Combustion structures of archaeological level O and mousterian activity areas with use of fire at the Abric Romaní rockshelter (NE Iberian Peninsula)

Vallverdú, Josep; Alonso, Susana Boso; Bargalló, Amèlia; Bartrolí, Raúl; Campeny, Gerard; Carrancho, Ángel; Expósito, Isabel; Fontanals, Marta; Gabucio, Joana; Gómez, Bruno; Prats, Josep Maria; Sañudo, Pablo; Solé, Albert; Vilalta, Jaume; Carbonell, Eudald

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2010.12.012

Cited by 83 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Notwithstanding, spatial approaches to settlement analysis highlighting the time-averaged nature of the formation of material assemblages are increasingly abundant. Three-dimensional plotting of faunal and lithics using GIS software has become an essential tool to isolate anthropogenic assemblages stratigraphically synchronic within a single archaeological deposit (Vaquero et al, 2004Marín Arroyo, 2009;Rosell et al, 2012;Vallverdú et al, 2012, 2005, Bargall o et al, 2015Geiling and Marín-Arroyo, 2015;Machado and P erez, 2015;Martínez-Moreno et al, 2015;Machado et al, 2016;Modolo and Rosell, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Firewood and hearths: Middle Palaeolithic woody taxa distribution from El Salt, stratigraphic unit Xb (Eastern Iberia)

Vidal-Matutano

2017

Quaternary International

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a b s t r a c tSpatial analyses of Palaeolithic sites typically defined by hearth-related assemblages have been mostly based on lithic and faunal remains. By using spatial analysis methods in conjunction with analytical units with higher temporal resolution than typical stratigraphic units, synchronic and diachronic relationships between artifacts deposited during successive occupation events have been elucidated. Spatial analyses applied to archaeobotanical remains are scarce, and when available, are typically focused on carpological remains (seeds and fruits). The lack of spatial indicators among anthracological remains hampers obtaining significant data linked to the relationships established between the combustion features and scattered charcoal fragments recovered from excavated occupation surfaces. To address this problem, the charcoal assemblage from El Salt Stratigraphic Unit (SU) Xb (Archaeosedimentary Facies Association 2 [AFA 2]) is analyzed using spatial analysis methods. Results suggest that the integration of anthracological remains into a palimpsest dissection analyses is vital to better understand the relationship between combustion structures and activity areas. These results highlight the utility of spatial and statistical methods as important tools for future anthracological analyses to provide meaningful information related to taxa distribution and the last firewood used in combustion structures.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Firewood and hearths: Middle Palaeolithic woody taxa distribution from El Salt, stratigraphic unit Xb (Eastern Iberia)

Vidal-Matutano

2017

Quaternary International

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“…This data may suggest a long term occupation. On the other hand, if the hearths were social spaces and the center of the activities (Foley & Gamble 2009;Rosell et al 2012;Vallverdú et al 2012;Vaquero & Pastó 2001), their absence in Lagoa do Bando together with the small quantity of lithic artifacts found, could suggest that the site is an ephemeral occupation site (such consideration remains to be confirmed through future excavations). Considering the available data in our opinion, the Lagoa do Bando remains might be related to two (or more) ephemeral and specialized occupations of the site (Stiner 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use wear analysis of quartzite lithic implements from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Lagoa do Bando (Central Portugal)

Berruti¹,

Cura²

2016

JLS

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The Middle Palaeolithic site of Lagoa do Bando is an open air site in a lacustrian context located at 570 m a.s.l. in the municipality of Mação in the center of Portugal. The site was discovered in 2011, during an emergency excavation, and resulted on the recovery of a Middle Palaeolithic lithic assemblage mainly composed of fine grained quartzite implements of expedient, discoid and Levallois technology. Use wear analysis was conducted on 41 artifacts formed through discoid and Levallois technology. Twenty one of these artifacts revealed use wear traces. Ten of them show traces of wood work, five have traces of butchering activities, three present traces of meat processing and two present undetermined traces. The site is located at an atypically high elevation for an open air site and there is evidence of a high rate of woodworking activity, rare in the Middle Palaeolithic occupations. The woodworking activities are possibly linked to the exploitation of woody local resources (maybe for the construction of hunting blinds) and not only with to the manufacture and maintenance of spears and shafts. These results converge with the interpretation of this site as a temporary hunting site integrated in a complex pattern of occupation of the area between the river valleys and the top of low mountains.

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“…The technological changes seem to have been associated with differences in the housing spaces within the site and in spatial patterns. The archaeological record was hearth-related in both layers, but while layer M was characterised by activity areas that were spatially quite well delimited (Vaquero et al 2015), in layer O, the intense human occupation resulted in a rich palimpsest with areas attesting to different use of fire and different settlement patterns Vallverdú et al 2012). These data suggested that at Abric Romaní, as in the cases cited above, technological choices applied by Neanderthal groups seem to represent adaptations driven by factors other than the environment, such as social dynamics, occupation span, site function, demography, and cultural behaviour.…”

Section: Journal Of Lithic Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The palaeo-ecological analysis of the whole sequence allowed to identify five pollen zones (Burjachs et al 2012). Each layer preserves a very rich archaeological record of animal bones, lithic remains, woody remains (Solé et al 2013) and many hearts (Cabanes et al 2007;Vallverdú et al 2012). Taphonomic analyses have shown that the archaeological record is well preserved, and Neanderthal activity is the main cause of animal bone deposition (Cáceres et al 2012;.…”

Section: The Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Testing a hypothesis about the importance of the quality of raw material on technological changes at Abric Romaní (Capellades, Spain): Some considerations using a high-resolution techno-economic perspective

Romagnoli

Bargalló

Chacón

et al. 2016

JLS

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Abstract:Technological changes have been identified in several European Middle Palaeolithic sites. Specifically, the turnover in discoid and Levallois knapping methods has traditionally been explained by raw material constraints that are usually related to foraging areas and mobility strategies of Neanderthal groups. While Levallois production requires high homogeneous blocks, predominant discoid techno-complexes have generally been interpreted as better adapted to the scarcity of high quality raw material, not only for the lowest degree of control in products morphology, but also for their multitask characteristics. Nevertheless, the impact of the quality of raw material has never been systematically studied. Furthermore, technological analyses usually consider the lithic assemblage as a whole and do not dissect assemblages to identify single events, which are units that are needed to interpret relationships between technological organisation, human mobility, economic strategies, and settlement patterns. Here, we present an application of technological analysis with a high-resolution approach to investigate, in detail, how raw material quality affected production and how Neanderthals managed the low quality of Sant Martí de Tous chert within Levallois and discoid concepts. We used Raw Material Units and refits as units of analysis with a diacritical approach. The results suggested that the Levallois organisation of the reduction sequence in layer O included a phase of selection of the block and its systematic cutting-down, as well as quite standardised productive procedures and a high fragmentation of the productive sequence within the landscape. In layer M discoid sequences showed a high internal variability as a response to raw material constraints, and most of the production was usually manufactured at the site. Data implied that factors others than the quality of raw material determined the technological turnover at Abric Romaní, suggesting that social organisation and settlement patterns have most probably played a more significant role than foraging area.

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Combustion structures of archaeological level O and mousterian activity areas with use of fire at the Abric Romaní rockshelter (NE Iberian Peninsula)

Cited by 83 publications

References 19 publications

Firewood and hearths: Middle Palaeolithic woody taxa distribution from El Salt, stratigraphic unit Xb (Eastern Iberia)

Firewood and hearths: Middle Palaeolithic woody taxa distribution from El Salt, stratigraphic unit Xb (Eastern Iberia)

Use wear analysis of quartzite lithic implements from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Lagoa do Bando (Central Portugal)

Testing a hypothesis about the importance of the quality of raw material on technological changes at Abric Romaní (Capellades, Spain): Some considerations using a high-resolution techno-economic perspective

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