Rodrigo Alonso

Collecting is a form of leisure, and even a passion, consisting of collecting, preserving and displaying objects. When we look for its origin in the literature, we are taken back to "the appearance of writing and the fixing of knowledge", specifically with the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal (7th century BC, Mesopotamia), and his fondness for collecting...

The Sierra de Atapuerca has witnessed the historical evolution of its territory since the arrival of its first inhabitants almost one and a half million years ago. The presence of this continuous settlement throughout this area is vital for understanding human evolution during the Quaternary period in Western Europe until the arrival of the first s...

The impact of wavelength and pulse duration in laser cleaning of hard blackish contaminants crust from archaeologically significant Pleistocene bone is investigated in this research. The objective is to determine the practical cleaning procedures and identify adequate laser parameters for cleaning archaeological bone from Sima de los Huesos (Spain)...

The role of experience during the exploration of lithic artefacts can be been investigated through multiple approaches. Knowledge can influence visual perception of the environment, whilst action “affordances” can be processed at the first sight of an object. In this study, we used eye tracking to analyse whether and to what extent archaeological k...

Humans are specialized in eye-hand coordination through a complex visuospatial system. When a tool is observed, the motor areas of the brain are activated and, when grasped, it is sensed as a part of the body. One approach to understanding the underlying mechanisms behind this process regards the analysis of visual attention. Vision influences the...

Contexto: El avance de las nuevas formas y canales de comunicación relacionados con nuevas tecnologías está transformando las formas de transmisión del conocimiento científico. Durante el último año, en el contexto de la actual crisis sanitaria, se han evidenciado las necesidades de maximizar las posibilidades que ofrecen estas técnicas para mejora...

Contexto: Las tradicionales formas de enseñanza de las Ciencias Sociales se han modificado durante los últimos años como consecuencia de la integración de nuevas formas de comunicación, herramientas y tecnologías. La utilización de la Realidad Virtual se ha revelado como una técnica especialmente interesante para el aprendizaje de diferentes conten...

Controlled laser irradiation parameters using recently developed sub-nanosecond pulsed laser technology with emission wavelength in the near Infrared regime (1064 nm) have been assessed on a Pleistocene bone from the archaeological site of Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain. Burst pulse mode was employed to explore contaminant removal efficiency, while at...

Humans are specialized in eye-hand coordination and body-tool interaction through a complex visuospatial system. Although manipulation has been broadly studied from an anthropological perspective, less attention has been paid to its relationship with vision. In fact, vision is the dominant source of sensory information in primates. When a tool is o...

Humans evolved specializations to integrate tools into their cultural, perceptive and cognitive systems. Tools extend cognitive functions beyond the brain and directly improve the range of our cognitive skills. A characteristic of human beings is their hand-eye coordination, associated with a specialized visuospatial system. In fact, parietal lobes...

Este artículo analiza la relación que han tenido los yacimientos de la Sierra de Atapuerca con la Arqueología Experimental. Su presentación se realiza desde tres vertientes. Una vinculada a la aplicación de programas experimentales en la investigación científica desde los primeros trabajos realizados en los yacimientos. Otra segunda relacionada con...

Tools, which have a cognitive background rooted in our phylogenetic history, are essential for humans to interact with their environment. One of the characteristics of human beings is the coordination between the eyes and hands, which is associated with a skilled visuospatial system. Vision is the first input of an action that influences interactio...

En 2018 se cumplió el 150 aniversario de la publicación Descripción con planos de la llamada Cueva de Atapuerca. Este es el primer libro de carácter científico sobre la Sierra de Atapuerca. Desde entonces, varios yacimientos de este territorio burgalés comenzaron a formar parte de los inventarios arqueológicos de nuestro país. Sin embargo, hubo que...

Objectives Haptics involves somatosensory perception through the skin surface and dynamic touch based on the proprioceptive response of the whole body. Handling Palaeolithic stone tools influences the arousal and attentional engagement, which can be detected and measured through electrodermal activity. Although tool shape has generally been studied...

In order to better understand the causes and geographic patterns of Neanderthal demise it is necessary to broaden the focus of existing Neanderthal studies to include new sites from understudied regions, particularly those containing multi-level fossil and lithic records, and to improve regional-scale Neanderthal extinction frameworks using multipl...

Lower Paleolithic stone tool features and shape have been studied in detail; traceology and experimental archaeology have provided us with a lot of information about possible tool use and functionality. The way modern humans use these tools has been used as a proxy for the study of early stone tool-makers’ behavior, taking into account that our anc...

Fuente Mudarra is on a gentle slope on the left bank of the Pico River, near Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain. A 12−m ² test pit was dug at this large open-air site between 2012 and 2017. Several upper Pleistocene archaeological levels were documented. Results from Fuente Mudarra confirm that Neanderthal groups, little represented at cave sites,...

Los seres humanos comenzamos hace ya más de dos millones de años un largo camino para adaptarnos a las condiciones de vida en la tierra. Desde nuestros orígenes, hemos avanzado de forma constante para superar multitud de retos y conseguir nuestra supervivencia. Protegernos, alimentarnos, vestirnos, comunicarnos, crear, construir, fabricar, transpor...

Los seres humanos comenzamos hace ya más de dos millones de años un largo camino para adaptarnos a las condiciones de vida en la tierra. Desde nuestros orígenes, hemos avanzado de forma constante para superar multitud de retos y conseguir nuestra supervivencia. Protegernos, alimentarnos, vestirnos, comunicarnos, crear, construir, fabricar, transpor...

Objectives: Tool use requires integration among sensorial, biomechanical, and cognitive factors. Taking into account the importance of tool use in human evolution, changes associated with the genus Homo are to be expected in all these three aspects. Haptics is based on both tactile and proprioceptive feedbacks, and it is associated with emotional...

Humans present a particular relationship with objects and technology. They also show specialized parietal cortex due to tool use and body coordination in order to interact with the environment [1]. These functions are known as visuospatial integration. When an object reaches the personal space, it becomes a potential tool and it is integrated into...

Parietal cortex underwent specialization during human evolution, probably associated with visuospatial functions, tool use, and body-tool integration [1]. Objects are perceived differently whether they are out of the body range, within the body range, or in contact with the body and, in this latter case, they are integrated in the body scheme [2]....

Objectives: Hand coordination is a key feature in primate evolution at both behavioral and cognitive levels. Humans further improved their manual abilities, and their cognitive niche is deeply associated with hand-tool relationships and technological capacity. A main cognitive change is thought to be related to the transition from Oldowan to Acheu...

La arqueología experimental es una metodología científica que permite conocer, interpretar, enseñar y aprender el desarrollo de las primeras tecnologías del ser humano. Al ser una disciplina práctica, visual, dinámica y lúdica es un instrumento de enseñanza-aprendizaje alternativo a la docencia basada en la memorización, en lecturas parciales del r...

We propose a learning methodology based on the development of historical empathy through experimentation. Experimental archaeology is an active methodology which provides dynamism and an active role and entertainment for students, as well as provoking historical empathy in them. This combination helps the students get a better understanding of the...

RESUMEN En este trabajo analizamos la connguración de puntas de echa para evaluar y determinar su ee-cacia en las actividades de caza, basándonos en el estudio del grado de profundidad que alcanza. En este estudio se analiza el grado de profundidad que alcanza cada una de las echas empleadas sobre una superrcie homogénea. Se busca relacionar la cap...

RESUMEN Algunas piezas de industria ósea del Magdaleniense cantábrico y suroeste de Francia cuyas formas son aplanadas y de silueta ahusada han sido propuestas como posibles bramaderas, zumbadores o rombos (B 2012). A pesar de que en el citado trabajo se desarrolla una profunda reeexión sobre la función de dichos objetos a partir del análisis de su...

Testing cognitive hypotheses in extinct species can be challenging, but it can be done through the integration of independent sources of information (e.g., anatomy, archaeology, neurobiology, psychology), and validated with quantitative and experimental approaches. The parietal cortex has undergone changes and specializations in humans, probably in...

Testing cognitive hypotheses in extinct species can be challenging, but it can be done through the integration of independent sources of information (e.g., anatomy, archaeology, neurobiology, psychology), and validated with quantitative and experimental approaches. The parietal cortex has undergone changes and specializations in humans, probably in...

Body cognition and lateralization can be investigated in fossils by integrating anatomical and functional aspects. Paleoneurology cannot provide strong evidence in this sense, because hemispheric asymmetries are shared in all extinct human species, and motor cortical areas are difficult to delineate in endocranial casts. However, paleoneurological...

Body cognition and lateralization can be investigated in fossils by integrating anatomical and functional aspects. Paleoneurology cannot provide strong evidence in this sense, because hemispheric asymmetries are shared in all extinct human species, and motor cortical areas are difficult to delineate in endocranial casts. However, paleoneurological...

The new discoveries developed in Prehistory are increasing exponentially. The research on these subjects is becoming more technical by leaps and bounds. The scientific disciplines involved in these researches multiply rapidly. To support a fluid relationship between society and those scientists who work on Prehistory we have to socialize accurately...

Propuesta de póster y/o demostración práctica. Algunas piezas de industria ósea del magdaleniense cantábrico y suroeste de Francia cuyas formas son aplanadas y de silueta ahusada han sido propuestas como posibles bramaderas, zumbadores o rombos (Barandiarán, 2012). A pesar de que en el citado trabajo se desarrolla una profunda reflexión sobre la fu...

En este estudio analizamos la configuración de puntas de flecha para evaluar y determinar su eficacia en las actividades de caza. En el presente estudio se analiza el grado de profundidad que alcanza cada una de las flechas empleadas sobre una superficie homogenea. Se busca relacionar la potencialidad de alcanzar una mayor o menor profundidad en el...

Propuesta de póster y/o demostración práctica. La presencia de tubos en hueso de ave con pigmentos de óxido de hierro ha sido interpretada como el uso de aerógrafo como técnica pictórica en el Paleolítico superior cantábrico (Montes et al, 2004). Esta técnica ha sido identificada así mismo por el efecto de la dispersión homogénea de la pintura sobr...

Archaeological surveys have progressed from a secondary discipline to a solid and consistent working method which is evolving in tune with the goals of prehistoric research. Almost 60 years have passed since New Archaeology began to point out the importance of archaeological surveys for the study of prehistoric settlement patterns, and this issue h...

We carried out a combined thermal and magnetic evaluation on experimentally knapped clasts of different lithologies (chert, quartzite, limestone, sandstone and obsidian) heated under controlled field and temperature conditions. The main aim of this study is to estimate the feasibility of use of these raw materials, which are commonly found in prehi...

El projecte d’investigació als jaciments pleistocens de la serra d’Atapuerca s’inicià el 1978 per part d’Emiliano Aguirre. A partir de la dècada de 1990, la Junta de Castella i Lleó (JCyL) desenvolupà un programa d’infraestructures per protegir jaciments i adequar-los a les visites. Paral·lelament, l’equip d’investigació d’Atapuerca començà una est...

A combined thermal and magnetic evaluation on experimentally knapped clasts of different lithologies chert, quartzite, limestone, sandstone and obsidian) heated under controlled field and temperature conditions were carried out. The main aim of this study is to estimate the feasibility of use of these raw materials, which are commonly found in preh...

Here we present an experimental study about the variations in the magnetic and macroscopic properties induced by heating of lithic artefacts of different lithologies. The aim is to establish magnetic criteria in order to identify heating processes at archaeological sites. High-temperature heating (~ 700 ºC) produces an enhancement in the magnetic m...

Resumen La Arqueología Experimental es una disciplina que facilita la comprensión del desarrollo de las diferentes actividades de la Prehistoria. A través de la experimentación se pueden llegar a comprender los procedimientos y las técnicas que llevaron a cabo los homínidos en la fabricación de sus herramientas. La combinación de los análisis tecno...

Many caves in Sierra de Atapuerca contain archaeological and anthropological remains from the Early Pleistocene until the Holocene. The fi rst half of the Late Pleistocene (MIS 4 and 3) has only been detected in open air deposits discovered on the basis of total cover surface surveys. Excavation at one of them, Hundidero, began in 2004. The Middle...

La Arqueología experimental puede ser un instrumento de ciencia, divulgación y entretenimiento y este libro aspira a cubrir esas tres facetas. Contiene 27 experimentos en las que se reproducen, con materiales y técnicas tradicionales, los objetos y avances más importantes de nuestro pasado preindustrial, realizados por profesionales de la docencia,...

La observación detallada de la producción de lascas por parte de talladores actuales de diferentes condiciones es un excelente método para el análisis de diferentes variables en los procesos de talla. The detailed observation of fl ake production by current knappers of different conditions is an excellent method for the analysis of different variab...

Resumen: La Arqueología Experimental es una disciplina científica en auge que facilita la comprensión de las diferentes actividades desarrolladas por el ser humano a lo largo de la Prehistoria. Su dinamismo y visualidad la han convertido en una excelente herramienta de transmisión de conocimientos tanto en la divulgación como en la didáctica. En lo...

Se revisan los sitios clásicos del Paleolítico medio, La Ermita y Millán, añadiendo la información del cercano yacimiento La Mina, todos en el valle del Arlanza (Hortigüela, Burgos). Se realizan nuevas dataciones, se prospecta y analizan las materias primas con ICP-MS, se realiza un estudio zooarqueológico y describimos los productos líticos, inclu...

Se presentan los avances técnicos, científicos y sociales (cultura científica) realizados por el equipo del Proyecto Fonelas en la investigación de la Formación Guadix, desde los inicios del citado proyecto, en 2001, hasta el año 2007. Destacan, por su importancia científica: el descubrimiento e investigación integral del yacimiento Fonelas P-1; la...

This chapter reports the scientific and technical advances made by the Proyecto Fonelas team between 2001 and 2007 with respect to the Formación Guadix, and describes the efforts to disseminate this information (scientific culture). Outstanding among the achievements discussed are the discovery of the Fonelas P-1 site and the work performed there,...

En los últimos años, desde el ámbito científico se está generando una serie de actuaciones, que persiguen lo que se ha venido a denominar “socialización del conocimiento”. La finalidad de este tipo de posicionamiento es facilitar el acceso de los ciudadanos a los numerosos descubrimientos que día tras día se están produciendo en el mundo científico...