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The north profile of the western area of the Abrigo 3 with indication of the position of the samples collected from the profiles extant in March 2006 and of the approximate age obtained for the dated stratigraphic units. Sample E2, not shown, came from an area of level 25 located ~1.5 m to the east (i.e., to the right) of the profile illustrated here.
Source publication
The Humo rockshelters contain one of the few long archeological stratigraphies spanning the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition in southern Iberia. Stalagmite, bone and shell samples from Area 1 of the Abrigo 3 were collected in order to assess the chronology of the latest Mousterian of this locus. The results indicate that the sequence is older...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... the archeological stratigraphy was better defined in its westernmost part, Area 1, it was decided to focus our efforts on samples from this area: five speleothem samples were submitted for dating by U-series at the OUUSL (Open University Uranium Series Laboratory); nine bone and nine shell samples and were sub- mitted for dating by radiocarbon at the ORAU (Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Uni- versity of Oxford). The provenience of these samples is provided in Figure 3. ...
Context 2
... the archeological stratigraphy was better defined in its westernmost part, Area 1, it was decided to focus our efforts on samples from this area: five speleothem samples were submitted for dating by U-series at the OUUSL (Open University Uranium Series Laboratory); nine bone and nine shell samples and were sub- mitted for dating by radiocarbon at the ORAU (Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Uni- versity of Oxford). The provenience of these samples is provided in Figure 3. ...
Citations
... No pollen samples were taken from the overlying levels 14 and 13, corresponding to the same cultural period, because they were above the stratigraphic cut, although a TL dating of level 13 was >19 ka. Level 15 is dated by TL at >24 ka (Ramos Fernández et al., 2012). The rest of the samples, up to the base of the sequence, are all assigned to stratigraphic levels of the Middle Paleolithic: 8 and 9 (level 17), 10 (level 18), 11 (level 19), 12 (level 20), 13 (level 21), 14 and 15 (level 22), 16 (level 23, dated by TL at 35 ka), 17 to 22 (level 24), 23 (level 25), and finally 24 to 26 (level 26) (Fig. 4) (Ramos Fernández et al., 2012). ...
... Level 15 is dated by TL at >24 ka (Ramos Fernández et al., 2012). The rest of the samples, up to the base of the sequence, are all assigned to stratigraphic levels of the Middle Paleolithic: 8 and 9 (level 17), 10 (level 18), 11 (level 19), 12 (level 20), 13 (level 21), 14 and 15 (level 22), 16 (level 23, dated by TL at 35 ka), 17 to 22 (level 24), 23 (level 25), and finally 24 to 26 (level 26) (Fig. 4) (Ramos Fernández et al., 2012). ...
... Although some uncertainties persist about the exact chronology of the deposits (Ferrer et al., 2005;Ortega Ruiz and Ramos Fernández, 2015;Ramos Fernández et al., 2012), the palynological analysis presented here allows visualizing the full-glacial vegetation of the Upper Pleistocene in a territory on the southern coastline of Spain (Fig. 4). While noticing some fluctuation between the aridity plant indicators, it bears emphasis that even during the most arid periods, a diversity of thermophilous taxa occur continuously in the pollen sequence. ...
This paper presents a palynological study of the archeological layers from the Neanderthal site Abrigo 3 del Complejo del Humo, in southern Spain (Málaga), with the aim of reconstructing the environmental conditions in the vicinity of this hominin site. The Upper Pleistocene vegetation and its variability are described, revealing a high diversity of thermophilous plant taxa throughout the cold dry phases, together with a long-term persistence of woody taxa, including Mediterranean, mesophytes, xerothermics and conifers. With the pollen records of Maytenus senegalensis as an outstanding finding, this study demonstrates the co-existence of temperate, Mediterranean and Ibero-Maghrebian angiosperms on the southern coastal plains of the Iberian Pleistocene where Neanderthals survived for a long time. It is therefore clear that Neanderthals and early Upper Paleolithic modern humans lived in a litoral refugium, which was a propitious environment for maintaining a high biodiversity, including potentially edible plant species. Besides, this coastal refugium offers broad possibilities for hunting, and interpopulational relationships through coastal platforms.
... Similar trends are also documented-albeit in in a more restricted manner-at the Abrigo 3 (ref. 21 ) and Gorham's Cave sites 11 . All constitute evidence that Neanderthals were settled along the coast well before the onset of the Aurignacian. ...
... Although the Bajondillo Cave dates do not indicate any coexistence of Neanderthals and Aurignacians, the fact that the Middle Palaeolithic ceases at around 45 cal ka bp (Supplementary Table 1) is also worth noting. Indeed, this date is essentially synchronous with the cessation of Middle Palaeolithic levels from sites in the province of Málaga, both coastal (Abrigo 3) 21 and inland (Zafarraya) 22 . The idea of a regional, as opposed to local, phenomenon seems compelling, as is the fact that (except for the two Bay of Málaga sites) Late Mousterian settlements are located at a substantial altitude (that is, > 400 m). ...
Westernmost Europe constitutes a key location in determining the timing of the replacement of Neanderthals by anatomically modern humans (AMHs). In this study, the replacement of late Mousterian industries by Aurignacian ones at the site of Bajondillo Cave (Málaga, southern Spain) is reported. On the basis of Bayesian analyses, a total of 26 radiocarbon dates, including 17 new ones, show that replacement at Bajondillo took place in the millennia centring on ~45–43 calibrated thousand years before the present (cal ka BP)—well before the onset of Heinrich event 4 (~40.2–38.3 cal ka BP). These dates indicate that the arrival of AMHs at the southernmost tip of Iberia was essentially synchronous with that recorded in other regions of Europe, and significantly increases the areal expansion reached by early AMHs at that time. In agreement with human dispersal scenarios on other continents, such rapid expansion points to coastal corridors as favoured routes for early AMH. The new radiocarbon dates align Iberian chronologies with AMH dispersal patterns in Eurasia. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0753-6.
... The 1951e1954 excavations on the dune (outer zone) of Gorham's cave (Gibraltar) also reported an MIS5-MIS3 sequence featuring substantial numbers of molluscs (Baden-Powell, 1964). More recently, in Gibraltar, marine molluscs have been reported on Vanguard's Cave (MIS3) and the inner portion of Gorham's Cave (MIS3), and also on the MIS8-MIS5 North African rock shelter at Benzú (Ceuta, Spain) and in two MIS3 sites on the coast of Malaga (Abrigo 3 and Nerja Cave) (Barton, 2000;Cort es-S anchez et al., 2008;Ramos Fern andez et al., 2012;Fa et al., 2016). Hints of shellfishing by Iberian Neanderthals do not seem to be restricted to the Albor an sea, as both in Murcia (SE Spain) and the Algarve (S. ...
... Although regional conditions and species spectra may have determined the course of various of the aquatic adaptations, species living in sediments would have been largely invisible for Table 4 Mollusc assemblages from prehistoric sites from the Alboran Sea. Data taken from Fischer, 1928), Baden-Powell (1964), Barton (2000), Lozano-Francisco et al. (2003), 2004, Cort es-S anchez et al. (2008), Ramos Fern andez et al., 2012, Fa et al., (2016), Ramos Muñoz et al., 2016. coastal foragers. ...
The Middle (MP) and Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) evidences of shellfish collection on the southern Iberian site of Bajondillo cave are presented and compared with Westernmost Mediterranean archaeological sites. The main feature is stasis for Mytilus galloprovincialis represents the dominant taxon during a ~120kyr temporal sequence. The second feature is the decrease of the shellfishing signal when site distance to the coast increases. The data reveal that shellfish collection was practiced during Marine
Isotopic Stage 4, a poorly documented stage in terms of aquatic adaptations. Striking is also that mollusc
assemblages evidence an uninterrupted decreasing trend in terms of remains from the earliest to the latest levels, in particular when H. sapiens replaced H. neanderthalensis. Although taxa of secondary
importance are too scarce to make reliable inferences, another difference between the MP and EUP collections is the substantial increase of infaunal bivalves in the latter cultural period. Warm and cold water mollusc records match temperature rises and drops although the scarcity of data do not allow one to proceed beyond qualitative statements. Likewise, the prevalence of fresh and brackish water mollusc hint at a permanent presence of freshwater around the site at all times. When compared with assemblages from the Alboran sea region (Westernmost Mediterranean Sea), the Bajondillo cave collections are remarkable for their abundance of mussels. Comparison between Bajondillo cave and Pinnacle Point reveal that infaunal bivalve abundances in the South African site are far higher than those recorded in the MP levels, though not those from the EUP. Whether this feature hints at subtle differences existing between the collection of shellfish by H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis, reflects a behavioral convergence between the two hominine lineages or represents an inherited cognitive trait from a common ancestor is an issue in need of further analysis.
... Marine invertebrates are the most widely studied group of archaeological samples, particularly the Gastropoda and Bivalvia classes of mollusc. To date, the earliest references were found at the Bajondillo site (Cortés Sánchez et al., 2011), and they have also been identified at the Gibraltar and Complejo Humo sites (Garrod et al., 1928;Waechter, 1951 and1964;Barton, 2000;Fa, 2008;Brown et al., 2011;Ramos Fernández et al., 2014). Throughout the period studied, the presence of shell remains is higher at the coastal sites (0 -10 km from the coast at the time of human occupation) than at the inland sites. ...
The significance of coastal areas to human survival and expansion on the planet is undeniable. Their ecological diversity and their use as communication routes are some of their most distinctive qualities. However, the evidence of exploitation of these resources has had an uneven preservation, which is limited to certain regions and more recent events, mainly sites with deposits from the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene. This paper analyses the data available on the use of marine resources between MIS 6 and MIS 1 (c. 150 – 9 ka BP) in Southern Iberia, one of the first regions in Europe where marine faunal remains were discovered, in archaeological deposits from Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. Therefore their presence here has not been a criterion of separation between Neanderthals and Modern humans, but it may be relevant to analyze changes in the use of small preys or assess the economic diversification in regions where this came at an early date. One of the aims of this study was to evaluate the diachronic trends of the different palaeobiological marine remains recovered from coastal and inland archaeological sites. This preliminary extract indicates that the analysis of marine resource exploitation cannot be classed as a mere listing of palaeobiological remains. This information may be relevant in the initial stages, but it is insufficient in the evaluation of techno-economic and sociocultural transformations that can be linked to the use of marine resources. The distribution of palaeobiological marine remains differs over time and also according to the location of the sites with respect to the changing coastline throughout the period analysed. The known sites that preserve evidence of the use of marine resources as a food source are located mainly on the present coastline, or in a range of less than 10 km. Invertebrate remains have been identified in most, whereas fish, bird and mammal bones only in certain sites. Molluscs used as ornaments or pendants and containers are more widely distributed than other species used for food. Because these data must be contextualized, bone and stone tools linked to the exploitation of the marine environment have been added to the palaeobiological information, drawing inferences based on the analogy between both ethnologically and archaeologically documented tools. Symbolic expressions have also been studied, given the significant number of painted and engraved marine fauna depictions, specifically pisciforms and mammals, found in southern Iberia. Lastly, available molecular data has also been evaluated, from the results of isotope analysis on human remains. This combination of palaeobiological, techno economic, graphic-symbolic and molecular data, allows a first assessment of the use of marine resources in the region. Throughout this temporal trajectory there are several gaps in the documented evidence that favor an episodic change rather than a cumulative and continuous process. It might be possible that these gaps are hidden aspects related to dietary processes of resource diversification. Either way, two different situations have been recognized: First, a complementary, perhaps seasonal use of marine resources in Neanderthal occupations. Molluscs, mainly gastropods, and beached marine mammals are the most common types of marine resources. The anthropic contribution of birds is mainly concentrated in crows and pigeons, not in marine birds. The fish remains are unreliable and no technical equipment has been identified linked to the extraction and consumption of the mentioned resources. Second, the identification of obvious maritime-orientated societies at the end of the Upper Palaeolithic. The exploitation of a large variety of invertebrates (gastropods, bivalves, crustaceans, and echinoderms) with a significant increase in bivalves, fish, birds and marine mammals is associated with equipment linked to their extraction and processing. The identification of marine fauna depictions in the Palaeolithic art and the concentration of sites along the coast of the Alboran Sea that accumulate deposits of marine fauna, add regional traits, which have not been described in the rest of the Mediterranean Iberian region or in much of southern Europe.
... Marine invertebrates are the most widely studied group of archaeological samples, particularly the Gastropoda and Bivalvia classes of mollusc. To date, the earliest references were found at the Bajondillo site (Cortés Sánchez et al., 2011), and they have also been identified at the Gibraltar and Complejo Humo sites (Garrod et al., 1928;Waechter, 1951 and1964;Barton, 2000;Fa, 2008;Brown et al., 2011;Ramos Fernández et al., 2014). Throughout the period studied, the presence of shell remains is higher at the coastal sites (0 -10 km from the coast at the time of human occupation) than at the inland sites. ...
... The 1951e1954 excavations on the dune (outer zone) of Gorham's cave (Gibraltar) also reported an MIS5-MIS3 sequence featuring substantial numbers of molluscs (Baden-Powell, 1964). More recently, in Gibraltar, marine molluscs have been reported on Vanguard's Cave (MIS3) and the inner portion of Gorham's Cave (MIS3), and also on the MIS8-MIS5 North African rock shelter at Benzú (Ceuta, Spain) and in two MIS3 sites on the coast of Malaga (Abrigo 3 and Nerja Cave) (Barton, 2000;Cort es-S anchez et al., 2008;Ramos Fern andez et al., 2012;Fa et al., 2016). Hints of shellfishing by Iberian Neanderthals do not seem to be restricted to the Albor an sea, as both in Murcia (SE Spain) and the Algarve (S. ...
... Although regional conditions and species spectra may have determined the course of various of the aquatic adaptations, species living in sediments would have been largely invisible for Table 4 Mollusc assemblages from prehistoric sites from the Alboran Sea. Data taken from Fischer, 1928), Baden-Powell (1964), Barton (2000), Lozano-Francisco et al. (2003), 2004, Cort es-S anchez et al. (2008), Ramos Fern andez et al., 2012, Fa et al., (2016), Ramos Muñoz et al., 2016. coastal foragers. ...
En este trabajo abordamos las actividades de Arqueología Experimental desarrolladas en las Cuevas de La Araña. Éstas, cubren los campos más significativos de la Arqueología y sus protocolos -de campo y laboratorio-, así como la reproducción de los procesos tecnológicos con que se tuvieron que enfrentar los grupos prehistóricos para su supervivencia, desde el Paleolítico Inferior hasta el Calcolítico. Con la reproducción de las diversas tecnologías se obtiene una información más directa, y se aprecia mejor las dificultades inherentes a cada una de ellas, obteniéndose una visión más ajustada de la propia evolución tecnológica, y los avances conseguidos en cada periodo cultural.
In the Franco-Cantabrian region and Catalonia, the Upper Palaeolithic begins with three assemblage-types found in stratigraphic order through the interval between 45,000 and 37,000 years ago: the Châtelperronian, the Protoaurignacian, and the Early Aurignacian. A stone tool, the Châtelperron point, and a bone tool, the split-based point, are index fossils of the first and the last, respectively, but neither was ever found elsewhere in Iberia. This observation triggered the proposition that, in regions situated to the south of the River Ebro drainage, the Middle Palaeolithic persisted until the time when the Early Aurignacian gave way to the Evolved Aurignacian, which is documented across all of Iberia by assemblages containing its index fossil, the Roc-de-Combe bladelet. Put forth thirty years ago, this Ebro Frontier model found support in the little radiometric evidence then available. Since, it has been shown that most apparently late occurrences of the Middle Palaeolithic were an artefact of dating error, caused by incomplete decontamination of radiocarbon dating samples, while claims have surfaced for the Early Aurignacian to be more widespread than hitherto thought. While the validity of Ebro Frontier's premises has thereby been called into question, continued support for the model is provided by the excavation of new sites, the re-excavation of old ones, the application of luminescence techniques, and the radiocarbon dating of robustly pre-treated samples. Moreover, and highlighting the key role that site formation process and taphonomy continue to play in ongoing controversies, issues of association between the samples and what they are supposed to date cast doubt on the two key claims for the presence of the Early Aurignacian in Andalusia and Portugal. Along with the Iberian System range, the Cantabro-Pyrenean cordillera represents a formidable physical obstacle to travel and communication, potentially enhanced during Last Glacial times because of rapid and major fluctuations in aridity, glacier extent, and plant cover. This barrier effect underpins the divergent culture-historical trajectories that we see unfolding at various times during the Upper Pleistocene. Beyond the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition, a well-known case in point is the interval between 20,000 and 22,000 years ago, during which the Badegoulian and the Initial Magdalenian of France and northern Spain developed in parallel with facies of the Upper Solutrean and the Solutreo-gravettian then persisting across all Iberian regions situated between Valencia and Portugal. Given known associations between technocomplexes and human types, these regions' Late Mousterian can be taken as a proxy for the persistence of Neandertal populations, and therefore constitutes a case study of choice for analyses of the variation in the intensity and frequency of biological and cultural interactions among low-density, small-scale populations of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers. Such analyses have implications for models of the spread of genes, populations, and ideas in the course of Human Evolution, which would greatly benefit from due consideration of the issues of historical contingency that the Iberian evidence sheds much light on.
The rock-shelter of Benzú is located near the city of Ceuta in North Africa. At the rock-shelter of Benzú
there is a sequence of 7 archaeological levels, which are associated with a clearly defined Mode 3 lithic
technology. The similarities with other assemblages found in the south of the Iberian Peninsula are clear.
We emphasise the exploitation of marine resources by these hunteregatherer societies from the
beginning of the Middle Pleistocene sequence. On the basis of this archaeological evidence and in the
context of recent studies on North Africa, this work assesses the possible relationships and contacts
between societies on both shores of the historical region of the Straits of Gibraltar.
This article examines the role played by marine resources for hunter-gatherer groups of the Middle/Upper Pleistocene in the geohistorical region around the Straits of Gibraltar, on the basis of new evidence collected at the rock shelter of Benzú (North Africa). The stratigraphic sequence at Benzú has been dated to between 254 and 70 ka. The excavations have revealed the exploitation of marine gastropods and bivalves, alongside fish. The most common taxon in the sequence is the genus Patella. The analysis of the molluscs and their spatial distribution shows that these animals were purposely collected by humans, probably as a food source. In order to contribute to the debate about the origins and scale of the exploitation of marine resources during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene, the evidence collected at Benzú is interpreted within the broader context of North Africa and southern Europe. The similarity of groups of Homo sapiens sapiens in North Africa and Homo sapiens neanderthalensis in southern Europe in terms of lifestyle and subsistence strategies is interpreted as reflecting equally similar social and economic practices, in spite of the diversity of anthropological perspectives on the relationship between humans and the environment currently in vogue.
