la Boella (Tarragona, Spain), the surfaces of which have been heavily modified by the lixiviation of the sediments. The data suggest that chemically altered marks lose the diagnostic criteria necessary for correct identification. The unidentified marks discovered on remains from la Boella could not be verified as cut or trampling marks and therefore cannot be considered in future zooarchaeological and taphonomical studies.
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This paper revises the current state of the debate about the earliest hominin dispersals out of Africa. First we review the archaeological evidence for the earliest occupation of Asia and Europe. Next we summarize the environmental... more
This paper revises the current state of the debate about the earliest hominin dispersals out of Africa. First we review the archaeological evidence for the earliest occupation of Asia and Europe. Next we summarize the environmental parameters related to the earliest phases of human evolution--specifically, climatic implications for human adaptations andfaunal dispersals. We discuss which were the first hominins to leave Africa, and we propose the invention of technology as a fundamental step for the development of our genus, likely ...
Research Interests: History, Archaeology, Anthropology, Human Evolution, Technology, and 14 moreMigration, Socialization, Climate, Eurasian Prehistory, Prehistory, Dispersion, Socialisation, Anthropological, Subsistence, out of Africa human dispersals, Early human dispersal, Hominidae, Subsistence Agriculture, and Environment
Research Interests: Geography, Archaeology, Geology, Geoarchaeology, Combustion, and 15 moreMousterian, Prehistory, Quaternary, Middle Palaeolithic, Field Archaeology, Hearths, Iberian Peninsula, Archaeological Record, Activity Areas, Empirical evidence, Structures De Combustion, Abric Romaní, Sedimentary Rock, Combustion structures, and peninsula
Research Interests: Geography, Archaeology, Biology, Cosmogenic Nuclide Dating, Medicine, and 15 moreMultidisciplinary, Chronology, Lower Palaeolithic, Early Pleistocene, Fossils, Geoarchaeology and Lithic Studies, Animals, Human Settlements, Iberian Peninsula, Lower Pleistocene, Archaeological excavations, Hominidae, Archeology, Carnivory, and Cosmogenic Nuclides
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... filled by cemented facies.These rhythmic sedimentary processes separate well-distin-guishedoccupation levels B ... The use of quartz and limestone is more common in the lower part of ... separated by an intersection plane, a form that... more
... filled by cemented facies.These rhythmic sedimentary processes separate well-distin-guishedoccupation levels B ... The use of quartz and limestone is more common in the lower part of ... separated by an intersection plane, a form that prevailed throughout the Middle Palaeolithic. ...
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Pleistocene foragers used several prey acquisition and processing strategies. These strategies and their associated decisions are elucidated by taphonomic studies that cover animal transport, modifications by different agents and... more
Pleistocene foragers used several prey acquisition and processing strategies. These strategies and their associated decisions are elucidated by taphonomic studies that cover animal transport, modifications by different agents and archaeological remains. Interpretative models of archaeological sites are by necessity based on natural and experimental observations. Ethno-archaeological data shows that several factors influenced decisions about carcass transport from the kill site to the home site. These factors often have little archaeological visibility. Díez et al. (1999) has previously interpreted the general characteristics of the macro-mammal remains from Gran Dolina Level TD6-2 (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain) as the result of anthropic accumulation, in which the anatomical profiles appeared to be the result of selective transport based on the animals' weight. Recent taphonomic analysis has shown that carcasses with different weights may be subject to similar transport s...
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The identification of different prehistoric activity areas and Neanderthal behavior is one of the main research goals at the Abric Romani site, which is a well-preserved and microstratified Mousterian archaeological site. A conspicuous... more
The identification of different prehistoric activity areas and Neanderthal behavior is one of the main research goals at the Abric Romani site, which is a well-preserved and microstratified Mousterian archaeological site. A conspicuous occupation surface excavated in level N yielded a ...
Research Interests: Sociology, Geography, Archaeology, Law, Anthropology, and 3 morePrehistory, Current, and Current anthropology
Los depósitos antrOpicos derivados de las activiades de combustián sobre las biomasas animales, vegeta/es y los constituyentes sedimentarios de lo sue/os de ocupac/On del abric Roman! (Capellades, Barcelona, Espana) son presentados en... more
Los depósitos antrOpicos derivados de las activiades de combustián sobre las biomasas animales, vegeta/es y los constituyentes sedimentarios de lo sue/os de ocupac/On del abric Roman! (Capellades, Barcelona, Espana) son presentados en este artIcu/o. Después de ...
Información del artículo Las primeras ocupaciones humanas en la Península Ibérica.
La descoberta dels Nerets no solament reafirmà el Paleolític Inferior català, sinó que donà una distribució del seu poblament molt més extensa del que es pensava fins al moment. La indústria lítica localitzada era pròpia d'una... more
La descoberta dels Nerets no solament reafirmà el Paleolític Inferior català, sinó que donà una distribució del seu poblament molt més extensa del que es pensava fins al moment. La indústria lítica localitzada era pròpia d'una tradició Axeuliana, moment cronocultural propi del Paleolític Inferior europeu. No obstant, es tracta d'un Axeulià evolucionat, propi del pas cap a les indústries lítiques del Paleolític Mig. Per tant, tot semblava indicar que el jaciment es troba a les acaballes del Pleistocè Mig.
Información del artículo Contribución del yacimiento de Galería (Sierra de Atapuerca) al Cuaternario Ibérico.
Información del artículo Initial approach to the site formation and Paleoecology of the "Sima del Elefante" a Pleistocene karst locality at Atapuerca Hill.
... Microfacies y micromorfología de las unidades GII y GIII de Galería (Sierra de Atapuerca). Autores: Josep Vallverdú Poch; Localización: Atapuerca : ocupaciones humanas y paleoecología del yacimiento de Galería / coord. por ...