Antiquity Combustion at the late Early Pleistocene site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar (Murcia, Spain (original) (raw)
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Antiquity 90, 571-589, 2016
Control of fire was a hallmark of developing human cognition and an essential technology for the colonisation of cooler latitudes. In Europe, the earliest evidence comes from recent work at the site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar in south-eastern Spain. Charred and calcined bone and thermally altered chert were recovered from a deep, 0.8-million-year-old sedimentary deposit. A combination of analyses indicated that these had been heated to 400–600°C, compatible with burning. Inspection of the sediment and hydroxyapatite also suggests combustion and degradation of the bone. The results provide new insight into Early Palaeolithic use of fire and its significance for human evolution.
N 0 k m 400 Control of fire was a hallmark of developing human cognition and an essential technology for the colonisation of cooler latitudes. In Europe, the earliest evidence comes from recent work at the site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar in southeastern Spain. Charred and calcined bone and thermally altered chert were recovered from a deep, 0.8-million-year-old sedimentary deposit. A combination of analyses indicated that these had been heated to 400–600ºC, compatible with burning. Inspection of the sediment and hydroxyapatite also suggests combustion and degradation of the bone. The results provide new insight into Early Palaeolithic use of fire and its significance for human evolution.
Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar overlooking the Río Quípar, a Río Segura tributary, is an upland rock-shelter 75 km north of the Mediterranean coast and 110 km west of the Segura river-mouth. It contains undisturbed sediment 5 m deep assigned by magnetostratigraphy to >0.78 Ma (Matuyama magnetochron). Optically stimulated sediment luminescence dating implies ≥0.5 Ma and mammalian biochronology (notably, of Arvicolid rodents) indicates >0.7-<1 Ma. Remains include an "Acheulian" limestone "hand-axe," and small chert, limestone or quartzite artifacts, knapped on site, often by bipolar reduction or repetitive centripetal flaking of small discoidal cores. Secondarily-flaked ("retouched") artifacts include small irregular chert fragments, resembling chert at an adjacent conglomerate outcrop according to laser-ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass-spectrometry of 19 lanthanide elements, though some chert may have been obtained from up to 30 km away. Faunal remains and pollen are compatible with mild (plausibly MIS-21), damp, fluvio-lacustrine environments. Evidence of fire in a deep, sealed layer includes thermally-altered, lustreless and shattered chert, and both charred and white calcined fragments of bone. Taphonomical analysis and electron microscopy of bone fragments attribute discolouration to burning, not to post-depositional mineral staining. Sediment geochemistry and thin-section micromorphology have been undertaken. FTIRS, TL and ESR analysis of chert and bone imply firing temperatures of about 500ºC at least. Drawing on findings from Cueva Negra, the purpose of this paper is to offer an interpretation of Palaeolithic activity from the perspective of hominin cogni-2 AA.VV. 2 b. Murcian Association for the Study of Palaeoanthropology and the Quaternary, MUPANTQUAT http:www.mupantquat.com (c/o M.V. López-Martínez, Hon.Sec. MUPANTQUAT:
Scientific Reports
the site of Gruta da Aroeira (torres novas, portugal), with evidence of human occupancy dating to ca. 400 ka (Marine Isotope Stage 11), is one of the very few Middle Pleistocene localities to have provided a fossil hominin cranium associated with Acheulean bifaces in a cave context. the multianalytic study reported here of the by-products of burning recorded in layer X suggests the presence of anthropogenic fires at the site, among the oldest such evidence in south-western Europe. The burnt material consists of bone, charcoal and, possibly, quartzite cobbles. These finds were made in a small area of the cave and in two separate occupation horizons. our results add to our still-limited knowledge about the controlled use of fire in the Lower Palaeolithic and contribute to ongoing debates on the behavioural complexity of the Acheulean of europe.
Pyrotechnology must be seen as one of the most important technological developments in human prehistory. Once developed it eventually came to serve a wide range of applications, but when this actually occurred is not well understood. Fire is well known at a number of Middle Palaeolithic sites in Western Europe, and the Neandertals of this region clearly made use of it at some times and at some sites. Recent excavations at two generally contemporaneous Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Dordogne region of France, Pech de l’Azé IV and Roc de Marsal, have provided significant data on Neandertal use of fire. Both sites have revealed a number of extremely well preserved and delineated fire features at the base of their sequences. The goals of this paper are to describe and contrast the combustion features from these two sites using both field observations and laboratory data that employ micromorphological and FTIR techniques. Pyrotechnological differences can be seen, representing differences in Neandertal fire use and, potentially, site use.
New Evidence on Neandertal Use of Fire: Examples from Roc de Marsal and Pech de l'Azé IV
Pyrotechnology must be seen as one of the most important technological developments in human prehistory. Once developed it eventually came to serve a wide range of applications, but when this actually occurred is not well understood. Fire is well known at a number of Middle Palaeolithic sites in Western Europe, and the Neandertals of this region clearly made use of it at some times and at some sites. Recent excavations at two generally contemporaneous Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Dordogne region of France, Pech de l'Azé IV and Roc de Marsal, have provided significant data on Neandertal use of fire. Both sites have revealed a number of extremely well preserved and delineated fire features at the base of their sequences. The goals of this paper are to describe and contrast the combustion features from these two sites using both field observations and laboratory data that employ micromorphological and FTIR techniques. Pyrotechnological differences can be seen, representing differences in Neandertal fire use and, potentially, site use.
We present preliminary results from the first phase of experiments from the Neanderthal Fire Technology Project, aimed at understanding Middle Palaeolithic combustion structures. Our field observations and micromorphological data address the sedimentary expression of various anthropogenic actions (trampling, ash sweeping and dumping, relighting and cooking) performed on simple, flat combustion structures made with Pinus nigra fuel on dry and slightly vegetated calcareous sandy substrates. We observed a characteristic pattern in microstructure and basic composition irrespective of the number and kind of anthropogenic actions performed. Trampling yielded previously documented diagnostic micromorphological features, more pronounced in cases of ash sweeping and dumping. Relighting of fires was only identified in cases with deposits between combustion events. Only rare microscopic calcined bone fragments and fat-derived char were identified in fires involving cooking or tossing of meat in the fire. These data suggest that: anthropogenic actions on simple combustion structures are highly undetectable; sweeping has a stronger effect than trampling on the substrate of the combustion structure; stacked hearths might involve significant amounts of time or deposits between combustion events; and alternative techniques must be sought to identify cooking in fires.
Environmental Archaeology, 2017
Human control of fire is a widely debated issue in the field of Palaeolithic archaeology, since it involved significant technological innovations for human subsistence. Although fire evidence has been the subject of intense debate regarding its natural or anthropogenic nature, most authors agree that combustion structures represent the most direct evidence of human control of fire. Wood charcoal fragments from these contexts represent the fuel remains that result from humans' collection of firewood, which means they can reveal significant behavioural and palaeoenvironmental information relevant to our understanding of Middle Palaeolithic societies. In this work, we present anthracological data derived from combustion structure 2 (level XIII, ca. 230 ka, MIS 7) and combustion structure 4 (level XI, ca. 160 ka, MIS 6) from Bolomor Cave, which are chronologically among the earliest combustion structures found in Europe. The present work discusses how the presence of black pine and / or scots pine in both levels sheds light on the characterisation of the local landscape. Additional analyses focussing on the pre-and post-depositional processes affecting charcoal preservation point to biodegradation patterns. The aim of this work is to provide the first discussion concerning the anthracological data derived from Bolomor Cave in order to contribute to the general debate regarding the use of fire during the European Middle Pleistocene.
Quaternary International
The complexity of social behaviour by Neanderthal communities is consolidated by illustrating the sophistication of fire-linked activities in their home-based contexts. This was achieved by relating the microfacies analysis of cultural deposits to combustion structures at the Abric Romani (Capellades, Spain). The geometry and nature of cultural microfacies from a selection of hearths and their surrounding empty areas were characterized in thin sections. The related bulk fraction from the distinctive individual microstrata was extracted, water-sieved and examined under the binocular microscope. The selective micro-sampling was performed from the collection of undisturbed blocks in combustion structures of layer J (1995 excavation). The procedure was applied to combustion structures from the lower layer O (2009 excavation). The integrated micromorphological observation and binocular sorting allowed identification of a similar assemblage of components that are closely linked to distinctive anthropic microfacies. Individual grains were characterized by ESEM-EDAX, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectrometry. X-ray fluorescence analysis was performed on the host matrix. The specific association of remarkable components/cultural microfacies is identical for the combustion structures of layers O and J. The four groups components identified comprise carbonaceous polymorphs, allochthonous mineral clasts, organo-phosphatic compounds, and native metals. The phase association of organic and mineral phases allowed recognition of a common natural precursor rich in hydrocarbon species and metallic compounds that were probably extracted from a Miocene source. Microscale analysis in thin sections linked the combustion microfacies to the transformation contexts of the metal-rich carbonaceous precursors. Heat-resistant polymers and graphitic components associated with wood ash are suggested to trace pyrolitic residues from flaming combustion. The intimate mixing of the metal-rich carbonaceous polymorphs to finely crushed heated bones allowed identification of pyrogenic transformations of the fossil fuel with fresh biomass. Analysis at microscale in thin sections linked the processed by-products to finely prepared and meticulously consolidated surfaces showing distinctive colours: yellow, brown, blue, green, red, white, and black. The repeated surface preparation and their exceptional preservation at microscales illustrate the great concern of Neanderthal occupants for maintaining the long term memory of their carefully designed home space.The recognition of advanced pyrotechnology by using fossil fuels for lighting, firing, spatial design, colouring in the combustion structures of Abric Romani incites speculation on the exceptional social status of this home-based camp site. Further development of the microfacies/multi-analytical analysis should more deeply penetrate the social sophistication of Neanderthal communities.