
Lawrence Guy StrausUniversity of New Mexico | UNM · College of Arts and Sciences
Lawrence Guy Straus
Doctor of Philosophy
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Publications (494)
Caves are primary sites for studying human and animal subsistence patterns and genetic ancestry throughout the Palaeolithic. Iberia served as a critical human and animal refugium in Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), 26.5 to 19 thousand years before the present (cal kya). Therefore, it is a key location for understanding human and animal...
LC-MS/MS extends on the MALDI-TOF ZooMS approach by providing fragmentation spectra for each peptide. However, ancient bone samples generate sparse datasets containing only a few collagen proteins, rendering target-decoy strategies unusable and increasing uncertainty in peptide annotation. ClassiCOL embraces and even extends this ambiguity using a...
The important albeit discontinuous pollen and more complete small mammal microrecords from the long, Late
Upper Pleistocene stratigraphic deposit in El Mir´on Cave (Cantabria, Spain, >47,000–12,000 cal BP) are presented
and compared in detail. They describe a sequence of environmental conditions varying from cold and
relatively dry to somewhat more...
In the last few decades, the field of ancient DNA has taken a new direction towards using sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) for studying human and mammalian population dynamics as well as past ecosystems. However, the screening of numerous sediment samples from archaeological sites remains a time-consuming and costly endeavor, particularly when tar...
El libro se adentra en el campo más actual de la Arqueología Prehistórica gracias a su multidisciplinar acercamiento metodológico. Con ese fin, la obra aparece estructurada en cinco grandes bloques. Por un lado, el primero de ellos se centra en el análisis del pensamiento simbólico, con especial atención al estudio del arte prehistórico de la penín...
There are now 101 radiocarbon dates from the long Paleolithic and post-Paleolithic culture-stratigraphic sequence in El Mirón Cave, Cantabrian Spain. Here we report on two dates on bone from two different humans whose remains were found in disturbed surface sediments in the cave vestibule rear and that confirm the existence of burials in addition t...
In recent years, the field of ancient DNA (aDNA) has taken a new direction toward studying human population dynamics through sedimentary DNA (sedaDNA), enabling the study of past ecosystems. However, the screening of numerous sediment samples from archaeological sites remains a time-consuming and costly endeavor, particularly when targeting hominin...
The El Mirón Cave site in Spain has one of the most complete archaeological and palaeontological records of the Late Pleistocene in the Iberian Peninsula, encompassing most of the last c. 50,000 years. Among other studies, the fossiliferous record has allowed the development of various interpretations of faunal and climatic changes during this peri...
Major advances over the past decade in the field of ancient DNA are providing access to past paleogenomic diversity, but the diverse functions and biosynthetic capabilities of this growing paleome remain largely elusive. Here, we investigated the dental calculus of 12 Neanderthals and 52 anatomically modern humans spanning 100 kya to the present an...
Documenting the intentional structuring of space by hunter-gatherers can be challenging, especially in complex cave contexts. One approach is the spatial analysis of discard patterns. Here, the authors consider the spatial distribution of faunal remains from the Lower Magdalenian Level 115 in El Mirón Cave, Cantabria, to assess a possible structuri...
Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period³. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116...
We revisit the models of Upper Paleolithic forager settlement-subsistence systems for the coastal greater Cantabrian region of Spain proposed by K.W. Butzer and L.G. Straus in the 1980s, with a significant new seasonality dataset from El Mirón Cave in Cantabria (northern Atlantic Iberia). This large, strategically located site contains a nearly com...
Presentamos documentación y análisis detallados de un nódulo de ocre con una retícula grabada, un fragmento de ocre con incisiones profundas y un abrasionador de cuarcita con restos de ocre procedentes de los niveles del Magdaleniense inferior e inicial de la Cueva del Mirón. Estos objetos se añaden al inventario de hallazgos notables de los depósi...
All but one of the published radiocarbon dates from the 1991–1992 excavations of Strata 3 and 2 at le Trou Magrite are considered too recent because the dating was done with then-standard chemical pretreatment protocols. This study re-dates Stratum 2 using the same, then-pioneering, XAD-2 purification method on bone collagen as had been used for th...
This succinct contribution focuses on description and preliminary interpretation of “minor” occupations of the large, strategically located El Mirón Cave on the edge of the Cantabrian Cordillera in eastern Cantabria (Spain) during the Middle and early Upper Magalenian that followed upon the massive, culturally rich, faunally dense, functionally com...
In late Upper Paleolithic Cantabrian Spain, humans developed sophisticated territorial systems, used specialized lithic and osseous tools and weapons, and were skilled hunters of red deer and ibex while also depending increasingly on supplementary food resources, as means of adapting to climatic and environmental change after the Last Glacial Maxim...
Significance
The microbiome plays key roles in human health, but little is known about its evolution. We investigate the evolutionary history of the African hominid oral microbiome by analyzing dental biofilms of humans and Neanderthals spanning the past 100,000 years and comparing them with those of chimpanzees, gorillas, and howler monkeys. We id...
El Mirón is an important archaeological cave site in Cantabria (Spain) with a stratigraphy covering the late Middle Paleolithic to the Modern Period. The Magdalenian levels are especially rich in artifacts, faunal remains, and features, and included the burial of an adult female (“the Red Lady”), as well as other scattered human remains, while the...
The history of the idea of Neanderthal/Mousterian refugia on the Iberian Peninsula over the past three decades is reviewed. Despite the recent re‐datings of several key sites that have cast doubt on late survivals, it continues to seem to be the case that Aurignacian (sensu lato) industries appeared relatively early in northern Spain, but not in so...
The Upper Palaeolithic in Europe was a time of extensive climatic changes that impacted on the survival and distribution of human populations. During the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM), southern European peninsulas were refugia for flora, fauna, and human groups. One of these refugia, the Cantabrian region (northern Atlantic Spain), was intensively occ...
El Mirón Cave, located on the northern edge of the Cantabrian Cordillera and 20 km from the present Atlantic shoref, contains a sequence of Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian, Solutrean, Magdalenian and Azilian) levels (ranging in radiocarbon age from 28,000–10,500 BP) atop a minor Middle Paleolithic layer (>46,000 BP) and beneath a long, rich series of...
This article presents the second study of ochres associated with the Lower Magdalenian (18.7 cal kya) “Red
Lady” human burial in El Mirón Cave (Cantabria, Spain). In the first study (Seva Román et al., 2015), we
determined that the burial deposit contained iron oxides and idiomorphic hematite that were not from sources
near the site, but possibly f...
Highlights
• First application of palaeoproteomics to eggshell from Palaeolithic Spain
• List of Accipitridae eggshell markers for peptide fingerprinting
• Diurnal birds of prey (Accipitridae) identified as the main taxon at El Mirón
• Humans and birds did not occupy the site at the same time
Abstract
Bird eggs can become part of the archaeologica...
Environmental change has been proposed as a factor that contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals in Europe during MIS3. Currently, the different local environmental conditions experienced at the time when Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) met Neanderthals are not well known. In the Western Pyrenees, particularly, in the eastern end of the C...
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194708.].
Radiocarbon AMS dates produced in this study.
Collagen was extracted using the ultrafiltration protocol in all the samples. A contextual information of each archaeological level is provided, including a description of the lithic and bone artefacts and the archaeological context. Also, sample reference, animal species and skeletal element sampled in...
Este artículo intenta ofrecer una síntesis relativamente completa de lo que se conoce en la actualidad sobre la transición del Paleolítico medio al superior y el desarrollo de las adaptaciones humanas y de las culturas durante el último periodo en la Península Ibérica (España y Portugal, así como Andorra y Gibraltar). Los énfasis del trabajo, que e...
The use of caves during the Late Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic in Europe was often characterized by alternation between humans (Neandertals and Anatomically Modern Humans) and carnivores. One of the most important karstic areas in Europe that contains a rich archaeological record during this cultural period is the Cantabrian Region, northern...
Level 17 is the principal Cantabrian Lower Magdalenian horizon in the outer vestibule area of El Mirón Cave, dating by radiocarbon to c. 15,500 uncal bp. It has yielded very rich faunal and artifactual collections associated with numerous hearths and abundant fire-cracked rocks. Among the many osseous artifacts are a striation-engraved red deer sca...
This sixth date list for the prehistoric site of El Mirón Cave (Cantabria, Spain) reports on new age determinations for the earliest and last Solutrean occupations (20.4 and 18.0 ¹⁴ C kyr BP) and for a Lower/Initial Magdalenian level with a possible rock wall (16.75 ¹⁴ C kyr BP). The site has now been dated by 92 radiocarbon ( ¹⁴ C) assays. In addi...
Methodological advances in dating the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition provide a better understanding of the replacement of local Neanderthal populations by Anatomically Modern Humans. Today we know that this replacement was not a single, pan-European event, but rather it took place at different times in different regions. Thus, local conditi...
Supporting information manuscript with a detailed description of each archaeological site sampled in this study.
(DOCX)
Radiocarbon AMS dates produced in this study.
Collagen was extracted using the ultrafiltration protocol in all the samples. A contextual information of each archaeological level is provided, including a description of the lithic and bone artefacts and the archaeological context. Also, sample reference, animal species and skeletal element sampled in...
Radiocarbon accelerator dates from the Cantabrian region mentioned in this work.
Only bone samples with ultrafiltration methods are included. ABA: charcoal fragment treated with a series of acid and base washes; ABOx-SC: charcoal treated with acid and base washes, followed by an oxidation stage and pre-combustion; UF AMS: collagen extracted using t...
Radiocarbon dates from El Cuco modelled in OxCal4.2 [41,43] against INTCAL13 [42].
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Results of sensitivity test conducted on regional models.
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Radiocarbon dates from Covalejos modelled in OxCal4.2 [41,43] against INTCAL13 [42].
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Radiocarbon dates from Amalda modelled in OxCal4.2 [41,43] against INTCAL13 [42].
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CQL individual codes.
(DOCX)
CQL regional codes.
(DOCX)
Results of the Order function comparing the PDF’s of the boundaries dating the start and the end of the archaeological industries from the Cantabrian region.
Cells containing probabilities of >95% are coloured in green, 68–94% in orange and <68 in grey.
(DOCX)
Results of sensitivity test conducted on individual models.
(DOCX)
Radiocarbon dates from Ekain modelled in OxCal4.2 [41,43] against INTCAL13 [42].
(TIF)
Numerous studies have shown that the relative frequency of retouched pieces can help to distinguish forager mobility strategies amongst individual layers at a single site and, potentially, at multiple sites across regions (Riel-Salvatore and Barton, 2004; Riel-Salvatore et al., 2008; Barton & Riel-Salvatore, 2014). We use this proxy measure and oth...
This article attempts to provide a relatively complete synthesis of what is currently known about the transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic and the development of human adaptations and cultures during the latter period in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal, as well as Andorra and Gibraltar). The emphases of the work, which is i...
Modern excavation techniques aim accurately to recover extant archaeological data. Usually bone micro-fragments are gathered as a result, however, during archaeological analysis these remains are often set apart as indeterminate bones and generally do not contribute to the interpretation of the deposits. How to decipher archaeological palimpsests u...
This contribution reviews the evidence for technological continuity and change (both gradual and abrupt) among the classic Magdalenian, Azilian, Asturian and non-coastal Mesolithic culture-adaptive traditions against the backdrop of environmental change across the Pleistocene–Holocene (i.e. Bølling–Boreal) transition in Cantabrian Spain. It explore...
Paleolithic archaeologists have a longstanding interest in temporal change in prehistoric human behavior, and have often identified changes between archaeological periods based on sampling limitations. This analysis focuses on the Cantabrian Lower Magdalenian period in El Mirón cave, where archaeologists have been able to subdivide the ~ 33 cm thic...
A review of the cultural evidence from northern coastal Atlantic Spain (a.k.a., Vasco-Cantabria) spanning the late Last Glacial and early Postglacial (from Greenland Interstadial 1 to the mid-Holocene) reveals that some changes may have been related to major climate/environmental changes, while others may be attributed to demographic factors that c...
This fifth date list for the long cultural sequence in El Mirón Cave (Cantabria, Spain) reports on new radiocarbon assays for the Middle Paleolithic and Lower Magdalenian levels, ranging from about >45 to 15 uncalibrated kyr.
Human behaviour can be reconstructed by analysing specific activities and campsite organization using spatial analysis. The dense occupation layers of the Lower Cantabrian Magdalenian in the Northern Spain reveal varied aspects of Upper Palaeolithic lifeways, including evidence of speci c localized activities. The outer vestibule of El Mirón cave h...
Modern humans arrived in Europe ~45,000 years ago, but little is known about their genetic composition before the start of farming ~8,500 years ago. Here we analyse genome-wide data from 51 Eurasians from ~45,000-7,000 years ago. Over this time, the proportion of Neanderthal DNA decreased from 3-6% to around 2%, consistent with natural selection ag...
Lithic weapon tips have existed at least since the Middle Paleolithic. Beginning in the Early Upper Paleolithic of Europe, bladelet (a.k.a. microblade) elements used as edges, barbs or tips were added to the repertoire of weapon technology. Various forms thereof are present in Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean and Magdalenian assemblages. In the S...
The history of the hominin settlement of Europe has always been marked by range expansion and contraction in the face of interglacial-glacial cycles. The last major contraction occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and was manifested culturally in western Europe by the Solutrean technocomplex, during which the surviving human population wa...
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...
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