Early evidence of fire in south-western Europe: the Acheulean site of Gruta da Aroeira (Torres Novas, Portugal).

Scientific Reports
Montserrat SanzJoão Zilhão

Abstract

The site of Gruta da Aroeira (Torres Novas, Portugal), with evidence of human occupancy dating to ca. 400 ka (Marine Isotope Stage 11), is one of the very few Middle Pleistocene localities to have provided a fossil hominin cranium associated with Acheulean bifaces in a cave context. The multi-analytic study reported here of the by-products of burning recorded in layer X suggests the presence of anthropogenic fires at the site, among the oldest such evidence in south-western Europe. The burnt material consists of bone, charcoal and, possibly, quartzite cobbles. These finds were made in a small area of the cave and in two separate occupation horizons. Our results add to our still-limited knowledge about the controlled use of fire in the Lower Palaeolithic and contribute to ongoing debates on the behavioural complexity of the Acheulean of Europe.

References

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Mar 16, 2011·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Wil Roebroeks, Paola Villa
Apr 5, 2012·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Francesco BernaMichael Chazan
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Citations

Jun 9, 2021·Journal of Human Evolution·Nick Ashton, Rob Davis
Jul 25, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Katharine MacDonaldWil Roebroeks

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
X-ray
infrared spectroscopy

Software Mentioned

OpenStreetMap
Orgnac

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