Search

In this paper we have applied the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) in order to prospect and to analyse the morphological and geological subsurface of the Torcas-Cueva Mayor endokarst system (Sierra de Atapuerca). These works are essential to establish the development of the sedimentary infills where the Early and Middle Pleistocene archaeo-palaeoanthropological sites of the Sierra de Atapuerca are located. The prospecting was based on the elaboration of 15 ERT sections, which were interpreted using topographic, archaeological, geological and geomorphological data. Through this procedure we have indentified the endokarst morphologies and the main lithological groups. The latter correspond to the Upper Cretaceous limestones and dolostones (> 1500 ohm m−1) and Neogene sediments and Quaternary valley infills (< 400 ohm m−1). The endokarst structures inside the Upper Cretaceous carbonates were related to empty cavities (> 1500 ohm m−1), passages filled with speleothems (400–1500 ohm m−1and with detrital materials (< 400 ohm m−1), such as the deposits of the Dolina, Elefante and Galería sites. The analysis of these subsurface structures shows that the karstic passages present a regular south–north development, starting with subsurface faults detected in the north margin of the main valley (Arlanzón River) and finishing along the Pico valley headwaters. These passages were cut off by the Pleistocene incision of the Sierra de Atapuerca minor valleys (e.g. Propiedad valley), forming entrances to caves that were occupied by hominids and fauna from Early Pleistocene times., This work was supported by the research projects BXX2000-1258-03-02, BOSS2003-08938-C03-01 and CGL2006-13532-C03-02 of the Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica (DGICYT), and by the Junta de Castilla y León.

[EN] Cuenca presents one of the lowest densities of Palaeolithic sites across the Iberian Peninsula. The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic evidence is nearly non-existent and is limited to surface materials with poor chrono-stratigraphic control.The Upper Palaeolithic is somewhat better represented,although only two late Upper Pleistocene sites have been excavated systematically. This paper reflects over possible causes for the paucity of sites, and presents the main lines guiding our research project at the Serranía de Cuenca, one of the most relevant karstic regions in the Iberian Peninsula., [ES] Cuenca es una de las provincias con menor densidad de yacimientos paleolíticos de toda la península ibérica. La evidencia del Paleolítico Inferior y Medio es casi inexistente, y se limita esencialmente a materiales en superficie y, por tanto,con escaso control crono-estratigráfico. El Paleolítico Superior está documentado algo mejor,aunque sólo dos yacimientos del Pleistoceno Superior Final han sido excavados de forma sistemática. En este trabajo se reflexiona sobre las posibles causas para esta escasez de yacimientos, y se presentan las líneas generales del proyecto de investigación que actualmente desarrollamos en la Serranía de Cuenca, una de las regiones kársticas más relevantes de la Península Ibérica.

The Aïn Beni Mathar-Guefaït Basin, in the High Plateau Region (Morocco), is dissected by the Za River, the main eastern tributary of the Moulouya, which incises more than 150 m into Plio-Pleistocene sediments. The main goal of the present study is to provide an initial geochronologic framework for such basin infill based on a combination of magnetostratigraphy and electron spin resonance (ESR). The combined results have implications on the age of the paleontological record, the evolution of the Moulouya River, and the activity of the faults that delimit the basin. We have studied sedimentary rocks that are essentially flat-lying and of an alluvial and lacustrine/palustrine origin. An approximately 140 m-thick section has been sampled at an average of 2.5 m per site, allowing to build a local magnetic polarity stratigraphy that includes nine geomagnetic reversals. Although no fold test is available, the presence of dual polarities and rockmagnetic analysis give us confidence that magnetization directions are primary. We then anchored the obtained magnetozones to the Geomagnetic Polarity Timescale (GPTS) using the biostratigraphic data as well as local geological observations. Our proposed magnetostratigraphy-based chronology reveals a Plio-Pleistocene sedimentary infill spanning from Gauss to Olduvai Chrons. The lower, detrital formations mostly fall within the normal Gauss Chron, whereas the upper lacustrine and palustrine carbonates, which are almost widespread to the top of the sedimentary fill, are Olduvai in age. These results provide the first chronological constraints for the basin fill in one of the largest intermontane basins of the High Plateaus. The new magnetostratigraphy also reveals that the major environmental change that triggered a switch from alluvial to lacustrine-palustrine conditions in Northern Maghreb occurred near the Gauss-Matuyama reversal, ca. 2.6 Ma. In addition, it shows that the age of the paleontological site Guefaït-4 is approximately

[EN] This paper presents the archaeological work conducted in northern Tanzania funded by the 2020 Proyectos Arqueológicos en el Exterior call for proposals. Such works have continued research on the origins of Homo sapiens in Middle and Upper Pleistocene contexts at the NdutuOlduvai basin, and have combined surveys in search of new archaeological sites with the excavation of the most relevant localities discovered during surveys. Here we introduce main results of the latest field season, in which abundant lithic and fossil remains have been collected from a new site that shall provide relevant data for the archaeology of the Middle and Later Stone Age of eastern Africa., [ES] En este trabajo se presentan los trabajos arqueológicos realizados en el norte de Tanzania y financiados por la convocatoria de 2020 de Proyectos Arqueológicos en el Exterior. Dichos trabajos han continuado la investigación sobre el origen del Homo sapiens en contextos del Pleistoceno medio y superior en la cuenca de Ndutu-Olduvai, y han combinado la prospección en busca de nuevos yacimientos arqueológicos con la excavación de los puntos más relevantes encontrados durante dichas prospecciones. De esa forma, se presentan aquí los resultados principales de dicha campaña, en la que se han recuperado numerosos restos líticos y fósiles en un nuevo yacimiento que aportarán información valiosa sobre la arqueología de la Middle y Later Stone Age de África oriental.