Polo-Díaz Ana, Rabuñal Jose Ramón, Guérin Guillaume, Fernández-López de Pablo Javier
Departamento de Geografía, Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
I.U. de Investigación en Arqueología y Patrimonio Histórico, Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain.
Archaeol Anthropol Sci. 2023;15(7):104. doi: 10.1007/s12520-023-01794-5. Epub 2023 Jun 22.
Hearth-pits are some of the most common archaeological features documented in open-air Mesolithic sites, especially in coversand areas of NW Europe. However, very few geoarchaeological studies have addressed their formation, function and relationship with occupation surfaces. This work introduces new interdisciplinary investigations on the sediments of the Mesolithic open-air site of El Arenal de la Virgen (SE Iberia). A selection of five hearth-pits from two different occupation phases (Phase 1: 9.3-9.1 cal ka BP and Phase 2: 8.6-8.3 cal ka BP) has been analysed using stratigraphy, texture, soil chemistry, micromorphology, petrography and OSL and TL analyses. Combustion traits of the carbonate rock assemblages preserved in the sediments of the hearth-pits have also been investigated and compared to reference and experimental data from local geogenic materials. Our results allowed us to discuss the anthropogenic origin and taphonomy of the hearth-pits studied and approach their function. The structures from Phase 1 are interpreted as a possible oven and a dumping feature linked to single/occasional use events. In contrast, for hearth-pits from Phase 2, we propose they were related to combustion and dwelling areas subject to recurrent occupation episodes and disturbance. Finally, our sedimentary and soil data revealed existing favourable paleoenvironmental conditions during the Mesolithic occupation of the site characterized by increased moisture, temperature and vegetation cover, in contrast to the Pleistocene and Middle Holocene periods pre- and post-dating the human settlement. This work highlights the potential of integrating geoarchaeological and contextual evidence to clarify the factors involved in the formation of hearth-pits and infer intra-site occupation patterns.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12520-023-01794-5.
火塘是露天中石器时代遗址中记录的一些最常见的考古特征，尤其是在欧洲西北部的覆盖沙地地区。然而，很少有地质考古研究涉及它们的形成、功能以及与居住表面的关系。这项工作介绍了对中石器时代露天遗址埃尔阿雷纳尔德拉维根（西班牙东南部）沉积物的新的跨学科研究。从两个不同的居住阶段（阶段1：公元前9300 - 9100年校准年代和阶段2：公元前8600 - 8300年校准年代）中挑选了五个火塘，使用地层学、质地、土壤化学、微形态学、岩石学以及光释光和热释光分析进行了研究。还研究了保存在火塘沉积物中的碳酸盐岩组合的燃烧特征，并与当地地质成因物质的参考和实验数据进行了比较。我们的结果使我们能够讨论所研究火塘的人为起源和埋藏学，并探讨它们的功能。阶段1的结构被解释为一个可能的烤炉和一个与单次/偶尔使用事件相关的倾倒特征。相比之下，对于阶段2的火塘，我们认为它们与反复有人居住和受到干扰的燃烧及居住区域有关。最后，我们的沉积和土壤数据显示，与人类定居之前和之后的更新世和中全新世时期相比，该遗址中石器时代居住期间存在有利的古环境条件，其特点是湿度、温度和植被覆盖增加。这项工作强调了整合地质考古和背景证据以阐明火塘形成所涉及的因素并推断遗址内居住模式的潜力。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s12520 - 023 - 01794 - 5获取的补充材料。
