Browsing by Subject "Taphonomy"

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    Fire in the Early Palaeolithic: evidence from burnt small mammal bones at Cueva negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar, Murcia, Spain
    (Elsevier, 2016-10) Rhodes, S.E.; Walker, M.J.; López Jiménez, A.; López Martínez, M.; Haber Uriarte, María; Fernández Jalvo, Y.; Chazan, M.; Prehistoria, Arqueología, Historia Antigua, Historia Medieval y Ciencias y Técnicas Historiográficas
    The development of pyrotechnology is a hallmark of human history, providing our ancestors with warmth, security and cooked food. Evidence for fire use before 400 thousand years ago (kya) remains contentious due largely to the taphonomically fragile nature of charcoal and ash. As such, it is imperative to the study of prehistoric fire that we develop techniques and methodologies for identifying anthropogenic fire use via more robust materials. A new methodology described by Fernández-Jalvo and Avery (2015) based on small mammal taphonomy to identify high intensity fire events from the distant past is replicated herein. When we applied this method to assemblages from Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar, an upland rock-shelter in southeastern Spain, dated to between 780 kya and 980 kya, we recognized a spatial relationship between highly heat modified micromammal specimens and a previously reported delineated feature of thermally altered and carbonate rich sediment which also includes heat-fractured chert and calcined bone (the fire feature). The proportion of heavily heat-modified specimens (charred and/or calcined specimens) identified within the stratigraphic context associated with the fire feature proved statistically significant (x2 = 169.18, p < 0.001) when compared with the proportion of similarly modified specimens from overlying deposits (within other stratigraphic layers). The degree of discolouration seen on the micromammal remains within the fire feature has been linked to temperatures exceeding 600 °C (Shipman et al., 1984), and as such supports claims that the fire feature may have an anthropogenic origin. Environmental scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) of bone specimens confirms that this discolouration is due to burning rather than post-depositional mineral staining. This confirms that methodology, which represents a novel line of evidence for identifying pyrotechnical events at early Palaeolithic sites, can be used to identify potentially anthropogenic fire events from the distant past when alternative scenarios are excluded. Furthermore, studies of this type showcase the value of including detailed taphonomic studies of microfauna assemblages within multidisciplinary research projects.
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    Holes in the head. Double cranial surgery on an individual from the Chalcolithic burial site of Camino del Molino (SE Spain)
    (Elsevier, 2023-09-15) Díaz-Navarro, Sonia; Haber Uriarte, María; García-González, Rebeca; Prehistoria, Arqueología, Historia Antigua, Historia Medieval y Ciencias y Técnicas Historiográficas; Facultad de Letras
    Objective: This article analyses new prehistoric evidence of trepanation from a collective burial site in the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Materials: The trepanned individual was documented in the Chalcolithic burial site of Camino del Molino, where 1348 individuals (30.7 % non-adults and 69.3 % adults) were deposited in two contiguous funerary phases, making it a reference site for the knowledge of Recent Prehistoric populations. Methods: The individual has been sexed using traditional anthropological methods and ancient DNA. C14 dating has also been obtained. The lesion has been analysed macroscopically and microscopically using SEM. Results: The skull under study belongs to an adult female deposited in the second burial phase (2566–2239 years cal BCE). It exhibits in the anterior region of the right temporal fossa two contiguous and partially overlapping holes that correspond to two trepanations performed using the scraping technique. Conclusions: It is a double cranial trepanation with signs of bone remodelling suggesting survival from surgery. No pathological signs were identified potentially associated with the intervention. Significance: This is the second case of surgical interventions in the geographical area of study and one of the few evidences of this practice in women during prehistoric times. Limitations: So far only the articulated skeletons from this burial have been thoroughly analysed. Suggestions for further research: Further intensive review of skull collection is advised to learn more about these surgical interventions in Copper Age and to go deeper into the causes that motivated their execution.
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    Sedimentación y distribución superficial de palinomorfos en cuevas del se ibérico. Implicaciones en paleoecología
    (Murcia: Universidad de Murcia, Servicio de Publicaciones, 2001) Navarro Camacho, Cristina; Munuera Giner, Manuel; Prieto, A. R.; Carrión García, José Sebastián; Facultad de Biología
    Se ha realizado un análisis polínico del sedimento superficial de varias cavidades kársticas de la España mediterránea con el fin de conocer los procesos tafonómicos que afectan al polen en este contexto sedimentario. Los resultados confirman el potencial paleoecológico de los depósitos de cuevas. Los espectros polínicos reflejan la vegetación que crece en los alrededores de la cueva, así como, parcialmente, la vegetación regional. La distribución, deposición y preservación polínicas no son homogéneas en el interior de las cuevas, estando influenciadas por la morfología de la cueva y diversos procesos estocásticos. La aridez se confirma como un factor positivo para la preservación polínica y, por tanto, resulta una garantía en estudios de reconstrucción paleoambiental.