Late Middle Pleistocene malacofauna of the Acheulean site of Valdocarros II, Jarama river valley, Madrid, Spain

Aparicio, María Teresa Sanz; Panera, Joaquín; Rubio‐Jara, Susana; Uribelarrea, David; Pérez‐González, Alfredo

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2018.04.011

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…Biomarkers from Valdocarros build upon earlier reconstructions of the Jarama Basin 33,[41][42][43] suggesting (paleo) environmental and climatic conditions exerted a direct influence on regional hominin behaviours. Valdocarros II itself harboured occasional large woody plants, such as conifers, and based on pollen spectra, most trees occurred on river edges 42 .…”

Section: Potential Hominin Uses Of Fire At Valdocarros IImentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Previous work in the Jarama Basin focussing on Valdocarros time suggests that climate and vegetation changes documented in that period correlate with modern climate and vegetation characteristic of the central Iberian Peninsula Meseta 41,42 . According to the herpetofauna of the site, the climate during Valdocarros was an oceanic climate through cool periods and a Mediterranean climate through the warm periods, with an of + 3 °C and -1 °C respectively, compared to the present 43 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 90%

“…According to the herpetofauna of the site, the climate during Valdocarros was an oceanic climate through cool periods and a Mediterranean climate through the warm periods, with an of + 3 °C and -1 °C respectively, compared to the present 43 . The malacofauna recovered from the site were moderately cold tolerant and highly tolerant of semiarid conditions 41 , but the ecologic context of this environment remains unconstrained.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Organic geochemical evidence of human-controlled fires at Acheulean site of Valdocarros II (Spain, 245 kya)

Stancampiano

Rubio‐Jara

Panera

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Among the outstanding questions about the emergence of human-controlled fire is the systematic recurrence between the geochemical remains of fire and its preservation in the archaeological record, as the use of fire is considered a technological landmark, especially for its importance in food cooking, defensive strategies, and heating. Here we report fossil lipid biomarkers associated with incomplete combustion of organic matter at the Valdocarros II site, one of the largest European Acheulean sites in Spain dated to marine isotopic stage (MIS) 8/7 (~ 245 kya) allowing a multiproxy analysis of human-controlled fire use. Our results reveal isolated cases of highly concentrated and diverse polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alkylated PAHs (APAHs), along with diagnostic conifer-derived triterpenoids in two hearth-like archaeological structures. The presence of combustion byproducts suggests the presence of anthropogenic (controlled) fires at Valdocarros—one of the oldest evidence of fire use in Europe-in association with Acheulean tools and bones. Hominins possibly used fire for two main activities, as a means of defense against predators and cooking. Our results help to better delineate major gaps in our current knowledge of human-controlled fire in the context of the Middle-Pleistocene in Europe and suggest that human ancestors were able to control fire before at least 250 kya.

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