Two sites of the Neandertal-associated Middle Paleolithic of Iberia, dated to as early as approximately 50,000 years ago, yielded perforated and pigment-stained marine shells. At Cueva de los Aviones, three umbo-perforated valves of Acanthocardia and Glycymeris were found alongside lumps of yellow and red colorants, and residues preserved inside a Spondylus shell consist of a red lepidocrocite base mixed with ground, dark red-to-black fragments of hematite and pyrite. A perforated Pecten shell, painted on its external, white side with an orange mix of goethite and hematite, was abandoned after breakage at Cueva Antón, 60 km inland. Comparable early modern human-associated material from Africa and the Near East is widely accepted as evidence for body ornamentation, implying behavioral modernity. The Iberian finds show that European Neandertals were no different from coeval Africans in this regard, countering genetic/cognitive explanations for the emergence of symbolism and strengthening demographic/social ones.

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A study on metal mobilisation (Zn, Pb and As) from contaminated sediments in Portman Bay (SE Spain) was carried out. This area has suffered a major impact from mining activity, as millions of tons of mine tailings have been dumped into the bay over a long period, gradually filling the bay. A three-step sequential extraction procedure, modified from the BCR (Community Bureau of Reference) method, as well as selective extractions (H 2 O, 0.1 N HNO 3 , citrate-dithionite and 1 M NH 4 OAc after H 2 O 2 attack) were applied to selected samples in order to evaluate the potential mobility of fixed metals. Acid volatile sulfides (AVS) and simultaneously extracted metals (SEM) were also determined. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy coupled to with an energy-dispersion spectrometry (SEM-EDS) were applied to the characterization of both raw samples and the residues remaining after each extraction, providing additional information about the sediment phases carrying the metals studied. Metals associated with sediments showed different behaviour depending on the mineralogical phase they were bound to. Zn was the most labile metal, while Pb and As showed a lower mobility. The fraction of metals associated with jarosites presented a high stability under different physicochemical conditions, while metals associated with mineralogical phases that are undergoing supergenic alteration processes presented a high mobility. The results obtained may be useful to assess both the short and the long-term environmental impact of such disposal activities as well as supporting decisions for a future remediation of the zone.

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