Unravelling Hominin Activities in the Zooarchaeological Assemblage of Barranco León (Orce, Granada, Spain)

Abstract

Little is known about the subsistence practices of the first European settlers, mainly due to the shortage of archaeological sites in Europe older than a million years. This article contributes to the knowledge of the subsistence of the first Europeans with new zooarchaeology and taphonomic data from the Palaeolithic site of Barranco León (Orce, Granada, Spain). We present the results of the analysis of the faunal assemblages retrieved in the context of new excavations undertaken between 2016 and 2020. We have followed a standard methodology for the identification and quantification of species, mortality profiles, skeletal representation and taphonomic analysis. With regard to the taphonomic evidence, we have documented the extent of rounding, abrasion and other alterations. Finally, we examined traces from the activities of carnivores and hominins that led to the accumulation and alteration of the bone assemblages. Results indicate that the archaeo-paleontological deposits from Barranco León present a dual-patterned mixed taphonomic origin. The first phase primarily involved waterborne processes (BL-D1), which led to the accumulation of lithic raw materials, a few archaeological stone tools, and some faunal remains with percussion and cutmarks. The second phase (BL-D2) contains several stone tools associated with faunal remains with more anthropogenic alterations, such as cutmarks and percussion marks. After analysing the Barranco León zooarchaeological assemblage, the present study concludes that hominins had access to the meat and within-bone nutrients of animals of diverse sizes. However, the specific carcass acquisition mechanisms that hominins followed are less certain because the presence of tooth marks suggests that carnivores also played a role in the accumulation and modification of the Barranco León faunal assemblage.

An Updated Review of The Quaternary Hippopotamus Fossil Records from the Iberian Peninsula

“…Of this scarce evidence, only one reference is outside the Iberian Peninsula, in the Greek locality of Marathousa [58]. In particular, a limited number of cut marks identified on specimens from the sites of Barranco León [59] and Fuente Nueva-3 [20] allow us to propose human access to hippopotamus carcasses in the Early Pleistocene. More evident seems to be the accumulation of hippopotamus remains in the locality of Bolomor Cave at the end of the Middle Pleistocene [22].…”

Plio-Pleistocene hydrothermal events of the Baza Basin (Betic Cordillera, SE Spain) and their paleoecological implications

“…The Orce sub-basin preserves a unique fossil record of terrestrial vertebrates, including two archaeological sites dated to ~ 1.4 Ma (see review in Palmqvist et al, 2016) that mark the earliest presence of hominins in Western Europe: Barranco León (BL) and Fuente Nueva-3 (FN3). BL and FN3 preserve huge assemblages of skeletal remains of large mammals and Oldowan tools, which are linked through the presence of anthropogenic cut and percussion marks, as well as a human deciduous tooth in the case of BL, which is at this moment the oldest hominin fossil found in Western Europe (Martínez-Navarro et al, 1997Oms et al, 2000aOms et al, , 2000bEspigares et al, 2013Espigares et al, , 2019Toro-Moyano et al, 2013;Titton et al, 2021;Yravedra et al, 2021Yravedra et al, , 2022Palmqvist et al, 2023). Moreover, the Venta Micena site (VM, 1.6-1.5 Ma), which is slightly older than BL/FN3 and has been interpreted as a denning area of the giant hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris (Arribas and Palmqvist, 1998;Palmqvist and Arribas, 2001;Palmqvist et al, 2022b), provides an excellent record of the large mammal community that preceded the hominin dispersal in the basin (Martínez-Navarro, 1991;Mendoza et al, 2005;Rodríguez-Gómez et al, 2017).…”

Computational simulations ofPachycrocutabite damage based on a ∼1.2 Ma ravaged hippopotamus femur from Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Granada, Spain)

“…In particular, the ∼1.2 Ma open-air site of Fuente Nueva 3 (FN3; see Supplementary Materials) has been used to defend the scenario of direct competition between both P. brevirostris and early European populations of Homo for the consumption of large mammal carrion (Espigares et al, 2013(Espigares et al, , 2019Yravedra et al, 2024). Current evidence supporting P. brevirostris activity at this site includes a high prevalence of bones displaying carnivore induced damage in association with abundant P. brevirostris coprolites (Espigares et al, 2023(Espigares et al, , 2013, and the notably large size of the tooth marks observed on some of the bones.…”