Alvaro Arrizabalaga

The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance

The timing of Neanderthal disappearance and the extent to which they overlapped with the earliest incoming anatomically modern humans (AMHs) in Eurasia are key questions in palaeoanthropology. Determining the spatiotemporal relationship between the two populations is crucial if we are to understand the processes, timing and reasons leading to the disappearance of Neanderthals and the likelihood of cultural and genetic exchange. Serious technical challenges, however, have hindered reliable dating of the period, as the radiocarbon method reaches its limit at ∼50,000 years ago. Here we apply improved accelerator mass spectrometry 14C techniques to construct robust chronologies from 40 key Mousterian and Neanderthal archaeological sites, ranging from Russia to Spain. Bayesian age modelling was used to generate probability distribution functions to determine the latest appearance date. We show that the Mousterian ended by 41,030–39,260 calibrated years bp (at 95.4% probability) across Europe. We also demonstrate that succeeding ‘transitional’ archaeological industries, one of which has been linked with Neanderthals (Châtelperronian), end at a similar time. Our data indicate that the disappearance of Neanderthals occurred at different times in different regions. Comparing the data with results obtained from the earliest dated AMH sites in Europe, associated with the Uluzzian technocomplex, allows us to quantify the temporal overlap between the two human groups. The results reveal a significant overlap of 2,600–5,400 years (at 95.4% probability). This has important implications for models seeking to explain the cultural, technological and biological elements involved in the replacement of Neanderthals by AMHs. A mosaic of populations in Europe during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition suggests that there was ample time for the transmission of cultural and symbolic behaviours, as well as possible genetic exchanges, between the two groups.

First evidence of Macaca sylvanus (Primates, Cercopithecidae) from the Late Pleistocene of Lezetxiki II cave (Basque Country, Spain)

a Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, Zorroagagaina 11, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain Departamento de Estratigrafia y Paleontologia, Universidad del Pais Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnologia, Apartado 644, Bilbao, Spain Departamento de Geografia, Prehistoria y Arqueologia, Universidad del Pais Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibersitatea, Tomas y Valiente s/n, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain

New evidence of bones used as fuel in the Gravettian level at Coímbre cave, northern Iberian Peninsula

The use of bone as fuel has been already documented in some sites dated to the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. They contribute to a longer combustion time due to their durability; consequently, they are useful to reduce the need for firewood, a good advantage in open palaeoenvironmental contexts with limited arboreal vegetation. The use of bones as fuel can be identified by several lines of evidence. The main one is a large number of burned bones, with an intense cremation–charring or calcination, together with high fragmentation resulting from the long contact with the fire. Other features may be present, although they can also result from individual circumstances. They include either the presence of complete skeletal profiles–which implies using all the bones of the animal–or a selection of the anatomical parts which contribute better to combustion, i.e. epiphyses and axial elements. In this article, we argue that the faunal assemblage of level Co.B.6 of Coímbre cave fully corresponds to this model. Moreover, this level coincides with a cold palaeoclimatic event, which was correlative to the climatic deterioration that occurred at the end of MIS 3, and an open environment. Thus, we propose that this level contains the first known use of bones as fuel in the Cantabrian Gravettian.

Where To and What For? Mobility Patterns and the Management of Lithic Resources by Gravettian Hunter-Gatherers in the Western Pyrenees

Although it may seem paradoxical, the mobility patterns of nomadic Paleolithic hunter-gatherer groups are usually discerned based on the study of a single, static site. By statistically analysing patterns of lithic procurement at the Gravettian camp of Ametzagaina (Basque Country), we attempt to interpret how different raw material types influenced mobility and technological preferences. In order to overcome the static view created by analyzing a single site, this study provides new methodological keys with which to approach this question. Because this site is located very near a critical corridor between France and the Iberian Peninsula at the western end of the Pyrenees, it contains lithic materials from both sides of the mountain chain. It is argued that these materials were used differently according to their original source location and their physical characteristics (e.g., quality, size, shape). This information is compared with data from other Gravettian sites across the same region and on both sides of the Western Pyrenees.

Paleoenvironmental and Paleoclimatic Approach to the Upper Pleistocene Site of Artazu Vii (Arrasate, Northern Iberian Peninsula) Using Small Vertebrates

Abstract. The Artazu VII site (Arrasate, northern Iberian Peninsula) is a fossiliferous deposit that was discovered unsystematically at the Kobate Quarry in 2012. During the following year, all the vertebrate remains attributed to the upper Pleistocene (~ 93 ka) were recovered in an emergency excavation project. Here, we describe, for the first time, the small vertebrate assemblage (amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals) recovered from the site, as well as the environmental and climatic results estimated from the paleoecological affinities of the studied taxa. More than 50,000 microvertebrate elements were recovered, comprising 24 taxa of which seven belong to the Order Rodentia; five, to the Order Eulipotyphla; one, to the Order Chiroptera; seven, to the Order Anura; and four, to the Order Squamata. Considering the environmental attributions and the relative abundance of each taxon, the paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic conditions were reconstructed and the sequence was divided into three phases. Although woodland mass is present in the whole sequence, expansion and regression changes can be observed. Thus, the stratigraphic sequence begins with a landscape with open spaces. Higher up the stratigraphic column, woodland expands and reaches its maximum development in the second phase. Finally, the woodland environment declines and reaches similar values to those of the initial situation. These forestry biotopes were related to temperate and humid conditions comparable to those of the modern landscape. It was also concluded that a watercourse existed near the site.

A large mammal assemblage during MIS 5c: Artazu VII (Arrasate, northern Iberian Peninsula)

Abstract Artazu VII palaeontological site (Arrasate, Gipuzkoa) is one of the few deposits in the Iberian Peninsula in which humans did not intervene in its formation as the site acted as a natural trap. The vertebrate remains recovered are in a very good state of preservation and display great biodiversity. The large mammal assemblage from Artazu VII is studied in detail in this paper. Fourteen different species are described, including ungulates and carnivores. Morphological and osteometric descriptions are also provided, as well as a morphological study of chamois and leopard compared with the same species of similar chronology both in the surroundings of the site and in the rest of the Iberian Peninsula. The existence of biases related to the form of the shaft is tested, as these might relativize the value of the remains as a representative proxy of the fauna in the early Late Pleistocene in the Iberian Peninsula. The palaeoecology inferred from this association indicates the existence of a woodland mass alternating with meadow biotope, and with a watercourse in the surrounding area.

Laterality in the first Neolithic and Chalcolithic farming communities in northern Iberia

Laterality is a quality, widespread throughout the vertebrate kingdom. It consists in assigning different roles to each side of the body by granting predominance to one of the sides. Humans too display this quality and the specialization of each hemisphere in our brain was already present in the first vertebrates. We usually refer to right-handed and left-handed people depending on the upper limb that is assigned the dominant role. For a long time, it has been thought that the proportion of left-handed people in a population has remained constant in all cultures and during our evolution. However, laterality is affected by sociocultural influences and varies geographically and chronologically. Using archaeological remains, it is possible to obtain information about the laterality of our ancestors and determine laterality indices for past populations. We developed an experimental programme to determine which characteristics of a polished axe indicate the laterality of its maker. We describe a method based on the orientation of the edge and we study the Neolithic and Chalcolithic farming communities in northern Iberia to evaluate the laterality in those populations. The right/left laterality ratio for the Neolithic and Chalcolithic populations is very similar to the range detected for modern non-industrial societies.

Through the Looking-Glass. The Most Recent Years of Cantabrian Research in the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition

Using Carroll’s book (Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice found there) as a suggestive guide, the current trends of the research on the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition are described, for the Northern Iberian Peninsula. Some clear weaknesses are described in the patterns used to analyse the period, which should be corrected in order to improve the results of archaeologists’ work.

The Late Pleistocene avifauna from Artazu VII (Basque Country, northern Iberian Peninsula)

ABSTRACT This study is a contribution to the knowledge of ancient avifauna in the Iberian Peninsula. 1,786 bird bones have been recovered from Artazu VII (Arrasate, northern Iberian Peninsula), with 239 remains identified to Order/Family and 519 to Genus/Species level, belonging to, at least, 12 taxa: Buteo lagopus, Aquila chrysaetos, Perdix perdix, Coturnix coturnix, Alectoris sp., Lyrurus tetrix, Crex crex, Bubo cf. bubo, Corvus monedula, Pica pica, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax and Pyrrhocorax graculus. The best represented taxa are corvids, followed by L. tetrix. The most significant finding is the presence of B. lagopus, which represents the second fossil record in the Iberian Peninsula. The morphometric analyses performed for C. coturnix and L. tetrix contribute to the knowledge of those taxa measurements, due to the Artazu VII assemblage being one of the best samples of these taxa in the Iberian Peninsula for the late Pleistocene. All the measurements of B. lagopus and C. coturnix have been analysed statistically. A brief taphonomic study has been carried out to identify the bird accumulation agent. Finally, a palaeoenvironmental analysis is based on the bird assemblage and ecology, and this new information is compared to palaeoenvironmental data inferred from vertebrates at Artazu VII in previous studies.

Anthropic resource exploitation and use of the territory at the onset of social complexity in the Neolithic-Chalcolithic Western Pyrenees: a multi-isotope approach

Carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope analyses from bone collagen provide information about the dietary protein input, while strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) from tooth enamel give us data about provenance and potential territorial mobility of past populations. To date, isotopic results on the prehistory of the Western Pyrenees are scarce. In this article, we report human and faunal values of the mentioned isotopes from the Early-Middle Neolithic site of Fuente Hoz (Anuntzeta) and the Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic site of Kurtzebide (Letona, Zigoitia). The main objectives of this work are to analyse the dietary and territorial mobility patterns of these populations. Furthermore, as an additional aim, we will try to discuss social ranking based on the isotope data and existing literature on this topic in the region of study. Our results show that, based on the bioavailable Sr values, both purported local and non-local humans were buried together at the sites. Additionally, they suggest similar resource consumption based on C3 terrestrial resources (i.e. ovicaprids, bovids, and suids) as the main part of the protein input. Overall, this study sheds light on how individuals from different backgrounds were still buried together and shared the same “dietary lifestyle” at a time in the Prehistory of Iberia when social complexities started to appear.