Galeria del silex Sierra de Atapuerca

Quaternary Science Reviews, 2023

We present new datings and a new anthropological study of Early Neolithic human remains found in Galería del Sílex in 1979. This gallery is part of the Cueva Mayor system in the Sierra de Atapuerca. The human fossils attributed to the Neolithic period correspond to a minimum number of three individuals that have been radiocarbon dated to the last third of the 6th millennium cal BCE. Thus, the fossils from Galería del Sílex are among the oldest Neolithic human remains in the interior of the Iberian Peninsula. The human remains from Galería del Sílex were not found within a domestic context of human occupation of the cave, but rather within two pits (simas) located more than three hundred meters from the ancient entrance. This suggests that Galería del Sílex could have been an area reserved for depositing deceased humans during the Early Neolithic. Given the scarcity of this kind of funerary cave in the Spanish northern plateau during the Early Neolithic, the data from the Galería del Sílex add to our knowledge of human mortuary behavior during this period. In addition to the Galería del Sílex, there are two other well-known Neolithic sites in Sierra de Atapuerca: El Portal´on in Cueva Mayor, which was a human occupation site, and Cueva del Mirador, which was used for livestock stabling and exploitation. Considered altogether, the emerging evidence provided by these three sites makes Sierra de Atapuerca increasingly relevant as a source of information about Early Neolithic people from the interior of the Iberian Peninsula.

2008

The site of Portalón at Cueva Mayor, located in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain), is an important Holocene archaeological site that was excavated in the 70's but from which little has been published. New excavations starting in 2000 have highlighted a deep stratigraphical sequence with human occupations starting in the beginning of the Upper Pleistocene. In this paper, we present for the first time this stratigraphical sequence with a set of radiocarbon datings comprising from 30.000 BP to 2000 BP.

Trabajos de Prehistoria, 2018

Archaeological investigations of the agrarian communities of the 6 th-2 nd millennia BC in the Iberian Peninsula have undergone fundamental transformations over the past 25 years. This paper attempts to provide an overview of this research by considering three topics: 1) changes in theory, perspective, and practice, 2) the discovery of new sites or site types, and 3) developments in analytical methodologies and techniques. It concludes with some thoughts about possible future challenges and directions for research. RESUMEN Las investigaciones arqueológicas de las comunidades agrarias del VI al II milenios a. C. en la Península Ibérica han sufrido transformaciones fundamentales en los últimos 25 años. Este artículo trata de proporcionar una visión general de esta investigación considerando tres temas: 1) los cambios en la teoría, la perspectiva y la práctica, 2) el descubrimiento de nuevos sitios o tipos de sitios, y 3) la evolución de las metodologías y técnicas analíticas. Se concluye con algunas reflexiones sobre posibles futuros desafíos y direcciones para la investigación.

Munibe (Antropología y Arkeología), 59: 93-106, 2008

The site of Portalón is not only one of the entries to the Cueva Mayor, of the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain), but it is also an important Holocene archaeological site that was first excavated in the 1970s, although largely unpublished. New excavations by our team starting in 2000 have revealed a stratigraphical sequence starting in the Late Pleistocene and with evidence of human occupations through the Holocene. We present this stratigraphical sequence with a radiocarbon dates ranging from 30.000 BP to 1.000 BP. Two major sedimentary units are observed in the Portalón sequence, the lower unit belongs to the Late Pleistocene and has a significant paleontological record and sparse Upper Palaeolithic human artifacts. The upper unit belongs to the Holocene and is characterized by sedimentary homogeneity and numerous archaeological artifacts. This unit shows occupations in the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Early and Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and Medieval periods. The Portalón excavations are of great importance because of the scarcity of information of the Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic cultural periods in the interior Iberian Peninsula and, in particular, in the Northern Plateau.

PLOS ONE

The deposition and manipulation of human remains in natural caves are well known for the Neolithic of Southern Iberia. The cultural meaning of these practices is however still largely unclear. Cueva de los Marmoles (CM, Priego-Córdoba) is one of the most important cave contexts from Southern Spain, which returned a large number of commingled skeletal remains suggesting its funerary use from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Here we discuss CM from a chronological and cultural perspective based on new radiocarbon, anthropological, and taphonomic analyses. These include the estimation of the minimum number of individuals, the exploration of fragmentation patterns characterizing different skeletal regions, and the macroscopic and microscopic analysis of modifications to the remains of possible anthropic origin. Radiocarbon data point to a funerary use of CM between the 5th -2nd millennium cal. BCE. MNI estimates reveal the presence of at least 12 individuals (seven adults and five ...

Documenta Praehistorica, 2004

Open Archaeology

The excavations at “Cova del Randero” (Pedreguer, Alicante, Spain) began in 2007 within the programme of archaeological interventions of the Archaeological Museum of Alicante. The cavity, located in one of the valleys that connect the coast with the inland mountains, presents a wide sequence of occupations that begins in the Upper Palaeolithic and continues throughout the different phases of the Neolithic. The results of a multidisciplinary study, carried out in an archaeological context associated with the first Neolithic presence of the cavity, are presented here. This occupation is defined by a unique combustion structure to which a set of artefacts and biofacts are linked. This archaeological context, probably of a specific nature, is related to the first agro-pastoral communities settled in the area. The fireplace is well defined stratigraphically and sedimentologically because of its reddish soil, which corresponds to hunter-gatherer occupation levels of the cavity, and under ...