Bone remains of small vertebrate fossils provide valuable information for paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions. However, direct radiocarbon dating of small vertebrates remains ...challenging as the extraction of sufficient good quality collagen is required. The efficiency of eight collagen extraction protocols was tested on seven samples, representative of different ages and burial environments, including both macro and small vertebrate taxa. First, the samples were prescreened using attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) to quantify collagen content in archaeological bones, revealing that one should be discarded for 14C dating. Then, the quantity of protein extracted (yield) and collagen integrity were checked using conventional elemental analysis. The results show that one protocol was not able to accurately extract collagen from the samples. A soft HCl-based protocol seems more appropriate for the pretreatment of archaeological small mammal bones, whereas a harsher protocol might be more efficient to extract a higher amount of collagen from large mammals as well as amphibian bones. The influence of the tested protocols on carbon and nitrogen isotope values was also investigated. The results showed that isotopic variability, when existing, is related to the interindividual differences rather than the different protocols.
Because hard tissues can be radiocarbon dated, they are key to establishing the archaeological chronologies, palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and historical-biogeographical processes of the last ...50,000 years. The advent of accelerator mass spectrometers (AMS) has revolutionized the field of archaeology but routine AMS dating still requires 60-200 mg of bone, which far exceeds that of small vertebrates or remains which hold a patrimonial value (e.g. hominid remains or worked bone artefacts). Here, we present the first radiocarbon dates obtained from minute amounts of bone (3-60 mg) using a MIni CArbon DAting System (MICADAS). An optimized protocol allowed us to extract enough material to produce between 0.2 and 1.0 mg of carbon for graphite targets. Our approach was tested on known-age samples dating back to 40,000 BP, and served as proof of concept. The method was then applied to two archaeological sites where reliable dates were obtained from the single bones of small mammals. These results open the way for the routine dating of small or key bone samples.
The dispersal of hominins may have been favored by the opening of the landscape during the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition (EMP) in Western Europe. The structure of the small-vertebrate ...assemblages of the archaeo-paleontological karstic site of Gran Dolina in Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) shows important environmental and climatic changes in the faunal succession, across the Matuyama–Brunhes boundary at 780 ka. These changes are interpreted to indicate impoverishment of the forests, along with an increase in dry meadows, and open lands in general that entailed a tendency towards the loss of diversity in small-vertebrate communities above the EMP. We evaluate variation in diversity of the faunal succession of Gran Dolina using Shannon’s Second Theorem as an index of ecosystem structure. The long cultural-stratigraphic sequence of Gran Dolina during the EMP is somewhat similar in its completeness and continuity to that in the locality of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov in the Upper Jordan Valley. We also evaluate related data including faunal and floral (pollen) succession. Both localities present cold, dry and humid, warm fluctuations at the transition between the Early and the Middle Pleistocene. Comparisons between these sites present opportunities to understand large-scale climatic changes.
This paper reports the earliest documented record of the Algerian hedgehog Atelerix algirus in Europe. Only a first lower molar of the 13 specimens found inside a Bronze Age grave at the site of ...Biniai Nou in Minorca (Balearic islands, Spain) provided unequivocal traits for this species. Of the two AMS radiocarbon dates taken on the hedgehog bones, the oldest one dated the sample to the 13th century, indicating a contamination of the deposits and a rather recent arrival of the species on the island. Geographical, cultural and zoological data provide circumstantial evidence pointing to the Almohad invaders as the responsible agents for the introduction of A. algirus into Minorca, probably as part of a larger-scale animal translocation phenomenon whose details are being worked out at this moment.
The discovery of small, very well-defined and perfectly preserved toothmarks on a humerus of a mole Talpa cf. europaea from level TE9 of Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos) with a ...chronology of the Early Pleistocene is extraordinary. In a previous paper, this bite was compared with current small carnivores such as Mustela nivalis molars and with fossil remains of Mustela palerminea and the soricid (Eulipotyphla and Mammalia) Beremendia fissidens with the purpose of identifying the predator. It was hypothesised that Beremendia fissidens could be the bite maker. However, it was not possible to rule out other predators due to the shortage of Beremendia fissidens remains. Recently, new fossil remains of this insectivore have been found in Sima del Elefante levels, allowing the upper dentition to be measured. These new data suggest that effectively Beremendia fissidens may have had the capacity to bite prey larger than itself, even though it did not possess morphological characteristics specialised for the consumption of small mammals. The addition of small vertebrates (like talpids) to complement a diet based on insects could have been a way of responding to the needs of the high metabolic rate characteristic of Beremendia fissidens.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The discovery of small, very well-defined and perfectly preserved tooth marks on the humerus of a mole, Talpa cf. europaea (TE9, Sima del Elefante, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos), is extraordinary. To ...date, no micromammal fossil is known with puncture prints produced by a bite with a clear or delimited morphology that would permit its detailed study. The exceptional character of the finding may raise questions and suspicions about alteration and taphonomic agents. However, we have evidence that both the marks in the mole humerus are due to the action of biting and that this bite corresponds to the dentition of Beremendia fissidens. After all, not only large predators bite, as this article intends to demonstrate.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The present paper analyses the evidence provided by three sites (Sima del Elefante, Gran Dolina, and Galería) located in the Trinchera del Ferrocarril of the Sierra de Atapuerca. These three sites ...are cave infillings that contain sediments deposited from approximately 1.2 Ma to 200 kyr. Pollen, herpetofauna, and small and large mammal remains are used as proxies to obtain a general picture of the environmental changes that occurred at the Sierra de Atapuerca throughout the one million-year period represented at these sites. Similarly, cultural changes are tracked analyzing the evidence of human behavior obtained from the study of several bone and lithic assemblages from these three sites. At least three periods with different cultural features, involving technology, subsistence and behavior, are determined from the available evidence. The first two periods correspond to the Mode 1 technology and
Homo antecessor: the first is dated around 1.2 to 1.0 Ma and reflects opportunistic behavior both in technology and subsistence. The second period is around 800 kyr BP. Mode 1 technology is still maintained, but subsistence strategies include systematic hunting and the use of base camps. The third period is dated between 500
ka and 200
ka and corresponds to the Mode 2 technology and the acquisition of directional hunting and other organizational strategies by
Homo heidelbergensis. A transition from Mode 2 to Mode 3 seems to appear at the end of this time-range, and may reflect the early phases of a fourth cultural change. With regard to the environment, our main conclusion is that there was an absence of extremely harsh conditions at Atapuerca throughout this time period. The presence of Mediterranean taxa was constant and the dominant landscape was a savannah-like open environment, probably with small forest patches. An alternation of Mediterranean and mesic species as the dominant component of the tree storey was induced by the climatic cycles, and steppes spread across the landscape during the drier periods. In any case, it is not possible to establish clear cut-off points separating entirely different environmental episodes. Our results show no evidence of any relationship between environmental change and cultural change at the Sierra de Atapuerca.
Level TE9c of the Sima del Elefante site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) is one of the oldest sites with evidence of human occupation in western Europe. We began excavating level TE9c in 2003, and the ...work there continues today. The studies of the archaeology, palaeontology and geology from this locality have provided an indispensable dataset with which to capture a picture in the scenario of the origin of humans in Europe. Based on these data, we raise and discuss several topics, such as the possible origin of the lineage of the first hominins that inhabited western Europe; their capacity to have active hunting or scavenging abilities; whether their subsistence strategies were successful; and what the environment and habitats where these hominin groups settled was like. The aim of this paper is to present the results and discussions obtained from the research team and to establish the primary features of early human occupations in southwestern Europe. Tentatively, we may conclude, based on the events recorded at TE9c, that the first humans were in the Iberian peninsula at around 1.2 Ma they used the caves of the Sierra de Atapuerca as shelters probably during their hunting activities; the cavities were surrounded by Mediterranean forest, rivers and water ponds, and varied habitats as suggested by the rich and diverse assemblage of fossils of vertebrates (fish, amphibians and reptiles, birds, large and small mammals); where humans possibly caught what they found in the surroundings.
This paper reports the first paleontological record of
Beremendia fissidens (Mammalia, Soricidae) in the Iberian Peninsula during the second third of the Early Pleistocene. The species is exclusively ...present at the lowermost levels (Lower Red Unit: TE8–14) of the Sima del Elefante site, one of the largest stratigraphic sections of the Atapuerca cave complex (Burgos, Spain). The age of Sima del Elefante shows that this large-sized type of red-toothed venomous shrew inhabited the Sierra de Atapuerca more than 1.1 Myr ago, coexisting with an extremely rich and diverse faunal association of nearly 40 small and large mammalian species, including hominines. The presence of this species in the Atapuerca locality has important palaeoecological, palaeobiogeographical and biostratigraphic implications, which are extensively discussed here, throwing light on aspects largely left aside for this important group of red-toothed shrews, previously relegated to nothing but mere faunal lists, at least in the Iberian Peninsular context.
Première citation de
Beremendia fissidens
(Mammalia, Soricidae) dans le Pléistocène de la péninsule Ibérique, avec une révision de la biostratigraphie, biogéographie et paléoécologie de l’espèce. Ce document rapporte le premier registre paléontologique de
Beremendia fissidens (Mammalia, Soricidae) dans la péninsule Ibérique pendant le deuxième tiers du Pléistocène inférieur. Cette espèce est exclusivement présente aux niveaux les plus bas (Unité rouge inférieure : TE8–TE14) du gisement de Sima del Elefante, une des plus grandes sections stratigraphiques du complexe karstique d’Atapuerca (Burgos, Espagne). L’âge de Sima del Elefante prouve que ce grand type de musaraigne venimeuse aux dents pigmentées en rouge a habité la sierra d’Atapuerca il y a plus de 1,1 MYR, coexistant avec une association faunique extrêmement riche et diverse de presque 40 espèces de mammifères petites et grandes, y compris des hominines. La présence de cette espèce dans la localité d’Atapuerca a des implications paléoécologiques, paléobiogéographiques et biostratigraphiques importantes, qui sont discutées ici en détail, jetant la lumière sur des aspects en grande partie laissés de côté pour cet important groupe de musaraignes à dents rouges, précédemment relégué à rien, si ce n’est à des listes fauniques, au moins dans le contexte de la péninsule ibérique.
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