José Antonio Lozano Rodríguez

Instituto Español de Oceanografia | IEO

The technical and intellectual capabilities of past societies are reflected in the monuments they were able to build. Tracking the provenance of the stones utilised to build prehistoric megalithic monuments, through geological studies, is of utmost interest for interpreting ancient architectures as well as to contribute to their protection. Accordi...

Today, mercury is a matter of concern for health and environmental authorities across western countries, and legislation has been passed and programs have been implemented for its total elimination from human activity. But this was not always the case: mercury and its compounds have been highly appreciated and used since remote times all over the w...

Plant material culture can offer unique insights into the ways of life of prehistoric societies; however, its perishable nature has prevented a thorough understanding of its diverse and complex uses. Sites with exceptional preservation of organic materials provide a unique opportunity for further research. The burial site of Cueva de los Murciélago...

Active volcanoes are key laboratories to carry out detailed research -and monitoring- about the history of magmas before, during and after eruptions. Tagoro, the submarine active volcano at El Hierro Island (Canary archipelago), is a highly favorable case to assess and monitor its daily ongoing behaviour, as well as to study the links between the p...

Antequera in southern Spain is widely recognised as an outstanding example of the European megalithic phenomenon. One of its most remarkable features is the evident relationship between conspicuous natural formations and human-built monuments. Here, the authors report the results of their investigation of a tomb newly discovered at the site of Pied...

Deception Island is one of the most active volcanoes in Antarctica with more than twenty explosive eruptions in the past two centuries. Any future volcanic eruption(s) is a serious concern for scientists and tourists, will be detrimental to marine ecosystems and could have an impact to global oceanographic processes. Currently, it is not possible t...

Tagoro is one of the eight intraplate submarine volcanoes described worldwide and one of the few that has been continuously monitored since its eruption in 2011. Here we present the data collected during 5 different oceanographic cruises from 2014 to 2022 to define the hydrothermal field area and estimate the fluid rates and heat fluxes associated...

A newly discovered prehistoric stela from Cañaveral de León (Huelva, Spain) is studied through a combination of scientific methods, including thin section petrography and lithological contextualisation, various state-of-the-art digital imaging techniques for the analysis of the engraved motifs (3D modelling and Reflectance Transformation Imaging),...

Noble gas isotopes, although present in trace amounts, are generally more reliable and less ambiguous recorders of their source than the major volatile species. In volcanic settings in particular, this advantage derives from their chemical inertness, as noble gas isotopic and elemental fractionations are strongly coupled to their source and modifie...

Purpose Coffee is rich in compounds such as polyphenols, caffeine, diterpenes, melanoidins and trigonelline, which can stimulate brain activity. Therefore, the possible association of coffee consumption with cognition is of considerable research interest. In this paper, we assess the association of coffee consumption and total dietary caffeine inta...

Se presenta un proyecto de innovación docente que ha tenido como principal objetivo favorecer un aprendizaje significativo mediante el uso de una metodolo-gía participativa y multidireccional, con implicación de profesorado y alumnado, para elaborar un recurso educativo. Como resultado de este proyecto se ha elabo-rado una línea del tiempo en vinil...

Activity patterns at large prehistoric sites are often difficult to interpret, as they frequently combine productive, domestic and funerary components. Valencina, the largest of the Copper Age mega-sites in Iberia, has proved particularly challenging in this regard. Macrolithic tool assemblages have been generally neglected in these debates but can...

Globally, rock art is one of the most widely distributed manifestations of past human activity. Previous research, however, has tended to focus on the art rather than artists. Understanding which members of society participated in creating such art is crucial to interpreting its social implications and that of the sites at which it is found. This a...

Solo recientemente la investigación del fenómeno megalítico ibérico ha comenzado a beneficiarse de la ampliación del potencial técnico y científico de la arqueología moderna. Todavía son muy pocos los megalitos ibéricos para los que se han realizado investigaciones científicas de alta resolución, capaces de aportar datos detallados sobre su diseño,...

Greenstones were a pervasive presence in the material culture of Iberian Late Prehistory. Mostly in the form of perforated beads or pendants, stones such as variscite and, to a lesser degree chlorite, talc, sericite, steatite, muscovite or fluorite were a common occurrence in burial contexts, particularly in the 4th and 3rd millennia cal BC. Other...

This paper examines how monuments with ‘local’ idiosyncrasies are key in processes of place-making and how, through persistence, such places can engage in supra-local and even ‘global’ dynamics. Departing from a detailed revision of its context, materiality, and iconography, we show how a remarkable Iberian ‘warrior stela’ brings together the geo-s...

En este artículo se exponen los resultados obtenidos en los trabajos de intervención arqueológica realizados en un solar ubicado en el número 10 de la calle Agua de Cartuja (Granada). Estos han servido para completar el conocimiento que hasta este momento se tenía de la necrópolis medieval de Saad Ben Malik así como, para aportar nuevos datos acerc...

Stone bracelets are one of the most outstanding aspects of personal ornamentation of the Early Neolithic in the south of the Iberian Peninsula (5500–4800 cal. BC). These ornaments are an element of cultural identity and a chronological marker of the first Neolithic societies in this area. Discovery and study of the Neolithic quarry of Cortijo Cevic...

Iberian ‘warrior’ stelae have captured the imagination of researchers and the public for more than a century. Traditionally, stelae were considered ‘de-contextualised’ monuments, and research typically focused on the study of their iconography, paying little or no attention to their immediate contexts. As a result, despite the large number of these...

Only recently the investigation of the Iberian megalithic phenomenon has begun to benefit from the expansion of the technical and scientific potential of modern archeology. There are still very few Iberian megaliths for which high-resolution scientific research has been carried out, capable of providing detailed data on its design, uses and biograp...

This paper presents the outcoming project AXES in an international audience to received feedback to improve and develop successful research. The main aim of this project is to carry out an analysis of the biography of polished stone axes in the Neolithic-Chalcolithic in the southern Iberian Peninsula. From an interdisciplinary perspective, joining...

Study of the Neolithic quarry of Cortijo Cevico (Loja, Granada) has identified the extraction and initial reduction of dolomitic marble for the manufacture of bracelets. The archaeological assemblage comprises knapping waste and circular preforms from which the bracelets are manufactured. In this paper, we present the results of experimental prefor...

En la excavación realizada en 2005 en el dolmen de Menga se registró una pequeña colección de 11 piezas líticas talladas. Dos de ellas fueron halladas en la Estructura 5 (A/ DJ 14540.0083), una en el Corte 1 (A/DJ 14540.0015), dos en el Testigo Cortes 2-3 (A/DJ 14540.0095 y A/DJ 14540.0096) y una en el Entorno Menga-Viera (A/DJ 14540.0173 (4), desc...

Además de la industria lítica tallada ya descrita en el Capítulo 6, durante la excavación de 2005 se recogieron en el dolmen de Menga y su entorno 32 ítems de piedra de significación tecno-funcional y/o social. De estos 32 objetos, siete corresponden a industria lítica macrolítica, incluyendo un posible yunque y varios útiles empleados en actividad...

Los brazaletes de piedra del Neolítico Antiguo (ca. 5500-4800 cal AC) y los contextos donde se produjeron son relativamente conocidos. Sin embargo, lugares únicamente destinados a la extracción de materia prima y primera transformación no se han documentado en la Península Ibérica. En este trabajo damos a conocer la primera cantera de mármol para l...

Esta línea del tiempo ha sido elaborada en el marco del proyecto “Todo en su tiempo”. Una línea del tiempo como recurso didáctico y pedagógico para la Prehistoria y la Arqueología (PID 17-53), enmarcado en el PLAN FIDOugr 2016-2018. Esta es la versión digital de su gemela colocada en el suelo del hall la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Univers...

The background of this paper is the biographical relationship between the Menga dolmen and La Peña de los Enamorados mountain (a conspicuous and highly-recognisable natural formation), both part of the Antequera megalithic landscape. Our main aim is to provide a high-resolution characterisation of the Matacabras rock art shelter, located on the nor...

This research provides the first evidence of prehistoric quarrying of eclogitic rocks on the Iberian peninsula. Such metamorphosed basic igneous rocks are known to have been used in southern Spain and Portugal during late prehistory as a raw material for the making of polished lithic tools (axes, adzes, chisels, and hammers). These rocks were widel...

A remarkable stela from Montoro, southern Spain is unique in its morphology, epigraphic traits, and landscape context. A programme of chemical characterisation, digital imaging, and geo-lithological and epigraphic analyses was conducted to determine its age and significance, and results integrated with data from archaeological investigations of the...

The characterization of materials used in the construction of megalithic monuments can be considered a key aspect for a better understanding of the social behavior of past societies. The excavation of four dolmens and one small cist in 2015 at the megalithic necropolis of Panoria (Granada, Spain) offered an excellent opportunity to explore the geol...

Se presenta un nuevo hallazgo de arte rupestre esquemático situado en un pequeño abrigo rocoso en la cabecera del río Genil. Estas representaciones rupestres suponen un importante aporte al conocimiento del fenómeno esquemático y su desarrollo en el entorno de la Depresión de Granada. En este artículo se realiza una descripción del hallazgo, -carac...

The Betic Ophiolites consist of numerous tectonic slices, metric to kilometric in size, of eclogitized mafic and ultramafic rocks associated to oceanic metasediments, deriving from the Betic oceanic domain. The outcrop of these ophiolites is aligned along 250 km in the Mulhacen Complex of the Nevado-Filabride Domain, located at the center-eastern z...

The stone bracelets are one of the most outstanding elements of personal ornaments of the ancient Neolithic in Western Mediterranean and the South of the Iberian Peninsula (5500-4800 cal. BCE). These bracelets are considered an element of cultural identity and a chronological marker of the first Neolithic societies in these areas. The study of the...

En este capítulo se presenta un estudio completo de la industria lítica tallada encontrada en el tholos de Montelirio. Primero se realiza una caracterización tecnomorfológica del conjunto, valorando su distribución en los principales espacios del monumento, y destacando las piezas más singulares (puntas de flecha, hoja de puñal y grandes láminas)....

A stone hammer found in June 2014 within the infill of Menga’s mound, behind upright R12 (the second on the right as one enters the megalith), is described and studied. This artefact is firstly characterised from a geo-lithological viewpoint, which reveals it is a meta-arenite from the Campo de Gibraltar geological formation. Secondly, a use-wear a...

Villavieja (Fuentes de Cesna, Algarinejo, Granada) is a Prehistoric walled enclosure located on a high plateau which overlooks the river Genil. The settlement is dated in the III millennium B. C. Villavieja has an incredible wall which is even visible today and it closes three hectares of the settlement. Furthermore, the wall was built with large s...

Rock crystal appears relatively frequently in Late Prehistoric Iberian sites, especially in the form of micro-blades and knapping debris. With some exceptions, however, these finds have seldom been looked into in any detail, and therefore little is known about the technology involved in the use of this material, its social and economic relevance or...

We present a preview of the archaeological activity carried out in August 2007 and a descriptive study of the material culture and human remains recovered at the so-called Cueva de los Cuarenta (Las Lagunillas, Priego de Córdoba, Andalusia), a natural cave where different burial contexts from Late Neolithic have been documented. These rich contexts...

El objeto de este artículo es el hallazgo de un fragmento de una gran hacha pulimentada de sílex aparecida durante la prospección para la realización de la Carta Arqueológica Municipal de Huelva. Su descubrimiento se produjo en el año 2009 junto con otras evidencias superficiales en el paraje denominado “La Somá”, una extensa plataforma situada uno...

The Menga Dolmen in Antequera (Malaga province, Spain), measuring 27.5 m long and composed of 32 large stones, is recognized as possibly the largest megalithic burial monument of Prehistory. However, until now, no studies of Menga have ever been internationally published. This article, while aiming to be the first is also the first geoarchaeologica...

In the summer of 2011 several test pits were made in the Higueral-Guardia Cave (Málaga, Spain). The sondages have determined the existence of an important Upper and Middle Paleolithic archaeological sequence, still under study. However, the illegal digging activity in the cave have significantly limited the possibilities of interpretation of the So...

Recibido el 14 de marzo de 2013. Aceptado el 11 de julio de 2013 Resumen. En el verano de 2011 se iniciaron trabajos de sondeo en la cueva del Higueral-Guardia (Málaga, España). Los sondeos han determinado la existencia de una importante secuencia con niveles del Paleo-lítico superior y medio todavía en estudio. No obstante, la actividad perpetrada...

The tectonic evolution of the Betic Cordillera has been investigated through integrated microstructural and petrological analysis of 93 samples of garnetiferous Grt ± Cld ± Plg ± Ky ± St phengite schists from its lowermost allochthon, the Nevado-Filabride Domain. Porphyroblast inclusion trails in these samples exhibit well-developed preferred verti...

This paper is an advance to the archaeological excavation of the site Villavieja from Fuentes de Cesna (Algarinejo, Granada, Spain). Villavieja is a prehistoric settlement located on a high plateau, which overlooks the river Genil, between Loja and Iznájar. It has a walled enclosure from about three hundred meters long. The site closes some three h...

Research about polished axes in the Iberian has focused on their formal aspects and the determination of their raw material. Except from few examples, the technological analysis focused on axeheadsdevelopment has been practically absent.In Southern Iberia, the latter analysis has shed light on the lack of knowledge about previous processes of trans...

On present the research project titled "Proyecto KURETES". The overal objective of this research project focuses on the analysis of early human occupation in the context of paleoecological evolution and quaternary climate changes of the Wester Bectic (souther Spain) and particularly in the karst systems of the Serrania de Ronda. Te main goal of the...

The Project “KURETES: earliest human occupation, and climatic evolution of the Quaternary paleoecology of the western Betic mountain range”, suported by the General Direction of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture of the Andalusian Government seeks to analyze the earliest human occupation in the context of the paleoecological changes clima...

The geoarchaeological stratigraphy of a site located at the coalescence zone of two small alluvial fans at the Albaicin foothills, reveals lanscape changes during the late Holocene in Granada. The record shows two geological beds, each divided in several archaeological strata. The lower bed, formed by gravelly-cobbly sands and clays, include pebble...

Studying the exploitation of lithic resources and the techno-economical aspects of the associated transformation process can provide explanations for and interpretations of how Prehistoric society was organised. This is the objective of the present article, which focuses on an analysis of the flint mines in the central area of the Middle Subbetic i...

Siliceous rocks are abundant in the Betic Cordillera (Andalusia, Spain). These resources were used by human groups in the Late Neolithic and the Copper Age for manufacturing large fl int blades (4th-3rd mil. BC), but their exploitation has not been studied systematically. The present work describes the geological background to flint exploitation in...

The Trías de Antequera is located in the External Zones of the Betic Cordillera, south of the Iberian Peninsula. Corresponds to an area from Antequera to Loja, rooted in the Middle Subbetic and partly on the Internal Subbetic, with materials dated Triassic to Tertiary age. In this geological unit appears ophitic rocks that sometimes have mini-pillo...

Palabras clave: Key words: El objetivo de este trabajo es someter a prueba un modelo de proceso técnico que considera la vasija de reducción como elemento principal de la tecnología metalúrgica calcolítica. Aquí presentamos los resultados preliminares obtenidos a partir de los experimentos realizados en el Centro de Arqueología Experimental de la A...

Identification of the raw material for the archaeological lithic knapping objects used by the Late Neolithic and Copper Age in the Southern Iberian Peninsula. The presence of technological flaked objects of blade production, such as cores out and blades, present in archaeological sites far from the Campo de Gibraltar Complex, and near the Median Su...

Characterizing raw material of stone tools used by Late Neolithic and Copper Age communities is important for interpreting access to available sources and establishing regional routes of distribution. Ichnological analysis may be used to help characterize lithic material and determine the source of artifacts. Here we report for the first time the e...

Nearby the Malaver Sierra (Serranía de Ronda, Málaga, Spain), several palaeodomains of the Betic Cordillera get in contact. This allows the existence of a great variability and richness of abiotic resources. Because of that, this region was very important during the Late Prehistory as a source area for supplying them. Among such resources, some par...

During the archaeological excavation carried out in 1999 on the plot located between the streets the Álamo del Marqués and San José –Albaicín, Granada–, a water tank was found. It was located on the edge of the walled enclosure of the Iberian oppidum. After emptying part of it during the years 2003-2004 and 2006-2007, the II century B.C. levels (da...

Resumen: El «Trías de Antequera», enraizado bajo el Subbético Medio y en parte bajo el Interno, está compuesto por dos conjuntos principales: una mélange tectónica en la que existen grandes bandas de materiales tectonizados, sobre todo yesos, y, generalmente encima, un olistostroma muy desarrollado. Por encima de ambos se formó una brecha sedimenta...