Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12136/2888
Title: | A symbolic Neanderthal accumulation of large herbivore crania |
Authors: | Baquedano, Enrique Arsuaga, Juan Luis Pérez-González, Alfredo Laplana, César Márquez, Belén Huguet Pàmies, Rosa Gómez-Soler, Sandra Villaescusa, Lucía Galindo-Pellicena, María Ángeles Rodríguez, Laura García-González, Rebeca Ortega Martínez, María Cruz Martín-Perea, David Manuel Ortega Martínez, Ana Isabel Hernández-Vivanco, Lucía Ruiz-Liso, Gonzalo Gómez-Hernanz, Juan Alonso-Martín, José I. Abrunhosa, Ana Moclán, Abel Casado, Ana I. Vegara-Riquelme, Marina Álvarez-Fernández, Ana Domínguez García, Ángel C. Álvarez-Lao, Diego García, Nuria Sevilla, Paloma Blain, Hugues-Alexandre Ruiz-Zapata, Blanca Gil García, María José Álvarez-Vena, Adrián Sanz, Teresa Quam, Rolf Higham, Tom |
Issue Date: | Mar-2023 |
Publisher: | Nature Research |
Citation: | Nature Human Behaviour, 2023, 7(3), 342–352 |
Abstract: | This work examines the possible behaviour of Neanderthal groups at the Cueva Des-Cubierta (central Spain) via the analysis of the latter’s archaeological assemblage. Alongside evidence of Mousterian lithic industry, Level 3 of the cave infill was found to contain an assemblage of mammalian bone remains dominated by the crania of large ungulates, some associated with small hearths. The scarcity of post-cranial elements, teeth, mandibles and maxillae, along with evidence of anthropogenic modification of the crania (cut and percussion marks), indicates that the carcasses of the corresponding animals were initially processed outside the cave, and the crania were later brought inside. A second round of processing then took place, possibly related to the removal of the brain. The continued presence of crania throughout Level 3 indicates that this behaviour was recurrent during this level’s formation. This behaviour seems to have no subsistence-related purpose but to be more symbolic in its intent. |
URI: | https://cir.cenieh.es/handle/20.500.12136/2888 |
ISSN: | 2397-3374 |
DOI: | 10.1038/s41562-022-01503-7 |
Editor version: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01503-7 |
Type: | Article |
Appears in Collections: | Arqueología Series de Uranio |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
A symbolic Neanderthal accumulation of large herbivore crania_Baquedano et al_2023.pdf | 14.89 MB | Adobe PDF | ![]() View/Open |
This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License