“…Sediments can have different origins, some derived from the interior cave dynamics (autochthonous sediments), and others coming from the outside and introduced into the cavity through natural entrances, so-called allochthonous sediments (Gillieson, 1998;Farrant, 2004). Cave sediments have been widely studied in many caves (Shaw, 1992;Lawson, 1995;P erez-Gonz alez et al, , 2001Polk et al, 2007;Kadlec et al, 2008;Forn os et al, 2009;Turk and Turk, 2010;Martini, 2011;Angelucci et al, 2013). Identifying the different sedimentary facies from karst infills is useful in reconstructing the sequence of processes that occurred in the formation of the cavities, their relationship with the environment and to interpret the relationship between archaeological accumulations and sediments (Farrand, 1975;Straus et al, 2001;Goldberg and Sherwood, 2006;Finlayson et al, 2008).…”
“…Sediments can have different origins, some derived from the interior cave dynamics (autochthonous sediments), and others coming from the outside and introduced into the cavity through natural entrances, so-called allochthonous sediments (Gillieson, 1998;Farrant, 2004). Cave sediments have been widely studied in many caves (Shaw, 1992;Lawson, 1995;P erez-Gonz alez et al, , 2001Polk et al, 2007;Kadlec et al, 2008;Forn os et al, 2009;Turk and Turk, 2010;Martini, 2011;Angelucci et al, 2013). Identifying the different sedimentary facies from karst infills is useful in reconstructing the sequence of processes that occurred in the formation of the cavities, their relationship with the environment and to interpret the relationship between archaeological accumulations and sediments (Farrand, 1975;Straus et al, 2001;Goldberg and Sherwood, 2006;Finlayson et al, 2008).…”
“…e) Detailed examination of the deeply lying sediment containing burnt chert and bone (Figure 9) reported that “distinct layers were observed of materials resembling ash, sometimes resting on reddened belts” (Angelucci et al . 2013: 198), although incontrovertible high-resolution microscopical evidence of combustion, such as in situ reddening, presence of wood ash or charcoal fragments, was not detected in the thin sections on which sediment micromorphology was undertaken. Figure 9. Photographs and stratigraphy of deeply lying sedimentary layers with burnt remains in metre-square C2d during excavation in 2012.…”
Section: Analytical Procedures Specific Studies and Summary Of Princmentioning
confidence: 99%
“… Figure 9. Photographs and stratigraphy of deeply lying sedimentary layers with burnt remains in metre-square C2d during excavation in 2012. Adapted from supplementary information in Angelucci et al (2013). See online supplementary material for description of unit characteristics and features.…”
Section: Analytical Procedures Specific Studies and Summary Of Princmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…In the test-pit, deeply lying sediment (of units V and VI = layers 5 and 6 = complex 3-2 of Angelucci et al . 2013) contains organic residues, doubtless derived from the adjacent 2m 2 , albeit lacking both pollen and microscopic traces of charcoal. Our 2006 caution owed to a possibility that ash could have been blown inside from bush-fires sweeping past the cave mouth; it may account for burnt traces in 1.2 Ma sediments at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, northern Spain): “L'abondance de micro-charbons associés à des composés organo-minéraux exogènes atteste de la récurrence d'incendies naturels dont le déclenchement semble être lié à des évènements exceptionnels d'origine cosmique” [The abundance of micro-carbons associated with exogenous organic-mineral compounds is testimony to recurring natural fires probably caused by exceptional atmospheric phenomena] (Carbonell et al .…”
Section: Early Fire and Mid-quaternary Human Evolutionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Apart from a drier episode, reflected in the upper part of the sequence by an incipient palaeosol with traces of bioturbation subsequently truncated by erosion (Angelucci et al . 2013), no significant discontinuity exists ( pace Jiménez-Arenas et al . 2011), and the sediments remained undisturbed (save for small pits dug c. 1940).…”
Systematic excavation and multidisciplinary research undertaken over three decades have deepened our understanding of the early Palaeolithic archaeology at Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar (Caravaca de la Cruz, Murcia, Spain). New results from biochronology and combined ESR and U-series dating corroborate previous magnetostratigraphy, placing the entire excavated sequence between the Jaramillo sub-chron and the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary (i.e., ca. 990-772 thousand years ago [ka]); palaeontological and palynological findings reflect temperate environmental conditions. A bifacially-flaked limestone hand-axe was excavated one metre below the top of the Pleistocene sequence. The Equus cf. altidens tooth that provided the ESR estimate was excavated one metre below the hand-axe. Throughout its five-metre-deep sedimentary sequence, small nodules, fragments, and struck flakes make up the bulk of the Palaeolithic assemblage. Stratigraphical analysis points to undisturbed continuous sedimentary deposition above a layer of ashy sediment, encountered 4.5 m below the top of the Pleistocene sequence, which contained thermallyaltered bone and heat-shattered chert cores and flakes. Cueva Negra is among the earliest European sites with firm evidence of combustion..Introduction
Context
Geographical locationCueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar is a large, north-facing, rock-shelter (ca. 10x10 m in area), in Upper Miocene (Tortonian) biocalcarenite rock, lying at 740 m above sea level, a.s.l. (38° 02' 12.5" N; 1° 53' 5.8" W) on the right bank 40 m above the Quípar River where it flows northwards from a one-kilometre-long gorge (the Estrecho, i.e., "the Narrows") below the hamlet of La Encarnación in Caravaca de la Cruz municipality (Murcia, Spain) (Figure 1). The Quípar is a tributary of the Segura River that reaches the Mediterranean Sea 110 km E of Cueva Negra, even though the cave lies only 70 km N of the Murcian coast. Important geological faults determine the alignment of tributaries in the Segura drainage basin. The Estrecho follows the sinistral reverse Quípar Fault, active since the Late Miocene (Messinian). Activity caused uplift of the right bank of the river, thereby saving from riverine erosion the fine-grained fluviatile sediments that had accumulated in Cueva Negra under conditions of low transport energy by intermittent overflow of an erstwhile swampy lake fed by the Quípar during the late Early Pleistocene. The Quípar enters the gorge at 725 m a.s.l. and leaves it at 690 m a.s.l.. The height of the land above sea level during the Early Pleistocene is unknown. The Upper Miocene (Tortonian) calcarenite formed under the Tethys Sea, arising to become a shoreline surface in the Upper Pliocene. Cueva Negra is a vestige of a trapezoidal endokarstic cavity that likely developed in relation to low-lying lagoons or lakes.
LithostratigraphyThe fluviatile sediments inside Cueva Negra include clasts eroded from the cave roof and walls. Palaeolithic and faunal remains are present throughout the five-metre depth, implying...
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