Miguel Cortés Sánchez

Earliest evidence of pollution by heavy metals in archaeological sites

Homo species were exposed to a new biogeochemical environment when they began to occupy caves. Here we report the first evidence of palaeopollution through geochemical analyses of heavy metals in four renowned archaeological caves of the Iberian Peninsula spanning the last million years of human evolution. Heavy metal contents reached high values due to natural (guano deposition) and anthropogenic factors (e.g. combustion) in restricted cave environments. The earliest anthropogenic pollution evidence is related to Neanderthal hearths from Gorhams Cave (Gibraltar), being one of the first milestones in the so-called “Anthropocene”. According to its heavy metal concentration, these sediments meet the present-day standards of “contaminated soil”. Together with the former, the Gibraltar Vanguard Cave, shows Zn and Cu pollution ubiquitous across highly anthropic levels pointing to these elements as potential proxies for human activities. Pb concentrations in Magdalenian and Bronze age levels at El Pirulejo site can be similarly interpreted. Despite these high pollution levels, the contaminated soils might not have posed a major threat to Homo populations. Altogether, the data presented here indicate a long-term exposure of Homo to these elements, via fires, fumes and their ashes, which could have played certain role in environmental-pollution tolerance, a hitherto neglected influence.

Recomendaciones para el diagnóstico radiológico y la valoración de la respuesta terapéutica en el cáncer de pulmón. Consenso nacional de la Sociedad Española de Radiología Médica y la Sociedad Española de Oncología Médica

The last decade has seen substantial progress in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to lung cancer, thus meaning that its prognosis has improved. The Spanish Society of Medical Radiology (SERAM) and the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) have therefore produced a national consensus statement in order to make recommendations for radiological diagnosis and assessment of treatment response in patients with lung cancer. This expert group recommends multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) as the technique of choice for investigating this disease. The radiology report should include a full assessment by the TNM staging system. Lastly, when the patient is on immunotherapy, response evaluation should employ not only Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST 1.1) but also Immune-Related Response Criteria (irRC).

Recommendations for radiological diagnosis and assessment of treatment response in lung cancer: a national consensus statement by the Spanish Society of Medical Radiology and the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology

The last decade has seen substantial progress in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to lung cancer, thus meaning that its prognosis has improved. The Spanish Society of Medical Radiology and the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology have therefore produced a national consensus statement to make recommendations for radiological diagnosis and assessment of treatment response in patients with lung cancer. This expert group recommends multi-detector computed tomography as the technique of choice for investigating this disease. The radiology report should include a full assessment by the TNM staging system. Lastly, when the patient is on immunotherapy, response evaluation should employ not only response evaluation criteria in solid tumours, but also immune-related response criteria.

La Pileta (Benaoján, Málaga) cien años después. Aportaciones al conocimiento de su secuencia arqueológica

La cueva de La Pileta es un yacimiento muy conocido por la riqueza de las manifestaciones artisticas parietales prehistoricas que atesora. Sin embargo, el conocimiento de la secuencia cronocultural documentada en las excavaciones arqueologicas llevadas a cabo en 1912 y 1942 es muy pobre. En este trabajo hacemos un repaso del registro arqueologico de La Pileta a partir de la revision historiografica y del estudio de los materiales depositados en el Museo de Malaga y de algunos documentos del archivo de esta institucion. Los resultados, aunque limitados, permiten deducir la existencia de una secuencia mas amplia de la conocida por lo general, compuesta por niveles del Paleolitico medio, Paleolitico superior; Neolitico, Calcolitico, Edad del Bronce y Edad Media.

Level 14 of Bajondillo Cave and the End of the Middle Paleolithic in the South of the Iberian Peninsula

Bajondillo Cave is located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula. The stratigraphy of the cave comprises a long chrono-cultural sequence (Middle Paleolithic, Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean, Magdalenian, Epipaleolithic and Neolithic). One of the outstanding elements of this site is the presence of Aurignacian levels overlaying late Mousterian levels, unknown in other sites of the region. In this paper we present new data (techno-cultural, chronological, environmental, landscape usage and use-wear analysis of lithic tools) from the late Middle Paleolithic level Bj/14. We also compare this information to previous knowledge of the late Middle Paleolithic from Southern Iberia. Available data suggests that there is little change within the local Middle Paleolithic and that an abrupt transition to the Upper Paleolithic took place between 3.5 and 7 kyr later than in the northern Iberian Peninsula.

Arte paleolítico en Gorham's Cave (Gibraltar)

grandes expectativas respecto a la posibilidad de la existencia de enclaves con este tipo de registro e incluso algunos autores apuntaron la presencia de algunos indicios en la cueva de St. Michael (Breuil 1921 y 1922) o en la de Sewel (Palao 1966). No obstante, estas noticias nunca fueron adecuadamente publicadas ni contrastadas con posterioridad (Simón et al. 2005). Esta situación cambia notablemente cuando, coincidiendo con el desarrollo de trabajos arqueológicos, se descubrieron pinturas y grabados parietales en el tramo interior de Gorham (Giles et al. 2000). A partir de este hallazgo se desarrolla una campaña de prospección del arte de la cavidad que termina por definir la existencia, de forma fehaciente, de arte rupestre paleolítico en el yacimiento y por extensión en Gibraltar (Balbín et al. 2000). Por otra parte, este tipo de INTRODUCCIÓN