Mesolithic hearth-pits and formation processes: a geoarchaeological investigation of sediments from El Arenal de la Virgen site (SE Iberia)

Hearth-pits are some of the most common archaeological features documented in open-air Mesolithic sites, especially in coversand areas of NW Europe. However, very few geoarchaeological studies have addressed their formation, function and relationship with occupation surfaces. This work introduces ne...

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Autores: Polo Díaz, Ana, Rabuñal Gayo, José Ramón, Guérin, Guillaume, Fernández-López de Pablo, Javier
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Recursos:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/62577
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/62577
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Mesolithic
hearth-pits
geoarchaeology
formation process
Iberian Peninsula
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dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Mesolithic hearth-pits and formation processes: a geoarchaeological investigation of sediments from El Arenal de la Virgen site (SE Iberia)
title Mesolithic hearth-pits and formation processes: a geoarchaeological investigation of sediments from El Arenal de la Virgen site (SE Iberia)
spellingShingle Mesolithic hearth-pits and formation processes: a geoarchaeological investigation of sediments from El Arenal de la Virgen site (SE Iberia)
Polo Díaz, Ana
Mesolithic
hearth-pits
geoarchaeology
formation process
Iberian Peninsula
title_short Mesolithic hearth-pits and formation processes: a geoarchaeological investigation of sediments from El Arenal de la Virgen site (SE Iberia)
title_full Mesolithic hearth-pits and formation processes: a geoarchaeological investigation of sediments from El Arenal de la Virgen site (SE Iberia)
title_fullStr Mesolithic hearth-pits and formation processes: a geoarchaeological investigation of sediments from El Arenal de la Virgen site (SE Iberia)
title_full_unstemmed Mesolithic hearth-pits and formation processes: a geoarchaeological investigation of sediments from El Arenal de la Virgen site (SE Iberia)
title_sort Mesolithic hearth-pits and formation processes: a geoarchaeological investigation of sediments from El Arenal de la Virgen site (SE Iberia)
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Polo Díaz, Ana
Rabuñal Gayo, José Ramón
Guérin, Guillaume
Fernández-López de Pablo, Javier
author Polo Díaz, Ana
author_facet Polo Díaz, Ana
Rabuñal Gayo, José Ramón
Guérin, Guillaume
Fernández-López de Pablo, Javier
author_role author
author2 Rabuñal Gayo, José Ramón
Guérin, Guillaume
Fernández-López de Pablo, Javier
author2_role author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv European Commission
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Mesolithic
hearth-pits
geoarchaeology
formation process
Iberian Peninsula
topic Mesolithic
hearth-pits
geoarchaeology
formation process
Iberian Peninsula
description Hearth-pits are some of the most common archaeological features documented in open-air Mesolithic sites, especially in coversand areas of NW Europe. However, very few geoarchaeological studies have addressed their formation, function and relationship with occupation surfaces. This work introduces new interdisciplinary investigations on the sediments of the Mesolithic open-air site of El Arenal de la Virgen (SE Iberia). A selection of five hearth-pits from two different occupation phases (Phase 1: 9.3–9.1 cal ka BP and Phase 2: 8.6–8.3 cal ka BP) has been analysed using stratigraphy, texture, soil chemistry, micromorphology, petrography and OSL and TL analyses. Combustion traits of the carbonate rock assemblages preserved in the sediments of the hearth-pits have also been investigated and compared to reference and experimental data from local geogenic materials. Our results allowed us to discuss the anthropogenic origin and taphonomy of the hearth-pits studied and approach their function. The structures from Phase 1 are interpreted as a possible oven and a dumping feature linked to single/occasional use events. In contrast, for hearth-pits from Phase 2, we propose they were related to combustion and dwelling areas subject to recurrent occupation episodes and disturbance. Finally, our sedimentary and soil data revealed existing favourable paleoenvironmental conditions during the Mesolithic occupation of the site characterized by increased moisture, temperature and vegetation cover, in contrast to the Pleistocene and Middle Holocene periods pre- and post-dating the human settlement. This work highlights the potential of integrating geoarchaeological and contextual evidence to clarify the factors involved in the formation of hearth-pits and infer intra-site occupation patterns. Introduction
publishDate 2023
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2023
2023
2023
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10810/62577
url http://hdl.handle.net/10810/62577
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/683018
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-023-01794-5
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
Atribución 3.0 España
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
Atribución 3.0 España
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
instname:Universidad del País Vasco
instname_str Universidad del País Vasco
reponame_str Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
collection Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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spelling Mesolithic hearth-pits and formation processes: a geoarchaeological investigation of sediments from El Arenal de la Virgen site (SE Iberia)Polo Díaz, AnaRabuñal Gayo, José RamónGuérin, GuillaumeFernández-López de Pablo, JavierMesolithichearth-pitsgeoarchaeologyformation processIberian PeninsulaHearth-pits are some of the most common archaeological features documented in open-air Mesolithic sites, especially in coversand areas of NW Europe. However, very few geoarchaeological studies have addressed their formation, function and relationship with occupation surfaces. This work introduces new interdisciplinary investigations on the sediments of the Mesolithic open-air site of El Arenal de la Virgen (SE Iberia). A selection of five hearth-pits from two different occupation phases (Phase 1: 9.3–9.1 cal ka BP and Phase 2: 8.6–8.3 cal ka BP) has been analysed using stratigraphy, texture, soil chemistry, micromorphology, petrography and OSL and TL analyses. Combustion traits of the carbonate rock assemblages preserved in the sediments of the hearth-pits have also been investigated and compared to reference and experimental data from local geogenic materials. Our results allowed us to discuss the anthropogenic origin and taphonomy of the hearth-pits studied and approach their function. The structures from Phase 1 are interpreted as a possible oven and a dumping feature linked to single/occasional use events. In contrast, for hearth-pits from Phase 2, we propose they were related to combustion and dwelling areas subject to recurrent occupation episodes and disturbance. Finally, our sedimentary and soil data revealed existing favourable paleoenvironmental conditions during the Mesolithic occupation of the site characterized by increased moisture, temperature and vegetation cover, in contrast to the Pleistocene and Middle Holocene periods pre- and post-dating the human settlement. This work highlights the potential of integrating geoarchaeological and contextual evidence to clarify the factors involved in the formation of hearth-pits and infer intra-site occupation patterns. IntroductionAP-D is currently the holder of a Maria Zambrano fellowship at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) funded by the Ministry of Universities (Government of Spain) and the European Union-Next GenerationEU-. JRR is currently supported by a Margarita Salas fellowship funded by the European Union-Next Generation EU, the Spanish Ministry of Universities and the University of Alicante. The present study is part of the PALEODEM project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC-CoG-2015 granted to JF-LdP) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 683018)". Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.SpringerEuropean Commission202320232023info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10810/62577reponame:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigacióninstname:Universidad del País VascoInglésinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/683018https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-023-01794-5info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/© The Author(s) 2023. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri- bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta- tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Atribución 3.0 Españaoai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/625772026-06-18T09:23:17Z
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