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- Lithic bipolar methods as an adaptive strategy through space and timePublication . Cascalheira, JoãoThe use of bipolar (on anvil) methods for resource exploitation has been identified in the archaeological record from the late Pliocene through to the Holocene. During all phases of human evolution, bipolar knapping and wedging were applied by different hominin species in a wide range of ecological settings. Studies on lithic bipolar methods have mainly focused on understanding the functional aspects of this technology. This paper explores the variability of the application of these methods during the Paleolithic on a macro scale. Through the meta-analysis of published data from 167 sites, it is posited that the use of bipolar methods may have had a significant impact on hominin expansion, adaptation, and survival strategies. Furthermore, the recurrent use of bipolar methods is not only an indicator of its success as an adaptive strategy, but also of how hominins were able to evaluate different types of efficiency through time.
- Paleoenvironments and human adaptations during the Last Glacial Maximum in the Iberian Peninsula: A reviewPublication . Cascalheira, João; Alcaraz-Castano, Manuel; Alcolea-Gonzalez, Javier; Andres-Herrero, Maria de; Arrizabalaga, Alvaro; Tortosa, J. Emili Aura; Garcia-Ibaibarriaga, Naroa; Iriarte-Chiapusso, Maria-JoseThe Iberian Peninsula is considered one of the most well-suited regions in Europe to develop studies on the relationship between environmental changes and human adaptations across the Late Pleistocene. Due to its southwesternmost cul-de-sac position and eco-geographical diversity, Paleolithic Iberia was the stage of cyclical cultural/technological changes, linked to fluctuations in climate and environments, human demographics, and the size, extension, and type of social exchange networks. Such dynamics are particularly evident during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) timeframe, with a series of innovations emerging in the archaeological record, marking the transitions between the traditionally defined Gravettian, Proto-Solutrean, Solutrean, and Magdalenian technocomplexes. Stemming from a workshop organized in Erlangen in 2019 on ?The Last Glacial Maximum in Europe - state of knowledge in Geosciences and Archaeology?, this paper presents, in the first part, an updated review on the paleoenvironments and human adaptations across four macro-regions (Northern, Inland, Mediterranean, and Western Atlantic Fa?ade) in Iberia during the LGM; and, in a second part, a discussion on the pronounced interregional variability, unresolved research questions, and the most promising research topics for future studies.
- SPIN enables high throughput species identification of archaeological bone by proteomicsPublication . Rüther, Patrick Leopold; Husic, Immanuel Mirnes; Bangsgaard, Pernille; Gregersen, Kristian Murphy; Pantmann, Pernille; Carvalho, Milena; Godinho, Ricardo Miguel; Friedl, Lukas; Cascalheira, João; Taurozzi, Alberto John; Jørkov, Marie Louise Schjellerup; Benedetti, Michael; Haws, Jonathan; Bicho, Nuno; Welker, Frido; Cappellini, Enrico; Olsen, Jesper VelgaardSpecies determination based on genetic evidence is an indispensable tool in archaeology, forensics, ecology, and food authentication. Most available analytical approaches involve compromises with regard to the number of detectable species, high cost due to low throughput, or a labor-intensive manual process. Here, we introduce “Species by Proteome INvestigation” (SPIN), a shotgun proteomics workflow for analyzing archaeological bone capable of querying over 150 mammalian species by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Rapid peptide chromatography and data-independent acquisition (DIA) with throughput of 200 samples per day reduce expensive MS time, whereas streamlined sample preparation and automated data interpretation save labor costs. We confirm the successful classification of known reference bones, including domestic species and great apes, beyond the taxonomic resolution of the conventional peptide mass fingerprinting (PMF)-based Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) method. In a blinded study of degraded Iron-Age material from Scandinavia, SPIN produces reproducible results between replicates, which are consistent with morphological analysis. Finally, we demonstrate the high throughput capabilities of the method in a high-degradation context by analyzing more than two hundred Middle and Upper Palaeolithic bones from Southern European sites with late Neanderthal occupation. While this initial study is focused on modern and archaeological mammalian bone, SPIN will be open and expandable to other biological tissues and taxa.
- Mapping the stone age of MozambiquePublication . Gonçalves, Célia; Raja, Mussa; Madime, Omar; Cascalheira, João; Haws, Jonathan; Matos, Daniela; Bicho, Nuno Gonçalo Viana Pereira FerreiraUnder the auspices of the Portuguese colonial government, Lereno Barradas and Santos Junior (coordinator of the Anthropological Mission of Mozambique) carried out several archaeological field surveys from 1936 to 1956 that resulted in a data set that includes a total of close to 90 sites, mostly attributed to the Stone Age. This early research added to the previous work of Van Riet Lowe in the Limpopo Valley of southern Mozambique. With the new millennium, Mozambique has emerged as a crucial geographic area in which to understand the various hypotheses about recent human evolution. Specifically, its coastal location between southern and eastern Africa is ideal for testing ideas about the link between early coastal adaptations and the appearance of anatomically modern humans (AMH). Except for the recent work by Mercader's team in northern Mozambique, the number of researchers and projects on this topic in Mozambique is still limited because of the general predominance of interest in later periods among archaeologists working in the country, mainly due to their focus on issues related to precolonial heritage and national identity. Based on the early maps from Santos Junior and more recent data acquired through various projects, we present a series of maps for the Stone Age prehistory of Mozambique. The maps are also based on a critical evaluation of the sites and a review of some of the materials that are presently curated at the Instituto de Investigacao Cientifica e Tropical (IICT) in Lisbon, Portugal, as well as the materials stored at the Department of Archaeology of Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo. The sites are also presented in an online database with the information on all sites used in this study. This database is open to all and will be updated continuously. A preliminary interpretation of the regional distribution of the sites is also attempted, linking aspects that include region, topography and altitude, geomorphology, and cultural phase. These results will be the first step for research and knowledge in Mozambique on Stone Age prehistory and the emergence and settlement pattern of AMH.
- The Gravettian-Solutrean transition in westernmost Iberia: new data from the sites of Vale Boi and Lapa do PicareiroPublication . Belmiro, Joana; Bicho, Nuno; Haws, Jonathan; Cascalheira, JoãoThis study presents the analysis of the lithic assemblages from Layers 5 and 4E (Terrace) of the site of Vale Boi (southern Portugal) and Levels U and T from Lapa do Picareiro (central Portugal). We aimed to understand the technological patterns and raw material exploitation during the Gravettian-Solutrean transition in westernmost Iberia and test the traditional models with assemblages from recently excavated sites, while expanding the geographic range. Results show the existence of two discrete phases in each site. The first, with high frequency of quartz use for bladelet production, seems to reflect the presence of a Terminal Gravettian horizon, as defined by Almeida (2000). The second, with some significant differences between sites, attests the presence of Vale Comprido technology and lower quartz frequencies at Vale Boi, representing a Proto-Solutrean occupation; and the presence of a blade component in Lapa do Picareiro that, together with the respective absolute chronology, may be attributed to a Proto-Solutrean or an Early Solutrean horizon. In general terms, this study allowed to confirm that the Terminal Gravettian and the Proto-Solutrean are discrete phases across the transition, in agreement with the Three-Phase model presented by Zilh˜ao (1997). It further consolidates the expansion of similar techno-cultural patterns to southern Portugal, which may be explained by the significant changes in the dynamic of social networks (Cascalheira and Bicho, 2013).
- A influência mediterrânica nas redes sociais do solutrense final peninsularPublication . Cascalheira, João Miguel Mico; Bicho, Nuno Gonçalo Viana Pereira FerreiraEsta dissertação apresenta os resultados de um estudo sobre a variabilidade tecnológica das indústrias líticas provenientes de um conjunto de sítios de cronologia solutrense, localizados ao longo da faixa costeira que liga a região do Levante espanhol e a Estremadura portuguesa. Estudos anteriores apontavam para que este se tratasse de um território cultural relativamente alargado, definido pela presença de marcadores simbólicos (pontas de seta e ornamentos), testemunhos de uma identidade étnica comum, que terão sido partilhados através de redes de contacto a longa distância. O objetivo deste estudo foi, precisamente, o de testar o grau de relação entre as várias regiões de modo a poder melhor definir a influência e o modo de funcionamento das redes de contactos. Este objetivo só poderia ser cumprido através da análise dos elementos básicos do sistema adaptativo destas comunidades, neste caso a organização tecnológica. Assim, através da análise de um conjunto alargado de atributos tecnológicos da produção lítica e da sua comparação mediante a utilização de métodos estatísticos multivariados estabeleceram-se uma série de semelhanças e dissemelhanças entre contextos que permitiram constatar que: (1) quando presente, a similitude entre as várias regiões é maioritariamente visível nas dimensões e tipo dos suportes líticos produzidos e, muito raramente, nos atributos tecnológicos específicos da sua produção; (2) algumas destas associações têm uma base cronológica sólida, o que demonstra por um lado, que as indústrias semelhantes do ponto de vista tipológico são contemporâneas e que, por outro, a divisão tradicional do Solutrense de influência mediterrânica não pode ser comprovada com os dados atualmente disponíveis. Do ponto de vista paleoantropológico, os resultados obtidos demonstram que o sistema adaptativo ao Último Máximo Glacial funcionou a duas escalas distintas, mas complementares. Uma que é essencialmente local, formada por nichos eco-culturais bem delimitados, em que as comunidades terão partilhado, e mantido sob a forma de tradições culturais, os esquemas tecno-económicos melhor adaptados às particularidades ecológicas dos respetivos contextos. A outra, suprarregional, que se prende sobretudo com laços sociais a uma escala alargada, através da partilha de conceitos estilísticos nas pontas de projétil, marcadores de uma identidade comum, mantidos também, muito provavelmente, por uma questão adaptativa de resposta ao impacto das mudanças climáticas nas paisagens e abundância/distribuição de recursos.
- Territory and abiotic resources between 33 and 15.6 ka at Vale Boi (SW Portugal)Publication . Pereira, Telmo; Bicho, Nuno Gonçalo Viana Pereira Ferreira; Cascalheira, João; Infantini, Leandro; Marreiros, Joao; Paixão, Eduardo; Terradas, XavierThe environmental shifts during the Late Pleistocene had major influences in the landscape and, consequently, in the available resources. This had direct impact on human behavior and ecology, requiring people to constantly adjust to new economical conditions. In coastal areas, the retreat of the shoreline during the colder phases might have made available presently underwater raw material sources in the form of outcrops and gravels, eventually making it easier to gather lithic raw materials.In this paper, we present our preliminary results on the diachronic variability of raw materials in Vale Boi. Vale Boi is a coastal site, located 2.5 km from the present coastline, in the margins of a freshwater stream. The site has three different loci, all rich in lithics, fauna (including marine), bone tools, adornments, charcoal, and ochre, and evidence of continuous human occupation from c. 33 to 15.6 ka cal BP. This chronostratigraphic record makes it a perfect study case for the understanding of coastal populations' behavior and economy throughout the Upper Paleolithic.Our objective is to infer the territory of resources exploitation, landscape, and economic patterns. Raw material sources are usually fixed points on the landscape (in contrast to other resources such as fauna and flora) and, therefore, are one of the best ways of understanding how people moved in the landscape and, consequently, to infer past human behavior. We used a macroscopic approach in both the archaeological and the geological record in order to correlate sources and artifacts. Despite the absence of detailed quantitative data on each chert type, our results show that the hunteregatherers who occupied Vale Boi during the Upper Paleolithic not only used several raw materials but also a variety of sources of the same raw material. This happened both diachronically and synchronically, suggesting that not only the complete sequence as well as each archaeological layer seem to have had a considerable economic complexity with the use of adjacent and distal sources. With this paper, we aim to present updated information on the variability of raw materials at Vale Boi, including the chert assemblages, along with new chert sources in order to establish a basis for a future detailed study on the raw material sourcing at the site. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
- Rapid climatic events and long term cultural change: the case of the Portuguese Upper PaleolithicPublication . Bicho, Nuno Gonçalo Viana Pereira Ferreira; Cascalheira, João; Marreiros, Joao; Pereira, TelmoIn Western Europe, the Upper Paleolithic is marked by clear regional and diachronic technological differences. Some of these are most likely related with human adaptations to the Late Pleistocene environmental shifts. In this paper we focus on the rapid climatic change events and their influence on the Iberian regional ecology and vegetation cover. Based on those changes and their impact on the main Upper Paleolithic cultural phases in central and southern Portugal, we propose an explanatory model, to be tested in the future, where rapid climatic events, such as the D-O and Heinrich Events, have direct impact on the ecology and vegetation cover and this, in turn, cause changes in human adaptations in terms of mobility, settlement patterns, land use and technology. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
- The early Aurignacian dispersal of modern humans into westernmost EurasiaPublication . Haws, Jonathan; Benedetti, Lucilla; Talamo, Sahra; Bicho, Nuno Gonçalo Viana Pereira Ferreira; Cascalheira, João; Ellis, M. Grace; Carvalho, Milena M.; Friedl, Lukas; Pereira, Telmo; Zinsious, Brandon K.Documenting the first appearance of modern humans in a given region is key to understanding the dispersal process and the replacement or assimilation of indigenous human populations such as the Neanderthals. The Iberian Peninsula was the last refuge of Neanderthal populations as modern humans advanced across Eurasia. Here we present evidence of an early Aurignacian occupation at Lapa do Picareiro in central Portugal. Diagnostic artifacts were found in a sealed stratigraphic layer dated 41.1 to 38.1 ka cal BP, documenting a modern human presence on the western margin of Iberia ∼5,000 years earlier than previously known. The data indicate a rapid modern human dispersal across southern Europe, reaching the westernmost edge where Neanderthals were thought to persist. The results support the notion of a mosaic process of modern human dispersal and replacement of indigenous Neanderthal populations.