RT Journal Article
T1 Neanderthal footprints in the “Matalascañas trampled surface” (SW Spain): new OSL dating and Mousterian lithic industry
A1 Neto de Carvalho, Carlos
A1 Cáceres Puro, Luis Miguel
A1 Rodríguez Vidal, Joaquín
A1 Toscano Grande, Antonio
A1 Gómez Gutiérrez, Paula
A1 Ruiz Muñoz, Francisco
A1 Ramírez Cruzado, Samuel
A1 Finlayson, Clive
AB In the Huelva Coast of SW Spain erosion by recent marine storms revealed the presence of a paleosolwhere an extensive tracksite known as “Matalasca~nas Trampled Surface” (MTS) has been documented.The MTS includes tracks and trackways of large species of mammals, along with bird trace fossils,invertebrate burrows and root traces. Within this record, the presence of several hominin footprints andtrackways stands out. Despite previous uncertainties about the producer of these footprints, new OSL age of 151 ± 11 ka secures their attribution to Neanderthals, the only hominins known to have been present in the Iberian Peninsula during the MIS6-5 transition. Moreover, typical Mousterian lithic industry with Levallois knapping was found associated with the ichnological record. This lithic industry is characterized by the selection of raw materials from outcrops in a short-distance range to the tracksite. The general characteristics of the lithics are derived both from the nature of the raw material and from the nature of the site itself, which cannot be seen as a settlement, but rather as a place of passage for fauna, including Neanderthals, where a few human individuals performed short-term activities, such as food procurement and/or meat processing.
PB Elsevier
SN 0277-3791
SN 1873-457X (electrónico)
YR 2023
FD 2023-07-06
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/22545
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/22545
LA eng
NO Neto de Carvalho, C., Muñiz, F., Cáceres, L. M., Rodríguez-Vidal, J., Medialdea, A., Val, M. del, Cunha, P. P., García, J. M., Giles-Guzmán, F., Carrión, J. S., Belaústegui, Z., Toscano, A., Gómez, P., Galán, J. M., Belo, J., Cachão, M., Ruiz, F., Ramirez-Cruzado, S., Finlayson, G., … Finlayson, C. (2023). Neanderthal footprints in the “Matalascañas trampled surface” (SW Spain): new OSL dating and Mousterian lithic industry. In Quaternary Science Reviews (Vol. 313, p. 108200). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108200
NO Research was possible thanks to the Delegaciones territoriales de Huelva, Consejería de Agricultura, Ganadería, Pesca y Desarrollo Sostenible and Consejería de Cultura (Junta de Andalucía), Servicio de Geodiversidad y Biodiversidad (Dirección General de Medio Natural, Biodiversidad y Espacios Protegidos) and The National Park of Doñana. This work has been supported by the Research Groups RNM-293 and RNM-238, University of Huelva & Junta de Andalucía. This work also received institutional support from the Naturtejo, E.I.M. (Naturtejo UNESCO Global Geopark). We would like to thank to Dr. Teodosio Donaire (Department of Earth Sciences, University of Huelva) by the petrological classification of the lithic industry. This work was partly funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, through: (i) projects UIDB/04292/2020 & UIDP/04292/2020 (MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre) and LA/P/0069/2020 (ARNET). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Huelva / CBUA.
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 14 jul 2026