Steppe-pastoralist-related ancestry reached Central Europe by at least 2500 BC, whereas Iranian farmer-related ancestry was present in Aegean Europe by at least 1900 BC. However, the spread of these ...ancestries into the western Mediterranean, where they have contributed to many populations that live today, remains poorly understood. Here, we generated genome-wide ancient-DNA data from the Balearic Islands, Sicily and Sardinia, increasing the number of individuals with reported data from 5 to 66. The oldest individual from the Balearic Islands (~2400 BC) carried ancestry from steppe pastoralists that probably derived from west-to-east migration from Iberia, although two later Balearic individuals had less ancestry from steppe pastoralists. In Sicily, steppe pastoralist ancestry arrived by ~2200 BC, in part from Iberia; Iranian-related ancestry arrived by the mid-second millennium BC, contemporary to its previously documented spread to the Aegean; and there was large-scale population replacement after the Bronze Age. In Sardinia, nearly all ancestry derived from the island's early farmers until the first millennium BC, with the exception of an outlier from the third millennium BC, who had primarily North African ancestry and who-along with an approximately contemporary Iberian-documents widespread Africa-to-Europe gene flow in the Chalcolithic. Major immigration into Sardinia began in the first millennium BC and, at present, no more than 56-62% of Sardinian ancestry is from its first farmers. This value is lower than previous estimates, highlighting that Sardinia, similar to every other region in Europe, has been a stage for major movement and mixtures of people.
Several stalagmite records have yielded important but discontinuous insights into northern Iberian climate since the Last Glacial. Here we present the first continuous Iberian stalagmite-based ...reconstruction of climate since the Bølling-Allerød interstadial, from a single stalagmite sample (GAR-01 from La Garma Cave, Cantabria). The ∼13.5 ka GAR-01 record provides the opportunity for replication, continuation, and aggregation of previously published records from northern Spain. The GAR-01 record reveals shifts in oxygen isotope ratios that are inexplicable by appealing to a single control (i.e., exclusively temperature, rainfall amount, etc.). Herein we explore the potential role of rainfall and temperature seasonality shifts on the new δ18O record using a simple Monte Carlo approach to estimate the seasonal distribution of rainfall and the annual temperature range at 100-year timeslices across the record. This model is corroborated by intervals of monthly-resolved laser ablation trace element data, providing glimpses into past Iberian seasonality shifts. The most salient features of the modelled results include extremely dry Younger Dryas winters (∼12.9–11.6 ka BP) and several intervals during the mid-Holocene with almost no summer rainfall (e.g., at 4.2 and 9.0 ka BP). By 1.6 ka BP, a near-modern rainfall seasonality was established. According to the modelling results, seasonal rainfall and temperature distribution variability can account for 95% of the record. The model presented here provides a new tool for extracting critical missing seasonality information from stalagmite δ18O records. Intervals where the model does not converge may represent transient climate anomalies with unusual origins that warrant further investigation.
•First continuous stalagmite reconstruction of North Iberian palaeoclimate spanning the Younger Dryas and Holocene.•The ∼13.5 ka GAR-01 record provides replication, continuation, and aggregation of existing regional stalagmite records.•N. Iberian stalagmite δ18O records largely covary but with a δ18O offset that reflects cave altitude and inland position.•Using a simple Monte Carlo approach, shifts in GAR-01 δ18O are explained by changing temperature and rainfall seasonality.•Monthly-resolved LA-ICPMS data provide glimpses into past Iberian seasonality shifts and corroborate the model.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The present case study proposes an experimental approach to the taphonomic characterization of modifications that are produced on bone surfaces by eagles during the attack and capture of their prey. ...Under these circumstances, a golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) attack on a Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) skull was simulated. The macaque specimen was analysed from a taphonomic perspective, which allowed for the comparison of traces left on the skull against the data that have already been published on past and present primate attacks by eagles. The results of the experiment confirmed the presence of some modifications that were similar to the damage described in the literature for specific palaeoanthropological specimens. However, the number of alterations observed was much lower because the attack was restricted to a single event, with the aim being to isolate the specific predatory attack damage. This kind of experiment demonstrates how experimental archaeology can be a useful tool for replicating past scenarios by using rigorous scientific methods, testing hypotheses and interpreting archaeological assemblages.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
•Assessment of the contribution to the diet of marine and terrestrial resources during the Mesolithic.•Study of the energetic contribution of different animals to the diet of the Mesolithic ...hunter-gatherers.•Combining paleoecological and paleoeconomic analyses to determine subsistence strategies.
The beginning of the Holocene involved a series of climatic and environmental changes that affected the ways of life of the last hunter-gatherers. In the case of the Spanish Cantabrian region, these changes transformed the material culture and the way human groups interacted with the environment and, therefore, the subsistence strategies of the end of the Upper Pleistocene. In terms of the use of faunal resources, this period was characterised by an increase in the exploitation of coastal resources, mainly molluscs, but also crustaceans and echinoderms, which make up the so-called “shell middens”, while at the same time the percentage of macromammals was reduced and animals considered to have a “low energy range” were introduced into the diet. In this paper we assess the role played by each of these animal resources in the subsistence of Mesolithic human groups, determining their nutritional contribution and establishing a prey ranking based on the caloric intake of each resource. For this purpose, we collected archaeofaunal data from 14 sites from recent archaeological excavations with levels dated between ca. 11.5 and 7.5 ky cal BP in which the consumption of vertebrates and invertebrates is documented. At each of these sites we analysed diversity, homogeneity and species richness using Simpson's and Shannon's indexes, as well as the effective numbers of species for terrestrial and coastal resources, assessing the relationship between the two. With the palaeoecological and palaeoeconomic data from these archaeological sites (most of them located in caves), we estimate the weight that the different animal resources consumed by the last hunter-gatherer communities of the Cantabrian region had in their diet.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
The dominance of red deer in Magdalenian records in Cantabrian Spain is a well-studied issue. Given the great accumulations of this species in those deposits, researchers have offered diverse ...interpretations of the phenomenon, related to ecology, orography or ethology. However, fewer papers carry out comparative intra-site analysis, which is able to document the existence of changes or continuities in the subsistence strategies at an archaeological site.
The aim of this paper is to present the results of the archaeozoological analysis of Levels F and G in El Cierro cave (Asturias, Spain), both of them dated during Greenland Stadial 2, in the Lower Magdalenian (15,460 ± 75 and 15,580 ± 75 BP, respectively). Similar percentages of mammals have been documented in the two levels, as well as the same meat and fat consumption and processing strategies. Thus, this paper intends to determine how much energy red deer supplied to the diet of the humans that inhabited El Cierro, in comparison with other hunted and consumed fauna during the Lower Magdalenian.
This study highlights the continuity of exploitation patterns of faunal resources in El Cierro cave during the Lower Magdalenian. This continuity is specifically seen in red deer, since the geographic characteristics of the Sella Valley, the abundance of the biotype, and the economic profitability of this species made it the main resource of animal origin for the hunter-gatherers at that site.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Interaction between hominins and carnivores has been common and constant through human evolution and generated mutual pressures similar to those present in worldwide modern human-carnivore conflicts. ...This current interaction is sometimes violent and can be reflected in permanent skeletal pathologies and other bone modifications. In the present paper, we carry out a survey of 124 forensic cases of dangerous human-carnivore encounters. The objective is to infer direct hominin-carnivore confrontation during the Pleistocene, which is important to understand behavioral changes during human evolution. In addition, the case of Neanderthals is analyzed in order to find evidence of past attacks using forensic observations. The results obtained pose that Neanderthals could potentially have been involved in dangerous encounters during the Pleistocene, validating our methodology to approach past attacks from a forensic perspective.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
At most Pleistocene archaeological sites it is difficult to observe structured complex spatial behaviour. This common phenomenon could be a taphonomic issue. Problems in the preservation of the ...original spatial intra-site distribution could be related to hominid–carnivore alternation in the use of space. In the present paper we analyse the results of our experimentation with large extant carnivores (bears, wolves, hyenas and lions) and propose these animals acted as hearth and hearth-related assemblage modifiers. In this sense, the role of carnivores in the modification of these elements can cause problems in the interpretation and visibility of modern and complex behaviour in the conception of space in the archaeological record.
► We experiment with extant large carnivores. ► Large carnivores as taphonomic agents of space modification. ► Large carnivores are capable of modifying hearths. ► Large carnivores erase evidence of human behaviour.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Antler is one of the primary animal raw materials exploited for technical purposes by the hunter-gatherer groups of the Eurasian Upper Palaeolithic (UP) all over the ecological range of deers, and ...beyond. It was exhaustively employed to produce one of the most critical tools for the survival of the UP societies: hunting weapons. However, antler implements can be made from diverse deer taxa, with different ecological requirements and ethological behaviours. Identifying the antler's origin at a taxonomic level is thus essential in improving our knowledge of humans' functional, practical and symbolic choices, as well as the human-animal interface during Prehistoric times. Nevertheless, palaeogenetics analyses have focused mainly on bone and teeth, with genetic studies of antler generally focused on modern deer conservation. Here we present the results of the first whole mitochondrial genome ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis by means of in-solution hybridisation capture of antlers from pre-Holocene archaeological contexts. We analysed a set of 50 Palaeolithic and Neolithic (c. 34-8ka) antler and osseous objects from South-Western Europe, Central Europe, South-Western Asia and the Caucasus. We successfully obtained aDNA, allowing us to identify the exploited taxa and demonstrate the archaeological relevance of those finds. Moreover, as most of the antlers were sampled using a minimally-invasive method, further analyses (morphometric, technical, genetic, radiometric and more) remain possible on these objects.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The interaction between hominins and carnivores during the Paleolithic is highly dynamic, and the study of these relationships provides key insights into the evolution of human behavior. In this ...sense, the relations that hominins had with large carnivores can help us address topics that span from subsistence behavior to intra-site spatial organization. Usually, all these studies are developed by analyzing post-cranial faunal remains, including carnivore and non-carnivore anatomical elements. Teeth and activities related to teeth (e.g. bite marks) are additional elements that inform us about hominin–carnivore interactions. In the present paper, we analyze the changing forms of interaction between hominins and carnivores during the Paleolithic of the Swabian Jura (Germany) using carnivore tooth remains and carnivore bite marks. We observe that the relation between hominins and carnivores reflects a dynamic interaction from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic that is documented trough tooth remains and bones with tooth marks from carnivores. The present multidisciplinary contribution analyzes teeth and tooth marks to understand site formation process, carnivore hunting, tool use, human recycling behavior, the role of ornaments made from carnivore teeth, and domestication process.
•The Swabian Jura preserves outstanding evidence of hominin–carnivore interaction.•We analyze the evolution of the interaction from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic.•Analyzed interaction forms are competition, confrontation and domestication.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
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