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A 400,000-year-old Acheulean assemblage associated with the Aroeira-3 human cranium (Gruta da Aroeira, Almonda karst system, Portugal)

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Resumo:tBifaces dominate the Acheulean stone tools recovered during the archaeological excavationof layer X of Gruta da Aroeira, dated to 389–436 ka. Faunal remains and a human craniumwere found in association with this lithic assemblage. The raw materials used are mostlyquartz and quartzite cobbles available in the vicinity of the site. Technological and system-atic analysis shows that there are no Levallois elements and suggests that on-site knappingconsisted of the reduction of centripetal cores. Flake cleavers are absent. Use-wear analysisindicates the processing of hard materials, mainly wood. Gruta da Aroeira represents one ofthe few Middle Pleistocene sites that provide securely dated diagnostic human remains andassociated Acheulean lithics, thus representing a major step forward in our understandingof the variability of westernmost Europe’s Acheulean and of the human populations thatmade it.
Autores principais:Daura, Joan
Outros Autores:Sanz, Montserrat; Deschamps, Marianne; Matias, Henrique; Igreja, Marina; Villaescusa, Lucia; Gómez, Sandra; Rubio, Angel; Souto, Pedro; Rodrigues, Filipa; Zilhão, João
Assunto:Lower Palaeolithic Middle Pleistocene MIS 11 Bifaces Archaic humans Paléolithique inférieur Pléistocène moyen Humains archaïques
Ano:2018
País:Portugal
Tipo de documento:artigo
Tipo de acesso:acesso restrito
Instituição associada:Universidade de Lisboa
Idioma:inglês
Origem:Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa
Descrição
Resumo:tBifaces dominate the Acheulean stone tools recovered during the archaeological excavationof layer X of Gruta da Aroeira, dated to 389–436 ka. Faunal remains and a human craniumwere found in association with this lithic assemblage. The raw materials used are mostlyquartz and quartzite cobbles available in the vicinity of the site. Technological and system-atic analysis shows that there are no Levallois elements and suggests that on-site knappingconsisted of the reduction of centripetal cores. Flake cleavers are absent. Use-wear analysisindicates the processing of hard materials, mainly wood. Gruta da Aroeira represents one ofthe few Middle Pleistocene sites that provide securely dated diagnostic human remains andassociated Acheulean lithics, thus representing a major step forward in our understandingof the variability of westernmost Europe’s Acheulean and of the human populations thatmade it.