A zooarchaeological contribution to establish occupational patterns at Level J of Abric Romaní (Barcelona, Spain)

What happens around a fire: Faunal processing sequences and spatial distribution at Qesem Cave (300 ka), Israel

“…As recorded by Blasco et al (2014), bones with double colouring on the same surface are also present in the area around the hearth, indicating a differential heat exposure and suggesting possible roasting of the meat prior to defleshing (Gifford-Gonzalez, 1989;Rosell et al, 2012;Gabucio et al, 2014). The placement of prey or portions of it (once skinned) on a fire for roasting leads to a differential bone thermo-alteration depending on the meat coverage bearing bone when exposed.…”

“…An example is level O of Abric Romaní (Barcelona, Spain), where the calcined remains are concentrated in the centre of the combustion structures as well as the major part of burned specimens (Gabucio et al, 2014). This phenomenon is repeated at other levels of the stratigraphic sequence of Abric Romaní, such as level J (Rosell et al, 2012) andlevel M (Fern andez-Laso et al, 2010). Even some localities where the sedimentary characteristics do not preserve the thermal impact in the soil, such as at the Early Mesolithic site of Verrebroek "Dok 1", display a similar patterned plot with gradual variations of burning intensity (basically colour changes) related to the distance and exposure of bones to the hearths focus (Sergant et al, 2006).…”

Abrigo de la Quebrada Level IV (Valencia, Spain): Interpreting a Middle Palaeolithic Palimpsest from a Zooarchaeological and Lithic Perspective

“…The formation of an archaeological deposit depends on a wide range of factors that cannot always be accurately characterised: territorial mobility patterns, duration of the occupations, group size, availability of prey, raw material exploitation, seasonal environmental variation and human demography. These factors converge to produce modes of site use that, based on the composition of the archaeological assemblages that have been analysed in our region (Gabucio et al 2017;Machado and Pérez 2016;Machado et al 2013;Rosell et al 2012a), are often reduced to two types: residential occupations ('camp sites'), and hunting or passing-by stands. When assigning specific occupations to one of these types, the density of finds has been considered a relevant indicator.…”

“…To this aim, several approaches have been used-among others: geoarchaeological and archaeo-stratigraphical (Brochier 1999;Canals 1993;Goldberg and Macphail 2006;Mallol et al 2010;Vallverdú-Poch and Courty 2012); ethnographic comparison (Binford 1978;O'Connell, 1987;O'Connell et al 1992;Yellen 1977); statistical and mathematical modelling (Carr 1987;Kintigh and Ammerman 1982;Simek 1987;Stapert 1990;Whallon 1984); bone and stone tool refitting (Cziesla 1990;Cziesla et al 1990;Eixea et al 2011Eixea et al -2012Gabucio et al 2017;Machado et al 2013;Rosell et al 2012a;Villa 1982;Vaquero 1999); analyses of artefact density and of the frequency of retouched pieces relative to total lithic assemblage size (Barton and Riel-Salvatore 2014; Clark and Barton 2017); technological analysis of raw material units (RMUs) (Conard and Adler 1997;Adler et al 2003;Turq et al 2017;Roebroeks 1988); studies of combustion features (Courty et al 2012;Henry 2012;Mallol et al 2013;Vaquero and Pastó 2001); or analyses of the dispersion of archaeobotanical remains (seeds, fruits and charcoals) (Castro-Curel and Carbonell 1995;Chabal 1988;Solé et al 2013;Thiébault 1995;Vidal-Matutano 2016;Vidal-Matutano et al 2017). The complementary nature of these methods a...…”

Use wear analysis of quartzite lithic implements from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Lagoa do Bando (Central Portugal)

“…This data may suggest a long term occupation. On the other hand, if the hearths were social spaces and the center of the activities (Foley & Gamble 2009;Rosell et al 2012;Vallverdú et al 2012;Vaquero & Pastó 2001), their absence in Lagoa do Bando together with the small quantity of lithic artifacts found, could suggest that the site is an ephemeral occupation site (such consideration remains to be confirmed through future excavations). Considering the available data in our opinion, the Lagoa do Bando remains might be related to two (or more) ephemeral and specialized occupations of the site (Stiner 2013).…”