José Miguel CarreteroUniversidad de Burgos | UBU · Departamento de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía
José Miguel Carretero
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Publications (187)
We present new datings and a new anthropological study of Early Neolithic human remains found in Galería del Sílex in 1979. This gallery is part of the Cueva Mayor system in the Sierra de Atapuerca. The human fossils attributed to the Neolithic period correspond to a minimum number of three individuals that have been radiocarbon dated to the last t...
The postcranial skeleton of fossil hominins is crucial for reconstructing the processes that occurred between the time of death and the recovery of the bones. Thousands of postcranial skeletal fragments from at least 29 hominin individuals have been recovered from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site in Spain. This study's primary objecti...
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 2σ. During this phase, different human activities have been identified: habitational...
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...
In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years1. Although the selection of LP and the consumption of prehistoric milk must be linked, considerable uncertainty remains concerning their spatiotemporal configu...
Evidence of dog consumption at the El Portalón de Cueva Mayor site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) from the Holocene is revealed for the first time. The taxonomical and taphonomical studies of the animal bones from the El Portalón site have been carried out. The morphological and metrical analyses indicate that 130 dog bone remains have been identifie...
Tres son los principales debates en los estudios de evolución humana en Europa: primer poblamiento de nuestro continente, patrón evolutivo durante el Pleistoceno medio, origen del Hombre moderno y su relación con los neandertales. Hasta la fecha, no existe consenso en admitir la presencia humana en Europa antes del episodio isotópico 13, pero el re...
El Portalón de Cueva Mayor located in the UNESCO World Heritage Centre of Atapuerca, is a unique reference Late Prehistory archaeological site in the Iberian Peninsula, covering some 7 kyr of Holocene occupations. Herein we present the study of lipid residue analyses from 108 pottery sherds coupled with faunal kill-off patterns from the Neolithic,...
The discrimination of wild and domestic forms of animals is crucial to understanding the subsistence strategy of a site's inhabitants. In this study, a metrical analysis was carried out for the taxonomical identification of Bos taurus and Bos primigenius. Abundant bovine bone remains have been recovered from the El Portalón site's Neolithic, Chalco...
Traceological method is based on the identification and analysis of the stone tools surface modifications as a result of the use, hafting or manufacturing procedures, among others. Traditionally, use-wear analyses have been conducted using Optical Light Microscopy (OLM) or even, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), normally basing the interpretation...
This study presents two new methodological approaches for estimating skeletal age from maturational changes in the femoral distal epiphysis. In the first approach, five maturity stages were coded based on morphological changes in the epiphysis that encompass the overall developmental process. Data were presented as age ranges for the different matu...
The main objectives of this work are to distinguish the wild and domestic form of Sus from the Metal Age at the El Portalón site, to determine the osteometric variation within the suid population in the habitat context found in the different levels of the El Portalón site, in comparison with the change in pig size from the Neolithic to the Iron Age...
Body mass estimation in fossil human species is a crucial topic in paleoanthropology as it yields information about ecologically relevant characteristics. Nevertheless, variables crucial to body mass estimation such as bone volume and skeletal weight have never before been calculated in a fossil human species. The exceptional state of preservation...
Dietary habits are inferred through dental microwear analysis in humans from two Chalcolithic sites located on the Iberian Northern Plateau: El Portalón de Cueva Mayor and El Alto de la Huesera. The pattern of dental microwear was established on the buccal surfaces of permanent and deciduous molars, on the bottom of facet 9 on the occlusal surface...
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...
Here we present a detailed study of the aetiologic factors causing hypercementosis in the mandibular teeth of the Magdalenian human skeleton recovered from the site of El Mirón cave in northern Spain. This skeleton belongs to an adult female and is referred as the “Red Lady” because the bones were stained with red ochre. The analysis of the cementu...
The recovery to date of three complete and five partial femora, seven complete tibiae, and four complete fibulae from the Atapuerca Sima de los Huesos site provides an opportunity to analyze the biomechanical cross-sectional properties in this Middle Pleistocene population and to compare them with those of other fossil hominins and recent modern hu...
Earliest modern humans out of Africa
Recent paleoanthropological studies have suggested that modern humans migrated from Africa as early as the beginning of the Late Pleistocene, 120,000 years ago. Hershkovitz et al. now suggest that early modern humans were already present outside of Africa more than 55,000 years earlier (see the Perspective by St...
Skeletal maturity refers to the process that implies the achievement of specialized and highly organized adult status. One of the methods to assess the skeletal maturity is based on changes in the shape of the metaphysis and epiphysis. Nonetheless, changes on the proximal metaphyseal surface of the humerus during growth have not been widely studied...
Cut marks provide direct evidence of faunal exploitation by humans. Several variables regulate the cut mark’s micromorphology. One of them is the material of the blade edge. 3D microscopy is used to discern which material was used to make each cut mark. This method has advantages over traditional methodologies (Scanning Electronic Microscope or len...
Although the Iberian Peninsula has been proposed as a possible focus of horse domestication during the Metal Age, zooarchaeological evidence of this process is scarce due to the very reduced samples of horses found at sites from this period. In this context, El Portalón from Cueva Mayor (Atapuerca Mountain Range, Burgos, Spain) is one of the most i...
Objectives:
In this report, we present a further study of the late Early Pleistocene ATD6-96 human mandible, recovered from the TD6-2 level of the Gran Dolina cave site (Sierra de Atapuerca, northern Spain) and attributed to Homo antecessor.
Methods:
ATD6-96 consists of a left half of a gracile mandible of an adult individual with the premolars...
The management of cattle livestock in a prehistoric society is relevant to approach to the subsistence strategies and the economy of their inhabitants. In this study, 667 bone remains of Bos taurus of Chalcolithic from El Portalón site have been identified. The kill-off pattern indicates a mixed exploitation, with calves slaughtered to obtain the m...
The authors describe the discovery of the first human burial of Magdalenian age to be found in the Iberian Peninsula—the partial skeleton of a young adult whose bones were stained with red ochre. The burial was well stratified in a sequence at the vestibule rear running from the Mousterian to the Mesolithic, and was adjacent to a large block that h...
In this study, a new Early Pleistocene proximal hand phalanx (ATE9-2) from the Sima del Elefante cave site (TE – Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain), ascribed to Homo sp., is presented and comparatively described in the context of the evolution of the genus Homo. The ATE9-2 specimen is especially important because of the paucity of hand bones in the human...
La toma de decisiones mediante análisis multivariante de datos.
El estudio del manejo del ganado vacuno en las sociedades prehistóricas es relevante para inferir las estrategias de subsistencia y la economía de los habitantes. En este trabajo se presenta el análisis zooarqueológico y el estudio de las patologías de los bovinos del Calcolítico, Bronce Inicial y Medio del yacimiento de El Portalón. En los tres ni...
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 objetivo de este trabajo es la aproximación a la gestión del ganado ovicaprino
en los niveles del Calcolítico y Bronce del yacimiento de El Portalón
(Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos)a partir del análisis zooarqueológico y tafonómico
de los restos óseos de las ovejas y cabras. En el nivel calcolítico de
El Portalón la explotación de esta cabaña ganad...
The aim of this work is to determine the nature of products obtained through the exploitation of domestic sheep and goat that were recovered from the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age levels of the Portalón site (Atapuerca Hill, Burgos, Spain). The data will be evaluated within the context of the changes in domestic stock exploitation observed between Ne...
The horse has played an important role in the prehistoric societies along the time. During the Paleolithic the horse was frequently hunted and consumed by man. In the Iberian
Peninsula, the horse was a common element at the end of the Late Pleistocene, after which there was a long period during the Early Holocene when sites containing horse remains...
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...
Seventeen Middle Pleistocene crania from the Sima de los Huesos site (Atapuerca, Spain)
are analyzed, including seven new specimens. This sample makes it possible to thoroughly characterize a Middle Pleistocene hominin paleodeme and to address hypotheses about the origin and evolution of the Neandertals. Using a variety of techniques, the hominin-b...
Seventeen Middle Pleistocene crania from the Sima de los Huesos site (Atapuerca, Spain)
are analyzed, including seven new specimens. This sample makes it possible to thoroughly
characterize a Middle Pleistocene hominin paleodeme and to address hypotheses
about the origin and evolution of the Neandertals. Using a variety of techniques, the
hominin-b...
Un crâne complet d’Ursus deningeri de Petralona (Chalkidiki, Grèce) recouvert d’une croûte épaisse de carbonate, a été libéré « virtuellement » au moyen de la tomographie et de la reconstruction d’image en 3D. Il a été comparé avec un autre spécimen du Pléistocène Moyen provenant du gisement de la Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca, Espagne)....
El Portalón is the current entrance to the Cueva Mayor Karst system of the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). The latter is internationally well-known for its rich Early to Middle Pleistocene hominin-bearing localities. Besides, El Portalón is an important archaeological site with a long stratigraphic sequence roughly covering the last 30.000 yea...
Lactase persistence (LP) is a genetically determined trait whereby the enzyme lactase is expressed throughout adult life. Lactase is necessary for the digestion of lactose - the main carbohydrate in milk - and its production is down-regulated after the weaning period in most humans and all other mammals studied. Several sources of evidence indicate...
The Cueva Mayor karst system of Atapuerca, in Northern Spain, hosts a highly significant record of human occupation from the Pleistocene. The climatic context of the human activities during the Pleistocene-Holocene for this inland site has not been well constrained, since existing records of the palaeoclimatic evolution of the Northern Iberian Peni...
Two complete skulls of Ursus deningeri, from the Middle Pleistocene site of Sima de los Huesos in Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain) and Petralona (Chalkidiki, Greece), were reconstructed with computed tomography. The cranial morphology of U. deningeri was analysed using geometric morphometrics and compared to exnct and extant Ursidae (Ursus spelaeus and...
In the Homo fossil record is not frequent the existence of foot remains prior to Neandertals and modern humans. Some navicular bones have been previously described (e.g. Jinniushan, OH8 and LB1). However, it is unknown when the modern morphology of the navicular has arisen. Trinkaus [1] established a modern morphology of the Neandertal foot indisti...
The morphology of the human foot is closely related with locomotion and weight transmission. The preservation of Homo fossil foot remains previous to modern humans and Neandertals is very scarce throughout the fossil record. Previous studies have demonstrated that modern humans and Neandertal feet are similar in overall size and proportions and are...
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...
In this report, we present a morphometric comparative study of two Early Pleistocene humeri recovered from the TD6 level of the Gran Dolina cave site in Sierra de Atapuerca, northern Spain. ATD6-121 belongs to a child between 4 and 6 years old, whereas ATD6-148 corresponds to an adult. ATD6-148 exhibits the typical pattern of the genus Homo, but it...
Sima de los Huesos (SH) site (Atapuerca, Spain) has yielded a large collection of Middle Pleistocene human fossils that represent the ancestors of the Neandertals. Among these fossils there are some metatarsal bones, AT-534 being one of them. This IV right metatarsal bone preserves the proximal epiphysis, 2/3 of the diaphysis, and lacks the distal...
Up to date, a total of 22 calcaneus (12 right, 10 le) remains have been recovered in the Middle Pleistocene site of Sima de los Huesos (Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). e Sima de los Huesos (SH) sample constitutes more than 60% of the tarsal bones in the Homo fossil record prior to Neanderthals and fossil Homo sapiens all together. At least 14 individu...
The authors describe the discovery of the first human burial ofMagdalenian age to be found in the Iberian Peninsula-the partial skeleton of a young adult whose bones were stained with red ochre The burial was well stratified in a sequence at the vestibule rear running from the Mousterian to the Mesolithic, and was adjacent to a large block that had...
We present a revision of the main features withphylogenetic interest observed in the human fossil remains recovered from the
Aurora Stratum of the TD6 level, Gran Dolina site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) that have been assigned to Homo antecessor. Our aim is to test the hypothesis of a possible relationship between this species and the European Mid...
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...
Up to date, a total of 25 tali remains (11 right, 14 left) have been recovered in the Middle Pleistocene site of Sima de los Huesos (Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). This site, dated in at least 530,000 years (Bischoff et al., 2007), has yielded the largest collection of human remains ever found of genus Homo in the world (Martínez and Arsuaga, 1997). Ba...
We report a nearly complete lumbar spine from the Middle Pleistocene site of the Sima de los Huesos (SH) that is assigned
to the previously published SH male Pelvis 1 [Arsuaga JL, et al. (1999). Nature 399: 255–258]. The “SH Pelvis 1 individual” is a unique nearly complete lumbo-pelvic complex from the human Middle Pleistocene
fossil record, and of...
The Lower Pleistocene TD6 level at the Gran Dolina site in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) has yielded nine ribs that represent a minimum of three individuals of the species, Homo antecessor. We present a detailed morphological and metric study of these costal elements, including the siding and anatomical position of all of the rib remains....
The site of El Portalón is the entrance to the Cueva Mayor karst system, located in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). This is an important Holocene archaeological site, which was excavated in the 1970s but from which little has been published. New excavations starting in 2000 have highlighted a deep stratigraphical sequence, with human occup...