Archaeobotanical study of Neolithic levels of Knossos (Crete). Through charcoal remains vegetatio... more Archaeobotanical study of Neolithic levels of Knossos (Crete). Through charcoal remains vegetation, climate and landscape of the site is rebuilt.
Fruits of the sea The origins of marine resource consumption by humans have been much debated. Zi... more Fruits of the sea The origins of marine resource consumption by humans have been much debated. Zilhão et al. present evidence that, in Atlantic Iberia's coastal settings, Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals exploited marine resources at a scale on par with the modern human–associated Middle Stone Age of southern Africa (see the Perspective by Will). Excavations at the Figueira Brava site on Portugal's Atlantic coast reveal shell middens rich in the remains of mollusks, crabs, and fish, as well as terrestrial food items. Familiarity with the sea and its resources may thus have been widespread for residents there in the Middle Paleolithic. The Figueira Brava Neanderthals also exploited stone pine nuts in a way akin to that previously identified in the Holocene of Iberia. These findings add broader dimensions to our understanding of the role of aquatic resources in the subsistence of Paleolithic humans. Science , this issue p. eaaz7943 ; see also p. 1422
New excavations carried out at Cova de les Malladetes confirm and improve previous information on... more New excavations carried out at Cova de les Malladetes confirm and improve previous information on the archaeological sequence of this site. A total of 29 new dates allow to specify the chronology of the Aurignacian (levels XIVA–XII) and Gravettian (levels XI–VII). Furthermore, concerning the results obtained during the 1970 excavation, three new levels were identified: level XIVB, which represents a short temporal human occupation hiatus, and levels XV and XVI with some hearths and anthropic evidence, although the lithic material does not permit a cultural attribution. This paper presents data obtained from the analysis of archaeobotanical, micro- and macrofaunal assemblages and lithic and osseous industry. Results are relevant concerning the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental characterisation of the Early Upper Palaeolithic, as well as for assessing the human occupation patterns during the Gravettian and Aurignacian. Moreover, we evaluate the chronological implications of the b...
The site of Gruta da Aroeira (Torres Novas, Portugal), with evidence of human occupancy dating to... more The site of Gruta da Aroeira (Torres Novas, Portugal), with evidence of human occupancy dating to ca. 400 ka (Marine Isotope Stage 11), is one of the very few Middle Pleistocene localities to have provided a fossil hominin cranium associated with Acheulean bifaces in a cave context. The multi-analytic study reported here of the by-products of burning recorded in layer X suggests the presence of anthropogenic fires at the site, among the oldest such evidence in south-western Europe. The burnt material consists of bone, charcoal and, possibly, quartzite cobbles. These finds were made in a small area of the cave and in two separate occupation horizons. Our results add to our still-limited knowledge about the controlled use of fire in the Lower Palaeolithic and contribute to ongoing debates on the behavioural complexity of the Acheulean of Europe.
We present a new multi-analytical approach to the characterization of black pigments in Spanish L... more We present a new multi-analytical approach to the characterization of black pigments in Spanish Levantine rock art. This new protocol seeks to identify the raw materials that were used, as well as reconstruct the different technical gestures and decision-making processes involved in the obtaining of these black pigments. For the first of these goals, the pictorial matter of the black figurative motifs documented at the Les Dogues rock art shelter (Ares del Maestre, Castellón, Spain) was characterized through the combination of physicochemical and archeobotanical analyses. During the first stage of our research protocol, in situ and non-destructive analyses were carried out by means of portable Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF); during the second stage, samples were analyzed by Optical Microscopy (OM), Raman spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). Two major conclusions have been drawn from the...
Cova de l'Or is an important site for the Neolithic of the western Mediterranean. A complete ... more Cova de l'Or is an important site for the Neolithic of the western Mediterranean. A complete cultural and environmental sequence for the Early and Middle Neolithic allows studying the management of forest resources since the arrival of the first farmers and until the intensification of herding activities that took place a few centuries later. Our research focuses on the analysis of wood charcoals recovered from the dung levels in trench K-34, which we compare with the available relevant data from trench J-4.
Archaeobotanical study of Neolithic levels of Knossos (Crete). Through charcoal remains vegetatio... more Archaeobotanical study of Neolithic levels of Knossos (Crete). Through charcoal remains vegetation, climate and landscape of the site is rebuilt.
Fruits of the sea The origins of marine resource consumption by humans have been much debated. Zi... more Fruits of the sea The origins of marine resource consumption by humans have been much debated. Zilhão et al. present evidence that, in Atlantic Iberia's coastal settings, Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals exploited marine resources at a scale on par with the modern human–associated Middle Stone Age of southern Africa (see the Perspective by Will). Excavations at the Figueira Brava site on Portugal's Atlantic coast reveal shell middens rich in the remains of mollusks, crabs, and fish, as well as terrestrial food items. Familiarity with the sea and its resources may thus have been widespread for residents there in the Middle Paleolithic. The Figueira Brava Neanderthals also exploited stone pine nuts in a way akin to that previously identified in the Holocene of Iberia. These findings add broader dimensions to our understanding of the role of aquatic resources in the subsistence of Paleolithic humans. Science , this issue p. eaaz7943 ; see also p. 1422
New excavations carried out at Cova de les Malladetes confirm and improve previous information on... more New excavations carried out at Cova de les Malladetes confirm and improve previous information on the archaeological sequence of this site. A total of 29 new dates allow to specify the chronology of the Aurignacian (levels XIVA–XII) and Gravettian (levels XI–VII). Furthermore, concerning the results obtained during the 1970 excavation, three new levels were identified: level XIVB, which represents a short temporal human occupation hiatus, and levels XV and XVI with some hearths and anthropic evidence, although the lithic material does not permit a cultural attribution. This paper presents data obtained from the analysis of archaeobotanical, micro- and macrofaunal assemblages and lithic and osseous industry. Results are relevant concerning the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental characterisation of the Early Upper Palaeolithic, as well as for assessing the human occupation patterns during the Gravettian and Aurignacian. Moreover, we evaluate the chronological implications of the b...
The site of Gruta da Aroeira (Torres Novas, Portugal), with evidence of human occupancy dating to... more The site of Gruta da Aroeira (Torres Novas, Portugal), with evidence of human occupancy dating to ca. 400 ka (Marine Isotope Stage 11), is one of the very few Middle Pleistocene localities to have provided a fossil hominin cranium associated with Acheulean bifaces in a cave context. The multi-analytic study reported here of the by-products of burning recorded in layer X suggests the presence of anthropogenic fires at the site, among the oldest such evidence in south-western Europe. The burnt material consists of bone, charcoal and, possibly, quartzite cobbles. These finds were made in a small area of the cave and in two separate occupation horizons. Our results add to our still-limited knowledge about the controlled use of fire in the Lower Palaeolithic and contribute to ongoing debates on the behavioural complexity of the Acheulean of Europe.
We present a new multi-analytical approach to the characterization of black pigments in Spanish L... more We present a new multi-analytical approach to the characterization of black pigments in Spanish Levantine rock art. This new protocol seeks to identify the raw materials that were used, as well as reconstruct the different technical gestures and decision-making processes involved in the obtaining of these black pigments. For the first of these goals, the pictorial matter of the black figurative motifs documented at the Les Dogues rock art shelter (Ares del Maestre, Castellón, Spain) was characterized through the combination of physicochemical and archeobotanical analyses. During the first stage of our research protocol, in situ and non-destructive analyses were carried out by means of portable Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF); during the second stage, samples were analyzed by Optical Microscopy (OM), Raman spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). Two major conclusions have been drawn from the...
Cova de l'Or is an important site for the Neolithic of the western Mediterranean. A complete ... more Cova de l'Or is an important site for the Neolithic of the western Mediterranean. A complete cultural and environmental sequence for the Early and Middle Neolithic allows studying the management of forest resources since the arrival of the first farmers and until the intensification of herding activities that took place a few centuries later. Our research focuses on the analysis of wood charcoals recovered from the dung levels in trench K-34, which we compare with the available relevant data from trench J-4.
Este trabajo ofrece un balance sobre la neolitización de las costa meridional de Andalucía (Españ... more Este trabajo ofrece un balance sobre la neolitización de las costa meridional de Andalucía (España). El estudio de los materiales recuperados en las excavaciones dirigidas por el profesor Francisco Jordá Cerdá entre 1979-87 en la cueva de Nerja y la obtención de nuevas dataciones radiométricas sobre especies domésticas permiten una valoración sobre la transición Mesolítico-Neolítico. Los datos paleoambientales y paleoeconómicos (estratigrafía y bioarqueología) y arqueológicos (producciones líticas, óseas, adornos y cerámica) son valorados a la hora de plantear un análisis sobre la expansión del Neolítico con una perspectiva mediterránea. Los resultados indican que existe un vacío de datos de 500 años entre los últimos cazadores mesolíticos y los primeros agricultores y que nada indica que el Neolítico fuera un proceso local. Nuestra perspectiva asume un proceso de difusión del Neolítico.
This paper offers an overview for the Early Neolithic of the southern coast of Andalusia (Spain). Analyses of materials recovered during the 1979-87 excavations in Nerja cave by professor Francisco Jordá Cerdá, including new radiocarbon dates on domestic taxa, allow us to examine the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. Paleoenvironmental and paleoeconomic data (stratigraphy and bioarcheological data) combined with archaeological data (ornaments, bone tools, lithics, and ceramics were analysed) to provide a regional perspective on the neolithisation of the western Mediterranean. There is an apparent 500-year gap between occupations by the last coastal foragers and the earliest Neolithic farmers, and no evidence is found to suggest a local Neolithization. Our approach assumes a diffusion process of the Neolithic.
Del neolític a l’edat del bronze en el Mediterrani occidental. Estudis en homenatge a Bernat Martí Oliver., 2016
Este trabajo trata de la importancia de los recursos vegetales locales para las sociedades neolít... more Este trabajo trata de la importancia de los recursos vegetales locales para las sociedades neolíticas a partir de la identificación botánica del carbón. Se presentan los paisajes vegetales neolíticos y sus diferentes respuestas ante la gestión de los primeros grupos agropastorales. Seguiremos el camino de la neolitización, empezando por Grecia con los poblados de Knossos, Dispilio, Makri y las cuevas de Alepotrypa, Sarakenos, los Cíclopes. Seguiremos las dos direcciones clásicas: hacia el norte hasta la Gran Llanura Húngara con varios yacimientos del valle del Tisza y el poblado de Moravany (Eslovaquia). Hacia el oeste seguiremos a las cerámicas impresas y cardiales, en Piana di Curinga (Italia) y en la península Ibérica, donde nos centraremos en los sitios de Alicante (Cova de les Cendres, Cova de l’Or, La Falguera, etc.).
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Papers by Ernestina Badal
This paper offers an overview for the Early Neolithic of the southern coast of Andalusia (Spain). Analyses of materials recovered during the 1979-87 excavations in Nerja cave by professor Francisco Jordá Cerdá, including new radiocarbon dates on domestic taxa, allow us to examine the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. Paleoenvironmental and paleoeconomic data (stratigraphy and bioarcheological data) combined with archaeological data (ornaments, bone tools, lithics, and ceramics were analysed) to provide a regional perspective on the neolithisation of the western Mediterranean. There is an apparent 500-year gap between occupations by the last coastal foragers and the earliest Neolithic farmers, and no evidence is found to suggest a local Neolithization. Our approach assumes a diffusion process of the Neolithic.