Browsing by Subject "Early Pleistocene"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Restricted
    Combustion at the late Early Pleistocene site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar (Murcia, Spain)
    (Cambridge University Press, 2016-05-17) Walker, Michael J.; Anesin, D.; Angelucci, D.E.; Avilés Fernández, A.; Berna, F.; Buitrago López, A.; Fernández Jalvo, Y.; Haber Uriarte, María; López Jiménez, A.; López Martínez, M.; Martín Lerma, I.; Ortega Rodrigañez, J.; Polo Camacho, J.L.; Rhodes, S.E.; Richter, D.; Rodríguez Estrella, T.; Schwenninger, J.L.; Skinner, A.R.; Prehistoria, Arqueología, Historia Antigua, Historia Medieval y Ciencias y Técnicas Historiográficas
    Control of fire was a hallmark of developing human cognition and an essential technology for the colonisation of cooler latitudes. In Europe, the earliest evidence comes from recent work at the site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar in south-eastern Spain. Charred and calcined bone and thermally altered chert were recovered from a deep, 0.8-million-year-old sedimentary deposit. A combination of analyses indicated that these had been heated to 400–600°C, compatible with burning. Inspection of the sediment and hydroxyapatite also suggests combustion and degradation of the bone. The results provide new insight into Early Palaeolithic use of fire and its significance for human evolution.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Open Access
    Rethinking stratigraphy and site formation of the Pleistocene deposit at Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar (Caravaca de la Cruz, Spain)
    (Elsevier, 2013-09-13) Angelucci, Diego E.; Anesin, Daniela; López Martínez, Mariano; Haber Uriarte, María; Rodríguez Estrella, Tomás; Walker, Michael J.; Prehistoria, Arqueología, Historia Antigua, Historia Medieval y Ciencias y Técnicas Historiográficas
    Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar (Caravaca de la Cruz, Murcia, Spain), hereinafter Cueva Negra, is a key-site for understanding the early peopling of Europe. Since 1990, systematic excavation has revealed an intriguing assemblage of lithic and faunal remains, and hominin teeth. It was deposited 0.99–0.78 Ma according to palaeomagnetic and biostratigraphical data; pollen data indicate warm moist conditions. Recently, possible evidence of thermal alteration was detected in a deep part of the deposit. We report here on our revision of the Cueva Negra stratigraphy, and offer information on site formation processes, based on new field observations and preliminary data from soil micromorphology. The Cueva Negra succession comprises three main stratigraphical complexes. Complex 1 is late Holocene. Complexes 2 and 3 are Pleistocene and are formed mainly of alluvial sediment, with subordinate inputs from the cave walls. Complexes 2 and 3 were accumulated almost without interruption, being separated by an erosive surface truncating a thin alluvial soil developed at the top of Complex 3. Our initial micromorphological findings indicate that anthropic inputs are mostly in derived positions, very likely having undergone inward displacement from the mouth of the rock-shelter.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Open Access
    Sedimentological evolution of the Quibas site: High-resolution glacial/interglacial dynamics in a terrestrial pre-Jaramillo to post-Jaramillo sequence from southern Iberian Peninsula
    (Elsevier, 2024-03-17) Laborda lopez, Casto; Del Castillo Sobrinos, Elia; Alías Linares, María Asunción; Iannicelli, Claudia; Agustí, Jordi; Piñero Garcia, Pedro; Pal, Shubham; Química Agrícola, Geología y Edafología
    The sedimentary infill of the Quibas karstic site (Early Pleistocene, southern Spain) represents the only continuous succession with remains of continental vertebrates in Europe from pre-Jaramillo to post-Jaramillo age. The Quibas site, with a significant paleontological record, is dated between 1.1 and 0.9 Ma and offers a unique opportunity to carry out a paleoclimatic reconstruction of the time period immediately after the arrival of the first humans to western Europe. For this reason, defining the dominant sedimentary processes in the different stratigraphic units and the associated paleoenvironment is essential. The Quibas site is made up of two karstic features with two stratigraphic sequences: Quibas-Cueva, containing six lithostratigraphic units, and QuibasSima, which contains seven lithostratigraphic units. The detailed description and analyses of the stratigraphic sections have allowed the characterization of various autochthonous and allochthonous facies of cave deposits. Paleoclimatic proxies, inferred from sedimentological analyses, reveal a record of several alternating humid and arid phases resulting from the Early Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles, allowing correlation to the marine oxygen isotope record. The lowermost units (pre-Jaramillo) were deposited during a long-lasting interglacial, correlated to MIS 33–31. It was followed by an increase in aridity in the intermediate units of Quibas-Sima and uppermost unit of Quibas-Cueva (Jaramillo), revealing the beginning of a glacial period at the start of the Jaramillo subchron (1 Ma), which can be correlated to MIS 30. The upper Jaramillo and post-Jaramillo units suggest these were deposited in alternating periods of aridity and humid conditions, although less humid than the pre-Jaramillo period, probably representing the MIS 29 interglacial, the MIS 28 glacial and the MIS 27 interglacial.