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Within the framework of archaeological palimpsest dissection, stratigraphic association of lithic remains with hearths and other archaeological materials in undisturbed Neanderthal contexts allows us to seek patterns in lithic and faunal assemblage composition, assess the degree of time averaging within assemblages and investigate the spatial distribution of archaeological remains. So far, the European Neanderthal record shows variability in such spatial parameters, not only among different geographic regions but also across time. This approach has been employed to draw conclusions about the main features of Neanderthal occupations from in situ archaeological contexts within individual site sequences. As contribution to this topic, we present new results from our ongoing archaeostratigraphic investigation of stratigraphic unit xa from El Salt (Alcoi, Alacant, eastern Iberia). Our previous study, based on stratigraphic analysis of the lithic record consisting of raw material units, yielded several micropalimpsests within unit xa. Here, we carry out further technological and spatial analysis of the micropalimpsest units. The results obtained from it suggest that we may be able, in specific cases, to recognise indicators of diachrony within the context of these archaeostratigraphic units. This confirms the existence of a micropalimpsest, and suggests that we have the chance to find analytical frames that are even closer to the human temporal scale than the AU. This should be the target of future interdisciplinary behavioural study of El Salt unit xa. This work illustrates the potential of a spatial and archaeostratigraphic approach to stone tool technology and brings to light the importance of archaeological palimpsest dissection as a first step for behavioural analysis in Palaeolithic research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Middle Palaeolithic sites frequently present bones with a double function, linked to subsistence and technology, which are generally referred to as "retouchers" or "bone retouchers." These have been identified in several European sites from the Middle Pleistocene to Holocene, but different explanations of their origin and functionality have been cited. Although bone retouchers were made using various animal parts, they were usually produced from diaphyseal fragments of medium to large hoofed mammals. We present a small assemblage of six bone retouchers recovered from Stratigraphic Unit Xa (52.3 ± 4.6 ka), in the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt (Alicante, Spain), and compare our data with previous studies from several sites in south‐western France, northern Italy, and north‐eastern Spain. These tools were generated using diaphyseal fragments from red deer, horses, and other large mammals previously exploited by humans for meat and marrow. Our findings add to the existing knowledge on the behaviour and faunal resource management of the last Neanderthal groups on the western Iberian Peninsula before they disappeared from the region around 45–40 ka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We present preliminary results from the first phase of experiments from the Neanderthal Fire Technology Project, aimed at understanding Middle Palaeolithic combustion structures. Our field observations and micromorphological data address the sedimentary expression of various anthropogenic actions (trampling, ash sweeping and dumping, relighting and cooking) performed on simple, flat combustion structures made with Pinus nigra fuel on dry and slightly vegetated calcareous sandy substrates. We observed a characteristic pattern in microstructure and basic composition irrespective of the number and kind of anthropogenic actions performed. Trampling yielded previously documented diagnostic micromorphological features, more pronounced in cases of ash sweeping and dumping. Relighting of fires was only identified in cases with deposits between combustion events. Only rare microscopic calcined bone fragments and fat-derived char were identified in fires involving cooking or tossing of meat in the fire. These data suggest that: anthropogenic actions on simple combustion structures are highly undetectable; sweeping has a stronger effect than trampling on the substrate of the combustion structure; stacked hearths might involve significant amounts of time or deposits between combustion events; and alternative techniques must be sought to identify cooking in fires. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Certain aspects of the formation processes of simple, flat archaeological combustion structures such as those present in the Middle Palaeolithic record remain unexplained. Such kind of combustion structures are commonly affected by postdepositional agents and often, their only distinct, well preserved component is a thin black lens on the ground. Hence, understanding the nature of this black lens is essential towards archaeological interpretation. From an interdisciplinary microstratigraphic approach, we present a case study in which for an entire experimental series of flat combustion structures the black layer represents the fire-altered topsoil on which the fire was made. Parallel analysis of archaeological Middle Palaeolithic combustion structures from the site of El Salt (Alicante, Spain) reveal similar patterns, leading to significant implications for archaeological interpretation. In the light of these results, special attention must be paid to the formation processes of flat Middle Palaeolithic combustion features, as black layers and the material contained in them are not necessarily linked with combustion but with preceding activities or events. In such cases, black layers represent intact remnants of occupation surfaces, concealing significant behavioural and palaeoenvironmental information relevant to the reconstruction of Middle Palaeolithic societies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We present the results of an exercise in Middle Palaeolithic palimpsest analysis geared toward the identification of human occupation episodes. It is based on a combined reading of the archaeosedimentary deposit and the archaeological record of Stratigraphic Unit IV from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Alicante, Spain), chronologically framed within MIS 4–5. A study of site formation processes coupled with archaeostratigraphic analysis of the lithic record incorporating Raw Material Units (RMU) and refits, as well as with combustion features and faunal remains enabled identification a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 6 human occupation episodes within lithostratigraphic units IVa, IVb and IVc. Through our data it reaches a high resolution temporal frame close to the ethnographic time scale, which constitutes a significant contribution for the knowledge of human occupations types and landscape use in the Mediterranean rim of the Iberian Peninsula during Middle Palaeolithic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The extinction of the Neanderthals remains an open question and the current chronological, archaeological and paleoclimatic evidence reflects complex, regionally diverse scenarios. For the Iberian Peninsula, the existence of early Upper Palaeolithic assemblages in the North of Spain raises questions about the influence of incoming Upper Palaeolithic groups on the native Neanderthals. However, this evidence remains unexplained from a historical perspective. At the same time, recent paleoclimatic data suggest that the environmental effects of Heinrich Event 4 entailed a gap in human presence at the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic boundary, casting doubts on the archaeological evidence from the North of Spain. In order to evaluate the evidence of continuity vs discontinuity of human occupation in the Iberian Peninsula at the passage from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic, a concise overview was conducted of lithostratigraphic data available in the archaeological literature on Iberian sites known to represent the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic Transition. The bulk of published sites show stratigraphic discontinuity between the latest Middle and earliest Upper Palaeolithic evidence, and in many cases, the sedimentary record reflects cold climatic conditions. This data support the existence of a gap in human presence, in disagreement with theories involving contact and acculturation, and suggesting that climate might have played a significant role in the population dynamics of the Iberian Peninsula at the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic boundary. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We present a bioanthropological study of dental remains recovered from El Salt Middle Palaeolithic site (Alcoy, Alicante, Spain). The dental remains were found in a sedimentary layer representing a calm depositional environment within a freshwater spring system. The corresponding archaeological context comprises a Middle Palaeolithic faunal and lithic assemblage that represents the last documented evidence of human occupation at the site, dating to between 47.2 ± 4.4 and 45.2 ± 3.4 ka (thousands of years ago). This evidence is overlain by an archaeologically sterile deposit dated to 44.7 ± 3.2 ka. Results show that the teeth belong to a single juvenile or young adult individual with morphological and metric features falling within the Neanderthal range of variability, although the considered traits are not taxonomically highly discriminant. The reported fossils are representative of the latest Middle Palaeolithic groups in the region and may be considered in the ongoing debate on the disappearance of Neanderthals and the end of the Middle Palaeolithic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]