Abric Romaní

Archaeological faunal assemblages may be accumulated and altered by multiple tapho-nomic agents through different processes. Before drawing any behavioural or environmental infer-ences from the archaeological record, researchers must identify the taphonomic agents and mecha-nisms that have modified faunal assemblages. In this paper, post-depositional alterations of the faunal remains in the level O of the Abric Romaní site, dated around 55 ky, are investigated. As with other levels of this site studied previously, the origin of the macrofaunal accumulations in level O and the major taphonomic modifications within this level are due to human activity. After human occupation, however, post-depositional taphonomic processes occurred including carnivore damage, plant activ-ity, water abrasion, rodent activity, cementation and manganese oxide pigmentation. In the present study we focus on post-depositional processes paying particular attention to the number of affected remains, degree of alteration, the sequence of modifications, skeletal part representation and spatial distribution of the remains. Our study concludes that the level O had a microenvironment of rela-tive ambient humidity, marked by wet conditions and reactivations of weak water flows. In general, post-depositional processes were not highly destructive, which is conducive to the study of the faunal remains from an archaeological point of view.

Isolate different occupational events in the Palaeolithic record is a hard work, because the
overlapping of the remains from different occupations is very common, and this phenomenon
creates archaeological palimpsests. We can differentiate two types of palimpsest: the vertical
and the horizontal ones. These two types are very important to identify and define human
short-term occupation. We present the different methodology used in each case and its application
in one of the levels at Abric Romani rockshelter.
After deconstructing the vertical palimpsest of the level O with archaeoestratigraphic study
that, we presented in the last USIPP (Bargall´o et al, 2016). Now we presents a transdisciplinary
study in order to determine the occupation length at the archaeolevel Oa assemblage,
a Middle Palaeolithic record dated on 54,24±0,42Ka by U/Th series.
In this study, we present how we have been puzzling out the horizontal palimpsest of archaeolevel
Oa and then we have identified different human activities that seems to be the
result of a short occupation. Occupation patterns are identified based on human activities
and anthropogenical accumulations. These archaeological accumulations, contain stone tools
(1584 remains), faunal remains (486 remains) and hearths (n=10). The relationship between
them has been established through the study of refitted remains (both in lithics and bones).
The small occupation surfaces (55m2, bearing in mind that the paleofloor of the archaeolevel
Oa is 209 m 2) and the results obtained (fragmented knapping activities, isolated accumulations
and differential transport of faunal remains) suggest short occupation settlements
in the archaeolevel Oa. From the results obtained through the trans-disciplinary study we
can obtain important information to understand socio-economics behaviours (subsistence
strategies, distribution of resources, social connections or management of the territory) of
prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

Because its stratigraphic sequence covers more than 30,000 years of human occupation, the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abric Romaní (Capellades, Spain) provides crucial information to reconstruct Neanderthal behaviours in southern Europe. In this paper we present evidence of the technological behaviours of the Neanderthals groups that settled at level M and O, dated between 51 and 55 ka BP. This  study focuses on reconstructing knapping processes through the results of core reduction sequences and chert procurement and management strategies. These lithic assemblages were chosen because they belong to two of the richest archaeological levels in the sequence. The predominant use of chert was identified in both levels, although significant variations in procurement patterns and the use of different knapping strategies were documented. The results provide insight into the variability of Middle Palaeolithic lithic assemblages, the possible
reasons for that variability and its connection with chert procurement strategies and territorial management.