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Clark AE. Tracking the emergence of an organized use of space: A direct comparison of the spatial patterning within Middle and Upper Paleolithic open-air sites. J Hum Evol 2023; 185:103455. [PMID: 37890214 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
Although the 'organization of space' is said to be one of the defining characteristics of modern human behavior, the identification and documentation of such organization has proven to be elusive, especially as rendered in artifact patterning. Without directly comparing artifact patterns within multiple sites, there is no benchmark with which to conclude one site to be more or less 'organized' than another. We can objectively identify patterns within the distribution of archaeological materials, but the decision of whether that patterning constitutes as 'organized' is entirely subjective without a comparative model. In this paper, I present the results of a study in which the spatial distribution of artifacts within nine Middle and Upper Paleolithic sites in France are directly compared to one another, and discernible changes in patterning can be identified. The differences in spatial patterning between the Middle and Upper Paleolithic sites suggest that the organization of space likely became increasingly formalized into and throughout the Upper Paleolithic alongside other cultural norms of behavior. Though more sites are needed to thoroughly document this phenomenon, this study suggests that direct comparisons of spatial patterning have the potential to yield more objective results on the question of spatial organization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy E Clark
- Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
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Sossa-Ríos S, Mayor A, Hernández CM, Bencomo M, Pérez L, Galván B, Mallol C, Vaquero M. Multidisciplinary evidence of an isolated Neanderthal occupation in Abric del Pastor (Alcoi, Iberian Peninsula). Sci Rep 2022; 12:15883. [PMID: 36151242 PMCID: PMC9508120 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20200-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Testing Neanderthal behavioural hypotheses requires a spatial–temporal resolution to the level of a human single occupation episode. Yet, most of the behavioural data on Neanderthals has been obtained from coarsely dated, time-averaged contexts affected by the archaeological palimpsest effect and a diversity of postdepositional processes. This implies that time-resolved Neanderthal behaviour remains largely unknown. In this study, we performed archaeostratigraphic analysis on stratigraphic units ive, ivf, ivg, va, vb and vc from Abric del Pastor (Alcoi, Iberian Peninsula). Further, we isolated the archaeological remains associated with the resulting archaeostratigraphic unit and applied raw material, technological, use-wear, archaeozoological and spatial analyses. Our results show a low-density accumulation of remains from flintknapping, flint tool-use and animal processing around a hearth. These data provide a time-resolved human dimension to previous high-resolution environmental and pyrotechnological data on the same hearth, representing the first comprehensive characterisation of a Neanderthal single occupation episode. Our integrated, multidisciplinary method also contributes to advance our understanding of archaeological record formation processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santiago Sossa-Ríos
- Departament de Prehistòria, Arqueologia i Història Antiga, Universitat de València, Avinguda Blasco Ibáñez 28, 46010, Valencia, Spain.
| | - Alejandro Mayor
- Àrea de Prehistòria; Departament de Prehistòria, Arqueologia, Història Antiga, Filologia Llatina i Filologia Grega, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Universitat d'Alacant, Sant Vicent del Raspeig campus, Sant Vicent del Raspeig, 03690, Alicante, Spain
| | - Cristo M Hernández
- Área de Prehistoria; Unidad de Docencia e Investigación de Prehistoria, Arqueología e Historia Antigua, Departamento de Geografía e Historia; Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de La Laguna, Guajara campus, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, 38205, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.,Archaeological Micromorphology and Biomarkers Laboratory; Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González, Universidad de La Laguna, Anchieta campus, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, 38206, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Mariel Bencomo
- Departament de Prehistòria, Arqueologia i Història Antiga, Universitat de València, Avinguda Blasco Ibáñez 28, 46010, Valencia, Spain
| | - Leopoldo Pérez
- Departament de Prehistòria, Arqueologia i Història Antiga, Universitat de València, Avinguda Blasco Ibáñez 28, 46010, Valencia, Spain.,Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Bertila Galván
- Área de Prehistoria; Unidad de Docencia e Investigación de Prehistoria, Arqueología e Historia Antigua, Departamento de Geografía e Historia; Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de La Laguna, Guajara campus, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, 38205, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Carolina Mallol
- Área de Prehistoria; Unidad de Docencia e Investigación de Prehistoria, Arqueología e Historia Antigua, Departamento de Geografía e Historia; Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de La Laguna, Guajara campus, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, 38205, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.,Archaeological Micromorphology and Biomarkers Laboratory; Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González, Universidad de La Laguna, Anchieta campus, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, 38206, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
| | - Manuel Vaquero
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain.,Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002, Tarragona, Spain
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Rodríguez de Vera C, Herrera-Herrera AV, Jambrina-Enríquez M, Sossa-Ríos S, González-Urquijo J, Lazuen T, Vanlandeghem M, Alix C, Monnier G, Pajović G, Tostevin G, Mallol C. Micro-contextual identification of archaeological lipid biomarkers using resin-impregnated sediment slabs. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20574. [PMID: 33239666 PMCID: PMC7689525 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77257-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Characterizing organic matter preserved in archaeological sediment is crucial to behavioral and paleoenvironmental investigations. This task becomes particularly challenging when considering microstratigraphic complexity. Most of the current analytical methods rely on loose sediment samples lacking spatial and temporal resolution at a microstratigraphic scale, adding uncertainty to the results. Here, we explore the potential of targeted molecular and isotopic biomarker analysis on polyester resin-impregnated sediment slabs from archaeological micromorphology, a technique that provides microstratigraphic control. We performed gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectromety (GC-IRMS) analyses on a set of samples including drill dust from resin-impregnated experimental and archaeological samples, loose samples from the same locations and resin control samples to assess the degree of interference of polyester resin in the GC-MS and Carbon-IRMS signals of different lipid fractions (n-alkanes, aromatics, n-ketones, alcohols, fatty acids and other high polarity lipids). The results show that biomarkers within the n-alkane, aromatic, n-ketone, and alcohol fractions can be identified. Further work is needed to expand the range of identifiable lipid biomarkers. This study represents the first micro-contextual approach to archaeological lipid biomarkers and contributes to the advance of archaeological science by adding a new method to obtain behavioral or paleoenvironmental proxies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caterina Rodríguez de Vera
- Archaeological Micromorphology and Biomarkers Laboratory (AMBI Lab), Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica "Antonio González", Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
| | - Antonio V Herrera-Herrera
- Archaeological Micromorphology and Biomarkers Laboratory (AMBI Lab), Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica "Antonio González", Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
| | - Margarita Jambrina-Enríquez
- Archaeological Micromorphology and Biomarkers Laboratory (AMBI Lab), Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica "Antonio González", Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
- Departamento de Biología Animal, Edafología y Geología, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
| | - Santiago Sossa-Ríos
- Departamento de Historia e Historia del Arte, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avenida de Cataluña, 35, 43002, Tarragona, Spain
- Institut Català de Paleoecología Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades Universitat Rovira I Virgili (Edificio W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Jesús González-Urquijo
- Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, IIIPC-University of Cantabria, Edificio Interfacultativo, Universidad de Cantabria, Avenida de Los Castros, 52, 39005, Santander, Spain
| | - Talia Lazuen
- CNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR 5199, Université de Bordeaux, 33600, Pessac Cedex, France
| | - Marine Vanlandeghem
- UMR 7041 ArScAn, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, 21 allée de l'université, 92023, Nanterre Cedex, France
| | - Claire Alix
- Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, 8096 ArchAm, 21 allée de l'université, 92023, Nanterre Cedex, France
| | - Gilliane Monnier
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Goran Pajović
- National Museum of Montenegro, Novice Cerovića, 7, 81250, Cetinje, Montenegro
| | - Gilbert Tostevin
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Carolina Mallol
- Archaeological Micromorphology and Biomarkers Laboratory (AMBI Lab), Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica "Antonio González", Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
- Departamento de Geografía e Historia, UDI Prehistoria, Arqueología e Historia Antigua, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
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