Browsing by Subject "Pleistocene"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Greening a lost world: paleoartistic investigations of the early Pleistocene vegetation landscape in the first Europeans' homeland.
    (Elsevier, 2024-03-25) Amorós, Ariadna; Ochando, Juan; Munuera, Manuel; Marín-Arroyo, Ana Belén; Jiménez-Arenas, Juan Manuel; Sánchez Giner, María Victoria; Amorós Seller, Gabriela; Carrión García, José Sebastián; Bellas Artes
    The scarcity of pictorial reconstructions focusing on Quaternary flora and vegetation prompts a reevaluation of traditional zoocentrism in future paleoartistic research. Here we present paleoartistic renderings depicting vegetation landscapes around the Orce Archaeological Zone (OAZ), encompassing sites dating from 1.6 to 1.2 million years ago during the Early Pleistocene of the Guadix-Baza Basin in southern Spain. Four pieces are based on fossil pollen data from Venta Micena 1 (VM1), Barranco León (BL), and Fuente Nueva 3 (FN3). The artwork considers altitudinal belt distribution, taxonomic and structural diversity, extinct taxa in the Iberian Peninsula post-Early Pleistocene, and those previously extinct at higher latitudes in Europe. This essay visually represents the coexistence of mesophytic, thermophytic, and xerophytic plant communities within a glacial refugium of woody species. Lastly, employing a non-conventional iconographic approach, we portray a female Homo individual in the forest refugium to draw up on possible adaptive traits of these early Europeans.
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    Hyaenas and early humans in the latest Early Pleistocene of South-Western Europe
    (Nature Portfolio, 2021-12-15) Linares‑Matás, Gonzalo J. ; Fernández Ruiz, Norman; Haber Uriarte, María; López Martínez, Mariano; Walker, Michael J.; Walker, Michael J.; Prehistoria, Arqueología, Historia Antigua, Historia Medieval y Ciencias y Técnicas Historiográficas; M.J. Walker; Facultad de Letras
    Throughout the Pleistocene, early humans and carnivores frequented caves and large rock-shelters, usually generating bone accumulations. The well-preserved late Early Pleistocene sedimentary sequence at Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar (CNERQ) has provided substantial evidence concerning the behavioural and adaptive skills of early humans in Western Europe, such as butchery practices, lithic technology or tending fire, whilst also bearing witness to the bone-altering activities of carnivores. Recent fieldwork has allowed the re-examination of the spatial and taphonomical nature of the macrofaunal assemblage from the upper layers of Complex 2. These layers are somewhat different from most of the underlying sequence, in showing quite a high representation of cranial and post-cranial bones of large mammals, including several Megaloceros carthaginiensis antlers. The presence of Crocuta sp. at Cueva Negra represents one of the earliest instances of this genus in Western Eurasia. Identification of several juvenile Crocuta sp. remains alongside coprolites and bones with carnivore damage, indicates sporadical hyaenid denning activity. Furthermore, the presence of bones with percussion and cut-marks near to several hammerstones suggests a clear albeit limited anthropogenic input. We interpret the available taphonomical and spatial evidence from these layers as reflecting a multi-patterned palimpsest, likely representing the non-simultaneous and short-lived co-existence of hyaenas, humans, and other small carnivores in the Cueva Negra palaeolandscape during the final phase of sedimentation preserved at the site
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    Welcome to the forest theatre: unveiling a Balkan refugium through paleoart.
    (Elsevier, 2024-07-18) Ochando, Juan; Magri, Donatella; Marín-Arroyo, Ana B.; Amorós, Ariadna; Munuera, Manuel; Di Rita, Federico; Michelangeli, Fabrizio; Roksandic, Mirjana; Mihailovíc, Dusan; Sánchez Giner, María Victoria; Amorós Seller, Gabriela; Carrión García, José Sebastián; Bellas Artes
    This paper presents an artistic paleolandscape experiment based primarily on recent palynological data from the Paleolithic site of Peˇsturina, in the Central Balkans of Serbia. These data are integrated into the general knowledge of flora and vegetation changes in the Balkans and southern Carpathians obtained through other paleobotanical sequences, especially pollen records from lake sediments. The paleoartistic proposal includes several drawing attempts at different geographic scales with an emphasis on plant taxa and their position within glacial refugia. The contrast with the interglacial situation is also illustrated, but the work especially focuses on the concept of long-term refugia and the altitudinal shifts of steppes, conifers, and broad-leaf trees. An ecological and biogeographical discussion accompanies the illustrations, highlighting the insurmountable ethodological limitations and the challenges that pose obstacles to the progress of palynology as a technique for paleoenvironmental reconstruction at the spatial scale. The structure of the paper aims to serve as a guiding example for the teaching and scientific dissemination of paleosciences, from a conservationist perspective that is much needed in the current scenario of global change and biodiversity crisis.