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Spatial analysis has been much used to examine the distribution of archaeological remains at Pleistocene sites. However, little is known about the distribution patterns at sites identified as hunting camps, i.e., places occupied over multiple short periods for the capture of animals later transported to a base camp. The present work examines a Neanderthal hunting camp (the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter in Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain) to determine whether different activities were undertaken in different areas of the site. A spatial pattern was detected with a main cluster of materials (lithic tools, faunal remains, and coprolites) clearly related to the presence of nearby hearths—the backbone of the utilised space. This main cluster appears to have been related to collaborative and repetitive activities undertaken by the hunting parties that used the site. Spatial analysis also detected a small, isolated area perhaps related to carcasses processing at some point in time and another slightly altered by water., Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. AM is funded by a grant from the Junta de Castilla y León, financed in turn by European Social Funds via the Consejería de Educación (BDNS 376062). AA-F is supported by a Ph.D. grant from the Reale Foundation via the Fundación Atapuerca. This research was conducted within projects under the auspices of the Dirección General de Investigación of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades PGC 2018–094125-B-100 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), PGC 2018–093925-B-C32 (MICINN-FEDER), AGAUR (2017SGR1040 IPHES-URV), PGC 2018–093612-B-100, PID2021-122355NB-C31, PID2021-122355NB-C32 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación—Agencia Estatal de Investigación), and funded by the I + D activities program for research groups run by the Education Secretariat of the Madrid Regional Government H2019/HUM-5840 (co-financed by the European Social Fund). The study was also partly funded by the Museo Arqueológico Regional de la Comunidad de Madrid (MAR) and Canal de Isabel II-Gestión.

Here, we present a thorough taphonomic analysis of the 1.84 million-year-old site of Phillip Tobias Korongo (PTK), Bed I, Olduvai Gorge. PTK is one of the new archaeological sites documented on the FLK Zinj paleolandscape, in which FLK 22 level was deposited and covered by Tuff IC. Therefore, PTK is pene- contemporary with these sites: FLK Zinj, DS, AMK and AGS. The occurrence of these sites within a thin clay unit of ~20 cm, occupying not only the same vertically discrete stratigraphic unit, but also the same paleosurface, with an exceptional preservation of the archaeological record in its primary depositional locus, constitutes a unique opportunity to explore early hominin behavioral diversity at the most limited geochronological scale possible. The Olduvai Bed I sites have been the core of behavioral modelling for the past half a century, and the newly discovered sites, excavated with 21st century technology, will increase significantly our understanding of early human adaptive patterns. Here, we present PTK as another assemblage where faunal resources were acquired by hominins prior to any carnivore, and where stone-tool assisted bulk defleshing was carried out. The abundance of juvenile individuals extends our understanding, as in Kanjera (Kenya), about the hunting skills of early Homo sensu lato. The increasing number of sites, where bulk defleshing of small and medium-sized carcasses took place is underscoring the importance of meat in the diets of some of the early hominins, and their patterned use of the space for food processing and consumption. The patterning emerging has a profound importance for the evolution of some of the features that have traditionally been used to identify the behavior of the genus Homo., This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) (AR-HS 2018-01045-3). We also thank the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for funding this research (PID 2020-115452 GB-C21), and the Ministry of Culture for their funding through the program of Archaeology Abroad. Our thanks also to the Palarq Foundation and E2in2 for financial support.

This work examines the possible behaviour of Neanderthal groups at the Cueva Des-Cubierta (central Spain) via the analysis of the latter’s archaeological assemblage. Alongside evidence of Mousterian lithic industry, Level 3 of the cave infll was found to contain an assemblage of mammalian bone remains dominated by the crania of large ungulates, some associated with small hearths. The scarcity of post-cranial elements, teeth, mandibles and maxillae, along with evidence of anthropogenic modifcation of the crania (cut and percussion marks), indicates that the carcasses of the corresponding animals were initially processed outside the cave, and the crania were later brought inside. A second round of processing then took place, possibly related to the removal of the brain. The continued presence of crania throughout Level 3 indicates that this behaviour was recurrent during this level’s formation. This behaviour seems to have no subsistence-related purpose but to be more symbolic in its intent., Funding for this research was provided by the Dirección General de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica de la Comunidad de Madrid, grant no. H2019/HUM-5840 (co-financed by the European Social Fund), and by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, grant no. PCG2018- 094125-B-100 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE). The analyses were carried out at the laboratories of the CENIEH-ICTS with the support of the CENIEH staf, and at the Geochronology Laboratory, Jaume Almera Institute of Earth Sciences (CSIC). S.G.-S. and L.V. are beneficiaries of predoctoral contracts within the programme H2019/HUM-5840 (co-financed by the European Social Fund). A.M. is funded by a grant from the Junta de Castilla y León, financed in turn by European Social Funds via the Consejería de Educación (BDNS 376062). A.C.D.-G. is a beneficiary of a postdoctoral grant funded by the Complutense University of Madrid (POP-UCM-CT17/17-CT18/17). A.A.-F. is supported by a PhD grant from the Reale Foundation via the Fundación Atapuerca. Currently, M.A.G.-P. is a beneficiary of a technical support staf contract (no. PTA2018-015145-I) from the Fundación General de la Universidad de Alcalá-Museo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid, financed by the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad and the MAPCM. L.H.-V. is a beneficiary of a Research Assistant contract (no. PEJ-2020-AI/HUM-18786) co-financed by the European Social Fund, the Youth Employment Initiative, and the Consejería de Ciencia, Universidades e Innovación de la Comunidad de Madrid. M.V.-R. is funded by the Spanish Ministry of Universities with an FPU predoctoral grant (no. FPU18/05632).

Neanderthals have been claimed to have had a selective adaptation to rugged, wooded landscapes that would have partially compensate their high basal metabolic rate and locomotor energetic costs through reducing search time and increasing diet breadth. The archaeological site of the Navalmaíllo rockshelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid), located in a mountain environment in central Iberian Peninsula, has been interpreted as a repeated short-term occupation hunting camp by Neanderthal groups, mainly focused on primary access to large bovids and cervids. Navalmaíllo rockshelter has also furnished fish, toads, frogs, tortoises, lizards and snakes remains. This association of amphibians and reptiles suggests a much warmer climate (þ 2.8ºC) for layer F than at present, with similar temperatures during the summer but higher temperatures throughout the remaining months. Rainfall was slightly more abundant (þ180.6 mm) than today, with a more contrasted regime during the year, with rainier winters and drier summers. A two-month period of aridity is observed during summer, representing a similar duration to present-day climatic conditions. Reconstructed landscapes are mainly constituted by open areas with dry grassland and rocky or stony areas, evolving laterally to humid meadows, probably close to the aquatic and peri-aquatic areas, such as rivers or ponds with riverside vegetation. Woodland environments are lso well represented around the site, with medium scrublands to forest formations. Fish complete this reconstruction by documenting the presence of a pre-mountain well-developed river system characterized by relatively cold, permanent, oxygen-rich, and running waters. Such reconstruction is in disagreement with previous pollen interpretation for Layer F that suggested a very open and cold environment. Our new interpretation suggests that the Neanderthal occupation of the Navalmaíllo rockshelter occurred during a somewhat temperate and humid period, probably within the later part of the Marine Isotope Stage 5, effectively favouring the presence of a high biodiversity around the site., C.S.-B. was supported by a FPI Predoctoral Scholarship (PRE 2020-094482) associated to the project CEX 2019-000945-M-20-1 with the financial sponsorship of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. A.F. was beneficiary of a post-doctoral grant APOSTD/2021/110, granted by the Generalitat Valenciana and co-financed by the Fondo Social Europeo (FSE). AMM was supported by the Agencia de Gestio d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) and the Departament d’Empresa i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya (grant 2021FI_B200207). “L'FSE inverteix en el teu futur”. A.C.D.-G. was beneficiary of a postdoctoral grant (POP-UCM CT17/17-CT18/17) funded by the Complutense University of Madrid. This research was conducted as part of competitive projects PGC 2018-094125-B-100 (MCIU/AEI/FED-ER,UE), PGC 2018-093925-B-C32 (MICINN-FEDER), 2017SGR1040 IPHES-URV and 2017SGR859 IPHES (AGAUR), PGC 2018-093612-B- 100 and PID 2021-122533NB-I00 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion y Agencia Estatal de Investigacion), and funded by the I þ D activities program for research groups run by the Education Secretariat of the Madrid Regional Government (H2019/HUM-5840). The study was also partly funded by the MAR, Grupo Mahou and Canal de Isabel II-Gestion. The Institut Catal a de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolucio Social (IPHES-CERCA) has received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “María de Maeztu” program for Units of Excellence (CEX 2019-000945-M)., With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence" accreditation CEX 2019-000945-M.

The interior of the Iberian Peninsula has few Middle Palaeolithic sites, especially when compared to other areas of the Mediterranean Basin and the northern Spanish region. Few in number too are the zooarchaeological and taphonomic studies that throw light on the relationships between Neanderthal groups, their environment, and the use they made of it. The present work examines, both zooarchaeo-logically and taphonomically, the faunal remains of levels F and D of the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain) - the largest collection of such remains ever studied from the Iberian interior. The results allow this site to be interpreted as a Neanderthal hunting camp where occupations were short-term. Neanderthal people were the main agents that accumulated the site's faunal remains - largely those of large bovids and to a lesser extent medium-sized cervids. The activity of carnivores was also identified, but these animals mostly left behind the remains of small prey or fed upon carcasses abandoned at the camp by human hunters., AM is funded by a grant from the Junta de Castilla y León, financed in turn by European Social Funds via the Consejería de Educacion (BDNS 376062). Currently, M.A.G.-P. has a technical support staff contract (PTA2018-015145-I) at the Fundacion General de la Universidad de Alcala de Henares-Museo Arqueologico Regional (MAR), financed by the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad and the MAR. This research was conducted as part of competitive projects PGC 2018-094125-B-100 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), PGC 2018-093925-B-C32 (MICINN-FEDER), 2017SGR1040 IPHES-URV and 2017SGR859 IPHES (AGAUR), PGC 2018-093612-B 100 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion e Agencia Estatal de Investigacion) and funded by the I þ D activities program for research groups run by the Education Secretariat of the Madrid Regional Government (H2019/HUM-5840). The study was also partly funded by the MAR, Grupo Mahou and Canal de Isabel II-Gestion.

To understand the identity of the early Acheulean, it is necessary to discriminate between the variables that influenced the selection of technological strategies. Functionality of the archaeological sites is crucial in assessing the manufacturing strategies of lithic tools. To achieve this goal, analysis of the post-depositional processes must be evaluated. When bone remains have been preserved, anthropic animal processing can be identified through zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses, and the spatial relationships among all the components can also be assessed, especially when bone surface is not sufficiently preserved. There are two levels present at Thiongo Korongo, ~1.3 Ma, TKLF and TKSF. These are in autochthonous position with no significant temporal diachrony but with substantial technological differences in the manufacturing of the lithic tools, which enables the analysis of the influence of human activities on technological behaviour. In order to evaluate this issue at TKSF, we present lithic, faunal, taphonomic, fabric, and spatial analyses. An assemblage of megaherbivores, among which Sivatherium is outstanding, dominate the TKSF faunal remains. Cortical preservation is poor; there is no intervention of carnivores, the rate of green fractures is low, and a few cut marks on size 5 and 3b animals were identified. Hence, apparently human intervention on the fauna was not intensive. Spatial and geostatistical analyses hints of a specific area where megaherbivores were processed by humans. Through wear use and biomarker analyses on stone tools, we are currently trying to understand the activities that were carried out in the remaining paleosurface. At paleosurface TKLF, the main anthropogenic input could be related to activities other than animal resource exploitation, in which large handaxes were necessary. Without the assessment of site functionality and chronological context, this data could have lead to the differences observed at TKLF and TKSF being attributed to different Acheulean stages.

The analysis of bone breakage has always been underrepresented in taphonomic studies. Analysts, thus, lose the opportunity to resolve an important part of the equifinality related to activities that hominins and different types of carnivores may produce. Recent studies have shown that the use of powerful machine learning (ML) algorithms allow the accurate classification of bone surface modifications (BSM). Here, we present an experimental study, applying these algorithms to the analysis of bone breakage patterns. This statistical methodology allows the correct classification of three different assemblages which have been generated anthropogenically and by the activity of carnivores (i.e., hyenas and wolves). ML algorithms applied to a multivariate set of properties of broken bone specimens yielded an accuracy of 95% and were higher in classifying agency without the need to include information from BSM. This paper proposes a methodological approach that opens the door to improve our understanding of referential frameworks regarding bone breakage and to determine agency in prehistoric bone breakage processes.

In recent years, reports on bone breakage at archaeological sites have become more common in the taphonomic literature. The present work tests a recently published method, based on the use of machine learning algorithms for analysing the processes involved in bone breakage, to identify the agent that broke the bones of medium-sized animals at the Mousterian Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid). This is the first time this method has been used in an archaeological setting. The results show that these bones were mostly broken by anthropic action, while some were slightly ravaged by carnivores, probably hyaenas. These findings agree very well with published interpretations of the site, and show the method used to be useful in taphonomic studies of archaeological materials with poorly preserved cortical surfaces., This research was conducted as part of competitive projects PGC 2018-094125-B-100 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), PGC 2018-093925-B-C32 (MICINN-FEDER), AGAUR (2017SGR1040), URV (2014, 2015 and 2016 PFR-URV-B2-17) and funded by the I+D activities program for research groups run by the Education Secretaria of the Madrid Regional Government. The study was also partly funded by the Museo Arqueológico Regional de la Comunidad de Madrid (MAR),Grupo Mahou and Canal de Isabel II-Gestión. This work is a contribution to the Valle de los Neandertales project (H2019/HUM-5840) funded by the Comunidad de Madrid and the Fondo Social Europeo.

The analysis of bone breakage is one of the most relevant issues of current taphonomic studies. Available experimental analogies aim at differentiating agencies in the production of fractured bones. Possible equifinality presented by different agents can hinder the characterisation of bone breakage at archaeological sites. Equally important is the potential distortion that bone-breaking processes introduce in bone surface modification (BSM) frequencies. This study presents an experimental approach to the problem of identifying signatures for anthropogenic bone breaking as a product of direct hammerstone percussion. This study also contributes to improving the existing analogical framework on processes related to bone breakage of medium-sized animals (80–200 kg), since most previous experimentation has focused on smaller (10–80 kg) and larger (200–800 kg) carcasses. It has been possible to verify the existence of non-random and non-intentional breakage patterns on long bones due to their shape and structural properties. Thus, this introduces the possibility of correctly identifying anthropogenic fracture patterns in the archaeological record. Additionally, it also opens up the possibility of finding different cultural patterns. It has frequently been argued that the frequency of bone surface modifications correlates with fragmentation intensity. However, this assertion remained untested until now. Here, we test the frequency and occurrence of percussion and cut marks in faunal assemblages according to the intensity of green bone fragmentation. The results also improve the current referential framework in reference to interpretation of notches produced by dynamic loading.

The study of cut marks in archaeological contexts is of great importance for understanding the subsistence strategies of past human groups. Many authors have indicated differences to exist between the cut marks produced by different tools and when the same types of tool have been made from different raw materials. The present work examines the cut marks made during the experimental butchering of a red deer (Cervus elaphus) using simple quartz flakes, with those found on fossilised animal remains at the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter site (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain) likely to have been made with similar flakes. The methodology followed was that of Domínguez-Rodrigo et al. (2009), which was originally designed to differentiate between cut marks and trampling marks, but which here was tested as a method of distinguishing between the raw materials from which cutting tools were made. The results were also compared to those made with other types of tool/raw material reported in the literature. The present results confirm the above ideas: the marks made experimentally by the quartz flakes are very similar to those seen on the faunal remains from the level F of Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter site, but different to those made by other tools or by flakes made from other materials. They also show, however, that different cut mark morphologies are largely independent of the size of the animal butchered, and of the anatomical element on which they appear., This research was conducted as part of project S2010/BMD-2330 and funded by the I+D activities programme for research groups run by the Education Secretariat of the Madrid Regional Government. The study was also partly funded by the following organisations: Museo Arqueológico Regional de la Comunidad de Madrid, Grupo Mahou and Canal de Isabel II-Gestión. RH, JMV was supported by AGAUR (project no. SGR 2014-899) and by the URV (projects 2014, 2015 and 2016 PFR-URV-B2-17) under the auspices of the CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya.