Search

Filiació URV: SI URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28503369 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3117, Pleistocene South American megafauna has traditionally attracted the interest of scientists and the popular media alike. However, ecological interactions between the species that inhabited these ecosystems, such as predator-prey relationships or interspecific competition, are poorly known. To this regard, carnivore marks imprinted on the fossil bones of megamammal remains are very useful for deciphering biological activity and, hence, potential interspecific relationships among taxa. In this article, we study historical fossil collections housed in different European and Argentinean museums that were excavated during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the Pampean region, Argentina, in order to detect carnivore marks on bones of megamammals and provide crucial information on the ecological relationships between South American taxa during the Pleistocene. Our results indicate that the long bones of megafauna from the Pampean region (e.g., the Mylodontidae and Toxodontidae families) exhibit carnivore marks. Furthermore, long bones of medium-sized species and indeterminate bones also present punctures, pits, scores and fractures. Members of the large-carnivore guild, such as ursids, canids and even felids, are recognised as the main agents that inflicted the marks. We hypothesize that the analysed carnivore marks represent the last stages of megaherbivore carcass exploitation, suggesting full consumption of these animals by the same or multiple taxa in a hunting and/or scavenging scenario. Moreover, our observations provide novel insights that help further our understanding of the palaeoecological relationships of these unique communities of megamammals.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.02.021 URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X16305351 Filiació URV: SI, Retouched artifacts constitute an important part of Paleolithic lithic assemblages. Evaluating what constraints shaped morphological variability can provide data about mobility, territorial management, and even about different adaptive strategies. This study attempts to understand what factors conditioned the intensity of retouch and the morphological variability of the retouched artifacts from unit III of Teixoneres cave (Barcelona, Spain) and to ascertain whether differences in retouch intensity depend on the raw materials used and the type of site occupation. First, a qualitative and descriptive technological analysis of the retouched artifacts is undertaken. Second, an analysis of the intensity and extent of retouch is carried out in a quantitative way using reduction indexes, and then crossed with a study of technological attributes such as the stone raw material, blank cross-section, or implement type. Lastly, all these variables are crossed and compared using a cluster analysis. The results show that retouched artifacts from unit III of Teixoneres cave can be classified into clear groups that represent different lithic strategies linked to the short-term occupation patterns inferred for unit III.

Filiació URV: SI, The aim of this paper is to apply a previously published method (Bargalló and Mosquera, 2014) to the archaeological record, allowing us to identify the hand laterality of our ancestors and determine when and how this feature, which is exhibited most strongly in humans, appeared in our evolutionary history. The method focuses on identifying handedness by looking at the technical features of the flakes produced by a single knapper, and discovering how many flakes are required to ascertain their hand preference. This method can potentially be applied to the majority of archaeological sites, since flakes are the most abundant stone tools, and stone tools are the most widespread and widely-preserved remains from prehistory. For our study, we selected two Spanish sites: Gran Dolina-TD10.1 (Atapuerca) and Abric Romaní (Barcelona), which were occupied by pre-Neanderthal and Neanderthal populations, respectively. Our analyses indicate that a minimum number of eight flakes produced by the same knapper is required to ascertain their hand preference. Even though this figure is relatively low, it is quite difficult to obtain from many archaeological sites. In addition, there is no single technical feature that provides information about handedness, instead there is a combination of eight technical features, localised on the striking platforms and ventral surfaces. The raw material is not relevant where good quality rocks are used, in this case quartzite and flint, since most of them retain the technical features required for the analysis. Expertise is not an issue either, since the technical features analysed here only correlate with handedness (Bargalló and Mosquera, 2014). Our results allow us to tentatively identify one right-handed knapper among the pre-Neanderth

Filiació URV: SI, Kaldar Cave is a key archaeological site that provides evidence of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Iran. Excavations at the site in 2014-2015 led to the discovery of cultural remains generally associated with anatomically modern humans (AMHs) and evidence of a probable Neanderthal-made industry in the basal layers. Attempts have been made to establish a chronology for the site. These include four thermoluminescence (TL) dates for Layer 4, ranging from 23,100 ± 3300 to 29,400 ± 2300 BP, and three AMS radiocarbon dates from charcoal samples belonging to the lower part of the same layer, yielding ages of 38,650-36,750 cal BP, 44,200-42,350 cal BP, and 54,400-46,050 cal BP (all at the 95.4% confidence level). Kaldar Cave is the first well-stratified Late Palaeolithic locality to be excavated in the Zagros which is one of the earliest sites with cultural materials attributed to early AMHs in western Asia. It also offers an opportunity to study the technological differences between the Mousterian and the first Upper Palaeolithic lithic technologies as well as the human behaviour in the region. In this study, we present a detailed description of the newly excavated stratigraphy, quantified results from the lithic assemblages, preliminary faunal remains analyses, geochronologic data, taphonomic aspects, and an interpretation of the regional paleoenvironment.

DOI: 10.13130/2039-4942/8019 URL: http://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/RIPS/article/view/8019 Filiació URV: SI Memòria, This paper discusses a Megatherium americanum atlas from the Pampas region of Argentina, which is currently housed at the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze, Italy. Traces of anthropic cut marks were found on the dorsal and ventral faces of the posterior part, in articulation with the axis. This is the first time that this type of evidence has been documented on this element of this species. The position of these marks suggests that they resulted from the act of separating the head from the postcranial skeleton. They were therefore most likely made in an effort to exploit the contents of the head. Current research focusing on museum collections employing modern methods can provide new and valuable information, despite the general lack of contextualization of these pieces. In the case studied here, these methods have allowed us to delve deeper into the first dispersal of Homo sapiens and their interaction with the native fauna in the South American Southern Cone.

Filiació URV: SIMemòria, Hominin dietary specialization is crucial to understanding the evolutionary changes of craniofacial biomechanics and the interaction of food processing methods' effects on teeth. However, the diet-related dental wear processes of the earliest European hominins remain unknown because most of the academic attention has focused on Neandertals. Non-occlusal dental microwear provides direct evidence of the effect of chewed food particles on tooth enamel surfaces and reflects dietary signals over time. Here, we report for the first time the direct effect of dietary abrasiveness as evidenced by the buccal microwear patterns on the teeth of the Sima del Elefante-TE9 and Gran Dolina-TD6 Atapuerca hominins (1.2-0.8 million years ago â Myr) as compared with other Lower and Middle Pleistocene populations. A unique buccal microwear pattern that is found in Homo antecessor (0.96-0.8 Myr), a well-known cannibal species, indicates dietary practices that are consistent with the consumption of hard and brittle foods. Our findings confirm that the oldest European inhabitants ingested more mechanically-demanding diets than later populations because they were confronted with harsh, fluctuating environmental conditions. Furthermore, the influence of grit-laden food suggests that a high-quality meat diet from butchering processes could have fueled evolutionary changes in brain size.

URL: http://www.raco.cat.sabidi.urv.cat/index.php/Pyrenae/article/view/322743 DOI: 10.1344/Pyrenae2017.vol48num1.4 Filiació URV: SI Afegir al títol: [Pastando en las marismas. Una aproximación desde la técnica del microdesgaste dentario a la alimentación del ganado ovino en el Empordà romano (noreste de la Península Ibérica)] ENLLAÇ DE L'ARTICLE VIA RACO:http://www.raco.cat/index.php/Pyrenae/article/view/322743/413369. L'ARTICLE S'HA DE CONSULTAR A TRAVÉS DE L'ENLLAÇ, In this paper, we use a zooarchaeological approach to study the management of the ovine herds during the Roman period in the Empordà plain (northeast of the Iberian Peninsula). Using the dental microwear technique, we analysed ninety-nine tooth remains of sheep from Empúries, Mas Gusó and Tolegassos. This provided us with information about the last food intake of the animals studied. The results allowed us to propose an exploitation system of the environment for livestock that complemented agriculture, making use of the vegetation associated with wetlands in the Empordà plain. This exploitation system has never been documented before, as is not mentioned in the Roman treatises.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.11.036 URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X16302887 Filiació URV: SI Inclòs a la memòria: SI, Although the occurrence of burned bones in the archeological record has been widely investigated, very few studies have focused on the distinction of temporality in burned bones assemblages, which would be useful in helping to identify human activity areas, as well as distinguishing combustion residues from those resulting from other activities. In this work, we present the results of an experiment designed to characterize direct/indirect thermal alteration of rabbit bones, based on macroscopic and microscopic surface features. These results are then compared with an archeological burned bone assemblage associated with various Middle Paleolithic combustion structures from El Salt Stratigraphic Unit X (Alicante, Spain). In the experimental assemblage, we observed that rabbit bones tossed into a fire were strongly altered, while bones thrown on the cooled ashes and lying on the surface beneath the fire or slightly buried, were not. We observed a strong thermal surface alteration of fresh bone (color changes, high degrees of fragmentation, cracks and structural changes on the cortical surface), while dry bone showed only color changes. Taking this data into account when analyzing the archeological assemblage, we observed surface features corresponding to thermally altered fresh bone and others more like thermally altered dry bone. Crucially, the archaeological specimens are associated with black layers of combustion structures and exhibit signs of trampling. The results suggest that fresh bones were trampled into human occupation surfaces and were subsequently unintentionally or indirectly burned due to their position beneath

Flake productivity in the Levallois recurrent centripetal and discoid technologies: New insights from experimental and archaeological lithic series, DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.062 URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X16302218, During the Middle Paleolithic, hunter-gatherers were flexible in their use of lithic technologies and sometimes applied one knapping strategy, exploited different methods simultaneously or combined them in ramified operative chains. The Levallois recurrent centripetal method and the bifacial discoid method were two of the flaking strategies most frequently used by Neanderthals, but understanding of their changeover in the archaeological record is still discussed. This paper aims to add new data to the current debate investigating the aspects of productivity of the Levallois recurrent centripetal and bifacial discoid technologies with an experimental series and an archaeological lithic series. The results reveal that these two knapping strategies not only share similarities in blank morphologies but also could have similar values in flake production. Productivity is strongly influenced by the knapper's goals and by the maintenance of low values of flake thickness during the reduction sequence. Although the bifacial discoid is a more flexible and simpler method, the exclusive use of the Levallois recurrent centripetal modality during the Middle Paleolithic might be related to the features of the Levallois products that were more advantageous during longer foraging movements.

DOI: 10.1007/s12520-015-0258-z URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12520-015-0258-z Filiació URV: SI Inclòs a la memòria: SI, This paper aims to introduce the wooden biers recovered at the Cova des Pas (Minorca, Balearic Island) Late Bronze Age site (1100¿800 BC). At least four biers were associated with 66 individuals buried individually and consecutively, most of them during the last 100 years of use (900¿800 BC). Technological methodologies complemented by experimental reproduction were used to understand the woodworking process and the functional design purpose in the construction. Our results show that the biers were manufactured from several species using specific woodworking techniques generally related to efficiency and expeditious reasons. On the basis of technological analysis, we took in consideration the particularities of the context to discuss the implications in the collective funerary practices of such apparently functional objects and its symbolic and ritual significance.

Wood uses at El Mirador Cave (Atapuerca, Burgos) based on anthracology and dendrology, DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.084 URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618215008678 Filiació URV: SI Inclòs a la memòria: SI, El Mirador cave contains a continuous sedimentary deposit of burnt sediments identified as fumier layers, corresponding to burnt sheep and goat dung. This sediment infilling has yielded a large number of charcoal remains. The general objective of this study is to contribute to the knowledge of western Mediterranean Holocene vegetation and land use history by combining classical wood charcoal analysis with dendrological charcoal studies. A specific aim of this work is to characterize the origin of the anthracological assemblage. Anthracological analyses show a continuous sequence dominated by oaks, in which deciduous oaks exhibit higher values during the early Neolithic, with an increase in evergreen oaks from the middle Neolithic onwards. The anthracological data suggests that human activities and climatic variations throughout the Holocene caused changes in the forests. The dendrology results on a small Quercus sp. deciduous sample suggests that the wood used corresponds to young branches bearing tree rings with a rapid growth rate, which might indicate that the trees were regularly shredded. Both approaches suggest that oak was probably used as leafy fodder, and its remains were burnt during repeated combustion processes.

DOI: 10.1038/srep37686 URL: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep37686 Filiació URV: SI Inclòs a la memòria: SI, For a long while, the controversy surrounding several bone tools coming from pre-Upper Palaeolithic contexts favoured the view of Homo sapiens as the only species of the genus Homo capable of modifying animal bones into specialised tools. However, evidence such as South African Early Stone Age modified bones, European Lower Palaeolithic flaked bone tools, along with Middle and Late Pleistocene bone retouchers, led to a re-evaluation of the conception of Homo sapiens as the exclusive manufacturer of specialised bone tools. The evidence presented herein include use wear and bone residues identified on two flint scrapers as well as a sawing mark on a fallow deer tibia, not associated with butchering activities. Dated to more than 300 kya, the evidence here presented is among the earliest related to tool-assisted bone working intended for non-dietary purposes, and contributes to the debate over the recognition of bone working as a much older behaviour than previously thought. The results of this study come from the application of a combined methodological approach, comprising use wear analysis, residue analysis, and taphonomy. This approach allowed for the retrieval of both direct and indirect evidence of tool-assisted bone working, at the Lower Palaeolithic site of Qesem Cave (Israel).

Adult Neandertal clavicles from the El Sidron site (Asturias, Spain) in the context of Homo pectoral girdle evolution, DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.03.005 URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248416000476, We undertook a three-dimensional geometric morphometric (3DGM) analysis on 12 new Neandertal clavicle specimens from the El Sidrón site (Spain), dated to 49,000 years ago. The 3DGM methods were applied in a comparative framework in order to improve our understanding of trait polarity in features related to Homo pectoral girdle evolution, using other Neandertals, Homo sapiens, Pan, ATD6-50 (Homo antecessor), and KNM-WT 15000 (Homo ergaster/erectus) in the reference collection. Twenty-nine homologous landmarks were measured for each clavicle. Variation and morphological similarities were assessed through principal component analysis, conducted separately for the complete clavicle and the diaphysis. On average, Neandertal clavicles had significantly larger muscular entheses, double dorsal curvature, clavicle torsion, and cranial orientation of the acromial end than non-Neandertal clavicles; the El Sidrón clavicles fit this pattern. Variation within the samples was large, with extensive overlap between Homo species; only chimpanzee specimens clearly differed from the other specimens in morphometric terms. Taken together, our morphometric analyses are consistent with the following phylogenetic sequence. The primitive condition of the clavicle is manifest in the cranial orientation of both the acromial and sternal ends. The derived condition expressed in the H. sapiens + Neandertal clade is defined by caudal rotation of both the sternal and acromial ends, but with variation in the number of acromia remaining in a certain cranial orientation. Finally, the autapomorphic Neandertal condition is defined by secondarily acquired primitive cranial re-orientation of the acromial end, which varies from individual to individual. These results suggest that the pace of phylogenetic chang

Modern contaminants affecting microscopic residue analysis on stone tools: A word of caution, DOI: 10.1016/j.micron.2016.04.003, Residue analysis is a method frequently used to infer the function of stone tools and it is very often applied in combination with use-wear analysis. Beyond its undeniable potential, the method itself has several intrinsic constraints. Apart from the exceptional circumstances necessary for residues to survive, the correct identification of the residue type is a very debatable topic. Before attempting to recognise ancient residues, a proper method should allow analysts to identify possible modern contaminants and exclude them from the final interpretation. Therefore, analysts should not underestimate the presence of modern contaminants and might learn how to discriminate the background noise due to handling.The main aim of this research is to provide some methodological improvements to residue analysis through the characterisation of some modern residues often present on the surface of stone tools (e.g. skin flakes, modelling clay). This characterisation was done by using both optical light microscopy (OLM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).Finally, a special care in the post-excavation treatment of stone tools is claimed in order to avoid major contamination of the samples.

Refining upon the climatic background of the Early Pleistocene hominid settlement in western Europe: Barranco León and Fuente Nueva-3 (Guadix-Baza Basin, SE Spain), DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.05.020 URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379116301573, The Early Pleistocene sites of Barranco León and Fuente Nueva-3 (Guadix-Baza Basin, SE Spain) have yielded thousands of Mode 1 or Oldowan lithic artifacts (both sites) and one tooth (in layer D, formerly 5 of Barranco León), today considered to be some of the earliest evidence of humans in western Europe at ca. 1.2-1.5 Ma. Previous quantitative paleoclimatic reconstructions based on herpetile assemblages indicated that, during the formation of these two sites, the mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation were higher than they are now in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, with lower continentality. Here, we propose new climatic reconstructions where the mean monthly temperature and precipitation and the difference between the four driest months and the four rainiest months are estimated. Climatograms are built in order to specify the distribution and variation of temperature and precipitation during the year, and the Aridity Indices of Gaussen, Lautensach-Mayer, Dantin-Revenga and De Martonne are used to characterize ombroclimatic differences. According to these new climatic parameters, rainfall distribution through the year shows considerably higher precipitation in every season except summer and early autumn, which remain drier and thus consistent with a Mediterranean climate pattern. No change is observed in the duration of the aridity period, which remains four months long. However, the value of the Aridity Index of De Martonne is higher than 20 (subhumid climate) in Barranco León and Fuente Nueva-3, whereas today it is lower than 20 (semi-arid climate), suggesting major changes in the ombroclimatic type. These results yield a more precise scenario for the paleoclimatic conditions that prevailed during the late Early Pleistocene in the Guadix-Baza Basin

Galería is one of the main sites of the Trinchera del Ferrocarril (railway trench) in Atapuerca, together with Gran Dolina and Sima del Elefante. The Galería excavations took place mainly during the 1980s and 1990s and continued until 2010. Work has recently resumed in the upper levels of the sequence, which has prompted us to summarize the previously collected data and plan an entire new set of questions in order to be able to compare that earlier data with information yielded from the new interventions. Galería consists of a long sequence dating from around 500 ka to 250 ka, which has made it possible to conduct a diachronic study of the technology at the site. As a consequence of the sustainment of similar occupational patterns and a similar 'toolkit', the technology at Galería generally enjoyed a broad stability throughout the technology the Middle Pleistocene. Nevertheless, we have isolated technological characteristics which reflect technological changes through time.In this case, we present a synchronic analysis of the human occupation phases of each subunit, which finally led us to a diachronic view of the site. Most of the knapping sequences occurred outside of the cave, making the chaînes opératoires very fragmented. This was the result of short and sporadic occupations for the basic purpose of obtaining the animals that had fallen into the cave through a natural trap created by the TN shaft, in successful competition with carnivores. Although lithic refits are very scarce, we used them in this study to characterize the spatial distribution not only of the activities performed, but also of the knapping sequences carried out inside the cave. The two knapping locations (outside and inside) reflect different knapping strategies.

DOI: 10.1016/j.crpv.2015.09.007 URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1631068315002080 Filiació URV: SI, Ichthyoarchaeological analyses of the freshwater fish remains from levels 19 and 20 in El Mirador cave (Atapuerca, Spain) have been conducted. Fish were always present as a source of animal protein, although their importance in the human diet was not fully exploited by people during the Neolithic on the Iberian Peninsula. Two principal goals are treated here: a taxonomic study of the fish remains and a characterization of the exploitation of this resource. The results show that the human community of El Mirador cave practiced fishing, and that fish was part of their diet and social life.

The Status Problem of Iberian Holocene Equids: New Data from Cueva de El Mirador (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain), Equid remains are scarce and very fragmented in Iberian Neolithic and Bronze Age sites. Evidence suggesting that horses were domesticated does exist, but it is often inconclusive, thus leaving the question unanswered. Today, DNA analyses have provided information about a, most likely Iberian, nucleus of horse domestication, making it crucially important to expand the database. The Holocene sequence (6th and 3rd millennium cal bc) of the Cueva de El Mirador (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) has yielded 92 equid remains distributed in 12 Neolithic and Bronze Age levels. In this paper, we present the study of the equid remains from the Cueva de El Mirador from an archaeozoological perspective, giving indirect evidence of horse domestication. Our results vary widely and lead to open interpretations about horse domestication and how humans used these animals. This study of horse remains focuses on species identification and on determining how humans economically used these animals.

Recent archaeomagnetic studies carried out on Mid-to Late Holocene burnt anthropogenic cave sediments have shown that under certain conditions, these materials are suitable geomagnetic field recorders. Archaeomagnetic analyses carried out on these contexts constitute a rich source of information not only for geophysical purposes -in terms of reconstructing the variation of Earth's magnetic field in the past- but also from the archaeological point of view, for example by archaeomagnetic dating. Here, we report three different archaeomagnetic applications to the study of burnt cave sediments: (i) archaeomagnetic dating; (ii) determining palaeotemperatures and (iii) assessing post-depositional processes. The first case study is a dating attempt carried out on a Late Holocene (Bronze Age) burnt level from El Mirador Cave (Burgos, Spain). Using the directional European secular variation curve, several dating intervals were obtained for the last burning of this combustion feature. Considering the archaeological evidence and the independent radiometric (14C) dating available the possible ages obtained are discussed. This is the first archaeomagnetic dating obtained in these contexts so far. The second case study is an application of the method to determine the last heating temperatures reached by the carbonaceous facies of these fires. Stepwise thermal demagnetization of oriented samples can be used to quantitatively estimate heating temperatures. An intermediate normal polarity component interpreted as a partial thermo-remanence (pTRM) with maximum unblocking temperatures of 400-450 °C was systematically identified, revealing the last heating temperatures experienced by this facies. These temperatures were confirmed with partial thermomagnetic curve experiments. Finally, arch

DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.10.010 URL; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379116304504 Filiació URV: SI Inclòs a la memòria: SI, One of the most interesting aspects of the settlement of Europe is the possible continuity or discontinuity of the populations living in this continent during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. In this paper we present an analysis of the mandibular fossil record from four important Pleistocene European sites, Gran Dolina-TD6-2 (Sierra de Atapuerca), Mauer, Arago, and Atapuerca-Sima de los Huesos. We focus this study in the recognition of key derived mandibular features that may be useful to assess the relationship among the populations represented at these sites. In order to make an approach to the ecological scenario, we also present a short review and discussion of the archaeological and paleoenvironmental evidences at that time. Our results suggest that probably there was a demographic discontinuity between the late Early Pleistocene populations (MIS 21-MIS 19), and those dated to the MIS 15. Hybridization between residents and new settlers cannot be discarded. However, some features of the Gran Dolina-TD6 hominins point to some relationship between the population represented in this site (probably dated to the MIS 21) and the European Middle Pleistocene and early Late Pleistocene populations. A hypothetical scenario is presented in order to understand this apparent contradiction with the model of discontinuity.

DOI: 10.1016/j.crpv.2015.09.012 URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1631068315002158 Filiació URV: SI, Understanding the changes in the technological organization of prehistoric hunter-gatherers is important to research into hominin foraging activities. During the Middle Paleolithic, the coexistence or the replacement between Levallois and discoid technologies has frequently been recorded, but there is still no clear understanding of the reasons for their alternating and fragmented use in the archaeological record. This paper aims to contribute with new data to the current debate, by exploring the chert assemblages from levels O and M of the Abric Romaní rock-shelter. The results reveal that the change from Levallois in level O to discoid in level M is accompanied by the use of different axes of mobility, a reduction in the foraging radius and a more careful management of raw materials. A cross comparison with other archaeological evidences indicates the general pattern in the Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula during the late Middle Paleolithic, in which the use of Levallois technology is associated with chert and high mobility patterns whereas discoid technology is more closely linked to the use of local raw materials and a lower degree of mobility. The modifications to the mountainous environments and to the distribution of preferred prey animals may have influenced the Neanderthals' mobility patterns and contributed to modifying their technical behaviours in order to obtain better foraging incomes.

DOI: 10.1177/0959683616632891 URL: http://hol.sagepub.com/content/26/7/1020 Filiació URV: SI, This study presents the results of a multi-proxy analysis conducted to improve our understanding of the palaeoenvironmental conditions of the freshwater and brackish marshes of Cal Maurici (Barcelona, Spain) and the human impact on them during the mid-Holocene (6171–3891 cal. yr BP). The study integrates data from pollen, phytolith, diatom, charcoal, seeds and malacological analyses and helps to reconstruct the ecological conditions during the early establishment of farming communities in western Mediterranean facade. The results indicate a landscape dominated by Mediterranean vegetation with aquatic plants in the shallow marshes and well-developed forests in the nearby area, providing for the first time in the Holocene of NE Iberian Peninsula the palaeoecological conditions of deltaic areas. Ecofactual evidence indicates an initial landscape dominated by brackish marshes (6171–5773 cal. yr BP) in which Ruppia cf. maritima was predominant and human impact was low. Between 5026 and 4839 cal yr. BP, freshwater conditions expanded with an increase in Potamogeton sp. and the presence of Typha angustifolia and Spirogyra sp. algae with well-developed oak woodlands and deciduous trees in nearby areas. The expansion of evergreen forest occurred later (from 4960 to 4825 cal. yr BP until 3712 cal. yr BP), with the decline of deciduous woodland and the expansion of evergreen oaks, pinewoods, wild olive trees and box, coinciding with a period of increased human activity in the area. Additionally, the presence of marine resources at several archaeological excavation sites and domestic plants at Cal Maurici provides an opportunity to evaluate the interaction between earlier farmers and marine or deltaic ecosystems.

DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.06.007 URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379116302086 Filiació URV: SI, Tooth wear analysis techniques (mesowear and microwear) are employed to analyze dietary traits in proboscideans, perissodactyls and artiodactyls from 33 Pleistocene localities in Britain. The objectives of this study are to examine the variability in each taxon, to track dietary shifts through time, and to investigate resource partitioning among species.The integration of mesowear and microwear results first allowed us to examine dietary variability. We identified differences in variability among species, from more stenotopic species such as Capreolus capreolus to more eurytopic species such as Megaloceros giganteus and Cervus elaphus. Broad dietary shifts at the community level are seen between climatic phases, and are the result of species turnover as well as dietary shifts in the more flexible species. The species present at each locality are generally spread over a large part of the dietary spectrum, and resource partitioning was identified at most of these localities. Mixed feeders always coexist with at least one of the two strict dietary groups, grazers or browsers. Finally, for some species, a discrepancy is observed between meso- and microwear signals and may imply that individuals tended to die at a time of year when their normal food was in short supply.

DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.09.012 Link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X16306101 Filiació URV: SI Inclòs a la Memòria: SI, This paper reports the results of dental mesowear and microwear analyses of bovid and cervid specimens recovered from Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene deposits of Braholo Cave and Song Terus in Eastern Java. The aim is to infer ungulate dietary traits from dental wear signatures and gain insights regarding the paleoenvironment of the region during the last 25,000 years, a period of drastic climatic fluctuations. We considered three cervid (Rusa, Axis and Muntiacus muntjak) and two bovid (Bubalus and Bos javanicus) taxa in the analyses. Results from both cave sites suggest that the Pleistocene-Holocene transition was accompanied by expansion of rainforests as evidenced by the predominance of species that had a browsing or browse-dominated mixed diet. However some of the taxa examined exhibited strong grazing signatures indicative of the continued presence of patches of grasslands up to the Mid-Holocene. Dental wear signatures of specimens from layers dating to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) suggest a mosaic environment dominated by grasslands. In Braholo Cave, we observed discrepancies between the mesowear and microwear signatures in specimens dating to the LGM and we take this as evidence of seasonality during this period. The results of the study provide important information on the environments encountered by the hunter-gatherer communities that lived in East Java in periods of climatic change.

DOI: 10.1038/srep34799 URL: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep34799 Filiació URV: SI Inclòs a la memòria: SI, Gran Dolina is a cavity infilled by at least 25 m of Pleistocene sediments. This sequence contains the TD6 stratigraphic unit, whose records include around 170 hominin bones that have allowed the definition of a new species, Homo antecessor. This fossil accumulation was studied as a single assemblage and interpreted as a succession of several human home bases. We propose a complete stratigraphic context and sedimentological interpretation for TD6, analyzing the relationships between the sedimentary facies, the clasts and archaeo-palaeontological remains. The TD6 unit has been divided into three sub-units and 13 layers. Nine sedimentary facies have been defined. Hominin remains appear related to three different sedimentary facies: debris flow facies, channel facies and floodplain facies. They show three kinds of distribution: first a group of scattered fossils, then a group with layers of fossils in fluvial facies, and third a group with a layer of fossils in mixed fluvial and gravity flow facies. The results of this work suggest that some of these hominin remains accumulated in the cave by geological processes, coming from the adjacent slope above the cave or the cave entry, as the palaeogeography and sedimentary characteristics of these allochthonous facies suggest.

DOI: ND URL: http://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/RIPS/issue/view/987/showToc Filiació URV: SI Inclòs a la memòria: SI, The Ciota Ciara cave is located in the karst area of Monte Fenera (Borgosesia - VC) and, with the Ciotarun cave, it is the only Middle Palaeolithic site in Piedmont where the presence of Homo neanderthalensis has been confirmed by discoveries of human remains. Preliminary taphonomic and archaeozoological studies have been performed on a portion of the palaeontological remains from the Stratigraphic Unit 14 (1144 bones). The studies confirmed the presence of cut-marks on Ursus spelaeus and Canis lupus, made by lithic instruments. The position of the cut-marks on the bones can be related to skinning and butchery. An experimental butchery has been performed to test the efficiency of the tools made by local quartz during slaughtering activities. The archaeozoological analysis of the faunal remains of S.U. 14, identified cut-marks with weak peculiarities, probably due to the use of quartz tools. The analysis of the experimental collection allowed distinguishing between cut-marks made by quartz tools from those made by flint tools. A preliminary experimentation, conducted on more than 50 different cut-marks made with flakes of three different raw materials (vein quartz, quartzite and flint), allow us to hypothesize that it is possible to distinguish cut-marks made with unretouched flakes of different raw materials.

A recurring theme of late Upper Palaeolithic Magdalenian human bone assemblages is the remarkable rarity of primary burials and the common occurrence of highly-fragmentary human remains mixed with occupation waste at many sites. One of the most extensive Magdalenian human bone assemblages comes from Gough's Cave, a sizeable limestone cave set in Cheddar Gorge (Somerset), UK. After its discovery in the 1880s, the site was developed as a show cave and largely emptied of sediment, at times with minimal archaeological supervision. Some of the last surviving remnants of sediment within the cave were excavated between 1986 and 1992. The excavations uncovered intensively-processed human bones intermingled with abundant butchered large mammal remains and a diverse range of flint, bone, antler, and ivory artefacts. New ultrafiltrated radiocarbon determinations demonstrate that the Upper Palaeolithic human remains were deposited over a very short period of time, possibly during a series of seasonal occupations, about 14,700 years BP (before present). The human remains have been the subject of several taphonomic studies, culminating in a detailed reanalysis of the cranial remains that showed they had been carefully modified to make skull-cups. Our present analysis of the postcrania has identified a far greater degree of human modification than recorded in earlier studies. We identify extensive evidence for defleshing, disarticulation, chewing, crushing of spongy bone, and the cracking of bones to extract marrow. The presence of human tooth marks on many of the postcranial bones provides incontrovertible evidence for cannibalism. In a wider context, the treatment of the human corpses and the manufacture and use of skull-cups at Gough Cave have parallels with other Magdalenian sites

Two archaeological assemblages from the Sierra de Atapuerca sites show evidence of anthropogenic cannibalism. These are the late Early Pleistocene level TD6-2 at Gran Dolina, and the Bronze Age level MIR4 in the Mirador Cave. Despite the chronological distance between these two assemblages, they share the common feature that the human remains exhibit a high frequency of anthropogenic modifications (cut marks, percussion pits and notches and peeling). This frequency could denote special treatment of bodies, or else be the normal result of the butchering process. In order to test these possibilities, we subjected a chimpanzee carcass to a butchering process. The processing was intensive and intended to simulate preparation for consumption. In doing this, we used several simple flakes made from quartzite and chert from quarries in the Sierra de Atapuerca. The skull, long bones, metapodials and phalanges were also fractured in order to remove the brain and bone marrow. As a result, about 40% of the remains showed some kind of human modification. The frequency, distribution and characteristics of these modifications are very similar to those documented on the remains of Homo antecessor from TD6-2. In case of the MIR4 assemblage, the results are similar except in the treatment of skulls. Our results indicate that high frequencies of anthropogenic modifications are common after an intensive butchering process intended to prepare a hominin body for consumption in different contexts (both where there was possible ritual behavior and where this was not the case and the modifications are not the result of special treatment). © 2015 Saladié et

The paleodietary traits of the equid population from Schöningen 13 II-4 were investigated through tooth mesowear and microwear analyses, as well as stable isotopic analyses. The mesowear pattern observed on the upper teeth indicates a low abrasion diet with a significant amount of browse in the diet of the horses. The tooth microwear analysis and the isotopic data confirm that the horses from Schöningen 13 II-4 were mixed feeders, like many populations from other Pleistocene localities in Northern and Eastern Europe. Microwear also provides information on seasonal changes in the diet of the horses and offers the possibility to test hypotheses about the presence of one or several horse populations. Our analysis determined that the assemblage of horse remains from Schöningen 13 II-4 resulted from multiple accumulation events, which took place at different periods of time.

Neanderthal settlement patterns during MIS 4e3 in Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain)

In the northern Adriatic regions, which include the Venetian region and the Dalmatian coast, late Neanderthal settlements are recorded in few sites and even more ephemeral are remains of the Mid-Upper Palaeolithic occupations. A contribution to reconstruct the human presence during this time range has been produced from a recently investigated cave, Rio Secco, located in the northern Adriatic region at the foot of the Carnic Pre-Alps. Chronometric data make Rio Secco a key site in the context of recording occupation by late Neanderthals and regarding the diffusion of the Mid-Upper Palaeolithic culture in a particular district at the border of the alpine region. As for the Gravettian, its diffusion in Italy is a subject of on-going research and the aim of this paper is to provide new information on the timing of this process in Italy. In the southern end of the Peninsula the first occupation dates to around 28,000 14C BP, whereas our results on Gravettian layer range from 29,390 to 28,995 14C years BP. At the present state of knowledge, the emergence of the Gravettian in eastern Italy is contemporaneous with several sites in Central Europe and the chronological dates support the hypothesis that the Swabian Gravettian probably dispersed from eastern Austria.

The current debate about Mousterian core technologies mainly focuses on the issues of flake predetermination and the morphological similarities of blanks in discoid and centripetal recurrent Levallois methods. To date, the arguments presented have either been based on qualitative analyses of the cores or on the use of ratios of linear measurements to infer the shape of the detached flakes. This paper presents the results of applying 2D geometric morphometric analysis to the flake assemblages in the archaeological collections from the O and M levels of the Abric Romaní rock-shelter and from materials produced by experimental knapping. The results reveal a pattern of core configuration in the Levallois artefacts from level O and a high level of morphological correspondence between the core-edge flake outlines in discoid and Levallois recurrent centripetal technologies. This evidence reinforces the hypothesis that the discoid and the Levallois recurrent centripetal methods share some techno-morphological features. The knappers' ability and the purposes of the reduction sequences play important roles in metrically differentiating between them, otherwise the differences between the two methods would be even smaller. The use of geometric morphometric analysis of flake assemblages can enhance discussions of flaking technologies in lithic studies and quantitatively improve our understanding of the patterns of core configuration and the skills of the prehistoric knappers.

Clear hand laterality patterns in humans are widely accepted. However, humans only elicit a significant hand laterality pattern when performing complementary role differentiation (CRD) tasks. Meanwhile, hand laterality in chimpanzees is weaker and controversial. Here we have reevaluated our results on hand laterality in chimpanzees housed in naturalistic environments at Fundació Mona (Spain) and Chimfunshi Wild Orphanage (Zambia). Our results show that the difference between hand laterality in humans and chimpanzees is not as great as once thought. Furthermore, we found a link between hand laterality and task complexity and also an even more interesting connection: CRD tasks elicited not only the hand laterality but also the use of tools. This paper aims to turn attention to the importance of this threefold connection in human evolution: the link between CRD tasks, hand laterality, and tool use, which has important evolutionary implications that may explain the development of complex behaviour in early hominins.