El arte parietal paleolítico de la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se descubre en 2015, en el marco de las... more El arte parietal paleolítico de la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se descubre en 2015, en el marco de las labores de prospección desarrolladas en la última década en el oriente cantábrico. Hemos documentado una decena de grabados situados en tres sectores profundos de la cavidad y compuestos por representaciones de bisontes y líneas. Las características formales de los primeros son específicas del arte gravetiense en el caso de los sectores A, C y D, y del Magdaleniense en el sector B. En ambos casos las convenciones gráficas presentan paralelos continentales, con el S/SO francés en el primer caso, y con los conjuntos pirenaicos en el segundo. De esta manera, en la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se identifican dos fases decorativas correspondientes a dos periodos distantes en el tiempo, siendo el primer caso de recurrencia gráfica reconocido en la Región Cantábrica oriental.
El arte parietal paleolítico de la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se descubre en 2015, en el marco de las... more El arte parietal paleolítico de la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se descubre en 2015, en el marco de las labores de prospección desarrolladas en la última década en el oriente cantábrico. Hemos documentado una decena de grabados situados en tres sectores profundos de la cavidad y compuestos por representaciones de bisontes y líneas. Las características formales de los primeros son específicas del arte gravetiense en el caso de los sectores A, C y D, y del Magdaleniense en el sector B. En ambos casos las convenciones gráficas presentan paralelos continentales, con el S/SO francés en el primer caso, y con los conjuntos pirenaicos en el segundo. De esta manera, en la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se identifican dos fases decorativas correspondientes a dos periodos distantes en el tiempo, siendo el primer caso de recurrencia gráfica reconocido en la Región Cantábrica oriental.
Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic beh... more Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic behavior in Paleolithic groups. Furthermore, the control of fire allowed the development of the first symbolic behavior in deep caves, around 176 ky BP. These activities would increase during the Upper Paleolithic, when lighting residues proliferated at these sites. The physical peculiarities of Paleolithic lighting resources are very poorly understood, although this is a key aspect for the study of human activity within caves and other dark contexts. In this work, we characterize the main Paleolithic lighting systems (e.g., wooden torches, portable fat lamps, and fireplaces) through empirical observations and experimental archeology in an endokarstic context. Furthermore, each lighting system’s characteristic combustion residues were identified to achieve a better identification for the archaeological record. The experiments are based on an exhaustive review of archaeological information a...
Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic beh... more Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic behavior in Paleolithic groups. Furthermore, the control of fire allowed the development of the first symbolic behavior in deep caves, around 176 ky BP. These activities would increase during the Upper Paleolithic, when lighting residues proliferated at these sites. The physical peculiarities of Paleolithic lighting resources are very poorly understood, although this is a key aspect for the study of human activity within caves and other dark contexts. In this work, we characterize the main Paleolithic lighting systems (e.g., wooden torches, portable fat lamps, and fireplaces) through empirical observations and experimental archeology in an endokarstic context. Furthermore, each lighting system’s characteristic combustion residues were identified to achieve a better identification for the archaeological record. The experiments are based on an exhaustive review of archaeological information a...
The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for... more The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for comprehension of the symbolic development of Neandertals and Homo sapiens in the context of the passage from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. However, despite the importance of these first graphic representations, their study has tended to lack the application of suitable methodologies to be able to discriminate between graphic activity and other kind of alterations (use-wear, taphonomic, or post-depositional). The present study has examined a significant sample of Middle and Upper Paleolithic lithic and osseous objects from Cantabrian Spain that have been cited as evidence of graphic activity in the literature. The contexts in which the objects were found have been considered, and the objects have been analyzed through the microscopic observation of the marks to distinguish between incisions, pecking, and engraving made for a non-functional purpose (graphic activity) and those gene...
The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for... more The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for comprehension of the symbolic development of Neandertals and Homo sapiens in the context of the passage from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. However, despite the importance of these first graphic representations, their study has tended to lack the application of suitable methodologies to be able to discriminate between graphic activity and other kind of alterations (use-wear, taphonomic, or post-depositional). The present study has examined a significant sample of Middle and Upper Paleolithic lithic and osseous objects from Cantabrian Spain that have been cited as evidence of graphic activity in the literature. The contexts in which the objects were found have been considered, and the objects have been analyzed through the microscopic observation of the marks to distinguish between incisions, pecking, and engraving made for a non-functional purpose (graphic activity) and those gene...
Este trabajo presenta el descubrimiento y posterior estudio de grafismos rojos de estilo paleolít... more Este trabajo presenta el descubrimiento y posterior estudio de grafismos rojos de estilo paleolítico en la cueva de Baltzola (Dima, Bizkaia). Las labores de prospección y documentación allí desarrolladas por los arriba firmantes han identificado un modesto conjunto decorado en el que destaca un ideomorfo difícil de caracterizar. Pudiera tratarse de un signo encajable entre los “claviformes cantábricos” (conocidos en cuevas como Altamira, Tebellín o La Pasiega B y C) o “cuadriláteros con apéndice” (identificados en las de La Pasiega A o El Castillo). La rigidez de las tipologías hasta ahora planteadas para clasificar a los ideomorfos, pudiera obviar la existencia de límites muy difusos entre unos y otros. Además es un signo hasta ahora inédito en el oriente de la Cornisa Cantábrica, que permite correlacionar la cavidad de Baltzola con otras situadas en el centro-oeste cantábrico, pero cuya atribución cronológica precisa resulta difícil a falta de dataciones directas.
El arte parietal paleolítico de la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se descubre en 2015, en el marco de las... more El arte parietal paleolítico de la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se descubre en 2015, en el marco de las labores de prospección desarrolladas en la última década en el oriente cantábrico. Hemos documentado una decena de grabados situados en tres sectores profundos de la cavidad y compuestos por representaciones de bisontes y líneas. Las características formales de los primeros son específicas del arte gravetiense en el caso de los sectores A, C y D, y del Magdaleniense en el sector B. En ambos casos las convenciones gráficas presentan paralelos continentales, con el S/SO francés en el primer caso, y con los conjuntos pirenaicos en el segundo. De esta manera, en la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se identifican dos fases decorativas correspondientes a dos periodos distantes en el tiempo, siendo el primer caso de recurrencia gráfica reconocido en la Región Cantábrica oriental.
El arte parietal paleolítico de la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se descubre en 2015, en el marco de las... more El arte parietal paleolítico de la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se descubre en 2015, en el marco de las labores de prospección desarrolladas en la última década en el oriente cantábrico. Hemos documentado una decena de grabados situados en tres sectores profundos de la cavidad y compuestos por representaciones de bisontes y líneas. Las características formales de los primeros son específicas del arte gravetiense en el caso de los sectores A, C y D, y del Magdaleniense en el sector B. En ambos casos las convenciones gráficas presentan paralelos continentales, con el S/SO francés en el primer caso, y con los conjuntos pirenaicos en el segundo. De esta manera, en la cueva de Aitzbitarte V se identifican dos fases decorativas correspondientes a dos periodos distantes en el tiempo, siendo el primer caso de recurrencia gráfica reconocido en la Región Cantábrica oriental.
Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic beh... more Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic behavior in Paleolithic groups. Furthermore, the control of fire allowed the development of the first symbolic behavior in deep caves, around 176 ky BP. These activities would increase during the Upper Paleolithic, when lighting residues proliferated at these sites. The physical peculiarities of Paleolithic lighting resources are very poorly understood, although this is a key aspect for the study of human activity within caves and other dark contexts. In this work, we characterize the main Paleolithic lighting systems (e.g., wooden torches, portable fat lamps, and fireplaces) through empirical observations and experimental archeology in an endokarstic context. Furthermore, each lighting system’s characteristic combustion residues were identified to achieve a better identification for the archaeological record. The experiments are based on an exhaustive review of archaeological information a...
Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic beh... more Artificial lighting was a crucial physical resource for expanding complex social and economic behavior in Paleolithic groups. Furthermore, the control of fire allowed the development of the first symbolic behavior in deep caves, around 176 ky BP. These activities would increase during the Upper Paleolithic, when lighting residues proliferated at these sites. The physical peculiarities of Paleolithic lighting resources are very poorly understood, although this is a key aspect for the study of human activity within caves and other dark contexts. In this work, we characterize the main Paleolithic lighting systems (e.g., wooden torches, portable fat lamps, and fireplaces) through empirical observations and experimental archeology in an endokarstic context. Furthermore, each lighting system’s characteristic combustion residues were identified to achieve a better identification for the archaeological record. The experiments are based on an exhaustive review of archaeological information a...
The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for... more The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for comprehension of the symbolic development of Neandertals and Homo sapiens in the context of the passage from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. However, despite the importance of these first graphic representations, their study has tended to lack the application of suitable methodologies to be able to discriminate between graphic activity and other kind of alterations (use-wear, taphonomic, or post-depositional). The present study has examined a significant sample of Middle and Upper Paleolithic lithic and osseous objects from Cantabrian Spain that have been cited as evidence of graphic activity in the literature. The contexts in which the objects were found have been considered, and the objects have been analyzed through the microscopic observation of the marks to distinguish between incisions, pecking, and engraving made for a non-functional purpose (graphic activity) and those gene...
The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for... more The characterization of the first portable artistic depictions in Cantabrian Spain is crucial for comprehension of the symbolic development of Neandertals and Homo sapiens in the context of the passage from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. However, despite the importance of these first graphic representations, their study has tended to lack the application of suitable methodologies to be able to discriminate between graphic activity and other kind of alterations (use-wear, taphonomic, or post-depositional). The present study has examined a significant sample of Middle and Upper Paleolithic lithic and osseous objects from Cantabrian Spain that have been cited as evidence of graphic activity in the literature. The contexts in which the objects were found have been considered, and the objects have been analyzed through the microscopic observation of the marks to distinguish between incisions, pecking, and engraving made for a non-functional purpose (graphic activity) and those gene...
Este trabajo presenta el descubrimiento y posterior estudio de grafismos rojos de estilo paleolít... more Este trabajo presenta el descubrimiento y posterior estudio de grafismos rojos de estilo paleolítico en la cueva de Baltzola (Dima, Bizkaia). Las labores de prospección y documentación allí desarrolladas por los arriba firmantes han identificado un modesto conjunto decorado en el que destaca un ideomorfo difícil de caracterizar. Pudiera tratarse de un signo encajable entre los “claviformes cantábricos” (conocidos en cuevas como Altamira, Tebellín o La Pasiega B y C) o “cuadriláteros con apéndice” (identificados en las de La Pasiega A o El Castillo). La rigidez de las tipologías hasta ahora planteadas para clasificar a los ideomorfos, pudiera obviar la existencia de límites muy difusos entre unos y otros. Además es un signo hasta ahora inédito en el oriente de la Cornisa Cantábrica, que permite correlacionar la cavidad de Baltzola con otras situadas en el centro-oeste cantábrico, pero cuya atribución cronológica precisa resulta difícil a falta de dataciones directas.
Este trabajo presenta el descubrimiento y posterior estudio de grafismos rojos de estilo paleolít... more Este trabajo presenta el descubrimiento y posterior estudio de grafismos rojos de estilo paleolítico en la cueva de Baltzola (Dima, Bizkaia). Las labores de prospección y documentación allí desarrolladas por los arriba firmantes han identificado un modesto conjunto decorado en el que destaca un ideomorfo difícil de caracterizar. Pudiera tratarse de un signo encajable entre los “claviformes cantábricos” (conocidos en cuevas como Altamira, Tebellín o La Pasiega B y C) o “cuadriláteros con apéndice” (identificados en las de La Pasiega A o El Castillo). La rigidez de las tipologías hasta ahora planteadas para clasificar a los ideomorfos, pudiera obviar la existencia de límites muy difusos entre unos y otros. Además es un signo hasta ahora inédito en el oriente de la Cornisa Cantábrica, que permite correlacionar la cavidad de Baltzola con otras situadas en el centro-oeste cantábrico, pero cuya atribución cronológica precisa resulta difícil a falta de dataciones directas.
Newly discovered archaeological sites in the Uribe Kosta region of northern Spain are illuminatin... more Newly discovered archaeological sites in the Uribe Kosta region of northern Spain are illuminating the establishment of late prehistoric coastal farming settlements and specialised tool-production activities.
Newly discovered archaeological sites in the Uribe Kosta region of northern Spain are illuminatin... more Newly discovered archaeological sites in the Uribe Kosta region of northern Spain are illuminating the establishment of late prehistoric coastal farming settlements and specialised tool-production activities.
Aranbaltza is an archaeological complex formed by at least three open-air sites. Between 2014 and... more Aranbaltza is an archaeological complex formed by at least three open-air sites. Between 2014 and 2015 a test excavation carried out in Aranbaltza III revealed the presence of a sand and clay sedimentary sequence formed in floodplain environments, within which six sedimentary units have been identified. This sequence was formed between 137-50 ka, and includes several archaeological horizons, attesting to the long-term presence of Neanderthal communities in this area. One of these horizons, corresponding with Unit 4, yielded two wooden tools. One of these tools is a beveled pointed tool that was shaped through a complex operational sequence involving branch shaping, bark peeling, twig removal, shaping, polishing, thermal exposition and chopping. A use-wear analysis of the tool shows it to have traces related with digging soil so it has been interpreted as representing a digging stick. This is the first time such a tool has been identified in a European Late Middle Palaeolithic contex...
Abstract The origins of figurative art have been widely discussed over the past several decades. ... more Abstract The origins of figurative art have been widely discussed over the past several decades. First, researchers spoke about a linear evolution of artistic expression from simple to more complex. This idea has been discussed recently in light of new discoveries in the Rhone valley and the Swabian Jura. There is also the hypothesis that artistic expression developed during the Aurignacian to strengthen the social networks of the first modern human groups entering Europe. Here we present a unique piece of portable art found at an Aurignacian open-air site, Cantalouette II (Dordogne, France). The particular context of the finding, a flint workshop, the use of an up-to-now unknown engraving technique, the sunken relief, and the uncommon subject, a naturalistic and detailed bird, are evidence of the uniqueness of this piece of artwork, which sets it apart from the already-known Aurignacian artistic manifestations known from Western Europe. We take this uniqueness to represent an argument against the idea of a linear evolution of art. Also the particular context of this piece, immediately discarded after its production, shows that it was a sort of ephemeral artistic expression, a behavior as yet unknown for the Aurignacian. Moreover, the very fact that the context, technique, and subject of this art piece are previously unknown for the Aurignacian indicate that there was a higher degree of variability in Aurignacian artistic expressions than has been previously argued. This suggests that the search for a single explanation for the ‘artistic explosion’ observed in the Early Upper Paleolithic may be unfounded.
The third season of archaeological excavations in the open-air site of Aranbaltza has enabled us ... more The third season of archaeological excavations in the open-air site of Aranbaltza has enabled us to increase our knowledge of the human occupation of this area, located near to the natural flint outcrop in Kurtzia. The oldest phases, which date from the Mid-Palaeolithic and are located in Aranbaltza I, have continued to provide evidence of a structured habitat very rich in stone tools and instruments. Excavations were also extended to include Aranbaltza II, which corresponds to a dwelling thought to date from the Chalcolithic. The sondage carried out in Aranbaltza III revealed a sequence of over 3 metres in depth, with a well-preserved organic material level at the base. Similar levels have also been documented at the base of two ditches (numbers 7 and 8) dug in other areas of the site. Aranbaltzako aztarnategia induskatzeko 2015eko kanpainan 2013. urteaz geroztik irekitako hiru sekto-reetan (Aranbaltza I, II eta III) jardun dugu, eta segida eman diogu zundaketa mekanikoak egiteko estrate-giari, aztarnategiaren hedadura neurtzeko xedearekin. Aranbaltza I aztarnategian 18 m 2-ko azalera altxa genuen bitarteko mekanikoak erabiliz C mailako gai-nazala ukitu arte. Zarakar burdintsuak eratua da gai-nazal hori, eta Erdi Paleolitoko okupazioak garatu zi-ren maila hareatsuak zigilatzen ditu (ikus J. Rios Garaizar et al., 2015). Ondoren eskuz induskatu geni-tuen D eta E mailak, eta esku hartze horrek 2014. ur-teko kanpainan induskatutako habitataren jarraipena dokumentatzeko aukera eman zigun. Espazio berri horretan hainbat egituraren aztarnak dokumentatu genituen. Egitura horien artean nabarmentzekoa da hareharrizko harri xabal handiek eta basaltozko bloke handiek eratutako bat; itxura guztien arabera erre-kuntza jarduerak bideratu zituzten egitura horretan. Egitura horiei estu loturik, landutako harrizko aztarna asko berreskuratu genituen. Flysheko suharrian lan-duak dira gehien-gehienak, eta Levallois eta Disko itxurako lanketa modua ageri dute. Aranbaltza II aztarnategian 2014. urtean induska-tutako azalera handitu genuen 5,5 m²-ko azalera har-tu arte. Holozenoko paleozoruaren gainean pausatu-tako sedimentua edo jalkina induskatu genuen. Maila honen ezaugarriak eta 2014. urtean identifikatuak oso antzekoak dira, hau da, ugari dira suharria lantzetik eratorritako hondakinak, badira oso higatuta dauden zeramika zati batzuk eta errekuntza egitura baten aztarnak. Berreskuratutako elementuen artean aipa-garria da hosto itxurako gezi mutur txortendun bat, hegal laburrak dituena. Holozenoko paleozoruaren az-pian bere baitan egur kiskalia zeukan zulo bat indus-katu genuen. Oraindik datatu gabe dago. 2015. urteko kanpainak utzi dizkigun albiste nagu-siak Aranbaltza III aztarnategian eskuz bideratutako zundaketak eta mekanikoki irekitako 7. eta 8. erretenek eskaini dizkigute. Puntu horietan, sekuentziaren oinean, kolore gris iluneko mailak, ia maila beltzak, dokumenta-tu genituen, eta maila horietan harrizko industriaren aztarnak eta fosildutako landare hondakinak erregistra-tu genituen. Aranbaltza III aztarnategiko maila horien
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