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- 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.
- Human adaptive responses to climate and environmental change during the Gravettian of Lapa do Picareiro (Portugal)Publication . Haws, Jonathan; Benedetti, Michael; Carvalho, Milena; Ellis, Grace; Pereira, Telmo; Cascalheira, João; Bicho, Nuno; Friedl, LukasOn the Iberian Peninsula, abrupt climate shifts during the Late Pleistocene impacted human and natural systems. Our knowledge of human adaptive responses to these climatic perturbations has improved in recent years with the development of new radiocarbon techniques that have increased the temporal resolution of cultural chronologies. At the same time, new high-resolution paleoclimatic records from Greenland ice cores, deep-sea sediment cores, speleothems, and microfaunal assemblages have permitted detailed paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Combined with the archaeological record of culture change, these data sets allow for a better understanding of the nature of human socio-ecological systems during the Late Pleistocene. Here we present new data on the Gravettian occupations at Lapa do Picareiro, a cave site in Portugal with a long continuous stratigraphic sequence spanning MIS 3 and 2. The ongoing excavation of Lapa do Picareiro has revealed at least three Gravettian levels with very different patterns of raw material use and technological reduction. The Early Gravettian levels contain a quartzite flake assemblage with several refitting clusters and a small chert assemblage with nosed endscrapers and bladelet technology. The Late or Terminal Gravettian level contains carinated endscraper/core-bladelet technology, mainly quartz, with chert blade production, and a few bone tools. The faunal assemblages also have a different character. Both contain a similar range of medium and large ungulates but the earlier Gravettian has a much richer and more diverse assemblage of small animals. These combined archaeological data sets provide a new perspective on Gravettian human adaptations in response to climate shifts, especially Heinrich Event 3 and Greenland Interstadials 4 and 3.
- Middle and late stone age of the Niassa region, Northern Mozambique. Preliminary resultsPublication . Bicho, Nuno Gonçalo Viana Pereira Ferreira; Haws, Jonathan; Raja, Mussa; Madime, Omar; Gonçalves, Célia; Cascalheira, João; Benedetti, Michael M.; Pereira, Telmo; Aldeias, VeraLocated between modern-day South Africa and Tanzania, both of which have well-known and extensive Stone Age records, Mozambique's Stone Age sequence remains largely unknown in the broader context of African Pleistocene prehistory. Such lack of data occurs despite the key geographical location of the country, in southern Africa at the southeastern tip of the Great Rift Valley. As such, Mozambique is an area of interest to evaluate the origins and dispersion of Homo sapiens within Africa, particularly in relation to Middle Stone Age contexts and associated early modern human ecology and cognition.This paper focuses on preliminary survey results from the Niassa District, near Lake Niassa (also known as Lake Malawi) in northern Mozambique. The results include the discovery and location of more than 80 new surface lithic concentration localities, as well as data from two new sites, the open air surface site of Ncuala and the rock shelter of Chicaza. For Chicaza we provide a series of new radiocarbon dates for the Iron Age and Late Stone Age occupations based on preliminary testing carried out at the site. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
- Lithic technological adaptation within the Gravettian of the Iberian Atlantic region: results from two case studiesPublication . Bradtmoller, Marcel; Marreiros, Joao; Pereira, Telmo; Bicho, NunoThe origins and expansion of Gravettian industries in Western Europe have recently been considered a cultural mosaic phenomena marked by regional technological facies. Probably associated with climatic oscillations, the development of these facies is likely related to sociocultural patterns and human adaptations to different ecological niches. Thereby, changes of subsistence strategies and mobility patterns are also reflected by technological and typological adaptations and innovations within the lithic assemblages. With the Iberian Peninsula being an important ecological niche for studying these phenomena, we conducted a comparative analysis of two occupations to test human ecological and lithic technological adaptations during the early Gravettian in Iberia: Cueto de la Mina on the northern Iberian Atlantic coast and Vale Boi on the western Portuguese Atlantic coast. Results show that these occupations exhibit major technological differences, but also strong similarities in the case of typological innovation/adaptation, possibly related to local resource accessibility (e.g. high-quality raw material). Based on these observations, the study provides further information concerning possible connections throughout the Iberian Atlantic coastline during an early Gravettian timeframe. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
- Late Pleistocene Landscape and Settlement Dynamics of Portuguese EstremaduraPublication . Haws, Jonathan; Benedetti, Michael; Funk, Caroline L.; Bicho, Nuno; Pereira, Telmo; Marreiros, Joao; Daniels, J. Michael; Forman, Steven L.; Minckley, Thomas A.; Denniston, Rhawn F.Here we report the results of an integrated geoarchaeological survey to study Palaeolithic human settlement dynamics in the coastal region of Portuguese Estremadura. The region has been an important focus of human occupation across multiple glacial-interglacial cycles, including periods of well-documented abrupt climate instability during MIS 3 and 2. The pedestrian survey covered a roughly 10 km wide strip of land between Sao Pedro de Muel and Peniche. The survey intensively targeted three landscape settings with Pleistocene-age surfaces and sediments: the coastal bluffs with exposed aeolian, fluvial, and colluvial sands; the Caldas da Rainha diapiric valley and associated fluvial/estuarine fills; and, Cretaceous chert-rich limestone uplands that bound the inland margin of the study area. We discovered dozens of new Palaeolithic sites, analyzed numerous Pleistocene sedimentary sections, and applied widespread OSL-dating to establish age control that allowed us to build a regional geomorphic history to contextualize Late Pleistocene human settlement across the region.
- Technology, use-wear and raw material sourcing analysis of a c. 7500 cal BP lithic assemblage from Cabeco da Amoreira shellmidden (Muge, Portugal)Publication . Paixão, Eduardo; Marreiros, Joao; Pereira, Telmo; Gibaja Bao, Juan; Cascalheira, João; Bicho, NunoThe onset of the Holocene is marked by new human ecological adaptations that are associated with the origins of the Mesolithic in the Atlantic Iberia coast. During the Mesolithic, shellmidden deposits become one of the most relevant and interesting prehistoric archeological contexts, interpreted has the result of intensive human ecological exploitation, and marked by new settlement and mobility patterns, and subsistence strategies. Based on techno-typological patterns and artifact density, each Muge shellmidden has been traditionally linked to a single and specific functionality, possibly reflecting the presence of different stylistic/ethnic groups in the territory. Therefore, characterizing settlement, mobility, site function, and technological patterns in each shellmidden is fundamental to understand the archeological record and answer major questions related to human ecological behavior during the onset of the new Holocene climatic setting. This paper presents new data on the Mesolithic from the Tagus valley, using the case study of the lithic assemblage from layer 2 of Cabeco da Amoreira shellmidden. From our interpretation, by combining lithic raw material characterization and sourcing, techno-typological and use-wear analysis, this study aims to represent an important step on understanding resource exploitation, technological systems and site function, in order to address intra and inter-site variability. In what concerns lithic raw materials, they can be found in the Pleistocene gravels that compose the upper section of the Cenozoic deposits of the River Tagus, including those underneath the site. Nevertheless, the geochemical results suggest that the chert used has correspondence with local, regional, and exogenous areas. In sum, by characterizing the Cabeco da Amoreira shellmidden lithic assemblage, results and data aim to contribute to the discussion and new interpretations on shellmiddens' function and settlement occupation patterns during the Mesolithic.