Assessment of Accumulation Processes at the Middle Pleistocene Site of Ambrona (Soria, Spain). Density and Orientation Patterns in Spatial Datasets Derived from Excavations Conducted from the 1960s to the Present

Romero, Laura López; Benito‐Calvo, Alfonso; Pérez‐González, Alfredo; Santonja, Manuel

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0167595

Cited by 38 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In the case of Amalda I we tested several search radii, selecting a final radius of 0.50 m. Density maps were classified using natural groupings inherent to the data 27 . This classification allowed us to obtain a high-resolution estimation of the zones with a higher concentration of materials, separated from less representative low or medium density zones 28 .…”

Section: Density Analysis the Application Of Kernel Density Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights for understanding spatial patterning and formation processes of the Neanderthal occupation in the Amalda I cave (Gipuzkoa, Spain)

Romero

Benito‐Calvo

Marín-Arroyo

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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the Level Vii of Amalda i cave (Gipuzkoa, Spain) represents one of the latest Middle palaeolithic occupations in the cantabrian Region. it is characterized by the presence of Middle palaeolithic lithic industry and animal remains, with clear evidences of anthropic and carnivore manipulation. At this site, the neanderthal presence has been questioned in relation to the role of carnivores in the accumulation of large, medium-sized and small mammals. it has also been proposed that the neanderthal occupation could have consisted of short-term occupations, where different activities took place in a structured space within the cave. However, all hypotheses lacked any integrative analysis of the site formation processes. With the aim of understanding these processes, a combination of spatial techniques, based on GiS and inferential statistics (density analysis, hotspots tools and palaeotopographic reconstruction), along with the taphonomic study of identifiable and non-identifiable macromammals remains, were employed. this study has revealed distinct use of the cave space by neanderthals and carnivores. the major concentrations of lithics and medium-size mammal remains were clearly accumulated by humans at the cave entrance, while the small-size mammals were gathered by carnivores in an inner zone. the activities of the neanderthals seem to be distinctly structured, suggesting a parallel exploitation of resources.

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Section: Density Analysis the Application Of Kernel Density Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights for understanding spatial patterning and formation processes of the Neanderthal occupation in the Amalda I cave (Gipuzkoa, Spain)

Romero

Benito‐Calvo

Marín-Arroyo

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…; Sánchez‐Romero et al . ). The analysis was carried out using remains ≥20 mm showing an elongation index ≥1.6 (Bertran & Lenoble ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

SHKExtension: a new archaeological window in theSHKfluvial landscape of Middle BedII(Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)

Martín

Fraile

Uribelarrea

et al. 2017

Boreas

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In this paper, we present the results of new archaeological and geological research carried out in SHK Extension, a new site excavatedwithin the SHK fluvial complex (Bed II, Olduvai Gorge). The paper describes the stratigraphy of the site and its correlation with our excavation in SHK Main Site, showing that overbank archaeological accumulations in both areas are synchronous and form part of the same fluvial palaeo-landscape. On the basis of the archaeostratigraphical analysis performed, mainly geared towards defining high-resolution chrono-stratigraphical frameworks within the deposit, we report the results of a technological study of the lithic collection sorted by archaeo-units, an assessment of the integrity of the main accumulation and an exhaustive lithic refitting programme. The archaeological sequence at SHK Extension, consisting of three archaeo-units, preserves a high-density patch of lithics and fossil bones (Level B2), on an overbank setting, isochronous with the SHK Main site. The high percentage of small lithic remains and bones, large number of fresh archaeological materials, and the identification of several refit sets support the integrity of the anthropogenic accumulation documented in Level B2. The main technological trait of the lithic assemblage from this level is the preservation of a qualitatively significant sample of large flakes and LCTs. The technological behaviours observed in SHKE, in the frameworkof the SHK complex, confirm that the complex web of inter-assemblage variability during Bed II times operated also in very close fractions of the same palaeo-landscape. This reinforces the idea that subtle functional parameters must be taken into account in our current assessment of the Developed Oldowan/Acheulean interface.Fernando Diez-Mart ın (fernando.diez.martin@uva.es),

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“…After filling the potential remaining holes in the DEM with another interpolation thanks to the "Fill sinks" function of SAGA within the freeware QGIS 3.3.4 43 , a hydrological model was produced from this raster with the functions r.flow of GRASS from the same freeware, which evidenced the run-off waters based on the slope of the terrain; Strahler stream order resulting in hierarchized flow accumulation areas was computed with the function "Strahler order" of SAGA within the same freeware. From www.nature.com/scientificreports/ these latter, catchment areas were estimated for the contact surface between Unit A and F. Hydrological models have proven to be helpful in the understanding of complex fluvial processes 22,25,[44][45][46] . Slope and aspect maps, as well as vector plots have further been produced from the DEM in R and the use of the package rasterVis 47 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taphonomy and chronosequence of the 709 ka Kalinga site formation (Luzon Island, Philippines)

Reyes

Vos

Belarmino

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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The recently described site of Kalinga in the Philippines adds to our understanding of Early-Middle Pleistocene hominin behaviour. Yet, disentangling the natural from the anthropogenic modifications that have taken place in such an old archaeological site is challenging. In this paper we use a set of taphonomic tools at hand to rectify the distortion made by natural processes during the formation of the Kalinga site. From the description of the ribs completeness, surface damages and scattering in the excavation, one can reconstruct the butchery, transport and deposition sequence of the rhino carcass and its post-depositional disturbances and diagenetic evolution of the site. We conclude that the rhino and the stone artefacts potentially used to deflesh the carcass were transported by a mudflow from its butchery place over a few meters only and got stuck and mixed with an older faunal assemblage that was transported by a small stream. Lower and Middle Pleistocene Asian sites opening a window on subsistence behaviour of ancient hominins are scarce. So far, three sites have yielded evidence of clear butchery activities 1 : 800 ka Indonesian site of Ngebung 2 2,3 and the 412 ± 25 ka site of Hexian 4 as well as the ca. 300 ka Chinese site of Zhoukoudian locality 4 5. This scarcity of records of early Palaeolithic subsistence strategies in Asia is made more challenging by the integrity of the archaeological sites as, the older they are, the more likely they are to be heavily disturbed and therefore to be hardly interpreted 6. The recently described site of Kalinga in the Philippines (Fig. 1a), where the recovery of a 709 ka almost complete disarticulated rhinoceros skeleton showing cutting and percussion marks along with 57 stone artefacts 7 , presents a unique opportunity to study ancient human-animal interactions in this part of the world. The site of Kalinga is located down North a 7.5 m-high hill, and halfway the southern slope of a small southeast-northwest valley with seasonal runoff waters (Fig. 1b). In the 42 m 2 excavation named Main Trench on which we focus in this paper, apart from the rhino remains, fossils of tortoise, Varanus salvator, Stegodon luzonensis and Cervus cf. mariannus were excavated along with two tektites, several pebbles mostly composed of dacite, and a possible manuport, all of them between 70 cm and 1 m below the present surface within a silty clay layer 7 (Fig. 1c). This fossiliferous bed referred to as Unit F is uncomfortably overlaying an eroded coarse to medium sandy indurated fluvial layer (Unit A). The archaeological layer of Unit F is in turn sub-horizontally overlaid by a 1-1.15 m thick cross-bedded coarse sandy fluvial layer (Unit G) with silt lenses. Above Unit G is a 2.5 m thick silty pedogenised layer with imprints of rhizomes which are not affecting the underlaying layers (Unit J). The uppermost layer (Unit Y) is composed of cross-beded medium to coarse sands within which a few stone artefacts and poorly preserved bones were recovered. These latter remains which pertain to a d...

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Assessment of Accumulation Processes at the Middle Pleistocene Site of Ambrona (Soria, Spain). Density and Orientation Patterns in Spatial Datasets Derived from Excavations Conducted from the 1960s to the Present

Cited by 38 publications

References 32 publications

New insights for understanding spatial patterning and formation processes of the Neanderthal occupation in the Amalda I cave (Gipuzkoa, Spain)

New insights for understanding spatial patterning and formation processes of the Neanderthal occupation in the Amalda I cave (Gipuzkoa, Spain)

SHKExtension: a new archaeological window in theSHKfluvial landscape of Middle BedII(Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)

Taphonomy and chronosequence of the 709 ka Kalinga site formation (Luzon Island, Philippines)

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