Author, as appears in the article.: Yravedra, J; Solano, JA; Herranz-Rodrigo, D; Linares-Matas, GJ; Saarinen, J; Rodriguez-Alba, JJ; Titton, S; Serrano-Ramos, A; Courtenay, LA; Mielgo, C; Luzon, C; Camara, J; Sanchez-Bandera, C; Montilla, E; Toro-Moyano, I; Barsky, D; Fortelius, M; Agusti, J; Blain, HA; Oms, O; Jimenez-Arenas, JM
Department: Història i Història de l'Art
URV's Author/s: Agusti Ballester, Jorge / Sánchez Bandera, Christian / Titton, Stefania
Keywords: Western-europe Tooth marks Taphonomy Subsistence Site Percussion marks Hominin-carnivore interactions Guadix-baza basin Fuente nueva 3 First settlement of europe Early pleistocene Cutmarks Cut-marks Coimbre cave asturias Bone surface modifications Bone
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 Leon (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 Leon 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 Leon 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 Leon faunal assemblage.
Thematic Areas: Archaeology Anthropology
licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
Author's mail: stefania.titton@urv.cat jorge.agusti@urv.cat christian.sanchez@estudiants.urv.cat
Author identifier: 0000-0002-7240-1992
Record's date: 2024-05-23
Papper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Link to the original source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41982-022-00111-1
Papper original source: Journal Of Paleolithic Archaeology. 5 (1):
APA: Yravedra, J; Solano, JA; Herranz-Rodrigo, D; Linares-Matas, GJ; Saarinen, J; Rodriguez-Alba, JJ; Titton, S; Serrano-Ramos, A; Courtenay, LA; Mielgo, C (2022). Unravelling Hominin Activities in the Zooarchaeological Assemblage of Barranco Leon (Orce, Granada, Spain). Journal Of Paleolithic Archaeology, 5(1), -. DOI: 10.1007/s41982-022-00111-1
Licence document URL: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/
Article's DOI: 10.1007/s41982-022-00111-1
Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Journal publication year: 2022
Publication Type: Journal Publications
Repositori URV