Woody macroremains from the Acheulian site of Torralba: Occurrence and palaeoecology of Pinus cf. sylvestris in the Middle Pleistocene of the Iberian Peninsula

Mijarra, José María Postigo; Gómez-Manzaneque, Fernando; Morla, Carlos

doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2016.07.004

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…From the Cerralbo period, wood remains were recovered, studied by Howell and his team, who highlighted the presence of traces of anthropic origin in nine of them, as well as evidence of the use of fire (Howell, 1966;Howell et al, 1962). However, a recent review carried out by Postigo-Mijarra et al (2017), has rejected any evidence of the anthropic processing of these remains, taxonomically identified as Pinus cf. sylvestris.…”

Section: The Torralba Archaeological Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the Problem of Bone Surface Preservation in Taphonomic Studies of Early and Middle Pleistocene Open-Air Sites

Pineda

Saladié

2022

J Archaeol Method Theory

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A commonly identified problem in open-air sites is the poor preservation of bone surfaces because of the multiple agents and processes that act on them. In these assemblages, surface modifications of anthropic origin can be scarce or null, and its activity is mainly inferred through the stone tools and evidence of anthropogenic breakage. Carnivore activity is also frequent. La Mina and El Forn (Barranc de la Boella), Isernia La Pineta, and Torralba are open-air assemblages from the Early and Middle Pleistocene that have contributed to our knowledge of the activities that Lower Paleolithic hominins developed in open spaces. These sites show poorly preserved bone surfaces, evidence of carnivore activity, and few indications of human use on the faunal remains, although stone tools recovered are unequivocal sign of a hominin presence at those sites. Here, we present a synthesis of the taphonomic conducted at these sites with the aim of describing how this kind of work can be conducted at Paleolithic open-air sites using several different proxies, considering the limitations commonly identified in assemblages with poorly preserved bone surfaces. The absence or scarcity of cut marks could be related to the poor preservation of the faunal remains. However, it is impossible to affirm that any such marks were originally present, as hominins may have performed activities not linked to animal carcasses. Anatomical profiles have been presented as a useful tool for reconstructing the paleoecological environments and for allowing inferences to be made about the levels of competition among large predators. The assemblages reflect similarities in the deposition type of the remains and the use of these open spaces by hominins at different times during the Lower Paleolithic.

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Section: The Torralba Archaeological Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the Problem of Bone Surface Preservation in Taphonomic Studies of Early and Middle Pleistocene Open-Air Sites

Pineda

Saladié

2022

J Archaeol Method Theory

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“…The identification of black pine and / or scots pine at this site represents the earliest evidence in Iberia of its use as fuel. While cryophilous pines (Pinus nigra, P. sylvestris, P. mugo, P. uncinata) are easily distinguishable from thermophilous pines (Schweingruber 1976), difficulties arise when attempting to distinguish between the different species of highland pines (Allué, Solé, and Burguet-Coca 2016;Badal and Carrión 2001;Badal et al 2012a;Badal, Villaverde, and Zilhão 2012b;Postigo-Mijarra, Gómez-Manzaneque, and Morla 2017;Vidal-Matutano et al 2015). Taking into account the anatomy of the wood, the discrimination of these four species is barely feasible, although Pinus mugo and Pinus uncinata can be discarded based on the location of the site at a low altitude, since these two species are limited to higher elevations (above 1900-2000 m a.s.l.).…”

Section: Palaeoecological Inferencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Anthropogenic Use of Firewood During the European Middle Pleistocene: Charcoal Evidence from Levels XIII and XI of Bolomor Cave, Eastern Iberia (230–160 ka)

Vidal-Matutano

Blasco

Sañudo

et al. 2017

Environmental Archaeology

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Human control of fire is a widely debated issue in the field of Palaeolithic archaeology, since it involved significant technological innovations for human subsistence. Although fire evidence has been the subject of intense debate regarding its natural or anthropogenic nature, most authors agree that combustion structures represent the most direct evidence of human control of fire. Wood charcoal fragments from these contexts represent the fuel remains that result from humans' collection of firewood, which means they can reveal significant behavioural and palaeoenvironmental information relevant to our understanding of Middle Palaeolithic societies. In this work, we present anthracological data derived from combustion structure 2 (level XIII, ca. 230 ka, MIS 7) and combustion structure 4 (level XI, ca. 160 ka, MIS 6) from Bolomor Cave, which are chronologically among the earliest combustion structures found in Europe. The present work discusses how the presence of black pine and / or scots pine in both levels sheds light on the characterisation of the local landscape. Additional analyses focussing on the pre-and post-depositional processes affecting charcoal preservation point to biodegradation patterns. The aim of this work is to provide the first discussion concerning the anthracological data derived from Bolomor Cave in order to contribute to the general debate regarding the use of fire during the European Middle Pleistocene. ARTICLE HISTORY

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The Middle Pleistocene site of Torralba (Soria, Spain): a taphonomic view of the Marquis of Cerralbo and Howell faunal collections

Pineda

Saladié

2018

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Woody macroremains from the Acheulian site of Torralba: Occurrence and palaeoecology of Pinus cf. sylvestris in the Middle Pleistocene of the Iberian Peninsula

Cited by 6 publications

References 24 publications

Beyond the Problem of Bone Surface Preservation in Taphonomic Studies of Early and Middle Pleistocene Open-Air Sites

Beyond the Problem of Bone Surface Preservation in Taphonomic Studies of Early and Middle Pleistocene Open-Air Sites

The Anthropogenic Use of Firewood During the European Middle Pleistocene: Charcoal Evidence from Levels XIII and XI of Bolomor Cave, Eastern Iberia (230–160 ka)

The Middle Pleistocene site of Torralba (Soria, Spain): a taphonomic view of the Marquis of Cerralbo and Howell faunal collections

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