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Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This research was funded and authorized by the Junta de Andalucia, Consejeria de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte: Orce Research Project `Primeras ocupaciones humanas y contexto paleoecologico a partir de los depositos pliopleistocenos de la cuenca Guadix-Baza: zona arqueologica de la Cuenca de Orce (Granada, Espana), 2017-2020' (BC.03.032/17). We extend our gratitude to PALARQ Foundation with the convocatory of Analitics 2019: `Identificando Carnivoros a partir de analisis Tafonomicos de ultima generacion aplicando Fotogrametria y Morfometria Geometrica de las Marcas de Diente. Aplicacion a Yacimientos del Pleistoceno Inferior Iberico: Fuente Nueva III, Venta Micena 3 y 4 (Granada), Ponton de la Oliva (Patones, Madrid)'. Lloyd Austin Courtenay is also funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities with an FPI Predoctoral Grant (Ref. PRE2019-089411) associated with project RTI2018-099850-B-I00 and the University of Salamanca. The doctoral research of Gonzalo Linares-Matas is supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [grant number AH/R012709/1] through a Baillie Gifford AHRC Scholarship (OOC-DTP program) at the University of Oxford. Christian Sanchez-Bandera is supported by a FPI Predoctoral Scholarship (PRE2020-094482) associated with project CEX2019-000945-M-20-1 with the financial sponsorship of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Stefania Titton. is beneficiary of a Margarita Salas contract (Spanish System of Science, Technology and Innovation) at Universitat Rovira i Virgili (2021URV-MS-03) funded by the European Union-NextGenerationEU, the Ministry of Universities and Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. Stefania Titton, Christian Sanchez-Bandera, Deborah Barsky, Jordi Agusti and Hugues-Alexandre Blain are part of research group 2017SGR-859 (Generalitat de Catalunya). IPHES belongs to the CERCA Program (Generalitat de Catalunya). The Institut Catala de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolucio Social (IPHES-CERCA) has received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the `Maria de Maeztu' program for Units of Excellence (CEX2019-000945-M). Oriol Oms is part of research group 2017SGR-1666 (Generalitat de Catalunya). Juan Manuel Jimenez-Arenas belongs to the Junta de Andalucia Research Group HUM-607 and the Unit of Excellence `Archaeometrical Studies. Inside the Artefacts & Ecofacts' (University of Granada).

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Unravelling Hominin Activities in the Zooarchaeological Assemblage of Barranco Leon (Orce, Granada, Spain)

Publicated to:Journal Of Paleolithic Archaeology. 5 (1): - 2022-06-28 5(1), DOI: 10.1007/s41982-022-00111-1

Authors: Yravedra, J; Solano, JA; Herranz-Rodrigo, D; Linares-Matas, GJ; Saarinen, J; Rodriguez-Alba, JJ; Titton, S; Serrano-Ramos, A; Courtenay, LA; Mielgo, C; Luzon, C; Camara, J; Sanchez-Bandera, C; Montilla, E; Toro-Moyano, I; Barsky, D; Fortelius, M; Agusti, J; Blain, HA; Oms, O; Jimenez-Arenas, JM

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Abstract

Little is known about the subsistence practices of the first European settlers, mainly due to the shortage of archaeological sites in Europe older than a million years. This article contributes to the knowledge of the subsistence of the first Europeans with new zooarchaeology and taphonomic data from the Palaeolithic site of Barranco Leon (Orce, Granada, Spain). We present the results of the analysis of the faunal assemblages retrieved in the context of new excavations undertaken between 2016 and 2020. We have followed a standard methodology for the identification and quantification of species, mortality profiles, skeletal representation and taphonomic analysis. With regard to the taphonomic evidence, we have documented the extent of rounding, abrasion and other alterations. Finally, we examined traces from the activities of carnivores and hominins that led to the accumulation and alteration of the bone assemblages. Results indicate that the archaeo-paleontological deposits from Barranco Leon present a dual-patterned mixed taphonomic origin. The first phase primarily involved waterborne processes (BL-D1), which led to the accumulation of lithic raw materials, a few archaeological stone tools, and some faunal remains with percussion and cutmarks. The second phase (BL-D2) contains several stone tools associated with faunal remains with more anthropogenic alterations, such as cutmarks and percussion marks. After analysing the Barranco Leon zooarchaeological assemblage, the present study concludes that hominins had access to the meat and within-bone nutrients of animals of diverse sizes. However, the specific carcass acquisition mechanisms that hominins followed are less certain because the presence of tooth marks suggests that carnivores also played a role in the accumulation and modification of the Barranco Leon faunal assemblage.

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