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March 2013 - March 2015
Publications
Publications (97)
The paleopathological literature notably lacks the description and analysis of distal humeral fractures and their associated complications. The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate a distal humerus fracture associated with cubitus valgus observed in the articulated right elbow of an adult male buried in the Santa Caterina Friary site in Ba...
Medieval Iberia witnessed the complex negotiation of religious, social, and economic identities, including the formation of religious orders that played a major role in border disputes and conflicts. While archival records provide insights into the compositions of these orders, there have been few direct dietary or osteoarchaeological studies to da...
This research presents a comprehensive analysis of traumatic lesions observed in the skeletal remains from funerary unit 221, which belongs to a guild buried at the exterior buttresses of Santa Caterina friary's church wall. The aim is to investigate whether this guild was subjected to harsher working conditions during the transition from the medie...
En el ovino, hay una relación de la masa de los músculos crurales con la mayor o menor aptitud a la marcha, a su vez quizás relacionada con las proporciones corporales, por lo que podrían darse diferencias funcionales entre razas, a tenor de aptitudes motoras diferentes. El hueso calcáneo representa la base de inserción de los músculos crurales res...
This study provides a concise overview of research focused on the burials of guild members (UF 221) during both the medieval (13th-14th century) and early modern (16th century) periods within the friary of Santa Caterina (1243-1836). The investigation encompasses both secondary and primary guild burials and employs a combination of standard macrosc...
Since the Middle Pleistocene, rabbits have played a crucial role as a resource for subsistence in various parts of Europe. Their significance during the Upper Paleolithic period along the Iberian Mediterranean coast is well documented. However, the utilization of the rabbit as a resource in the interior lands of the Iberian Peninsula has received l...
This study analyses a sample of 15 inhumations located in the convent of Santa Caterina in Barcelona between the 13th and 15th centuries. The aim of this work is to compare the human remains buried in the Gothic cloister [C] and in the apse head and the cloister gallery [A/G], with the intention of differentiating between possible members of the mo...
Using the skeletal remains as the center of gravity and combining the explanatory power of: (1) newly developed methods (isotopic and geometric morphometrics analysis); (2) different theoretical approaches (archaeozoology, taphonomy, bioanthropology, paleopathology); and (3) documentary and archaeological evidence, MonBones project delves into the...
The bioanthropological analysis of the Convent of Sant Agustí Vell skeletal remains indicated 33 individuals: 16 from the simple grave burials in the courtyard in front of the church door, 4 from the simple grave burials in the cloister and an NMI of 13 individuals estimated from of the isolated bones recovered in the sediments of the burials. Diff...
The Bioanthropological study of the skeletal remains of (UF) 221 from the convent of Santa
Caterina. The results indicate a minimum number of 62 individuals: 15 male, 7 female, and 5
immature, medieval (13th-14th centuries) and 12 male, 8 female, and 15 immatures, modern
(15th-16th century). Differences in robustness, height, health, and physical a...
Bioanthropological study of the skeletal remains of (UF) 221 from the convent of Santa Caterina. The results indicate a minimum number of 62 individuals [15 male, 7 female, and 5 immature, medieval (13th-14th centuries) and 12 male, 8 female, and 15 immatures, modern (15th-16th century)]. Differences in robustness, height, state of health, and phys...
During the Upper Palaeolithic period, the western Mediterranean regions recorded an intensification of the small prey hunting by human groups. Arbreda Cave is an exceptional site where this dietary shift can be observed, being influenced by environmental changes. The Evolved Aurignacian level (G), dated 38200 - 35630 cal BP, preserves faunal and li...
The aim of this study is to analyze the porotic skeletal lesions of bone remains from the funerary unit (UF) 221 of the Santa Caterina convent site in Barcelona, which is divided into secondary burials (Medieval, 13th-14th century) and primary burials (Modern, early 16th century), in order to evaluate the health state of these individuals.
A previ...
En este artículo damos a conocer por primera vez las ocupaciones humanas del Mesolítico reciente del yacimiento de la Balma del Barranc de la Fontanella (Vilafranca, Castelló). A partir del análisis de la industria lítica, la fauna, el adorno y la sedimentología se realiza un análisis de las características de este yacimiento y se contextualiza tan...
The aim of this work is to provide evidence about the mobility of hunter-gatherer groups from the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula during the Epipaleolithic, more specifically, those from the Balma del Gai site (Moià, Barcelona, Spain). To do so, a study of the dental meso- and microwear of ungulates hunted by the groups that occupied the Balma...
La Balma del Gai (Moià, NE Ibèria) es troba a 760 m s. n. m. i a 50 quilòmetres de la línia de costa actual. Al nivell I, s’hi diferencien dues fases cronològicoculturals a partir dels materials trobats i també d’acord amb les datacions radiocarbòniques realitzades. La capa inferior, conté artefactes del complex lític Epimagdalenià o Microlaminar,...
Balma del Gai (Moià, NE Iberia) is at 760 m a.s.l. and is located 50 km from the current coastline. Two chronological-cultural phases were identified in Level I based on the materials recovered and radiocarbon dating. The lower layer, containing Epimagdalenian or Microlaminar lithic complex artefacts, is dated to 13,480-13,233 cal yrs BP (OxA-29608...
Morphological integration and modularity refer to the degree of covariation between the different components of an anatomical structure. Modularity refers to structures that have components which covary strongly, but at the same time are relatively independent. Integration refers to the coordinated variation of the components of a functional anatom...
This study aims to analyze the fractures observed in the postcranial skeleton of the individuals recovered from the funerary unit (UF) 221 of the Santa Caterina Convent site in Barcelona. The anthropological analysis indicated a minimum number of 62 individuals: 27 belonging to medieval period (15♂, 7♀ and 5 immature) and 35 belonging to modern per...
Simple Summary
This study aims to analyse variations in the morphology of the calcaneum among sheep and goats based upon two-dimensional geometric morphometrics (GM). According to our results, clear interspecific differences in the morphology of this bone were extracted. The use of GM methods has enabled us to assess small but significant amounts o...
Bird remains recovered from two trial pits and a rubbish dump dated from the 14th to 19th centuries AD at the Monastery of Santa Maria de Pedralbes in Barcelona (northeast Spain) are studied. The variety of avian taxa is low, with domestic fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus) clearly dominating the assemblage. The age at death and the sex profile data s...
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This work presents the first remains of a peacock (Pavo cristatus Linnaeus 1758) discovered in an archaeological context in Catalonia. It is a well‐preserved animal (14 remains of an adult female) located in medieval levels – datable to the 13th century (1210‐1278 cal. AD) at the site of Carrer de Sotstinent Navarro, in the city of Barcelona. We pr...
El objetivo de este estudio es el análisis bioantropológico de los restos óseos de la Unidad Funeraria (UF) 221 del yacimiento del Convento de Santa Caterina de Barcelona. Esta UF se divide en inhumación secundaria (medieval, s. XIII-XIV) y primaria (moderna, de principios del siglo XVI). Para llevar a cabo el estudio se aplicaron los métodos antro...
El objetivo de este estudio es el análisis paleopatológico del Fémur-007 de la UE2378 perteneciente a las inhumaciones secundarias de época medieval (s. XIII al XIV) de la Unidad Funeraria (UF) 221 del yacimiento Convento de Santa Caterina de Barcelona. Esta UF corresponde a un vaso sepulcral donde se han identificado un total de 279 piezas dentale...
Estudi de les restes d'au a una de les cases del conjunt arqueològic del Born CCM, Casa Corrales
La
Serreta site (Vilafranca del Penedès, Barcelona province) was excavated between 2009 and 2010, as a result of a preventive intervention after the works conducted to renew different access to the AP-7 highway in the area of Alt Penedès. During the archaeological fieldworks a total of 89 structures were excavated, dated between the ancient Cardial...
In this paper we present the results obtained in the analysis of the faunal remains recovered from balma del barranc de la Fontanella site (Vilafranca, Els Ports, Castelló) during the archaeological works conducted between 2011 and 2015. The data are preliminary since part of the sample is still under analysis. Here, we focus on different sized mam...
RESUMEN: En este estudio se analiza el papel de las aves en el yacimiento paleolítico de A Valiña (Castroverde, Lugo), concretamente de los restos recuperados en el nivel IV (31.600 ± 250 BP). Los estudios taxonómico y tafonómico nos indican un conjunto muy diverso, que nos remite a un entorno mixto, con espacios abiertos pero con la presencia de b...
Objective:
To provide prevalence data for future comparative analysis of the health status of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) accumulated in the archaeological record.
Materials:
Two contrasting assemblages were analysed for pathological and sub-pathological changes: 1) an assemblage of domestic modern rabbit bones; and 2) a non-anthropogenic ac...
Balma del Gai site is a small rock shelter situated in the municipality of Moià (Barcelona, Spain) at an altitude of 760 m above sea level and 50 km from the current coastline. The levels of occupation in this context are dated between 13,442 cal BP and 9,552 cal BP, being related to the so-denominated “Epimagdalenian” and “Microlaminar Sauveterroi...
A large number of carnivore species, mostly terrestrial mammals and raptors, predate on small prey. These predators,
whether through predation or scavenging, are recurrent sources of bone accumulations. Because carnivore nests or dens often occupied the same caves and rock shelters as human settlements, their prey remains are accumulated in the sam...
L’any 2020, el Reial Monestir de Pedralbes ha posat en marxa un ambiciós projecte de recuperació de l’Hort Petit del Monestir, amb l’objectiu de recuperar l’estructura històrica i tornar a posar en funcionament una producció hortícola amb finalitats museístiques i formatives. Paral·lelament, s’ha iniciat un projecte d’estudi de la dieta de la comun...
During the Gravettian, Arbreda Cave was frequently occupied by hunter‐gatherer communities. Within this period, the archaeological levels E (Iberian Middle Gravettian) and D (Final Gravettian), dated to c. 26‐20 kyr ¹⁴C BP, are of particular interest, since fieldwork carried out during the 1980s revealed dense accumulations of archaeological materi...
During the Final Gravettian, the Reclau Caves (northeast Iberia) were intensively occupied by hunter‐gatherer communities. The study of residential level D (c. 25.4–19.7 kyr bp) of Arbreda Cave offers a new view of subsistence strategies of communities which inhabited the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, a transition region between the steppe‐tu...
En este trabajo se estudian las fases finales del Paleolítico superior, en los yacimientos más meridionales de Catalunya. Se parte de los asentamientos situados en el valle del Montsant (Tarragona) y después se estudian los otros yacimientos de la provincia de Tarragona que presentan las mismas características. Para ello incidimos, especialmente, e...
The importance of small prey exploitation in Palaeolithic and Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherer communities is being re-evaluated thanks to the proliferation of experimental and neotaphonomic studies. A special interest has been devoted to leporid remains, what is evident from the significant number of new referential studies that have been recently...
Intensification in the procurement of small game, including different taxa of birds, has been proposed as one of the indicators of dietary shifts occurring in western Mediterranean regions during the Upper Palaeolithic as a consequence of both increased human hunting pressures and environmental change. In this paper, avian remains recovered from th...
During the Last Glacial cycle (from MIS-4 to MIS-2), the isthmic Pyrenees mountain range acted as a biogeographical barrier, effectively restricting faunal exchanges to its western and eastern terminations. The study of the composition of megaherbivore communities has revealed the transitional character of the Cantabrian region (northwest Iberian P...
The study of human subsistence strategies in prehistoric hunter-gatherer communities is essential to understanding the evolution of human behaviour. An important topic of interest is the expansion of dietary breadth, resulting in the procurement of a larger number of small game species. However, to make accurate interpretations of human subsistence...
Balma del Gai (Moià, Barcelona) is an Epipalaeolithic archaeological site that provides one of the most significant archaeological records of hunter-gatherers living in the northeast of Iberia during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Its faunal record evidences a very diverse spectrum of hunted species and particularly an increase in the number...
Arbreda Cave is one of the most important sites in the Reclau Caves complex (Serinyà, north‐east Iberian Peninsula). Its stratigraphy reveals that the cave was intensively occupied during the Upper Palaeolithic. As in other archaeological sites in the western Mediterranean regions, a shift towards an intensification in small prey exploitation has b...
Coastal archaeological sites identified in Northeast Iberia (Catalonia) belonging to late Upper Palaeolitihc and Epipalaeolithic/Mesolithic periods are practically non-existent. Different reasons have been historically proposed to explain this situation, such as coastline fluctuations due to climate or intensive human occupation and destruction of...
The Gravettian covers a long period characterised by widely fluctuating climatic conditions that led to a diversity of subsistence strategies, which extended from the Iberian Atlantic coast to Siberia. Within this vast area, the northeast of Iberia acted as a transitional territory, between steppe-tundra in the northern regions and Iberian wooded s...
In Mediterranean Europe during the Pleistocene–Holocene, transition changes in the intensification of small prey exploitation by
humans are detected. In the NE of the Iberian Peninsula, these changes are mainly evidenced by an increase in the number of
rabbit remains, normally exceeding the 90% of the recovered animal specimens. The archaeological...
The open air site of Montlleó (Prats i Sansor, Lérida, Spain) was discovered in 1998 and has been excavated since 2000 by a multidisciplinary team from the SERP research group, University of Barcelona. The presence of lithic and bone industries, as well as shell ornaments, have shown the importance of the site for hunter-gatherer Magdalenian groups...
The aim of this paper was to use geometric morphometrics to study the skull sexual dimorphism of toy rabbits, which present paedomorphic (babyness) traits comparing data with those from agriotype (ancestor), Oryctolagus cuniculus. For this purpose, we examined 43 post-weaned corpses belonging to wild rabbit (n=22, 7 ♂ and 15 ♀, 1295.6 ± 333.8 kg of...
The results obtained in the analysis of faunal remains recovered from the Palaeolithic site of A Valiña have been widely published. These studies have furnished information concerning the taxonomical spectrum and anatomical distribution of remains, as well as about the activity of large carnivores as agents responsible for bone accumulations in the...
The Middle Palaeolithic avifaunal assemblage recovered from level I (c. 40 ka) of Arbreda Cave (northern Iberia) includes a high diversity of birds. The most abundant taxa are cliff-dwelling species represented mostly by choughs (Pyrrhocorax spp.) and pigeons (Columba livia). Forest species, especially corvids, are also well represented. Taphonomic...
Dietary shifts occurred in western Mediterranean regions during the Upper Palaeolithic as consequence of increased human hunting pressures as well as environmental changes. Intensification in small game procurement, including different taxa of birds, has been pointed out as one of the indicators of these changes. In this paper, avian remains recove...
Studies of the feeding ecology of the European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) demonstrate that leporids, mostly European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), dominate their diet in regions where they are present. The remains of wildcats have been found at Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological sites, raising the possibility that they actively ac...
Es permet la generació d'obres derivades sempre que no s'en faci un ús comercial. Tampoc es pot utilitzar l'obra original amb finalitats comercials. En qualsevol explotació de l'obra autoritzada per la llicència caldrà reconèixer l'autoria. Se permite la generación de obras derivadas siempre que no se haga un uso comercial. Tampoco se puede utiliza...
The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is one of the most important birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. This raptor is used to building large nests in high cliffs to which they return for several breeding years accumulating important amounts of their prey skeletal remains. This makes the golden eagle one of the major predators able to accumulat...
While the bones of domestic cats (Felis catus) are recovered from archaeological sites in Iberia routinely, they are rarely subjected to detailed analysis. Consequently, there is limited understanding of the nature of cat-human relations, especially in contrast to northern European regions. In this paper we present a unique assemblage of 899 cat bo...
Dans ce travail nous étudions les continuités et les changements qui marquent le passage du Magdalénien final vers l’Épipaléolithique dans le NE ibérique. Nous allons caractériser l’« Épimagdalénien » en s’appuyant sur l’analyse de huit gisements et sur l’étude des industries lithiques, sur l’économie et sur les objets d’art mobilier. En s’appuyant...
To investigate dietary patterns, collagen stable isotope ratios (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) were measured from fauna (n = 21) and humans (n = 23) from a rescue excavation at the Roman site (1st to 4th c. AD) of Carrer Ample 1 in Barcelona, Spain. The adult human results (δ 13 C = −18.9 ± 0.3‰; δ 15 N = 11.1 ± 0.4‰) indicate a C 3 terrestrial diet based on...
In the western Mediterranean, changes in hunter-gatherer subsistence strategies have been identified from the Early Upper Palaeolithic. These changes are characterized by broadening of diet and intensification of small prey exploitation. In the Iberian Peninsula region, intensified small prey exploitation is evidenced by the hunting of large quanti...
GEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRICS.
TRENDS IN BIOLOGY, PALEOBIOLOGY AND ARCHAEOLOGY
Experimental research in osteoarchaeology its been demonstrated to be a very effective tool to contrast interpretation made of the fossil record. In this paper we present the results of our experimental study, with the objective to clarify the origin of cut marks located in archaeological appendicular bones of European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus...
This paper publishes for the first time the results of the excavations conducted at L’Hort de la Boquera site (Margalef de Montsant, Tarragona). This site is included in the research project we began in 1979 on the prehistoric settlement of the middle course of the Montsant River. We present the results obtained with respect to the lithic industrie...
(http://www.pyrenae.com/home/index.php?lang=ca)
RESUMEN: Los restos de conchas recuperados en el yacimiento neolítico de la Caserna de Sant Pau del Camp (Barcelona) se caracterizan por un gran número de elementos del género Glycy-meris, muchos de ellos rodados por la actividad del mar. Por lo tanto, la mayor parte del regis-tro arqueomalacológico no tiene un origen alimentario. La comparación co...
Terrasses de la Riera dels Canyars (Gavà, Barcelona, Spain) is an Upper Pleistocene fluvial deposit dated to 39.6 cal. ka BP with a few Aurignacian stone tools. Faunal remains recovered in this site contained, apart from large mammals, an important assemblage of leporid remains. This taxon (especially the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus) is...
The shell remains recovered at the ancient Neolithic site of Caserna de Sant Pau (Barcelona) are characterized by a large number of elements of the genus Glycymeris, many of them eroded by wave action. It is therefore surmised that the main part of the archaeomalaco-logical record does not have an alimentary origin. Comparison with current taphonom...
a b s t r a c t The recording of digestion corrosion damage on the surface of archaeological skeletal remains is an important variable to take into account in taphonomic analyses. Different kinds of predators produce digestion damage of variable intensity. Consequently, digestion is one of the most distinctive features used to identify the agents o...
The Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo) is an important leporid remains accumulator at archaeological sites. Taphonomical studies of modern leporid remains from nest assemblages of this nocturnal raptor aim to establish the main characteristics that define the taphonomic signature of Eagle Owls in order to distinguish them from that of other leporid predators, n...
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a generalist predator, but in areas where the abundance of rabbits is high, they constitute one of the most common prey species. Taphonomic studies on leporid remains consumed by this terrestrial carnivore are scarce, and its role as an agent responsible for bone accumulations in the fossil record is not fully underst...
The aim of this paper is to describe the results of a study of the terrestrial gastropods recovered at the Epipalaeolithic site Balma del Gai, and comparing it with other Upper Palaeolithic and Epipalaeolithic samples from the Mediterranean region of the Iberian Peninsula. Balma del Gai is located in north-eastern Spain, in the municipality of Moià...
In the Iberian Peninsula, leporids, and specifically rabbits, play a key role in the understanding of hunter-gatherer economies. They appear to have been especially important in the Tardiglacial, when large numbers of small prey animals and of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in particular, are a ubiquitous feature of faunal assemblages...
Distinguishing leporid bones accumulated by humans and other kind of predators becomes imperative to accurately understand human subsistence activities in the past, specially in the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean region where these taxa are very abundant. Over the last years we have conducted several actualistic studies with modem leporid...
Case study: old mare, height to the withers 120,3 cm (factors MAY) Site: Can Roqueta II (Barcelona, Spain) Chronology: 725-575 BC Location: inhumation from pit CRII 811, complete horse skeleton in anatomical connection Pathologies and their diagnosis: Possible use as draught (exostosis in the glenoid cavity of the scapula and on the palmaro-medial...
RESUMEN En este artículo presentamos los resultados del estudio de las conchas de moluscos marinos recupera-dos durante la excavación del abrigo de la Balma del Gai (provincia de Barcelona). La diversidad de las espe-cies representadas y la comparación con otro material recuperado en el resto de yacimientos epipaleolíticos del noreste de España nos...
The eagle owl (Bubo bubo) is the main leporid predator among nocturnal raptors. Although its role as an accumulator of leporid remains in archaeological sites has already been demonstrated, the taphonomic signature of this predator has not been properly characterised. Here we present the analysis of two samples of modern leporid remains recovered f...
An experimental study was conducted to assess the taphonomic signature derived from anthropic activities on rabbit bones. Nine wild European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) individuals were butchered using lithic tools, four were cooked and three of them were consumed by people. Cut marks resulting from skinning, disarticulation and defleshing as we...
Distinguishing leporid bones accumulated by diurnal raptors, owls, mammals and humans is essential to understand not only human subsistence activities but also past ecology, especially in Iberian Palaeolithic sites where their remains usually constitute the most abundant taxa. Among diurnal raptors Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) is the m...
Distinguishing leporid bones accumulated by diurnal raptors, owls, mammals and humans is essential to understand not only past human subsistence activities but also past ecology. This is particularly relevant in Iberian Palaeolithic sites where leporid remains usually constitute the most abundant taxon. As far as terrestrial mammal carnivores are c...
