Phytolith evidence for hearths and beds in the late Mousterian occupations of Esquilleu cave (Cantabria,Spain) |
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| Authors: | Dan Cabanes,Carolina Mallol,Isabel Expó sito,Javier Baena |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Kimmel Center for Archaeological Research, Dpt. of Structural Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel (GEPEG);2. Universidad de La Laguna, Departamento de Prehistoria, Antropología e Historia Antigua, Campus de Guajara, La Laguna 38071, Tenerife, Spain;3. IPHES (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social), Àrea de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43005 Tarragona, Spain;4. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain |
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| Abstract: | Esquilleu cave site has provided a moderately well preserved archaeological cave deposit from the Late Pleistocene in the Cantabrian area. Phytolith quantification, identification and determination of the refractive index have been carried out, together with FTIR analyses, from sediment samples collected in the profile. The comparison of the data obtained with the previous micromorphological results allows us to make inferences about the site formation processes and the Neanderthals use of the cave. Phytolith results show the presence of grass leaves nearby the hearth suggesting the repetitive existence of a bedding zone on the same area. Neanderthal behavioral patterns should be revised on the light of high resolution analyses, since diagenetic processes can obscure the existence of differentiated activity areas in the site. |
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| Keywords: | Phytoliths FTIR Site formation processes Bedding Hearths |
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