
Alfonso AldayUniversity of the Basque Country | UPV/EHU
Alfonso Alday
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Introduction
Publications
Publications (104)
Cattle have been a valuable economic resource and cultural icon since prehistory. From the initial expansion of domestic cattle into Europe during the Neolithic period, taurine cattle ( Bos taurus ) and their wild ancestor, the aurochs ( B. primigenius ), had overlapping ranges, leading to ample opportunities for mating (whether intended by farmers...
Se presenta en esta comunicación los resultados obtenidos del estudio de las cerámicas neolíticas del yacimiento de El Portalón (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos). Estos estudios se realizan desde una perspectiva multianalítica, que aporta información sobre materias primas y los usos de los recipientes.
El yacimiento cuenta con una secuencia estratigráf...
Cattle have been a valuable economic resource and cultural icon since prehistory. From the initial expansion of domestic cattle into Europe during the Neolithic period, taurine cattle (Bos taurus) and their wild ancestor, the aurochs (B. primigenius), had overlapping ranges leading to ample opportunities for intentional and unintentional hybridizat...
Cattle have been a valuable economic resource and cultural icon since prehistory. From the initial expansion of domestic cattle into Europe during the Neolithic period, taurine cattle (Bos taurus) and their wild ancestor, the aurochs (B. primigenius), had overlapping ranges leading to ample opportunities for intentional and unintentional hybridizat...
Cattle have been a valuable economic resource and cultural icon since prehistory. From the initial expansion of domestic cattle into Europe during the Neolithic period, taurine cattle (Bos taurus) and their wild ancestor, the aurochs (B. primigenius), had overlapping ranges leading to ample opportunities for intentional and unintentional hybridizat...
A profound change took place in the lithic technology of the last hunter-gatherer societies in Western Europe and North Africa at the end of the Early Holocene. In a short period, several technological innovations were adopted in geographically, socially and culturally different contexts; a situation that raises many questions about the mechanisms...
El Portalón de Cueva Mayor cave (Atapuerca, Spain) is a settlement site at the entrance of a natural cave. This Holocene archaeological site shows a record of a long archaeological sequence that includes a Chalcolithic occupation starting from 3090 to 2240 cal. BC 20. During this phase, different human activities have been identified: habitational...
Many research projects focused in the Iberian Neolithic have offered during the last years a significant archaeological documentation. Researchers' efforts to compile those data and to give them a historic sense are not enough if, at the same time, we do not think about the concepts associated to the neolithization process. Usually, reconstructions...
SIAC (“Sistema de Información Arqueológica Compartida”) es una aplicación WEB-GIS para la visualización, consulta y edición de datos arqueológicos. Construida con software libre y actualmente alojada en un servidor de la Universidad de Sevilla. En sus inicios, la base de datos fue creada por Juan Carlos Mejías para dar respuesta a cuestiones de arq...
La presente contribución da a conocer un proyecto cooperativo convergencia del repositorio Cronología de la Prehistoria de la Península Ibérica y del Sistema de Información Arqueológica Compartida -SIAC-.
The Sauveterrian is an industrial complex barely known in Spain. We have a little over a dozen known stratigraphic sequences, and there are very few studies about their industries. In this sense, there are many open research questions: a) about its chronological framework; b) its technological characterisation; c) its connection with the previous e...
Natural, anthropic and post-depositional formation processes can affect the formation of sediments in rock shelters. Geoarchaeological analyses were carried out on a series of samples of compact and loose sediments provenient from the 1995 to 2005 excavation campaigns at the Atxoste shelter. This work focuses on climate reconstruction of the Upper...
El objetivo de este trabajo es presentar y explicar a la comunidad de investigadores nuestro repositorio de dataciones radiocarbónicas sobre la prehistoria de la Península Ibérica, su funcionamiento y filosofía, así como las posibilidades de explotación, colaboración y análisis de su contenido.
El repositorio se aloja en la url http://arqgeogis.us....
Entre los inicios del Allerod y del Boreal se observan transformaciones importantes, a escala europea, en todos los ámbitos (técnico, social, territorial) de los grupos humanos del Tardiglacial. Son cambios paulatinos que finalmente acaban por consolidarse en las consideradas sociedades epipaleolíticas, cuya denominación interna varía con el tiempo...
Los inicios de un nuevo territorio cultural The beginnings of a new cultural territory Resumen: En el cuadrante NW de la cuenca del Ebro, la primera ocupación prehistórica que presenta caracteres específicos de inten-sidad, estructuración territorial y continuidad temporal no se documenta hasta las fases finales del Magdaleniense. En ese momento se...
El presente trabajo expone los resultados obtenidos del análisis de los microvertebrados del Abrigo prehistórico de Socuevas (Pobes, Álava). En general, el número de restos de microvertebrados presentes es muy escaso debido posiblemente a la importante actividad humana acontecida en el yacimiento. De esta manera, solamente se han identificado cuatr...
Esta contribución da a conocer un proyecto colaborativo que combina un repositorio C14 de la Prehistoria de la Península Ibérica y un Sistema de Información Arqueológica Compartida-SIAC-. Está estructurada en cinco apartados: génesis, construcción, visor, reflexión, explotación y un caso práctico: el análisis de las cavidades con registros funerari...
Casi dos años después de que presentáramos nuestra iniciativa sobre la Base de Datos Colaborativa de Dataciones de la Prehistoria de la Península Ibérica, hemos seguido trabajando en ella para incrementar notablemente el número de dataciones registradas, y también para ofrecer un servicio de consulta integral de los datos. Para esto último hay dos...
Presentamos el hallazgo de un brazalete de oro encontrado en el sistema kárstico de Cueva Mayor-Cueva del Silo de la Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, España). Esta pieza excepcional, se caracteriza tecnológica, cronológica y culturalmente, así como su significado económico e ideológico en el contexto de la tecnología Villena/Estremoz (V/E) del Bronce f...
El trabajo recoge exhaustivamente información sobre los campaniformes internacionales de la Península Ibérica (puntillados y mixtos). Observando su ubicación se propone una vía de distribución terrestre en vez de marítima. Por último se avisa sobre el hecho de que a medida que los items campaniformes se van integrando entre los grupos aparecerán en...
During the 7th millennium cal BC a profound technological change took place in the last Mesolithic societies. In different regions of Western Europe, the development of lithic industries characterised by a very regular and standardised blade production is recognised, usually associated with the use of indirect percussion. Also, it is associated to...
Many research projects focused in the Iberian Neolithic have offered during the last years
a significant archaeological documentation. Researchers' efforts to compile those data and to give them a historic sense are not enough if, at the same time, we do not think about the concepts associated to the neolithisation process. Usually, reconstructions...
In the NW quadrant of the Ebro Basin the first intense Prehistoric human presence does not occur until the end of Magdalenian times. Located in the Pyrenean footsteps, caves, rock-shelters and campsites suggest a new occupation of a rich environment, whose fertile natural resources increase with the Holocene onset.
Being the previous human evidenc...
Significance
The gene pool of modern Europeans was shaped through prehistoric migrations that reached the Western Mediterranean last. Obtaining biomolecular data has been challenging due to poor preservation related to adverse climatic conditions in this region. Here, we study the impact of prehistoric (Neolithic–Bronze Age) migrations in Iberia by...
Avanzando en nuestro proyecto Cronología de la Prehistoria de la Península Ibérica presentamos una nueva forma de acceder a los datos y de realizar consultas: todo de forma muy intuitiva y permitiendo la combinación de variados criterios. Nuestra voluntad es crear un repositorio colaborativo bajo la idea de que la recopilación de fechas C14 debe de...
The gene pool of modern Europeans was shaped through prehistoric migrations that reached the Western Mediterranean last. Obtaining biomolecular data has been challenging due to poor preservation related to adverse climatic conditions in this region. Here, we study the impact of prehistoric (Neolithic–Bronze Age) migrations in Iberia by analyzing ge...
At the Holocene site of El Portalón at the Cueva Mayor in the karstic system of the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain), located in the northern plateau of the Iberian Peninsula, we found a Neolithic ceramic fragment with a very unique iconography, linking the inhabitants of this zone to populations in the peninsular Mediterranean and to other sede...
The Ebro Basin constitutes one of the most representative territories in SW Europe for the study of prehistoric societies during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. The correlation of palaeoenvironmental and geomorphological proxies obtained from sedimentary records with chronologically well-constrained reference archaeological sites has allowed d...
In recent years the advance of prehistoric research in the Ebro valley has allowed the identification and excavation of numerous archaeological sequences of the Pleistocene / Holocene transition. Thanks to that, the vision of these interior territories has changed significantly, revealing the existence of a relatively intense and continuous occupat...
RESUMEN: El sector oriental de la Llanada Alavesa viene proporcionando en los últimos años interesantes series de industria lítica que nos retrotraen tanto a épocas paleolíticas como postpaleolítica. El conjunto de Santa Bárbara, que se presenta aquí por primera vez, reúne más de 16000 elementos. Se describen medio millar de objetos, incluyendo bif...
RESUMEN: Tras 180 años de investigación sobre el fenómeno dolménico vasco reflexionamos sobre tres aspectos del mismo. La estructura social de los enterrados, donde dadas las pirámides de edades y sexos, parece evidente la presencia de determinados filtros. La distribución de los monumentos, perfectamente acorde con las posibilidades geomorfológica...
The study of the transition to the productive economy has accumulated
substantial data for the Basque area. With them, we are understanding the objective
facts, but they need to be considered also in a wider perspective, included
in general Europeans issues about the Neolithic transition. In this sense we provide
two main reflections: first, relate...
Discussing the transition from Mesolithic to Neolithic requires a definition for the archaeological record. In the Ebro Basin the typical archaeological sites, rock shelters, have been considered in a simplified way as hunting grounds, but advances in research indicate that they were in fact multipurpose habitats with varied activities, tight contr...
Aux alentours du IXème millénaire cal BP le nord-est de la Péninsule Ibérique participe aux transformations industrielles qui se produisent dans une grande partie de l’Europe occidentale et qui concernent les dernières sociétés mésolithiques. Les nouveautés technologiques qui jouent le rôle principal dans ce changement semblent toucher une grande p...
The Ebro Basin constitutes one of the most representative territories in SW Europe for the study of prehistoric societies during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. The correlation of palaeoenvironmental and geomorphological proxies obtained from sedimentary records with chronologically well-constrained reference archaeological sites has allowed d...
Este trabajo estudia la amplia colección cerámica de la Edad del Bronce recuperada en El Portalón de Cueva Mayor (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos). La muestra procede de tres intervenciones arqueológicas modernas cuyos resultados se resumen aquí, por primera vez, de manera conjunta, sintetizando los caracteres sedimentarios y culturales ofrecidos por l...
In this paper we analyze the evolution of lithic industries in the Epipaleolithic and Mesolithic period in southern slopes of the Pyrenees, offering a current state of knowledge about the different industrial traditions developed: the Epimagdalenian and Azilian; Sauveterroid; Notches and denticulate Mesolithic and Geometric Mesolithic. The first te...
In this work we present a comprehensive study on the lithic industries as a means of approaching to the socio-economic systems of the last hunter-gatherers groups from the VIII-VII millennia BP on Atxoste settlement. Complementing the data coming from raw material, technological and use-wear analysis, we have recognized the main patterns of product...
The pressures on honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations, resulting from threats by modern pesticides, parasites, predators and diseases, have raised awareness of the economic importance and critical role this insect plays in agricultural societies across the globe. However, the association of humans with A. mellifera predates post-industrial-revolut...
El análisis de los residuos orgánicos de 6.400 fragmentos de cerámica prehistórica del Próximo Oriente y Europa ha permitido concretar el aprovechamiento de cera de abeja. La abertura de los paisajes debido a la extensión de la agricultura y la ganadería originó entornos favorables para las abejas y un mayor contacto de estas y el hombre. La eviden...
El Portalón de Cueva Mayor, es una de las entradas actuales al sistema kárstico Cueva Mayor-Cueva del Silo situado en la Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, España). Se trata de un importante yacimiento arqueológico, con predominio de cronología holocena, excavado desde los años 70. La presencia de una importante colección de industria ósea realizada tant...
This work presents the results from the excavation of a multiple burial in a pseudo-tumular structure constructed in the Cueva Mayor cave in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos), specifically focusing on the entrance of this cave in an area known as El Portalón archaeological site. We recovered the skeletal remains of a minimum of eight individuals fro...
In this paper we analyze the set of Bronze Age bone tools recovered at the archaeological site of El Portalón of CuevaMayor in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos). The Bronze Age cultural period is the best represented in the cavity and its study has forced us to unify the different excavation and stratigraphical criteria undertaken from the earliest...
In this paper we analyze the set of Bronze Age bone tools recovered at the archaeological site of El Portalón of Cueva Mayor in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos). The Bronze Age cultural period is the best represented in the cavity and its study has forced us to unify the different excavation and stratigraphical criteria undertaken from the earliest...
El Portalón of Cueva Mayor is one of the present-day entrances to the Cueva Mayor-Cueva del Silo karst system located in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). It is an important archaeological site with extended Holocene occupation which has been subjected to a number of excavations since the nineteen seventies. From its significant collection o...
Se presenta el hallazgo de un bifaz que por su cronología, en algún momento del Pleistoceno medio, y caracteres tecnotipológicos debe asociarse a otros documentos conocidos en el valle del Miño, pasillo por el que transitaron diversas comunidades humanas durante el Paleolítico antiguo.
Nous présentons la découverte d’un biface qui par leur chronol...
The pressures on honeybee (Apis mellifera) populations, resulting from threats by modern pesticides, parasites, predators and diseases, have raised awareness of the economic importance and critical role this insect plays in agricultural societies across the globe. However, the association of humans with A. mellifera predates post-industrial-revolut...
The rockshelter of Atxoste (Alava, Spain) offers a complete stratigraphical sequence for the analysis of the evolution of the lithic industry in the Mesolithic period, recognising the different industrial phases defined for the Ebro valley: the microblade industries of the beginning of the Holocene, the notches' and denticulates' industries and the...
The main goal of this work is to introduce the archaeological
characteristics of a collective burial excavated in
the level 7/8 from “El Portalón de Cueva Mayor” site (Sierra
de Atapuerca, Burgos). The radiocarbon dating for this
funerary level, obtained from seed, faunal and human
remains, indicates dates of4350 ± 30 BP. This, together
with the ty...
In this paper, we analyse the transition Late Palaeolithic–Mesolithic in a restricted northern area into the Ebro Basin (from Álava to Huesca provinces), where this phase is still not well established. Between the end of the Alleröd and the start of the Boreal, the lithic assemblages are based on microlaminar industries with a predominance of backe...
In this work we present a study of a Neolithic mill from Atxoste (Álava, Basque Country). The settlement is a rock-shelter with long stratigraphy (about six meters): in the base we have identified a Magdalenian level, followed by several Mesolithic occupations and, finally, the Neolithic one. Atxoste represents the most common type of settlement do...
We present recently discovered Martinarri’s site, in Treviño. The initial excavations have shown that it was occupied during the transition from Pleistocene to Holocene, providing information of a largely unknown episode in the Upper Ebro and in the interior of the Iberian peninsula. The text provides an initial assessment of the stratigraphic sequ...
En el Portalon de Cueva Mayor se encuentra una de las entradas actuales a la Cueva Mayor-Cueva del Silo, sistema
karstico situado en la Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Espana). Se trata de un importante yacimiento arqueologico con una
prolongada ocupacion durante el Holoceno, apoyada con numerosas dataciones radiocarbonicas, la cual ha sido objeto de...
This synthesis shows the transformation of an area traditionally described as a “research desert” (The Ebro Basin) into a well-known territory with more than 30 sites from the Lower to the Upper Magdalenian. The recent excavations in the majority of these sites have furnished 109 numerical dates that allow a preliminary overview of the development...
An analysis of the documents on the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic groups would seem to confirm that the participation of the former was decisive in the formation of the Neolithic. The influence of the East on the Neolithisation of the Iberian Peninsula is plainly essential, as all that was necessary to set up a production economy originated t...
An analysis of the documents on the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic groups would seem to confirm that the participation of the former was decisive in the formation of the Neolithic. The influence of the East on the Neolithisation of the Iberian Peninsula is plainly essential, as all that was necessary to set up a production economy originated t...
This paper presents part of the bone industry collection recovered from the site of Portalón at Cueva Mayor, located in the Sierra de Atapuerca.
Pointed bones type objects have been specifically analyzed. These objects have divided into several types, placing them in chronological
and cultural context. This set has been classified as Final Chalcoli...
Pottery from the Neolithic Mendandia site has been studied. The radiocarbon dating of the site corresponds to a range of dates from 7488–7546 cal bc to 5283–5437 cal bc: the first occurrence of pottery is dated at 5968–6040 cal bc for the lower level III, and up to 5386–5560 cal bc for level II. The antiquity of the potsherds places them within the...
RESUMEN En el trabajo se revisa de forma muy genérica lo conocido sobre el Paleolítico superior de la cuenca del Ebro, destacando una serie de datos tanto por su importancia como por su más inmediata novedad. La recopilación muestra cómo, a principios del siglo XXI, uno de los teóricos «desiertos interiores» de la in-vestigación tradicional engloba...
Revisión de las novedades del Paleolítico Superior en la Cuenca del Ebro con la incorporación de más de 40 yacimientos desde el Auriñaciense al Magdaleniense Final.
This paper evaluates the prehistoric lithic assemblage retrieved at Bardallo (Upper Rioja area). The inventory includes over 800 items, of which c 30% are retouched tools. The typology and typometry of most tools is compatible with an Upper Palaeolithic assignment, possibly from a later stage. Nevertheless, being open air finds, the mixing of eleme...