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•Multivariate taphonomic and spatial patterning approach to open-air archaeological site formation processes.•The sedimentary processes disturbed the archaeological assemblages.•The degree of disturbances observed is not enough to invalidate the whole archaeological data from the site.•The place displays quantitative and qualitative data to understand the patterns of human behaviour.

There are powerful social and psychological motivators that oblige a high proportion of women to restrict their energy intake for purely aesthetic reasons. The purpose of this research was to assess the relationships between concern regarding body weight and energy balance in a group of female university students from Madrid, Spain, with respect to differences in body mass index (BMI).126 subjects completed a questionnaire asking if they were happy with their body weight, if they considered themselves fat, and if they would like to lose some weight. Energy intake was measured by means of a 7-day food record. Food intake was recorded by weight, except for that consumed away from home which was recorded using traditional household quantities. A comparison of energy intake and estimated energy expenditure was performed, using equations proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO), to provide a measure of the under- or overestimation of intake.All subjects with BMI > or = 25 kg/m2 (6.2% of the total) described themselves as fat. 71.4% had, at some time, followed a weight-reduction diet. However, even among subjects with BMI < 20 kg/m2 (28.4% of the total), 2.9% thought themselves fat and 17.1% had at some time followed a slimming diet. This shows excessive concern over losing weight in some women. Estimated energy expenditure was similar to energy intake in subjects with BMI < 20 kg/m2. However, as BMI rose (with a corresponding increase in theoretical energy expenditure), the reported energy intake decreased. It is therefore likely that underestimation of energy intake increased with BMI (r = 0.4498).These results indicate that a large percentage of the women studied would like to lose weight until they reach, or indeed exceed, the lower limit of the acceptable normal range. This could be a danger to their health. Underestimation of energy intake was found to increase with BMI, a phenomenon that should be kept in mind when designing diet studies.

The arrival and disappearance of the Acheulean technocomplex in Europe, and specifically in the Iberian Peninsula, is a longstanding topic of discussion with relevance for unravelling the Middle Pleistocene human occupation dynamics of the continent. Despite containing one of the first Acheulean sites excavated in Europe (As Gándaras de Budiño site), the Miño River basin (north-western Iberian Peninsula) remains understudied and has yielded relatively limited information on the temporal and spatial dynamics of the regional Acheulean technocomplex over the last fifty years. Here we present a systematic archaeological and numerical dating study of a previously undocumented Acheulean site located in the lower Miño River basin (Arbo site, Pontevedra, Spain). This newly discovered site preserves a late Middle Pleistocene Acheulean assemblage that has been dated to pre-Marine Isotope Stage 5 by a combination of post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIR-IR) and electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of sedimentary silicates. The new excavations reveal that the site preserves a dense concentration of artefacts made from allochthonous raw materials. Detailed lithic analyses show that the industry has some elementary flake production systems devoid of Levallois cores, but with supplementary non-standardised flake tool types and some large cutting tools (LCTs) - mainly handaxes that are usually finalized with soft-hammer. The results obtained at Arbo complement those obtained recently at the nearby Porto Maior site, as well as the seminal study of As Gándaras de Budiño, and demonstrate an important Acheulean and hominin presence in the Miño River basin during the second half of the Middle Pleistocene.