Rory Connolly

University College Dublin | UCD · School of Archaeology

The ability to make and use fire can be considered as a behavioural threshold in human evolution. The aim of this chapter is to present an overview of the research on fire among Neanderthals. We compiled and reviewed the archaeological evidence and scientific studies on the topic, including different methodological approaches, theoretical considera...

This paper reports on a series of heating experiments that focus on n-alkanes extracted from leaf, bark, and xylem tissues of the Celtis australis plant. These lipid biomarkers were analysed for their compound-specific hydrogen isotopic composition (δ2Hwax) under limited oxygen conditions at 150, 250, 350, and 450 °C. Our results reveal isotopic va...

By studying combustion structures, which conceal information about anthropogenic activity, we might learn about their makers. This is especially important for remote time periods like the Middle Paleolithic, whose archaeological record comprises numerous combustion structures. The majority of these are simple, flat, open hearths, although a small n...

The Carbon Preference Index (CPI) is a molecular ratio often used to assign the biological source and maturity of organic matter. This parameter is frequently employed in paleoenvironmental studies and archaeological applications. In this paper, we have evaluated the different results for this index using peak areas or concentrations from calibrati...

There is a relatively low amount of Middle Paleolithic sites in Europe dating to MIS 4. Of the few that exist, several of them lack evidence for anthropogenic fire, raising the question of how this period of global cooling may have affected the Neanderthal population. The Iberian Peninsula is a key area to explore this issue, as it has been conside...

This paper presents a multiproxy palaeoenvironmental study from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain), a rock shelter which has yielded evidence for Middle Palaeolithic human occupation. The sedimentary sequence has been analysed for lipid biomarker n-alkane abundances (ACL, CPI), compound specific leaf wax δ2H and δ13C, and bulk organic geochemistry (TO...

Molecular and isotopic approaches offer the chance to identify combustion residues and substrate components of archaeological combustion features to infer past fire-related activities. Analysis of fatty acid methyl esters by gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry have been successfully used to distinguish among different anim...

International Workshop on Archaeological Soil Micromorphology Basel, Switzerland, 2nd to 4th September 2019

McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research University of Cambridge 17/5/2019

Middle Paleolithic lithic and faunal assemblages throughout Eurasia reflect short-term Neanderthal occupations, which suggest high group mobility. However, the timing of these short-term occupations, a key factor to assess group mobility and territorial range, remains unresolved. Anthropogenic combustion structures are prominent in the Middle Paleo...

Micromorphological description of MFU with accompanying MFT. (PDF)

Thin sections of the sample set with indication on the position of the combustion structure. Sample set divided into inner area and outer area according to the provenience of the samples (see Fig 2). (TIF)

SAA 84th Annual Meeting Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S. | April 10 - 14, 2019

Prehistoric Adaptations to Cold Environments (PACE): multidisciplinary approaches January 8th - 9th 2019 Université Nice Sophia Antipolis, Campus St-Jean d’Angély Nice, France

Institute of Archaeologists of Ireland (IAI) Conference Sligo, Ireland March 23 - 24, 2018

Obsidian Provenance Study on the Island of Tenerife, Spain

Frontiers in Archaeological Sciences: Lembersky Conferences in Human Evolutionary Studies October 23-25, 2017 Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ

This poster presents preliminary results from a combined microscopic and biomolecular study of thermally altered sediments associated with Neanderthal occupations at Abric del Pastor, Alicante. Lipid biomarkers (n-alkanes) from these sediments were analysed by GC-MS. Microstructural sedimentary features and processes, identified through micromorpho...

Perforated marine shells have been recovered from four caves in Ireland, sites that also contained evidence for funerary activities of Neolithic and/or Bronze Age date. In stark contrast is the near complete absence of perforated shells from almost all other prehistoric contexts in Ireland. This chapter presents an overview of the evidence, conside...

Connolly, R. 2016. The assemblage of Bronze Age oyster (Ostrea edulis) shells from Moneen Cave. In: M. Dowd (ed.) Archaeological Excavations in Moneen Cave, the Burren, Co. Clare: Insights into Bronze Age and Post-Medieval Life in the West of Ireland. Archaeopress, Oxford.