RT Journal Article
T1 A Neanderthal's specialised burning structure compatible with tar obtention
A1 Ochando Tomás, Juan
A1 Rodríguez Vidal, Joaquín
A1 Finlayson, Clive
AB Here we present multiproxy evidence of a new type of Neanderthal hearth discovered in Vanguard Cave (VC) (Gibraltar), which is dated  65 kyr, and associated with Middle Paleolithic stone artefacts. The hearth structure coincides with predictions from theoretical studies which require the use of heating structures for obtaining birch tar, commonly used in hafting. We propose that the structure was used for heating rockroses (Cistaceae) under anoxic conditions by burning herbs and shrubs, over a guano mixed with sand layer. We tested this hypothesis experimentally with success. The presence of levoglucosan and retene in the structure's matrix points to combustion of higher resinous plant-derived material. Our results advance our understanding of Neanderthal behaviour, as the ability to organize activities related with the use of fire.
PB Elsevier
SN 0277-3791
SN 1873-457X (electrónico)
YR 2024
FD 2024-10
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/25250
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/25250
LA eng
NO Ochando, J., Jiménez-Espejo, F. J., Giles-Guzmán, F., Neto de Carvalho, C., Carrión, J. S., Muñiz, F., Rubiales, J. M., Cura, P., Belo, J., Finlayson, S., Martrat, B., van Drooge, B. L., Jiménez-Moreno, G., García-Alix, A., Lozano Rodríguez, J. A., Albert, R. M., Ohkouchi, N., Ogawa, N., Suga, H., … Finlayson, C. (2024). A Neanderthal’s specialised burning structure compatible with tar obtention. In Quaternary Science Reviews (Vol. 346, p. 109025). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.109025
NO The development of this work was supported by Projects CGL-BOS2015-68604-P, PID2019-1049449 GB-I00, HOMEDSCAPE, PID2022-136832NB-100, PID2020-119773 GB-I00 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain and PID2021-125619OB-C21/C22 funded by FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Fundación Séneca (grant no. 20788/PI/18) and Proyecto LifeWatch ERIC-SUMHAL, LIFEWATCH-2019-09-CSIC-13. JMR would like to thank Victoria Fernández (UPM) for making possible the SEM observations in brief delays, as well as Miriam González from the ICTS-CNME, for her kind work under difficult conditions due to the sanitary restrictions. BM was funded by the CSIC Ramón y Cajal postdoctoral programme RYC-2013-14073, LINKA20102 and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation projects CEX2018-000794-S and PID2022-137665NB-I00 AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE. NP, OT, and JV are supported by Secretariat of Universities and Research of Catalonia [FI-DGR grant 2019FI-B00522] and “María de Maeztu” Programme of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [CEX2019-000940-M]. N. Moreira (ICT) is financed by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under the project Ref. UIDB/04683/2020.
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 31 may 2026