1
|
Angelucci DE, Nabais M, Zilhão J. Formation processes, fire use, and patterns of human occupation across the Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 5a-5b) of Gruta da Oliveira (Almonda karst system, Torres Novas, Portugal). PLoS One 2023; 18:e0292075. [PMID: 37819902 PMCID: PMC10566745 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Gruta da Oliveira features a c. 13 m-thick infilling that includes a c. 6.5 m-thick archaeological deposit (the "Middle Palaeolithic sequence" complex), which Bayesian modelling of available dating results places in MIS 5a (layers 7-14) and MIS 5b (layers 15-25), c. 71,000-93,000 years ago. The accumulation primarily consists of sediment washed in from the slope through gravitational processes and surface dynamics. The coarse fraction derives from weathering of the cave's limestone bedrock. Tectonic activity and structural instability caused the erosional retreat of the scarp face, explaining the large, roof-collapsed rock masses found through the stratification. The changes in deposition and diagenesis observed across the archaeological sequence are minor and primarily controlled by local factors and the impact of humans and other biological agents. Pulses of stadial accumulation-reflected in the composition of the assemblages of hunted ungulates, mostly open-country and rocky terrain taxa (rhino, horse, ibex)-alternate with interstadial hiatuses-during which carbonate crusts and flowstone formed. Humans were active at the cave throughout, but occupation was intermittent, which allowed for limited usage by carnivores when people visited less frequently. During the accumulation of layers 15-25 (c. 85,000-93,000 years ago), the carnivore guild was dominated by wolf and lion, while brown bear and lynx predominate in layers 7-14 (c. 71,000-78,000 years ago). In the excavated areas, conditions for residential use were optimal during the accumulation of layers 20-22 (c. 90,000-92,000 years ago) and 14 (c. 76,000-78,000 years ago), which yielded dense, hearth-focused scatters of stone tools and burnt bones. The latter are ubiquitous, adding to the growing body of evidence that Middle Palaeolithic Neandertals used fire in regular, consistent manner. The patterns of site usage revealed at Gruta da Oliveira are no different from those observed 50,000 years later in comparable early Upper Palaeolithic and Solutrean cave sites of central Portugal.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Diego E. Angelucci
- Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia, Università degli Studi di Trento, Trento, Italy
- UNIARQ, Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Mariana Nabais
- UNIARQ, Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain
| | - João Zilhão
- UNIARQ, Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Abstract
The most extensive corpus of ancient immovable cultural heritage is that of global rock art. Estimating its age has traditionally been challenging, rendering it difficult to integrate archaeological evidence of early cultural traditions. The dating of Chinese rock art by ‘direct methods’ began in the late 1990s in Qinghai Province. Since then, China has acquired the largest body of direct dating information about the rock art of any country. The establishment of the International Centre for Rock Art Dating at Hebei Normal University has been the driving force in this development, with its researchers accounting for most of the results. This centre has set the highest standards in rock art age estimation. Its principal method, microerosion analysis, secured the largest number of determinations, but it has also applied other methods. Its work with uranium-thorium analysis of carbonate precipitates in caves is of particular significance because it tested this widely used method. The implications of this work are wide-ranging. Most direct-dating of rock art has now become available from Henan, but results have also been reported from Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Jiangsu, Hubei, Guangxi, Yunnan, Qinghai, Tibet, and Xinjiang. Intensive work by several teams is continuing and is expected to result in a significantly better understanding of China’s early immovable cultural heritage.
Collapse
|
3
|
The symbolic role of the underground world among Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2021495118. [PMID: 34341069 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2021495118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Cueva de Ardales in Málaga, Spain, is one of the richest and best-preserved Paleolithic painted caves of southwestern Europe, containing over a thousand graphic representations. Here, we study the red pigment in panel II.A.3 of "Sala de las Estrellas," dated by U-Th to the Middle Paleolithic, to determine its composition, verify its anthropogenic nature, infer the associated behaviors, and discuss their implications. Using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction, we analyzed a set of samples from the panel and compared them to natural coloring materials collected from the floor and walls of the cave. The conspicuously different texture and composition of the geological samples indicates that the pigments used in the paintings do not come from the outcrops of colorant material known in the cave. We confirm that the paintings are not the result of natural processes and show that the composition of the paint is consistent with the artistic activity being recurrent. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that Neanderthals symbolically used these paintings and the large stalagmitic dome harboring them over an extended time span.
Collapse
|
4
|
Breyl M. Triangulating Neanderthal cognition: A tale of not seeing the forest for the trees. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2020; 12:e1545. [PMID: 32918796 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The inference of Neanderthal cognition, including their cultural and linguistic capabilities, has persisted as a fiercely debated research topic for decades. This lack of consensus is substantially based on inherent uncertainties in reconstructing prehistory out of indirect evidence as well as other methodological limitations. Further factors include systemic difficulties within interdisciplinary discourse, data artifacts, historic research biases, and the sheer scope of the relevant research. Given the degrees of freedom in interpretation ensuing from these complications, any attempt to find approximate answers to the yet unsettled pertinent discourse may not rest on single studies, but instead a careful and comprehensive interdisciplinary synthesis of findings. Triangulating Neanderthals' cognition by considering the plethora of data, diverse perspectives and aforementioned complexities present within the literature constitutes the currently most reliable pathway to tentative conclusions. While some uncertainties remain, such an approach paints the picture of an extensive shared humanity between anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Linguistics > Evolution of Language.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Breyl
- Germanistik, Komparatistik, Nordistik, Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
White R, Bosinski G, Bourrillon R, Clottes J, Conkey MW, Rodriguez SC, Cortés-Sánchez M, de la Rasilla Vives M, Delluc B, Delluc G, Feruglio V, Floss H, Foucher P, Fritz C, Fuentes O, Garate D, González Gómez J, González-Morales MR, González-Pumariega Solis M, Groenen M, Jaubert J, Martinez-Aguirre MA, Alcaide MÁM, Moro Abadia O, Peredo RO, Paillet-Man-Estier E, Paillet P, Petrognani S, Pigeaud R, Pinçon G, Plassard F, López SR, Vilá OR, Robert E, Ruiz-Redondo A, Ruiz López JF, San Juan-Foucher C, Torti JLS, Sauvet G, Simón-Vallejo MD, Tosello G, Utrilla P, Vialou D, Willis MD. Still no archaeological evidence that Neanderthals created Iberian cave art. J Hum Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
6
|
Li Z, Doyon L, Fang H, Ledevin R, Queffelec A, Raguin E, d’Errico F. A Paleolithic bird figurine from the Lingjing site, Henan, China. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0233370. [PMID: 32520932 PMCID: PMC7286485 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0233370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Accepted: 05/04/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The recent identification of cave paintings dated to 42-40 ka BP in Borneo and Sulawesi highlights the antiquity of painted representations in this region. However, no instances of three-dimensional portable art, well attested in Europe since at least 40 ka BP, were documented thus far in East Asia prior to the Neolithic. Here, we report the discovery of an exceptionally well-preserved miniature carving of a standing bird from the site of Lingjing, Henan, China. Microscopic and microtomographic analyses of the figurine and the study of bone fragments from the same context reveal the object was made of bone blackened by heating and carefully carved with four techniques that left diagnostic traces on the entire surface of the object. Critical analysis of the site's research history and stratigraphy, the cultural remains associated with the figurine and those recovered from the other archeological layers, as well as twenty-eight radiometric ages obtained on associated archeological items, including one provided by a bone fragment worked with the same technique recorded on the object, suggest a Late Paleolithic origin for the carving, with a probable age estimated to 13,500 years old. The carving, which predates previously known comparable instances from this region by 8,500 years, demonstrates that three-dimensional avian representations were part of East Asian Late Pleistocene cultural repertoires and identifies technological and stylistic peculiarities distinguishing this newly discovered art tradition from previous and contemporary examples found in Western Europe and Siberia.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhanyang Li
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, P.R. of China
| | - Luc Doyon
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, P.R. of China
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS UMR5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
| | - Hui Fang
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, P.R. of China
| | - Ronan Ledevin
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS UMR5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
| | - Alain Queffelec
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS UMR5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
| | - Emeline Raguin
- Department of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Francesco d’Errico
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique CNRS UMR5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
- SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Hoffmann DL, Standish CD, García-Diez M, Pettitt PB, Milton JA, Zilhão J, Alcolea-González JJ, Cantalejo-Duarte P, Collado H, de Balbín R, Lorblanchet M, Ramos-Muñoz J, Weniger GC, Pike AWG. Response to White et al.'s reply: 'Still no archaeological evidence that Neanderthals created Iberian cave art' [J. Hum. Evol. (2020) 102640]. J Hum Evol 2020; 144:102810. [PMID: 32451090 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102810] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Revised: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dirk L Hoffmann
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
| | - Christopher D Standish
- Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Avenue Campus, Highfield Road, Southampton, SO17 1BF, UK
| | - Marcos García-Diez
- Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, Complutense University of Madrid, c/ Professor Aranguren s/n, Madrid, 28040, Spain
| | - Paul B Pettitt
- Department of Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
| | - James A Milton
- Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK
| | - João Zilhão
- Departament d'Història i Arqueologia (SERP), University of Barcelona, c/ Montalegre 6, Barcelona, 08001, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys 23, Barcelona, 08010, Spain; Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras, Campo Grande, Lisbon, 1600-214, Portugal
| | - Javier J Alcolea-González
- Prehistory Section, University of Alcalá de Henares, c/ Colegios 2, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, 28801, Spain
| | - Pedro Cantalejo-Duarte
- Centro de La Prehistoria/Cueva de Ardales, Avda. de Málaga, nº 1, Ardales, Málaga, 29550, Spain
| | - Hipolito Collado
- Quaternary-Prehistory Research Group, I-PAT Research Group, D.G. Bibliotecas, Museos y Patrimonio Cultural, Junta de Extremadura, Spain
| | - Rodrigo de Balbín
- Prehistory Section, University of Alcalá de Henares, c/ Colegios 2, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, 28801, Spain
| | - Michel Lorblanchet
- Directeur de recherches au CNRS-Retraité, Roc des Monges, St Sozy, 46200, France
| | - Jose Ramos-Muñoz
- Departamento de Historia, Geografía y Filosofia, Universidad de Cádiz, Avda. Gómez Ulla s.n., Cádiz, Spain
| | - Gerd-Christian Weniger
- Neanderthal Museum, Talstraße 300, 40822 Mettmann; Institute of Prehistory, University of Cologne, Weyertal 125, Cologne, 50931, Germany
| | - Alistair W G Pike
- Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Avenue Campus, Highfield Road, Southampton, SO17 1BF, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Zilhão J, Angelucci DE, Igreja MA, Arnold LJ, Badal E, Callapez P, Cardoso JL, d'Errico F, Daura J, Demuro M, Deschamps M, Dupont C, Gabriel S, Hoffmann DL, Legoinha P, Matias H, Monge Soares AM, Nabais M, Portela P, Queffelec A, Rodrigues F, Souto P. Last Interglacial Iberian Neandertals as fisher-hunter-gatherers. Science 2020; 367:367/6485/eaaz7943. [PMID: 32217702 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz7943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Marine food-reliant subsistence systems such as those in the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) were not thought to exist in Europe until the much later Mesolithic. Whether this apparent lag reflects taphonomic biases or behavioral distinctions between archaic and modern humans remains much debated. Figueira Brava cave, in the Arrábida range (Portugal), provides an exceptionally well preserved record of Neandertal coastal resource exploitation on a comparable scale to the MSA and dated to ~86 to 106 thousand years ago. The breadth of the subsistence base-pine nuts, marine invertebrates, fish, marine birds and mammals, tortoises, waterfowl, and hoofed game-exceeds that of regional early Holocene sites. Fisher-hunter-gatherer economies are not the preserve of anatomically modern people; by the Last Interglacial, they were in place across the Old World in the appropriate settings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J Zilhão
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain. .,Universitat de Barcelona, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, c/Montalegre 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - D E Angelucci
- Università degli Studi di Trento, Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia, via Tommaso Gar 14, 38122 Trento, Italy
| | - M Araújo Igreja
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Laboratório de Arqueociências (LARC), Direcção Geral do Património Cultural, Calçada do Mirante à Ajuda 10A, 1300-418 Lisboa, Portugal.,Environmental Archaeology Group, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (ENVARCH, CIBIO/InBIO), University of Oporto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
| | - L J Arnold
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - E Badal
- Universitat de València, Departament de Prehistòria, Arqueologia i Història Antiga, Av. Blasco Ibañez 28, 46010 València, Spain
| | - P Callapez
- Departamento de Ciências da Terra (CITEUC), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua Sílvio Lima, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - J L Cardoso
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Universidade Aberta, Rua da Escola Politécnica 147, 1269-001 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - F d'Errico
- CNRS (UMR 5199-PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Bât. B18, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615 Pessac Cedex, France.,SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), Sydnesplassen 12/13, 4 Etage, Postboks 7805, 5020 University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - J Daura
- Universitat de Barcelona, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, c/Montalegre 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - M Demuro
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - M Deschamps
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5608-TRACES, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, Maison de la Recherche, 5 allées Antonio Machado, 31058 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - C Dupont
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 6566-CReAAH, Laboratoire Archéosciences, Bât. 24-25, Université de Rennes 1-Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France
| | - S Gabriel
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Laboratório de Arqueociências (LARC), Direcção Geral do Património Cultural, Calçada do Mirante à Ajuda 10A, 1300-418 Lisboa, Portugal.,Environmental Archaeology Group, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (ENVARCH, CIBIO/InBIO), University of Oporto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
| | - D L Hoffmann
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Geoscience Center, Isotope Geology Division, University of Göttingen, Goldschmidtstrasse 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - P Legoinha
- Geobiotec, Departamento de Ciências da Terra, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
| | - H Matias
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - A M Monge Soares
- Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada Nacional 10, 2695-066 Bobadela, Portugal
| | - M Nabais
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK
| | - P Portela
- Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada Nacional 10, 2695-066 Bobadela, Portugal
| | - A Queffelec
- CNRS (UMR 5199-PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Bât. B18, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615 Pessac Cedex, France
| | - F Rodrigues
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - P Souto
- Sociedade Torrejana de Espeleologia e Arqueologia, Quinta da Lezíria, 2350-510, Torres Novas, Portugal
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Pitarch Martí A, d’Errico F, Turq A, Lebraud E, Discamps E, Gravina B. Provenance, modification and use of manganese-rich rocks at Le Moustier (Dordogne, France). PLoS One 2019; 14:e0218568. [PMID: 31314755 PMCID: PMC6636720 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The use of colouring materials by Neanderthals has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. Here we present a taphonomic, technological, chemical-mineralogical and functional analysis of fifty-four manganese rich lumps recovered during past and on-going excavations at the lower rockshelter of Le Moustier (Dordogne, France). We compare compositional data for archaeological specimens with the same information for twelve potential geological sources. Morphometric analysis shows that material from Peyrony’s excavations before the First World War provides a highly biased picture of the importance of these materials for Mousterian groups. These early excavations almost exclusively recovered large modified pieces, while Mn-rich lumps from the on-going excavations predominantly consist of small pieces, only half of which bear traces of modification. We estimate that at least 168 pieces were not recovered during early work at the site. Neanderthals developed a dedicated technology for processing Mn-rich fragments, which involved a variety of tools and motions. Processing techniques were adapted to the size and density of the raw material, and evidence exists for the successive or alternating use of different techniques. Morphological, textural and chemical differences between geological and archaeological samples suggest that Neanderthals did not collect Mn-rich lumps at the outcrops we sampled. The association and variability in Mn, Ni, As, Ba content, compared to that observed at the sampled outcrops, suggests that either the Le Moustier lumps come from a unique source with a broad variation in composition, associating Mn, Ni, As, Ba, or that they were collected at different sources, characterized either by Mn-Ni-As or Mn-Ba. In the latter case, changes in raw material composition across the stratigraphy support the idea that Neanderthal populations bearing different stone tool technologies collected Mn fragments from different outcrops. Our results favour a use of these materials for multiple utilitarian and symbolic purposes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Africa Pitarch Martí
- UMR 5199 CNRS, De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
- Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques (SERP), Facultat de Geografia i Història, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Montalegre, Barcelona, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Francesco d’Errico
- UMR 5199 CNRS, De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
- SSF Centre for Early Sapiens Behavior (SapienCe), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Alain Turq
- UMR 5199 CNRS, De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
- Musée de Préhistoire, Sauveterre-la-Lémance, Lot-et-Garonne, France
| | - Eric Lebraud
- UMR 5026 CNRS, Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux (ICMCB), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Emmanuel Discamps
- UMR 5608 CNRS, Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Espaces, les Cultures et les Sociétés (TRACES), Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès Maison de la Recherche, Toulouse, France
| | - Brad Gravina
- UMR 5199 CNRS, De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| |
Collapse
|