Browsing by Subject "Human evolution"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Falsificando nuestros orígenes
    (Murcia: Centro de Estudios del Próximo Oriente y la Antigüedad Tardía – CEPOAT, 2012) Ríos, Patricia; Escobar, Ana; Ortiz, Irene
    Este artículo realiza una aproximación a los falsos históricos en la Prehistoria, en concreto en el campo de la Evolución Humana, ámbito en el que s e han desarrollado algunas de las más arduas polémicas históricas desde el comienzo de la disciplina. El objetivo, lejos de ser una recogida exhaustiva de casos o una interpretación de hallazgos polémicos, pretende ofrecer una visión general de la presencia de los “falsos histó ricos” en un campo, como es la evolución humana, tradicionalmente favorable para la creación d e mitos, teniendo en cuenta que cada nuevo fósil tiene trascendencia y puede cambiar la lín ea evolutiva o la antigüedad de nuestra especie
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    Fire in the Early Palaeolithic: evidence from burnt small mammal bones at Cueva negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar, Murcia, Spain
    (Elsevier, 2016-10) Rhodes, S.E.; Walker, M.J.; López Jiménez, A.; López Martínez, M.; Haber Uriarte, María; Fernández Jalvo, Y.; Chazan, M.; Prehistoria, Arqueología, Historia Antigua, Historia Medieval y Ciencias y Técnicas Historiográficas
    The development of pyrotechnology is a hallmark of human history, providing our ancestors with warmth, security and cooked food. Evidence for fire use before 400 thousand years ago (kya) remains contentious due largely to the taphonomically fragile nature of charcoal and ash. As such, it is imperative to the study of prehistoric fire that we develop techniques and methodologies for identifying anthropogenic fire use via more robust materials. A new methodology described by Fernández-Jalvo and Avery (2015) based on small mammal taphonomy to identify high intensity fire events from the distant past is replicated herein. When we applied this method to assemblages from Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar, an upland rock-shelter in southeastern Spain, dated to between 780 kya and 980 kya, we recognized a spatial relationship between highly heat modified micromammal specimens and a previously reported delineated feature of thermally altered and carbonate rich sediment which also includes heat-fractured chert and calcined bone (the fire feature). The proportion of heavily heat-modified specimens (charred and/or calcined specimens) identified within the stratigraphic context associated with the fire feature proved statistically significant (x2 = 169.18, p < 0.001) when compared with the proportion of similarly modified specimens from overlying deposits (within other stratigraphic layers). The degree of discolouration seen on the micromammal remains within the fire feature has been linked to temperatures exceeding 600 °C (Shipman et al., 1984), and as such supports claims that the fire feature may have an anthropogenic origin. Environmental scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) of bone specimens confirms that this discolouration is due to burning rather than post-depositional mineral staining. This confirms that methodology, which represents a novel line of evidence for identifying pyrotechnical events at early Palaeolithic sites, can be used to identify potentially anthropogenic fire events from the distant past when alternative scenarios are excluded. Furthermore, studies of this type showcase the value of including detailed taphonomic studies of microfauna assemblages within multidisciplinary research projects.
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    Greening a lost world: paleoartistic investigations of the early Pleistocene vegetation landscape in the first Europeans' homeland.
    (Elsevier, 2024-03-25) Amorós, Ariadna; Ochando, Juan; Munuera, Manuel; Marín-Arroyo, Ana Belén; Jiménez-Arenas, Juan Manuel; Sánchez Giner, María Victoria; Amorós Seller, Gabriela; Carrión García, José Sebastián; Bellas Artes
    The scarcity of pictorial reconstructions focusing on Quaternary flora and vegetation prompts a reevaluation of traditional zoocentrism in future paleoartistic research. Here we present paleoartistic renderings depicting vegetation landscapes around the Orce Archaeological Zone (OAZ), encompassing sites dating from 1.6 to 1.2 million years ago during the Early Pleistocene of the Guadix-Baza Basin in southern Spain. Four pieces are based on fossil pollen data from Venta Micena 1 (VM1), Barranco León (BL), and Fuente Nueva 3 (FN3). The artwork considers altitudinal belt distribution, taxonomic and structural diversity, extinct taxa in the Iberian Peninsula post-Early Pleistocene, and those previously extinct at higher latitudes in Europe. This essay visually represents the coexistence of mesophytic, thermophytic, and xerophytic plant communities within a glacial refugium of woody species. Lastly, employing a non-conventional iconographic approach, we portray a female Homo individual in the forest refugium to draw up on possible adaptive traits of these early Europeans.
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    Welcome to the forest theatre: unveiling a Balkan refugium through paleoart.
    (Elsevier, 2024-07-18) Ochando, Juan; Magri, Donatella; Marín-Arroyo, Ana B.; Amorós, Ariadna; Munuera, Manuel; Di Rita, Federico; Michelangeli, Fabrizio; Roksandic, Mirjana; Mihailovíc, Dusan; Sánchez Giner, María Victoria; Amorós Seller, Gabriela; Carrión García, José Sebastián; Bellas Artes
    This paper presents an artistic paleolandscape experiment based primarily on recent palynological data from the Paleolithic site of Peˇsturina, in the Central Balkans of Serbia. These data are integrated into the general knowledge of flora and vegetation changes in the Balkans and southern Carpathians obtained through other paleobotanical sequences, especially pollen records from lake sediments. The paleoartistic proposal includes several drawing attempts at different geographic scales with an emphasis on plant taxa and their position within glacial refugia. The contrast with the interglacial situation is also illustrated, but the work especially focuses on the concept of long-term refugia and the altitudinal shifts of steppes, conifers, and broad-leaf trees. An ecological and biogeographical discussion accompanies the illustrations, highlighting the insurmountable ethodological limitations and the challenges that pose obstacles to the progress of palynology as a technique for paleoenvironmental reconstruction at the spatial scale. The structure of the paper aims to serve as a guiding example for the teaching and scientific dissemination of paleosciences, from a conservationist perspective that is much needed in the current scenario of global change and biodiversity crisis.