The aim of this article is to present the current state of multidisciplinary archaeobotanical approaches that are being undertaken at Cova Gran de Santa Linya. Information from studies of seeds,... Show moreThe aim of this article is to present the current state of multidisciplinary archaeobotanical approaches that are being undertaken at Cova Gran de Santa Linya. Information from studies of seeds, charcoal, pollen, and NPP recovered from the Holocene levels of the site contribute to research questions regarding the anthropogenic transformation of the landscape. The signal of human activity in the environment can be detected through the bioarchaeological signatures of deforestation, forest management or agriculture practices. In this sense, the Cova Gran de Santa Linya is a cave deposit located in the northeast of Iberia used as an occupation site, recording mainly domestic activities during the Neolithic period. The settlement was also used as a pen during the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age, preserving burnt and unburned dung layers that formed pen deposits, known as fumiers. The resolution provided by the multidisciplinary nature of this work shows how forests and fields created a mosaic landscape that provided crops, pastures, wood, and fuel and clearly reflects anthropogenic changes over time. The different methodological and analytical scales of this multidisciplinary approach, including taphonomic pollen alteration, provide a better understanding of the dynamics of the cave occupation and, from a broader perspective, the regional diversity related to the availability of plant resources. Show less
The use of fire is considered to be one of the most important cultural innovations in human evolution. Understanding the taphonomy of fire remains is an important prerequisite for valid... Show moreThe use of fire is considered to be one of the most important cultural innovations in human evolution. Understanding the taphonomy of fire remains is an important prerequisite for valid interpretations of hominin fire-related behaviour. Presented here are the results of a series of laboratory-based experiments testing the effect of different pH conditions (acidic, neutral, alkaline) on the physical and chemical properties of heated bone (charred and combusted). By taking a fundamental-research approach the study gives insight into the specific effect of pH exposure and its underlying chemical processes, and provides data that can be applied to heated bone from any context and time period. Results show that diagenesis has a significant impact on the preservation potential of heated bones, as well as on the reliability of the analytical techniques used to reconstruct past heating conditions. The study provides reference data and a toolkit for the analysis of heated bone, that explicitly takes diagenesis into account, and in doing so offers a significant improvement to the accuracy with which we can reconstruct heating conditions and fire-related human behaviour in the past. Show less
The research contained in this dissertation explores the origins of fire making in prehistory, focusing primarily on the fire use practices and fire production capacities of Neandertals. The... Show moreThe research contained in this dissertation explores the origins of fire making in prehistory, focusing primarily on the fire use practices and fire production capacities of Neandertals. The dissertation is comprised of four peer-reviewed articles published in the journals Quaternary International, PLoS ONE, Journal of Archaeological Science and Scientific Reports, respectively, which are flanked by an introductory and synthesis chapter. The early chapters confront the debate surrounding the prevalence of fire use by Neandertals and discuss avenues by which we, as archaeologists, can better understand how fire use manifests in the Palaeolithic archaeological record. The latter chapters seek to provide a means for identifying artefactual evidence for fire making by Neandertals, ultimately presenting a series of French Middle Palaeolithic tools that exhibit use traces suggesting they were employed as fire starters, making these the earliest evidence for the regular production of fire by humans currently known. Show less
The name ‘Jambi flora’ refers to fossil plants found as part of a rock formation from the Early Permian (296 million years old), located in the Jambi Province of Sumatra, Indonesia. The flora... Show moreThe name ‘Jambi flora’ refers to fossil plants found as part of a rock formation from the Early Permian (296 million years old), located in the Jambi Province of Sumatra, Indonesia. The flora is characterized by the occurrence of both plant groups known from classic coal swamp floras, established for tens of millions of years, as well as newly emerging groups that in a number of cases are making their first known occurrence there and would play an important role in the vegetations of the Permian era. The latter are part of distinct associations with an ecology different and generally drier than that of the swamp flora species. The large amount of fossil wood collected from the Jambi region allowed for a quantitative analysis larger than anything undertaken before for this early gymnosperm wood type. Although more than 250 different species have been described worldwide for this fossil wood type in the past, the results from a morphological analysis of the Jambi material shows it to be a coherent whole wherein no individual species can be discerned. This throws great doubt on whether it is even possible to distinguish traditional species in this wood type. Show less
After a long period of cold conditions that characterize the Saalian Glacial in Europe, Neandertals were confronted with the warm and more forested environments of the Eemian Interglacial (125-115... Show moreAfter a long period of cold conditions that characterize the Saalian Glacial in Europe, Neandertals were confronted with the warm and more forested environments of the Eemian Interglacial (125-115,000 years ago). We do know that they were present in these environments, but the number of known sites and the size of their assemblages is relatively limited. The Eemian deposits of Neumark-Nord 2 (eastern Germany) yielded the unique opportunity for a detailed analysis of Neandertal behaviour within its environmental context. The reconstructed environmental conditions give us a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities that Neandertals faced, and, together with data from other Eemian sites, provided indications for their environmental preferences. How Neandertals dealt with these environmental conditions is also reflected in the archaeological record, which has been addressed by a detailed analysis of the flint tool assemblage as well as the proxies for hominin use of fire at the site. Show less
The PhD thesis Ancient Hunters, Modern Butchers presents a first detailed study of bone material found together with spectacularly preserved wooden spears at the Lower Palaeolithic site of... Show moreThe PhD thesis Ancient Hunters, Modern Butchers presents a first detailed study of bone material found together with spectacularly preserved wooden spears at the Lower Palaeolithic site of Schöningen 13II-4, in Germany. Analysis of a large sample of bone remains from this site revealed data being very relevant to the hunting versus scavenging debate in Palaeolithic archaeology. Excellent conservation of the bone material facilitated a thorough documentation of butchery traces and the reconstruction of early hominid subsistence behaviour at the site. The author argues that Schöningen 13II-4 represents a Lower Palaeolithic kill-butchery site where especially horses have been killed and butchered for multiple animal products. The results of this study seriously question the validity of models on marginal, more scavenging like Lower Palaeolithic hominid subsistence behaviour. Show less
