Papers by David Cuenca Solana
Archaeological and anthropological sciences, Apr 18, 2024
Over the last few decades, research has significantly enhanced our understanding of the role play... more Over the last few decades, research has significantly enhanced our understanding of the role played by shellfish in human subsistence during the Mesolithic period along the Atlantic coast of Europe. Instrumental to this advance has been the analysis of stable oxygen isotope measurements (δ 18 O) from mollusc shells, which offers valuable insights into the seasonality of shellfish exploitation. The δ 18 O values serve as reliable indicators of past seasonal seawater temperature variations experienced by the molluscs, enabling us to accurately determine the time of year when past humans collected them. Recent studies using this approach have successfully identified seasonal exploitation patterns of the topshell Phorcus lineatus (da Costa, 1778) in Atlantic Europe. However, uncertainties remain regarding the exploitation schedule of Patella depressa Pennant 1777, one of the most abundantly collected species in Mesolithic sites. Here we used shell δ 18 O values of P. depressa from the Mesolithic sites of El Mazo (Northern Iberia) to determine its seasonality of exploitation. Our study reveals that P. depressa was prevalently exploited during colder months. Modern specimens of the same limpet species were also collected during two annual cycles to assess potential seasonal changes in meat yield return. Results obtained has profound implications for better understanding how last coastal foragers managed available littoral resources throughout the year.
Nature, Jan 9, 2024
Western Eurasia witnessed several large-scale human migrations during the Holocene [4] . Here, to... more Western Eurasia witnessed several large-scale human migrations during the Holocene [4] . Here, to investigate the cross-continental effects of these migrations, we shotgun-sequenced 317 genomes-mainly from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periodsfrom across northern and western Eurasia. These were imputed alongside published data to obtain diploid genotypes from more than 1,600 ancient humans. Our analyses revealed a 'great divide' genomic boundary extending from the Black Sea to the Baltic. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were highly genetically differentiated east and west of this zone, and the effect of the neolithization was equally disparate. Large-scale ancestry shifts occurred in the west as farming was introduced, including near-total replacement of hunter-gatherers in many areas, whereas no substantial ancestry shifts happened east of the zone during the same period. Similarly, relatedness decreased in the west from the Neolithic transition onwards, whereas, east of the Urals, relatedness remained high until around 4,000 bp, consistent with the persistence of localized groups of hunter-gatherers. The boundary dissolved when Yamnaya-related ancestry spread across western Eurasia around 5,000 bp, resulting in a second major turnover that reached most parts of Europe within a 1,000-year span. The genetic origin and fate of the Yamnaya have remained elusive, but we show that hunter-gatherers from the Middle Don region contributed ancestry to them. Yamnaya groups later admixed with individuals associated with the Globular Amphora culture before expanding into Europe. Similar turnovers occurred in western Siberia, where we report new genomic data from a 'Neolithic steppe' cline spanning the Siberian forest steppe to Lake Baikal. These prehistoric migrations had profound and lasting effects on the genetic diversity of Eurasian populations.
Evento 8.2k en la región cantábrica a partir de indicadores marinos (isótopos de oxígeno en gasterópodos) y terrestres (polen)
XV Reunión Nacional de Cuaternario Bizkaia Aretoa: Bilbao, 1-5 julio 2019. Libro de resúmenes, 2019, ISBN 978-84-17713-16-4, págs. 156-159, 2019
The subsistence of hunter-gatherer-fisher groups during the Mesolithic in the Cantabrian coast is... more The subsistence of hunter-gatherer-fisher groups during the Mesolithic in the Cantabrian coast is characterized by a wide diversity of exploited resources, including mammals (marine and terrestrial), birds, fishes, marine molluscs, crustaceans and echinoderms, but above all it is remarkable the intensification in the exploitation of some of these resources, such as the marine molluscs, in parallel to particular changes in the exploitation of terrestrial mammals, specifically ungulates. Recent excavations in the shell midden of El Mazo cave (Asturias), with a continuous stratigraphic sequence that covers most of the the regional Mesolithic (8.9 to 7.6 cal ka), have provided a significant amount of biological remains. Here, the archeozoological and taphonomic study of the macromammal remains from the stratigraphic units 100 to 107 is presented. The results show the palaeoconomic decisions adopted by those human groups, their diet and exploitation of different ecological environments, ...
Intervención arqueológica en la cueva de El Mazo (Llanes, Asturias): campañas de 2009, 2010 y 2012
Studies of the manufacture and or use of instruments of tools and elements of shell ornaments from the functional analysis methodology
International audienceno abstrac
One of the main characteristics of the Mesolithic in Europe is the occupation of coastal location... more One of the main characteristics of the Mesolithic in Europe is the occupation of coastal locations. The abundance of coastal sites in the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions shows clear evidence of the importance of these areas for human settlement and the significance of coastal resources in subsistence strategies. Understanding themes such as: environmental and climatic conditions, the process of formation and erosion of shell middens, settlement patterns and mobility, symbolic activities, as well as the role played by marine resources (molluscs, fish, crustaceans, echinoderms...), are key to gaining a better knowledge on the occupation of the coast by the last hunter-fisher-gatherer societies. These topics can be approached from a wide range of theoretical and methodological points of view, which promotes the enrichment of discussion and debates. The session is intended to gather together presentations on maritime hunterfisher-gatherers and shell middens (e.g. chronology, micromorphology, macro and micro-spatial analysis...), in addition to multidisciplinary research from a range of methodological perspectives (archaeomalacology, ichthyoarchaeology, geochemistry, use-wear analysis...). All geographical locations and chronological frameworks within Mesolithic Europe will be considered. In summary, this session aims to bring together a wide variety of scholars to discuss the role of maritime hunter-fisher-gatherers, shell middens and marine resources in Mesolithic Europe. It will provide a forum for discussion of different approaches to understanding human use of coastal areas and resources.
Concha de Pecten grabada del Solutrense de la cueva de El Mirón (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria)
De la mano de la Prehistoria. Homenaje a Pilar Utrilla Miranda, 2021, ISBN 978-84-1340-327-4, págs. 143-154, 2021
Cambios climáticos y aprovechamiento de recursos costeros durante el Paleolítico superior y el Mesolítico: una década de investigaciones en Cantabria
Las investigaciones descritas en este articulo se han desarrollado en el marco de los proyectos H... more Las investigaciones descritas en este articulo se han desarrollado en el marco de los proyectos HUM 2006-13729, HAR2010-22115-C02-01 y HAR2013- 46802-P financiados por el Gobierno de Espana, el proyecto NF100413 financiado por la British Academy y la Royal Society a traves del programa Newton International Fellowships, y el proyecto UFG54/Proyecto1470 financiado por la Fundacion Marcelino Botin. IGZ y DCS disfrutan de sendos contratos del programa Juan de la Cierva (JCI-2012-12094 e IJCI-2014- 20590, respectivamente) financiado por el Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO). AGE disfruta de un contrato predoctoral de la Universidad de Cantabria y RSR cuenta con el apoyo de una ayuda para contratos predoctorales para la formacion de doctores (BES-2014-070075) financiada por el MINECO.
The Use of Shells by Hunter-Fisher-Gatherers and Farmers From the Early Upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic in the European Atlantic Façade: A Technological Perspective
The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 2014
ABSTRACT The role marine resources played in the subsistence strategies of groups, especially dur... more ABSTRACT The role marine resources played in the subsistence strategies of groups, especially during the Palaeolithic, has been widely discussed in historiography. Much of this debate has been based on the information obtained from the consumption of marine resources as food and, to a lesser extent, their use as objects of adornment. This article presents a new approach to this debate, covering a long period from the Early Upper Palaeolithic to the late Neolithic, across a section of the Atlantic façade of Western Europe. The novelty of the present research is the application of a technological perspective to study these resources, which have been examined using a use-wear analysis methodology. This research documents the use of shell tools in archaeological sites of all time periods analyzed. These uses would be related to the processing of a variety of materials such as wood, non-woody plant, clay, ochre, and skin during the development of some of the production activities of these groups. This has enabled the addition of new information and an innovative approach to this topic.
Malacofaune : un indice de coquille utilisée en tant qu’outil sur le site campaniforme de la République (Talmont-Saint-Hilaire, Vendée)
In : Gandois H., Rousseau L. (dir.), Rapport final d’opréation de sondages. L’anse de la républiq... more In : Gandois H., Rousseau L. (dir.), Rapport final d’opréation de sondages. L’anse de la république à Talmont-Saint-Hilaire (Vendée), Opération n°2014-5
SummaryThe transitions from foraging to farming and later to pastoralism in Stone Age Eurasia (c.... more SummaryThe transitions from foraging to farming and later to pastoralism in Stone Age Eurasia (c. 11-3 thousand years before present, BP) represent some of the most dramatic lifestyle changes in human evolution. We sequenced 317 genomes of primarily Mesolithic and Neolithic individuals from across Eurasia combined with radiocarbon dates, stable isotope data, and pollen records. Genome imputation and co-analysis with previously published shotgun sequencing data resulted in >1600 complete ancient genome sequences offering fine-grained resolution into the Stone Age populations. We observe that: 1) Hunter-gatherer groups were more genetically diverse than previously known, and deeply divergent between western and eastern Eurasia. 2) We identify hitherto genetically undescribed hunter-gatherers from the Middle Don region that contributed ancestry to the later Yamnaya steppe pastoralists; 3) The genetic impact of the Neolithic transition was highly distinct, east and west of a boundary...
Scientific Reports
The cooling and drying associated with the so-called ‘8.2 ka event’ have long been hypothesized a... more The cooling and drying associated with the so-called ‘8.2 ka event’ have long been hypothesized as having sweeping implications for human societies in the Early Holocene, including some of the last Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in Atlantic Europe. Nevertheless, detailed ‘on-site’ records with which the impacts of broader climate changes on human-relevant environments can be explored have been lacking. Here, we reconstruct sea surface temperatures (SST) from δ18O values measured on subfossil topshells Phorcus lineatus exploited by the Mesolithic human groups that lived at El Mazo cave (N Spain) between 9 and 7.4 ka. Bayesian modelling of 65 radiocarbon dates, in combination with this δ18O data, provide a high-resolution seasonal record of SST, revealing that colder SST during the 8.2 ka event led to changes in the availability of different shellfish species. Intensification in the exploitation of molluscs by humans indicates demographic growth in these Atlantic coastal settings which a...
La Investigación Arqueomalacológica en la Península Ibérica: Nuevas Aportaciones. Actas de la IV Reunión de Arqueomalacología de la Península Ibérica
International audienc
EnglishGround stone tools are rarely described for the mesolithic lithic industries of the French... more EnglishGround stone tools are rarely described for the mesolithic lithic industries of the French territory, despite their omnipresence in the dwellings. Yet elsewhere in Atlantic Europe, pebble tools sometimes play a major role in defining cultural entities, in Scotland with the Obanian, in northern Spain with the Asturian and in Portugal with the Mirian. This obvious lack of interest in mesolithic macro-tools deprives us of crucial information on technical phylums that are evolving at a different rate from other techniques. What are the standards and practices of use of these tools compared to other material culture ranges? How have they been disseminated in the landscapes through individual or collective mobility practices? What "stylistic territories" do they help us to draw? How can we think of their very slow morphological evolution over time in relation to other tools? Macro-tools thus hold a particular potential for action on matter, different from other tools; dis...
The toolkit for pottery production and repair in Prehistory
Until now, a comprehensive study of the entire toolkit used for pottery production has been never... more Until now, a comprehensive study of the entire toolkit used for pottery production has been never attempted. In this paper, we present the first results of an ongoing study focused on both the experimental replication and the analysis of the archaeological materials used for pottery production and repairing from a series of Neolithic sites of the NE of the Iberian Peninsula.
Instruments de banya de cérvol, os i valva
Els instruments fets amb os de la Draga són nombrosos i estan elaborats amb les restes esquelètiq... more Els instruments fets amb os de la Draga són nombrosos i estan elaborats amb les restes esquelètiques de diverses espècies, especialment d’animals domèstics com són les tíbies i metàpodes d’ovelles i cabres, i costelles de boví. La majoria dels instruments fets amb os presenten una elaboració que comporta una sèrie de tècniques com la percussió, l’abrasió i el poliment, que van servir per donar forma als punxons i espàtules. Tal com hem pogut comprovar a través de l’anàlisi funcional d’una part d’aquests instruments, se n’ha documentat l’ús com a agulles i punxons utilitzats per perforar i cosir pells o cuirs. Però també s’ha registrat l’ús de punxons i ascles d’os vinculat als processos de producció tèxtil amb fibres vegetals, de manera que per fabricar artefactes de cistelleria o teixits amb fibra vegetal van utilitzar aquests tipus d’instruments d’os. A la Draga, s’han pogut identificar entre les restes de fauna diversos instruments que no van tenir manufactura prèvia. Així doncs,...
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018
Painting Altamira Cave? Shell tools for ochre-processing in the Upper Palaeolithic in northern Iberia
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2016
Abstract Much of our knowledge of the symbolic world of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers is ba... more Abstract Much of our knowledge of the symbolic world of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers is based on the study of the graphic representations found in Western European caves. However, to date, few studies have been conducted on rock art apart from chronological and stylistic characterisation. Altamira Cave (northern Iberia) is characterised by an outstanding rock art ensemble, whose representations cover practically the whole Upper Palaeolithic. The site is equally important for the rich Upper Palaeolithic deposits in the cave entrance, which contain large shell assemblages. Traditionally, the presence of shells in hunter-fisher-gatherer settlements has been interpreted as part of the diet and/or the symbolic world (through the creation of ornaments) of these groups, regardless of their possible use as an instrument. In this paper we utilise use-wear methodology, chemical analysis and analytical experimentation to verify the initial hypothesis that shells in the archaeological deposits of Altamira were used to obtain the ochre powder utilised to produce the magnificent and diverse rock art ensemble in the cave. The results provide new information on the process of obtaining pigments for the realisation of paintings and confirm that the use of shells to obtain ochre was a systematic activity throughout the whole study period. Finally, our conclusions support the explanatory model that highlights the role played by marine resources for Upper Palaeolithic human populations.
Quaternary International, 2016
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Papers by David Cuenca Solana