The extent and nature of symbolic behavior among Neandertals are obscure. Although evidence for Neandertal body ornamentation has been proposed, all cave painting has been attributed to modern humans. Here we present dating results for three sites in Spain that show that cave art emerged in Iberia substantially earlier than previously thought. Uranium-thorium (U-Th) dates on carbonate crusts overlying paintings provide minimum ages for a red linear motif in La Pasiega (Cantabria), a hand stencil in Maltravieso (Extremadura), and red-painted speleothems in Ardales (Andalucía). Collectively, these results show that cave art in Iberia is older than 64.8 thousand years (ka). This cave art is the earliest dated so far and predates, by at least 20 ka, the arrival of modern humans in Europe, which implies Neandertal authorship.

No abstract

This article examines the role played by marine resources for hunter-gatherer groups of the Middle/ Upper Pleistocene in the geohistorical region around the Straits of Gibraltar, on the basis of new evidence collected at the rock shelter of Benzú (North Africa). The stratigraphic sequence at Benzú has been dated to between 254 and 70 ka. The excavations have revealed the exploitation of marine gastropods and bivalves, alongside fish. The most common taxon in the sequence is the genus Patella. The analysis of the molluscs and their spatial distribution shows that these animals were purposely collected by humans, probably as a food source. In order to contribute to the debate about the origins and scale of the exploitation of marine resources during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene, the evidence collected at Benzú is interpreted within the broader context of North Africa and southern Europe. The similarity of groups of Homo sapiens sapiens in North Africa and Homo sapiens neanderthalensis in southern Europe in terms of lifestyle and subsistence strategies is interpreted as reflecting equally similar social and economic practices, in spite of the diversity of anthropological perspectives on the relationship between humans and the environment currently in vogue.

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.

JOSÉ RAMOS MUÑOZ (*) SALVADOR DOMÍNGUEZ-BELLA (**) DIEGO MORATA CÉSPEDES (**) MANUELA PÉREZ RODRÍGUEZ (*) MANUEL MONTAÑÉS CABALLERO (*) VICENTE CASTAÑEDA FERNÁNDEZ (*) NURIA HERRERO LAPAZ (*) MARÍA EUGENIA GARCÍA PANTOJA (*) RESUMEN ABSTRACT Los trabajos sobre la Prehistoria de la comarca de La Janda (provincia de Cádiz) fueron realizados a principios de siglo desde el Historicismo Cultural. En la presente década nuestro grupo ha llevado a cabo prospecciones arqueológicas sistemáticas y excavaciones de urgencia, con el fin de conformar el proceso histórico de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras, tribales y clasistas iniciales, que habitaron la BandaAtlántica de Cádiz. La aplicación de técnicas geoarqueológicas al estudio de los productos arqueológicos y el análisis mineralógico y petrológico, tanto de las materias primas utilizadas como de los materiales geológicos, permiten vislumbrar interesantes aspectos sobre el proceso histórico y económico de dichas formaciones sociales. Studies of the prehistory of the area of La Janda (province of Cadiz) were carried out at the beginning of this century from the perspective of Cultural Historicism. Our group has done systematic archaeological surveys and rescue excavations during this decade, with the aim of studying the historical process of the hunter-gatherer, tribal and early class societies that lived in the Atlantic Band of Cadiz. The application of geoarchaeological and archaeometric techniques to the study of the archaeological products and the mineralogical and petrological analyses of the raw materials, as well as the geological ones, allow us to glimpse interesting aspects about the historical and economic process of these social formations.