Micromorphological Study of Site Formation Processes at El Sidrón Cave (Asturias, Northern Spain): Encrustations over Neanderthal Bones
El Sidrón Cave is an archaeological and anthropological reference site of the Neanderthal world. It shows singular activity related to cannibalisation, and all existing processes are relevant to explain the specific behaviour of the concerned individuals. This paper presents geoarchaeological data,...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| Jezik: | English |
| Izdano: |
MDPI
2021
|
| Teme: | |
| Online dostop: | http://hdl.handle.net/10835/12365 https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11100413 |
| _version_ | 1789406334387486720 |
|---|---|
| author | Cañaveras, Juan Carlos Sánchez-Moral, Sergio Duarte, Elsa Santos-Delgado, Gabriel Silva, Pablo G. Cuezva, Soledad Fernández Cortés, Ángel Lario, Javier Muñoz-Cervera, María Concepción Rasilla, Marco de la |
| author_facet | Cañaveras, Juan Carlos Sánchez-Moral, Sergio Duarte, Elsa Santos-Delgado, Gabriel Silva, Pablo G. Cuezva, Soledad Fernández Cortés, Ángel Lario, Javier Muñoz-Cervera, María Concepción Rasilla, Marco de la |
| author_sort | Cañaveras, Juan Carlos |
| collection | DSpace |
| description | El Sidrón Cave is an archaeological and anthropological reference site of the Neanderthal world. It shows singular activity related to cannibalisation, and all existing processes are relevant to explain the specific behaviour of the concerned individuals. This paper presents geoarchaeological data, primarily based on mineralogical and petrographic techniques, from an investigation of the nature of the encrustations or hard coatings that affect a large part of the Neanderthal bone remains and their relationship with the depositional and post-depositional processes at the archaeological site. Crusts and patina were found to be numerous and diverse, mainly composed of calcite and siliciclastic grains, with different proportions and textures. The analysis indicated different origins and scenarios from their initial post-mortem accumulation to the final deposit recovered during the archaeological work. The presence of micromorphological features, such as clotted-peloidal micrite, needle-fibre calcite (NFC) aggregates, clay coatings, iron–manganese impregnation, and/or adhered aeolian dust may indicate that a significant proportion of the remains were affected by subaerial conditions in a relatively short period of time in a shelter, cave entrance, or shallower level of the karstic system, prior to their accumulation in the Ossuary Gallery. |
| format | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| id | oai:repositorio.ual.es:10835-12365 |
| institution | Universidad de Cuenca |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oai:repositorio.ual.es:10835-123652023-04-12T18:57:21Z Micromorphological Study of Site Formation Processes at El Sidrón Cave (Asturias, Northern Spain): Encrustations over Neanderthal Bones Cañaveras, Juan Carlos Sánchez-Moral, Sergio Duarte, Elsa Santos-Delgado, Gabriel Silva, Pablo G. Cuezva, Soledad Fernández Cortés, Ángel Lario, Javier Muñoz-Cervera, María Concepción Rasilla, Marco de la cave sediment karst geoarchaeology palaeoanthropology Middle Palaeolithic Mousterian Iberian Peninsula El Sidrón Cave is an archaeological and anthropological reference site of the Neanderthal world. It shows singular activity related to cannibalisation, and all existing processes are relevant to explain the specific behaviour of the concerned individuals. This paper presents geoarchaeological data, primarily based on mineralogical and petrographic techniques, from an investigation of the nature of the encrustations or hard coatings that affect a large part of the Neanderthal bone remains and their relationship with the depositional and post-depositional processes at the archaeological site. Crusts and patina were found to be numerous and diverse, mainly composed of calcite and siliciclastic grains, with different proportions and textures. The analysis indicated different origins and scenarios from their initial post-mortem accumulation to the final deposit recovered during the archaeological work. The presence of micromorphological features, such as clotted-peloidal micrite, needle-fibre calcite (NFC) aggregates, clay coatings, iron–manganese impregnation, and/or adhered aeolian dust may indicate that a significant proportion of the remains were affected by subaerial conditions in a relatively short period of time in a shelter, cave entrance, or shallower level of the karstic system, prior to their accumulation in the Ossuary Gallery. 2021-10-04T10:49:45Z 2021-10-04T10:49:45Z 2021-10-03 info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2076-3263 http://hdl.handle.net/10835/12365 https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11100413 en https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/11/10/413 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess MDPI |
| spellingShingle | cave sediment karst geoarchaeology palaeoanthropology Middle Palaeolithic Mousterian Iberian Peninsula Cañaveras, Juan Carlos Sánchez-Moral, Sergio Duarte, Elsa Santos-Delgado, Gabriel Silva, Pablo G. Cuezva, Soledad Fernández Cortés, Ángel Lario, Javier Muñoz-Cervera, María Concepción Rasilla, Marco de la Micromorphological Study of Site Formation Processes at El Sidrón Cave (Asturias, Northern Spain): Encrustations over Neanderthal Bones |
| title | Micromorphological Study of Site Formation Processes at El Sidrón Cave (Asturias, Northern Spain): Encrustations over Neanderthal Bones |
| title_full | Micromorphological Study of Site Formation Processes at El Sidrón Cave (Asturias, Northern Spain): Encrustations over Neanderthal Bones |
| title_fullStr | Micromorphological Study of Site Formation Processes at El Sidrón Cave (Asturias, Northern Spain): Encrustations over Neanderthal Bones |
| title_full_unstemmed | Micromorphological Study of Site Formation Processes at El Sidrón Cave (Asturias, Northern Spain): Encrustations over Neanderthal Bones |
| title_short | Micromorphological Study of Site Formation Processes at El Sidrón Cave (Asturias, Northern Spain): Encrustations over Neanderthal Bones |
| title_sort | micromorphological study of site formation processes at el sidrón cave (asturias, northern spain): encrustations over neanderthal bones |
| topic | cave sediment karst geoarchaeology palaeoanthropology Middle Palaeolithic Mousterian Iberian Peninsula |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10835/12365 https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11100413 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT canaverasjuancarlos micromorphologicalstudyofsiteformationprocessesatelsidroncaveasturiasnorthernspainencrustationsoverneanderthalbones AT sanchezmoralsergio micromorphologicalstudyofsiteformationprocessesatelsidroncaveasturiasnorthernspainencrustationsoverneanderthalbones AT duarteelsa micromorphologicalstudyofsiteformationprocessesatelsidroncaveasturiasnorthernspainencrustationsoverneanderthalbones AT santosdelgadogabriel micromorphologicalstudyofsiteformationprocessesatelsidroncaveasturiasnorthernspainencrustationsoverneanderthalbones AT silvapablog micromorphologicalstudyofsiteformationprocessesatelsidroncaveasturiasnorthernspainencrustationsoverneanderthalbones AT cuezvasoledad micromorphologicalstudyofsiteformationprocessesatelsidroncaveasturiasnorthernspainencrustationsoverneanderthalbones AT fernandezcortesangel micromorphologicalstudyofsiteformationprocessesatelsidroncaveasturiasnorthernspainencrustationsoverneanderthalbones AT lariojavier micromorphologicalstudyofsiteformationprocessesatelsidroncaveasturiasnorthernspainencrustationsoverneanderthalbones AT munozcerveramariaconcepcion micromorphologicalstudyofsiteformationprocessesatelsidroncaveasturiasnorthernspainencrustationsoverneanderthalbones AT rasillamarcodela micromorphologicalstudyofsiteformationprocessesatelsidroncaveasturiasnorthernspainencrustationsoverneanderthalbones |