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Papers by Robert Sala

Mètode Science Studies Journal: Annual Review, Jun 5, 2017

Scientific Reports, Oct 18, 2017

The sedimentary record in the Guadix-Baza Basin (southern Spain) has proved to be a great source ... more The sedimentary record in the Guadix-Baza Basin (southern Spain) has proved to be a great source of information for the Miocene through the Pleistocene periods, due to the abundant faunal remains preserved, in some cases associated with lithic tools. The Solana del Zamborino (SZ) section has been the subject of controversy ever since a magnetostratigraphic analysis resulted in an age of 750-770 Kyr for Acheulean tools, a chronology significantly older than the ~600 Kyr established chronology for the first Acheulean record in Europe. Although recent findings at the "Barranc de la Boella" site (northeast of the Iberian Peninsula) seem to indicate that an earlier introduction of such technique in Europe around 0.96-0.781 Ma is possible, the precise age of the classical site at SZ is still controversial. The aim of this paper is to constrain the chronology of the site by developing a longer magnetostratigraphic record. For this purpose, we carried out an exhaustive sampling in a new succession at SZ. Our results provide a ~65 m magnetostratigraphic record in which 4 magnetozones of normal polarity are found. Our new magnetostratigraphic data suggest an age range between 300-480 Kyr for the lithic tools, closer to the age of traditional Acheulean sites in Europe.

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2013

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Nov 10, 2015

Quaternary International, 2021

Abstract In Prehistory, Paleolithic stone toolkits are allotted to distinct cultural phases, expl... more Abstract In Prehistory, Paleolithic stone toolkits are allotted to distinct cultural phases, explained through a periodization that has been adopted as a strategic reference by specialists in lithic studies, based on: 1) the categorization of morpho-types observed in the assemblages; 2) the dominant manufacture technologies and 3) temporal categorizations based on geo-archeological data. Significant changes in toolkits are observed through time, signaling variations in extinct hominin behavioral configurations. They characterize the denominative classifications of the techno-complexes, presently defined under consensus. Applying the Homogeneity, Variability, Diversity, Multiplicity (HVDM) paradigm as a conceptual scheme for understanding the structural evolution of human technologies, we define the Multiplicity phase, exploring the techno-social consequences of changes materialized in the Late Acheulian of Western Europe, presaging the Middle Paleolithic world of the Neandertals and the arrival on the scene of our own species; Homo sapiens. During this period, in Western Europe, Homo heidelbergensis was undergoing biological transformations, which appear to have fused into a range of hominin forms, raising questions of intra-species contacts and cultural exchange on a backdrop of branching evolutionary configurations. Beyond handaxe production, this period is marked by significant social and behavioral revolutions: changes in landscape use, high population mobility and inter-connectivity, tool-type diversity, technological innovations, as well as the expansion of distinct hominin clades throughout the Old World. We examine the impulses for these changes, in particular, the prominent role played by the mastery of fire in revolutionizing human socialization processes.

In Barranco León, with a chronology of 1.4 Ma, and slightly older than Fuente Nueva-3, 1.3 Ma, a ... more In Barranco León, with a chronology of 1.4 Ma, and slightly older than Fuente Nueva-3, 1.3 Ma, a deciduous tooth of Homo sp. has been unearthed in 2002 [1] and a huge assemblage of Oldowan (i. e. Mode 1) tools, made in flint and limestones, have been recovered in both localities. In addition, evidences of human modification are frequents on the bone surfaces, as cut-marks, resulting from disarticulation, defleshing and evisceration activities, and percussion marks that evidence bone fracturing for accessing marrow contents.

Ponencia presentada en: 15th Congress of PanAfrican Archaeological Association for Prehistory and... more Ponencia presentada en: 15th Congress of PanAfrican Archaeological Association for Prehistory and Related Studies (PanAf): Rabat, Morocco, 10-14 september, 2018

Ponencia presentada en: 10eme Rencontre des Quaternaristes Marocains: Kenitra, Maroc, 19-21 novem... more Ponencia presentada en: 10eme Rencontre des Quaternaristes Marocains: Kenitra, Maroc, 19-21 novembre, 2019

Estudios Geologicos-madrid, 2006

The “Sima del Elefante” (TE site) (Atapuerca, Spain) is a major cave infill with a stratigraphic ... more The “Sima del Elefante” (TE site) (Atapuerca, Spain) is a major cave infill with a stratigraphic succession 25 m thick and 15 m wide, wealthy in animal bones and evidences of human occupation at different Pleistocene ages. TE site is under systematic excavation since 1996, and the inferior and superior levels are being dug up independently. The exposed section has been divided into 21 lito-stratigraphic units defined by major unconformities. Concerning the cave history, at least three main infill phases have been identified. The lower phase (TE8-TE14) is dated to Early Pleistocene (between 1.1 and 1.4 million years ago) on the basis of inverse paleomagnetics and belonging to the later Early Pleistocene on the basis of biochronology. The TE lower phase is providing a rich faunal assemblage, and shows evidence of human occupation. A set of stone tools of flint, and possibly, calcareous, is being found at these levels. Hence, the lower part of the TE section documents early presence of...

Le site de Payre a livre une industrie lithique abondante au sein de laquelle les pieces en quart... more Le site de Payre a livre une industrie lithique abondante au sein de laquelle les pieces en quartz et quartzite semblent avoir joue un role particulier. Il est probable que la majeure partie des eclats ait ete apportee sur le site deja debitee, ce qui s’inscrit a contresens des tendances deja relevees pour ces roches locales dans cette region. Nous avons pu mettre en evidence que les hommes recherchaient des zones actives de formes particulieres qui n’etaient pas exclusivement liees a une fonction specifique mais plutot a des actions diverses. The site of Payre has delivered a rich lithic industry in which the quartz and quartzite pieces seem to have played a specific role. It is very likely that most of the flakes were brought to the site already debites, which is contradictory to the tendencies established for these local stones of this region. We could show that these people were looking for specific shapes of active areas which were not only related to a specific function but ra...

Les fouilles minutieuses menees dans une grotte de la region de Taza, sur le littoral de l'Al... more Les fouilles minutieuses menees dans une grotte de la region de Taza, sur le littoral de l'Algerie, ont reveles des informations inedites sur le mode de vie de ses habitants voici plus de 16 000 ans.

The region of eastern Morocco is very rich in sites and archaeological remains. Many Pleistocene ... more The region of eastern Morocco is very rich in sites and archaeological remains. Many Pleistocene and Holocene sites have been discovered during the last 20 years. Systematic surveys and excavations were realized in the frame of the Spanish-Moroccan research project that started in 2006. Fieldwork permitted the identification of new archaeological Middle Stone Age open air sites in this region. It is the first time since the 1990’ (Wengler 1993a, 1993b, 1997; Wengler &Vernet 1992) that new sites belonging to this chronological period have been discovered in this region. Lithic assemblages, found on the surface as well as in stratigraphic position, are located on the exposed surfaces of river banks, around springs and on the slopes. ∗Intervenant †Auteur correspondant: gchacon@iphes.cat sciencesconf.org:uispp2018:182901 Since a technological point of view these sites contain a typologically and technologically homogeneous set of flake assemblages with a significant Levallois component ...

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2018

Dated to 1.4 Mya, the Barranco León site (Orce, Andalusia, Spain) is currently the oldest and ric... more Dated to 1.4 Mya, the Barranco León site (Orce, Andalusia, Spain) is currently the oldest and richest late Lower Pleistocene stone tool assemblage discovered so far in Europe. Archeological and paleontological remains are found clearly associated in lacustrine deposits traversed by a small channel. This paper provides new data about the lithic assemblage from level D, focusing on the abundant active percussion implements that form a part of the highly divers set of limestone macro-tools unique to this assemblage. Morpho-technological and experimental analysis of these tools allows us to hypothesize about the kinds of activities that might have been carried out by hominins at this site. Experimental work allows us to define percussive trace morphologies 1 Introduction Percussion implements form a part of the basic toolkit in Prehistoric stone tool assemblages in the most varied chronologies. These tools, though they do not always play a prominent role in the industries, provide essential clues for understanding what kinds of activities were performed by hominins at prehistoric archeological sites. In the framework of the Oldowan techno-complex, where they are often found in abundance (Chavaillon, 1979), the so-called 'macro tool' assemblages provide us with an assortment of study materials from which to obtain information about hominin activity. Beyond butchery, an activity deduced mainly from macro traces on bones (Dominguez-Rodrigo and Alcalá, 2016), and sparse evidence for woodworking (Keeley and Toth, 1981), little is known about the kinds of activities that were carried out by Oldowan hominins. In fact, from the range of possible or probable activities, there is no reason to exclude the likelihood that actions such as working plant materials, digging, chopping wood, modifying animal skins and soft tissues, were within the range of cognitive and technical skills of these hominins.

Comptes Rendus Palevol, 2018

The emergence and significance of heavy-duty scrapers in ancient stone toolkits L'émergence et la... more The emergence and significance of heavy-duty scrapers in ancient stone toolkits L'émergence et la signification des heavy-duty scrapers dans les assemblages lithiques archaïques

Mètode Revista de difusió de la investigació, 2017

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2017

Although the occurrence of burned bones in the archeological record has been widely investigated,... more Although the occurrence of burned bones in the archeological record has been widely investigated, very few studies have focused on the distinction of temporality in burned bones assemblages, which would be useful in helping to identify human activity areas, as well as distinguishing combustion residues from those resulting from other activities. In this work, we present the results of an experiment designed to characterize direct/indirect thermal alteration of rabbit bones, based on macroscopic and microscopic surface features. These results are then compared with an archeological burned bone assemblage associated with various Middle Paleolithic combustion structures from El Salt Stratigraphic Unit X (Alicante, Spain). In the experimental assemblage, we observed that rabbit bones tossed into a fire were strongly altered, while bones thrown on the cooled ashes and lying on the surface beneath the fire or slightly buried, were not. We observed a strong thermal surface alteration of fresh bone (color changes, high degrees of fragmentation, cracks and structural changes on the cortical surface), while dry bone showed only color changes. Taking this data into account when analyzing the archeological assemblage, we observed surface features corresponding to thermally altered fresh bone and others more like thermally altered dry bone. Crucially, the archaeological specimens are associated with black layers of combustion structures and exhibit signs of trampling. The results suggest that fresh bones were trampled into human occupation surfaces and were subsequently unintentionally or indirectly burned due to their position beneath hearths, along with other dry bones present there. Our study shows that investigating ways to distinguish temporality in burned bones may be a good tool for isolating different depositional events and thus contributing to archeological palimpsest dissection.