4 results
Search Results
2. The Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition occupations from Cova Foradada (Calafell, NE Iberia).
- Author
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Morales, Juan I., Cebrià, Artur, Burguet-Coca, Aitor, Fernández-Marchena, Juan Luis, García-Argudo, Gala, Rodríguez-Hidalgo, Antonio, Soto, María, Talamo, Sahra, Tejero, José-Miguel, Vallverdú, Josep, and Fullola, Josep Maria
- Subjects
NEANDERTHALS ,SEQUENCE stratigraphy ,GEOLOGICAL time scales ,POPULATION ,EARTH sciences ,PALEOLITHIC Period - Abstract
The Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition in Europe covers the last millennia of Neanderthal life together with the appearance and expansion of Modern Human populations. Culturally, it is defined by the Late Middle Paleolithic succession, and by Early Upper Paleolithic complexes like the Châtelperronian (southwestern Europe), the Protoaurignacian, and the Early Aurignacian. Up to now, the southern boundary for the transition has been established as being situated between France and Iberia, in the Cantabrian façade and Pyrenees. According to this, the central and southern territories of Iberia are claimed to have been the refuge of the last Neanderthals for some additional millennia after they were replaced by anatomically Modern Humans on the rest of the continent. In this paper, we present the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition sequence from Cova Foradada (Tarragona), a cave on the Catalan Mediterranean coastline. Archaeological research has documented a stratigraphic sequence containing a succession of very short-term occupations pertaining to the Châtelperronian, Early Aurignacian, and Gravettian. Cova Foradada therefore represents the southernmost Châtelperronian–Early Aurignacian sequence ever documented in Europe, significantly enlarging the territorial distribution of both cultures and providing an important geographical and chronological reference for understanding Neanderthal disappearance and the complete expansion of anatomically Modern Humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
3. Radiocarbon dating and isotope analysis on the purported Aurignacian skeletal remains from Fontana Nuova (Ragusa, Italy).
- Author
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Di Maida, Gianpiero, Mannino, Marcello A., Krause-Kyora, Ben, Jensen, Theis Zetner Trolle, and Talamo, Sahra
- Subjects
STABLE isotope analysis ,RADIOCARBON dating ,ANTHROPOMETRY ,RED deer ,FOSSIL DNA ,RYANODINE receptors - Abstract
Proving voyaging at sea by Palaeolithic humans is a difficult archaeological task, even for short distances. In the Mediterranean, a commonly accepted sea crossing is that from the Italian Peninsula to Sicily by anatomically modern humans, purportedly of the Aurignacian culture. This claim, however, was only supported by the typological attribution to the Aurignacian of the lithic industries from the insular site of Fontana Nuova. AMS radiocarbon dating undertaken as part of our research shows that the faunal remains, previously considered Aurignacian, actually date to the Holocene. Absolute dating on dentinal collagen also attributes the human teeth from the site to the early Holocene, although we were unable to obtain ancient DNA to evaluate their ancestry. Ten radiocarbon dates on human and other taxa are comprised between 9910–9700 cal. BP and 8600–8480 cal. BP, indicating that Fontana Nuova was occupied by Mesolithic and not Aurignacian hunter-gatherers. Only a new study of the lithic assemblage could establish if the material from Fontana Nuova is a mixed collection that includes both late Upper Palaeolithic (Epigravettian) and Mesolithic artefacts, as can be suggested by taking into account both the results of our study and of the most recent reinterpretation of the lithics. Nevertheless, this research suggests that the notion that Aurignacian groups were present in Sicily should now be revised. Another outcome of our study is that we found that three specimens, attributed on grounds both of morphological and ZooMS identifications to Cervus elaphus, had δ
13 C values significantly higher than any available for such species in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2019
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
4. Early Upper Paleolithic colonization across Europe: Time and mode of the Gravettian diffusion.
- Author
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Bicho, Nuno, Cascalheira, João, and Gonçalves, Célia
- Subjects
COLONIZATION ,GRAVETTIAN culture ,HOMINIDS ,DEMOGRAPHY ,MODEL of Human Occupation - Abstract
This study presents new models on the origin, speed and mode of the wave-of-advance leading to the definitive occupation of Europe’s outskirts by Anatomically Modern Humans, during the Gravettian, between c. 37 and 30 ka ago. These models provide the estimation for possible demic dispersal routes for AMH at a stable spread rate of c. 0.7 km/year, with the likely origin in Central Europe at the site of Geissenklosterle in Germany and reaching all areas of the European landscape. The results imply that: 1. The arrival of the Gravettian populations into the far eastern European plains and to southern Iberia found regions with very low human occupation or even devoid of hominins; 2. Human demography was likely lower than previous estimates for the Upper Paleolithic; 3. The likely early AMH paths across Europe followed the European central plains and the Mediterranean coast to reach to the ends of the Italian and Iberian peninsulas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
- Full Text
- View/download PDF
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