Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T07:23:55.074Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Radiocarbon Approach to Neanderthals in a Carnivore Den Site: a Well-Defined Chronology for Teixoneres Cave (Moià, Barcelona, Spain)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 January 2016

Sahra Talamo ,
Ruth Blasco ,
Florent Rivals ,
Andrea Picin ,
M Gema Chacón ,
Eneko Iriarte ,
Juan Manuel López-García ,
Hugues-Alexandre Blain ,
Maite Arilla  and
Anna Rufà
...Show all authors
Sahra Talamo*
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany.
Ruth Blasco
Affiliation:
Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002 Burgos, Spain.
Florent Rivals
Affiliation:
Àrea de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain. ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain.
Andrea Picin
Affiliation:
IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain. Bereich für Ur- and Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie, Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Löbdergraben 24a, Jena, 07743 Germany. Neanderthal Museum, Talstrasse 300, 40822 Mettmann, Germany.
M Gema Chacón
Affiliation:
Àrea de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain. UMR7194 - HNHP Département de Préhistoire, Muséum National d’Histoire naturelle1, rue René Panhard, 75013 Paris, France.
Eneko Iriarte
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Departamento Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, Plaza de Misael Bañuelos, Edicio I+D+i, 09001 Burgos, Spain.
Juan Manuel López-García
Affiliation:
Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, C.so Ercole 1d’Este 32, 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
Hugues-Alexandre Blain
Affiliation:
Àrea de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
Maite Arilla
Affiliation:
Àrea de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
Anna Rufà
Affiliation:
Àrea de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
Carlos Sánchez-Hernández
Affiliation:
Àrea de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
Míriam Andrés
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory, Complutense University, Prof. Aranguren s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Edgard Camarós
Affiliation:
Àrea de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
Anna Ballesteros
Affiliation:
Àrea de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
Artur Cebrià
Affiliation:
Àrea de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
Jordi Rosell
Affiliation:
Àrea de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain. IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
Jean-Jacques Hublin
Affiliation:
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany.
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

During the Middle Paleolithic period, carnivores and hominids periodically occupied the same areas at different times and each predator generated significant palimpsests, rendering difficult their archaeological interpretation. Teixoneres Cave, a carnivore den site, located in the northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, demonstrates that it is possible to overcome these problems by using a careful strategy in selecting samples for radiocarbon dating, in order to produce an accurate chronology of the site in question and certainly attest the human occupation.

Keywords

Carnivore denradiocarbonsample selectionNeanderthalchronology
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 58 , Issue 2 , June 2016 , pp. 247 - 265
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ambrose, SH. 1990. Preparation and characterization of bone and tooth collagen for isotopic analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 17(4):431–451.Google Scholar
Binford, LR. 1981. Bones. Ancient Men and Modern Myths. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Blumenschine, RJ. 1988. An experimental model of the timing of hominid and carnivore influence on archaeological bone assemblages. Journal of Archaeological Science 15(5):483–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boëda, E. 1993. Le débitage discoïde et le débitage Levallois rècurrent centripète. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 90:392–404.Google Scholar
Boëda, E. 1994. Le Concept Levallois: Variabilitè des Méthodes. Paris: Centre de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).Google Scholar
Boëda, E. 2013. Techlogique & Technologie. Une Paléo-histoire des objects lithiques tranchants. In: @rchéo-éditions.com, editor. Paris.Google Scholar
Bourguignon, L. 1996. La conception de débitage Quina. Quaternaria Nova IV:149–169.Google Scholar
Brock, F, Bronk Ramsey, C, Higham, T. 2007. Quality assurance of ultrafiltered bone dating. Radiocarbon 49(2):187–192.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1):337–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C, Lee, S. 2013. Recent and planned developments of the program OxCal. Radiocarbon 55(2–3):720–730.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C, Higham, T, Bowles, A, Hedges, R. 2004. Improvements to the pretreatment of bone at Oxford. Radiocarbon 46(1):155–163.Google Scholar
Brown, TA, Nelson, DE, Vogel, JS, Southon, JR. 1988. Improved collagen extraction by modified Longin method. Radiocarbon 30(2):171–177.Google Scholar
Camarós, E, Cueto, M, Teira, LC, Tapia, J, Cubas, M, Blasco, R, Rosell, J, Rivals, F. 2013. Large carnivores as taphonomic agents of space modification: an experimental approach with archaeological implications. Journal of Archaeological Science 40(2):1361–1368.Google Scholar
Carbonell, E, Cebrià, A, Allué, E, Cáceres, I, Castro, Z, Díaz, R, Esteban, M, Ollé, A, Pastó, I, Rodríguez, XP, Rosell, J, Sala, R, Vallverdú, J, Vaquero, M, Vergés, JM. 1996. Behavioural and organizational complexity in the Middle Palaeolithic from Abric Romaní. In: Carbonell E, Vaquero M, editors. The Last Neandertals/The First Anatomically Modern Humans. Cultural Change and Human Evolution: The Crisis at 40 ka BP. Barcelona: Igualada. p 385–434.Google Scholar
Castellví, M. 1974. La Cueva de les Teixoneres (Moià, Barcelona). Miscelánea Arqueológica. XXV Aniversario de los Cursos Internacionales de Prehistoria y Arqueología de Ampurias (1947–1971). Barcelona. p 229–32.Google Scholar
Crusafont, M. 1960. Le Quaternaire espagnol et sa faune de Mammifères. Essai de synthèse. Anthropos 1:55–64.Google Scholar
Cruz-Uribe, K. 1991. Distinguishing hyena from hominid bone accumulations. Journal of Field Archaeology 18:467–486.Google Scholar
Cuzange, M-T, Delque-Kolic, E, Slar, T, Grootes, PM, Higham, T, Kaltnecker, E, Nadeau, M-J, Erlin, C, Paterne, M, van der Plicht, J, Bron, C, Valladas, H, Tes, J, Geneste, J-M. 2007. Radiocarbon intercomparison program for Chauvet Cave. Radiocarbon 49(2):339–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Lumley, H. 1971. Le Paléolithique inférieur et moyen du Midi méditerranéen dans son cadre géologique, II, Bas-Languedoc, Roussillon, Catalogne. V supplément à Gallia Préhistoire. Paris: CNRS. p 443–445.Google Scholar
Faivre, J-Ph. 2011. Organisation techno-économique des systèmes de production dans le Paléolithique moyen récent du nord-est aquitain. BAR International Series 2280. Oxford: Archaeopress.Google Scholar
Geneste, J-M. 1988. Systèmes d’approvisionnement en matières premières au Paléolithique moyen et au Paléolithique supérieur en Aquitai. In: Otte M, editor. L’Homme de Néandertal. La mutation. Liège: ERAUL. p 61–70.Google Scholar
Guilaine, J, Barbaza, M, Geddes, D, Vernet, J-L. 1982. Prehistoric human adaptations in Catalonia (Spain). Journal of Field Archaeology 9(4):407–416.Google Scholar
Haesaerts, P, Damblon, F, Nigst, P, Hublin, J-J. 2013. ABA and ABOx radiocarbon cross-dating on charcoal from Middle Pleniglacial loess deposits in Austria, Moravia, and western Ukraine. Radiocarbon 55(2–3):641–647.Google Scholar
Higham, T, Basell, L, Jacobi, R, Wood, R, Bronk Ramsey, C, Conard, NJ. 2012. Τesting models for the beginnings of the Aurignacian and the advent of figurative art and music: the radiocarbon chronology of Geißenklösterle. Journal of Human Evolution 62(6):664–676.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Higham, T, Douka, K, Wood, R, Bronk Ramsey, C, Brock, F, Basell, L, Camps, M, Arrizabalaga, A, Baena, J, Barroso-Ruiz, C, Bergman, C, Boitard, C, Boscato, P, Caparros, M, Conard, NJ, Draily, C, Froment, A, Galvan, B, Gambassini, P, Garcia-Moreno, A, Grimaldi, S, Haesaerts, P, Holt, B, Iriarte-Chiapusso, M-J, Jelinek, A, Jorda Pardo, JF, Maillo-Fernandez, J-M, Marom, A, Maroto, J, Menendez, M, Metz, L, Morin, E, Moroni, A, Negrino, F, Panagopoulou, E, Peresani, M, Pirson, S, de la Rasilla, M, Riel-Salvatore, J, Ronchitelli, A, Santamaria, D, Semal, P, Slimak, L, Soler, J, Soler, N, Villaluenga, A, Pinhasi, R, Jacobi, R. 2014. The timing and spatiotemporal patterning of Neanderthal disappearance. Nature 512(7514):306–309.Google Scholar
Hiscock, P, Turq, A, Faivre, J-P, Bourguignon, L. 2009. Quina procurement and tool production. In: Adams B, Blades BS, editors. Lithic Materials and Paleolithic Societies. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. p 232–246.Google Scholar
Hopf, M. 1971. Vorgeschichtliche pflanzenreste aus ostspanien. Madrider Mitteilungen 12:20–28.Google Scholar
Hublin, J-J, Talamo, S, Julien, M, David, F, Connet, N, Bodu, P, Vandermeersch, B, Richards, MP. 2012. Radiocarbon dates from the Grotte du Renne and Saint-Césaire support a Neandertal origin for the Châtelperronian. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 109(46):18,743–18,748.Google Scholar
Kromer, B, Lindauer, S, Synal, H-A, Wacker, L. 2013. MAMS – a new AMS facility at the Curt-Engelhorn-Centre for Achaeometry, Mannheim, Germany. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 294:11–13.Google Scholar
Lam, YM. 1992. Variability in the behaviour of spotted hyaenas as taphonomic agents. Journal of Archaeological Science 19(4):389–406.Google Scholar
Longin, R. 1971. New method of collagen extraction for radiocarbon dating. Nature 230(5291):241–242.Google Scholar
López-García, JM, Blain, H-A, Burjachs, F, Ballesteros, A, Allué, E, Cuevas-Ruiz, GE, Rivals, F, Blasco, R, Morales, JI, Hidalgo, AR, Carbonell, E, Serrat, D, Rosell, J. 2012. A multidisciplinary approach to reconstructing the chronology and environment of southwestern European Neanderthals: the contribution of Teixoneres cave (Moià, Barcelona, Spain). Quaternary Science Reviews 43:33–44.Google Scholar
Mangado, J, Nadal, J. 2001. Àrees de captació de primeres matèries lítiques durant la prehistòria del moianès: com utilitzaven els nostres avantpassats el territori. Modilianum 24:43–53.Google Scholar
Marean, CW, Spencer, L. 1991. Impact of carnivore ravaging on zooarchaeological measures of element abundance. American Antiquity 56(4):645–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marean, CW, Spencer, LM, Blumenschine, RJ, Capaldo, SD. 1992. Captive hyena bone choice and destruction, the Schlepp effect, and Olduvai Gorge archaeofaunas. Journal of Archaeological Science 19(1):101–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moncel, M-H, Chacón, MG, La Porta, A, Fernandes, P, Hardy, B, Gallotti, R. 2014. Fragmented reduction processes: Middle Palaeolithic technical behaviour in the Abri du Maras shelter, southeastern France. Quaternary International 350:180–204.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Blackwell, PG, Bronk Ramsey, C, Buck, CE, Cheng, H, Edwards, RL, Friedrich, M, Grootes, PM, Guilderson, TP, Haflidason, H, Hajdas, I, Hatté, C, Heaton, TJ, Hoffmann, DL, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kaiser, KF, Kromer, B, Manning, SW, Niu, M, Reimer, RW, Richards, DA, Scott, EM, Southon, JR, Staff, RA, Turney, CSM, van der Plicht, J. 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55(4):1869–1887.Google Scholar
Rosell, J, Blasco, R, Rivals, F, Chacón, MG, Menéndez, L, Morales, JI, Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A, Cebrià, A, Carbonell, E, Serrat, D. 2010. A stop along the way: the role of Neanderthal groups at level III of Teixoneres cave (Moià, Barcelona, Spain). Quaternaire 21:139–154.Google Scholar
Sánchez-Hernández, C, Rivals, F, Blasco, R, Rosell, J. 2014. Short, but repeated Neanderthal visits to Teixoneres Cave (MIS 3, Barcelona, Spain): a combined analysis of tooth microwear patterns and seasonality. Journal of Archaeological Science 49:317–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Serra-Ràfols JdC, Villalta JF, Thomas, J, Fuste, M. 1957. Livret Guide des excursions B2-B3. Alentours de Barcelona et Moià. V Congrés International del INQUA, Madrid. p 5–25.Google Scholar
Serrat, D, Albert, JF. 1973. Estudio sedimentológico de los materiales de relleno de la Cova de les Teixoneres. Speleon 20:63–70.Google Scholar
Talamo, S, Richards, M. 2011. A comparison of bone pretreatment methods for AMS dating of samples >30,000 BP. Radiocarbon 53(3):443–449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talamo, S, Peresani, M, Romandini, M, Duches, R, Jéquier, C, Nannini, N, Pastoors, A, Picin, A, Vaquero, M, Weniger, G-C, Hublin, J-J. 2014. Detecting human presence at the border of the northeastern Italian Pre-Alps. 14C dating at Rio Secco Cave as expression of the First Gravettian and the Late Mousterian in the northern Adriatic region. PLoS One 9(4):e95376.Google Scholar
Tissoux, H, Falguères, C, Bahain, J-J, Rosell, I, Ardevol, J, Cebria, A, Carbonnel, E, Serrat, D. 2006. Datation par les séries de l’Uranium des occupations moustériennes de la grotte de Teixoneres (Moia, Province de Barcelone, Espagne). Quaternaire 17(1):27–33.Google Scholar
Turq, A. 1989. Approche technologique et économie du faciès Moustérien de type Quina: étude préliminare. Bulletin de la Societé Préhistorique Française 86:244–255.Google Scholar
Turq, A. 2000. Paléolithique inférieur et moyen entre Dordogne et Lot. PALEO Supplément nº2.Google Scholar
Turq, A, Roebroeks, W, Bourguignon, L, Faivre, J-P. 2013. The fragmented character of Middle Palaeolithic stone tool technology. Journal of Human Evolution 65(5):641–655.Google Scholar
van Klinken, GJ. 1999. Bone collagen quality indicators for palaeodietary and radiocarbon measurements. Journal of Archaeological Science 26(6):687–695.Google Scholar
Wood, RE, Douka, K, Boscato, P, Haesaerts, P, Sinitsyn, A, Higham, TFG. 2012. Testing the ABOx-SC method: dating known-age charcoals associated with the Campanian Ignimbrite. Quaternary Geochronology 9:16–26.Google Scholar
Wood, RE, Arrizabalaga, A, Camps, M, Fallon, S, Iriarte-Chiapusso, MJ, Jones, R, Maroto, J, de la Rasilla, M, Santamaría, D, Soler, J, Soler, N, Villaluenga, A, Higham, TFG. 2014. The chronology of the earliest Upper Palaeolithic in northern Iberia: new insights from L’Arbreda, Labeko Koba and La Viña. Journal of Human Evolution 69:91–109.Google Scholar