Articles producció científicaHistòria i Història de l'Art

Archaeomagnetic Tools Applied to the Study of Middle Palaeolithic Hearths: The Level R (ca. 60 ka BP) at Abric Romaní (NE Iberian Peninsula)

  • Identification data

    Identifier:  imarina:9452268
    Authors:  del Rio, Judit; Palencia-Ortas, Alicia; Gomez-Paccard, Miriam; Carrancho, Angel; Saladie, Palmira; Chacon, M Gema; Carbonell, Eudald; Vallverdu, Josep
    Abstract:
    Due to its long occupation throughout the Middle Palaeolithic and the abundance of its pyrotechnological evidence, the Abric Roman & iacute; rockshelter (Capellades, Barcelona) provides an ideal setting for studying Neanderthal fire use. We conducted an archaeomagnetic study of four hearths from Level R (ca. 60 ky BP). Rock magnetism experiments, including hysteresis loops, and backfield, isothermal remanent magnetisation acquisition and thermo-magnetic curves, were conducted on three specimens per hearth to investigate their magnetic mineralogy. To explore the raw material's ability to become magnetised, we performed a laboratory-induced partial thermo-remanent magnetisation acquisition in a 50 mu T field at various increasing temperatures. Our results indicate that the material is predominantly diamagnetic, but contains a small proportion of low coercivity magnetic minerals, likely magnetite. A total of 106 oriented specimens underwent progressive thermal demagnetisation up to 580 degrees C. Directional results at the specimen level show either a single component or two: one between 250 and 420 degrees C and another between 300 and 550 degrees C. Three out of the four hearths yielded normal-polarity archaeomagnetic directions, within the range of secular variation expected for their estimated age; the poor quality of the data prevented any analysis of the remaining structure. These findings suggest that, despite the hearths' low content in ferromagnetic minerals, they are able to acquire a thermal or thermochemical-remanent magnetisation, accurately recording the Earth's magnetic field though their high-temperature component. The low-temperature component may reflect a subsequent thermo-chemical or chemical alteration that partially remagnetised the original direction.
  • Others:

    Link to the original source: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41982-025-00213-6
    APA: del Rio, Judit; Palencia-Ortas, Alicia; Gomez-Paccard, Miriam; Carrancho, Angel; Saladie, Palmira; Chacon, M Gema; Carbonell, Eudald; Vallverdu, Josep (2025). Archaeomagnetic Tools Applied to the Study of Middle Palaeolithic Hearths: The Level R (ca. 60 ka BP) at Abric Romaní (NE Iberian Peninsula). Journal Of Paleolithic Archaeology, 8(1), 12-. DOI: 10.1007/s41982-025-00213-6
    Paper original source: Journal Of Paleolithic Archaeology. 8 (1): 12-
    Article's DOI: 10.1007/s41982-025-00213-6
    Journal publication year: 2025
    Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
    Paper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
    Record's date: 2025-04-30
    URV's Author/s: Saladié Ballesté, Palmira / Vallverdú Poch, Josep
    Department: Història i Història de l'Art
    Licence document URL: https://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/
    Publication Type: Journal Publications
    Author, as appears in the article.: del Rio, Judit; Palencia-Ortas, Alicia; Gomez-Paccard, Miriam; Carrancho, Angel; Saladie, Palmira; Chacon, M Gema; Carbonell, Eudald; Vallverdu, Josep
    licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
    Thematic Areas: Anthropology, Archaeology
    Author's mail: palmira.saladie@urv.cat, palmira.saladie@urv.cat, josep.vallverdup@urv.cat
  • Keywords:

    Archaeomagnetism
    Deposits
    Feature
    Fire
    Hearths
    Holocene
    Iberian peninsul
    Iron-age
    Magnetization
    Middle palaeolithic
    Neanderthals
    Palimpsests
    Rock-shelter capellades
    Sediments
    Site
    Anthropology
    Archaeology
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