Edgard Camarós, PhD

To evaluate the presence of Dicrocoelium sp. in a child from a Late Antique funerary context from Cantabrian Spain and discuss whether the infection is true infection or pseudoparasitosis. Materials: Four skeletons, including one from a 5-7 year old child, have been analysed from the archaeological site of El Conventón, dated between the sixth and seventh centuries AD. Methods: The paleoparasitological study was conducted through the analysis of soil samples from different parts of the skeleton and funerary context using the rehydration, homogenization, and micro-sieving method, and visualized through brightfield microscopy. Results: A soil sample from the pelvic region tested positive for Dicrocoelium sp. (possibly D. dendriticum). Conclusions: The child was infected with Dicrocoelium dendriticum, which based on archaeological and historical contexts may be related to hygiene or dietary behaviour. Significance: We present one of the few cases of the identification of a Dicrocoelidae parasite directly associated with a human skeleton that provides historical knowledge of a zoonotic disease. Limitations: The diagnosis of a zoonosis through the identification of ancient parasites is complex. In addition, Dicrocoelium sp. in association with skeletal human remains is rare due to the potential low prevalence of this parasite. Suggestions for Further Research: Highlight the importance of paleoparasitological analysis to link parasitic infection diseases with socioeconomic issues by using funerary contexts with skeletal remains.

RESUMEN En este trabajo presentamos un conjunto de 6 fe-chas de carbono 14 del poblado de Cap de Barbaria II (Formentera, Islas Baleares), que permiten acotar su ocupación dentro de la Edad del Bronce. Además, se tratan aspectos metodológicos relativos a la calibración e interpretación de las fechas en función de la natu-raleza de las muestras (hueso y concha). La informa-ción delimita cronológicamente el grupo arqueológico naviforme en las islas Pitiusas (Ibiza y Formentera) y proporciona datos importantes para la comprensión de su formación, desarrollo y extinción en el conjunto del archipiélago balear.

ABSTRACT We present a series of six radiocarbon dates from the site of Cap de Barbaria II (Formentera, Balearic Islands). These place its occupation in the Bronze Age. In addition, methodological aspects of date calibration according to the nature of the samples (animal bone and shell) are discussed. This information defines chronological time span of the Naviform societies in the islands of Ibiza and Formentera and provides important elements for the understanding the formation, development, and end of these societies throughout the Balearic archipelago.

Palabras clave: Islas Baleares; Formentera; Naviforme; Radiocarbono; Edad del Bronce; Mediterráneo occidental.

Pleistocene skinning and exploitation of carnivore furs have been previously inferred from archaeological evidence. Nevertheless, the evidence of skinning and fur processing tends to be weak and the interpretations are not strongly sustained by the archaeological record. In the present paper, we analyze unique evidence of patterned anthropic modification and skeletal representation of fossil remains of cave lion (Panthera spelaea) from the Lower Gallery of La Garma (Cantabria, Spain). This site is one of the few that provides Pleisto-cene examples of lion exploitation by humans. Our archaeozoological study suggests that lion-specialized pelt exploitation and use might have been related to ritual activities during the Middle Magdalenian period (ca. 14800 cal BC). Moreover, the specimens also represent the southernmost European and the latest evidence of cave lion exploitation in Iberia. Therefore, the study seeks to provide alternative explanations for lion extinction in Eurasia and argues for a role of hunting as a factor to take into account.

Interaction between hominins and carnivores has been common and constant through human evolution and generated mutual pressures similar to those present in worldwide modern human-carnivore conflicts. This current interaction is sometimes violent and can be reflected in permanent skeletal pathologies and other bone modifications. In the present paper, we carry out a survey of 124 forensic cases of dangerous human-carnivore encounters. The objective is to infer direct hominin-carnivore confrontation during the Pleistocene, which is important to understand behavioral changes during human evolution. In addition, the case of Neanderthals is analyzed in order to find evidence of past attacks using forensic observations. The results obtained pose that Neanderthals could potentially have been involved in dangerous encounters during the Pleistocene, validating our methodology to approach past attacks from a forensic perspective.

This paper provides detailed description of a non-destructive, low-cost, and low-time consuming technique for producing high-resolution casts for the observation of taphonomic modifications on bone surfaces. The aim of the whole process is to obtain molds that accurately replicate the original bone surface at both the macro-and microscopic levels. The high quality transparent epoxy casts produced are analyzed by light microscopy and used to produce detailed microphotographs of bone surfaces. After describing each step of the process, we present some examples of its application in the case of anthropic activity, carnivores, or other post-depositional modifications.

At most Pleistocene archaeological sites it is difficult to observe structured complex spatial behaviour. This common phenomenon could be a taphonomic issue. Problems in the preservation of the original spatial intra-site distribution could be related to hominid–carnivore alternation in the use of space. In the present paper we analyse the results of our experimentation with large extant carnivores (bears, wolves, hyenas and lions) and propose these animals acted as hearth and hearth-related assemblage modifiers. In this sense, the role of carnivores in the modification of these elements can cause problems in the interpretation and visibility of modern and complex behaviour in the conception of space in the archaeological record.► We experiment with extant large carnivores. ► Large carnivores as taphonomic agents of space modification. ► Large carnivores are capable of modifying hearths. ► Large carnivores erase evidence of human behaviour.

The isle of Formentera (Balearic Archipelago, Spain) was one of the latest insular contexts to be colonized in the Mediterranean. The first settlement occurred during the second millennium cal BCE, and this late human occupation is associated with insularity factors, including an extreme environment. Cap de Barbaria II is one of the biggest open-air naviform villages occupied during the first prehistoric settlement and for an extended period (ca. 1600–850 cal BCE). Multidisciplinary archaeological research conducted within the site reveals adaptation of the economic behaviour of these first settlers to an environment poor in resources. In this sense, aspects such as innovation, diversification, and intensification in the use of resources characterized the subsistence and technological patterns developed by the prehistoric inhabitants of Formentera. New data from different archaeological and paleoenvironmental studies, such as archaeobotanical, archaeozoological, or technological and functional, have been analyzed. In this sense, the assessed subsistence patterns, reveal adaptive strategies that encompass different local and exogenous resources and differ from those observed in the rest of the Balearic Islands.

The fat- and nutrient-rich marrow of animal bones can be extracted using different techniques.
Passive hammerstone percussion has been the primary focus of experimental bone breaking
and the main analogy to understand archaeological bone breakage. Here, the term ‘passive’
is applied because the bone to be broken passively receives the impact from a hammerstone.
In addition to this technique, there is another bone-breaking method that also requires direct
percussion, but in an active way. This method is percussion by ‘batting’, in which the bone is
actively hit against an anvil until the bone breaks. This technique has rarely been considered
at an experimental level and, therefore, has been omitted in the majority of the archaeological
interpretations of faunal assemblages with pre-use of fire technologies. In this study, we
attempt to analytically characterize this type of bone-breaking technique through a systematic
comparison with hammerstone percussion. The applied statistical tests will allow us to
distinguish some diagnostic modifications, such as the outlines of the fracture planes and the
type of notches or their location with respect to the longitudinal axis of the bone. These
features and their proportions allow the consideration of the use of this technique in Pleistocene
anthropogenic faunal assemblages.

In this article we present the experimental processing of a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) realized by members from the Laboratory of Archaeology (UAB), with the intention of practicing and understanding different activities implicated during animal processing, and at the same time, to increase our reference collection.

Resumen: Los estudios etnoarqueológicos llevados a cabo en yacimientos Yámana de la costa norte del Canal Beagle (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina), han permitido desarrollar una metodología de excavación y análisis de concheros potencialmente aplicable en ...