RT Journal Article
T1 As above, so below: Deposition, modification, and reutilization of human remains at Marmoles cave (Cueva de los Marmoles: Southern Spain, 4000–1000 cal. BCE)
A1 Laffranchi, Zita
A1 Vera Rodríguez, Juan Carlos
A1 Martínez Fernández, María José
A1 Martínez Sánchez, Rafael M.
AB The deposition and manipulation of human remains in natural caves are well known for theNeolithic of Southern Iberia. The cultural meaning of these practices is however still largelyunclear. Cueva de los Marmoles (CM, Priego-Co´rdoba) is one of the most important cavecontexts from Southern Spain, which returned a large number of commingled skeletalremains suggesting its funerary use from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Here we discuss CM from a chronological and cultural perspective based on new radiocarbon, anthropological, and taphonomic analyses. These include the estimation of the minimum numberof individuals, the exploration of fragmentation patterns characterizing different skeletalregions, and the macroscopic and microscopic analysis of modifications to the remains ofpossible anthropic origin. Radiocarbon data point to a funerary use of CM between the 5th-2nd millennium cal. BCE. MNI estimates reveal the presence of at least 12 individuals(seven adults and five nonadults). The low representation of elements from hands and feetsuggests that individuals were placed in the cave while partially decomposed. Anthropictraces on the remains (e.g. fresh fractures, marrow canal modifications, and scrapingmarks) hint at their intentional fragmentation, cleaning from residual soft tissues, and insome cases reutilization. These practices are well-exemplified by the recovery of one "skullcup" and of two long bones used as tools. These data align with those from other cave contexts from the same geographic region, suggesting the presence, especially during the Neolithic period, of shared ideologies centered on the human body
PB Public Library of Science
SN 1932-6203 (electrónico)
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/23249
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/23249
LA eng
NO Laffranchi, Z., Milella, M., Vera Rodríguez, J. C., Martínez Fernández, M. J., Bretones García, M. D., Jiménez Brobeil, S. A., Brünig, J., López Flores, I., Cámara Serrano, J. A., & Martínez Sánchez, R. M. (2023). As above, so below: Deposition, modification, and reutilization of human remains at Marmoles cave (Cueva de los Marmoles: Southern Spain, 4000–1000 cal. BCE). In P. F. Biehl (Ed.), PLOS ONE (Vol. 18, Issue 9, p. e0291152). Public Library of Science (PLoS). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291152
NO The authors wish to express their gratitude to the director of the Municipal Historical Museumof Priego de Co´rdoba, Rafael Carmona Avila, without whose invaluable help this work wouldhave been impossible. They thank Prof. Miguel C. Botella for his suggestions during the morphological study of the osteological material. Sandra Pichler and Lara Indra helped in theinterpretation of taphonomic aspects and Jessica Ryan-Despraz kindly helped with the Englishediting of the text. Thanks to Dimitri Kunz for his inexhaustible support. They also expresstheir gratitude to the late Alejandro Ibañez Castro, chief archaeologist of the Delegation of Culture for the province of Cordoba, who supported this research project
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 2 jun 2026