Papers by Yolanda Fernandez-Jalvo
Human Evolution, 2016
HUMAN EVOLUTION Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar overlooking the Río Quípar, a Río Segura ... more HUMAN EVOLUTION Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar overlooking the Río Quípar, a Río Segura tributary, is an upland rock-shelter 75 km north of the Mediterranean coast and 110 km west of the Segura river-mouth. It contains undisturbed sediment 5 m deep assigned by magnetostratigraphy to >0.78 Ma (Matuyama mag-2 AA.VV. 2
Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 2022
El yacimiento de Galería es uno los rellenos cársticos pleistocenos situados en la Trinchera del ... more El yacimiento de Galería es uno los rellenos cársticos pleistocenos situados en la Trinchera del Ferrocarril de la Sierra de Atapuerca. El relleno sedimentario se divide en seis unidades estratigráficas (GI a GVI). La base de la sucesión estratigráfica corresponde al Pleistoceno Inferior y es estéril. Las unidades fosilíferas con evidencias de ocupación humana (GIT y GITT) son de la segunda mitad del Pleistoceno Medio. Las especies de mamíferos permanecen evolutivamente estables; solo se observan cambios menores en los roedores Iberomys breccensis, Microtus aff. arvalis y Arvicola sp. No obstante, se detectan variaciones en las frecuencias de micro- y macrovertebrados y en las comunidades de aves. La subunidad Glla se interpreta como formada durante una fase cálida.
Human Evolution, 2016
HUMAN EVOLUTION Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar overlooking the Río Quípar, a Río Segura ... more HUMAN EVOLUTION Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar overlooking the Río Quípar, a Río Segura tributary, is an upland rock-shelter 75 km north of the Mediterranean coast and 110 km west of the Segura river-mouth. It contains undisturbed sediment 5 m deep assigned by magnetostratigraphy to >0.78 Ma (Matuyama mag-2 AA.VV. 2
El registro paleontologico y arqueologico de los yacimientos de la Trinchera del Ferrocarril repr... more El registro paleontologico y arqueologico de los yacimientos de la Trinchera del Ferrocarril representa periodos clave en la evolucion biologica y cultural de Homo y en la historia faunistica, ambiental y climatica de Europa. La parte inferior de la secuencia de Sima del Elefante (TE8-14) tiene una antiguedad proximo a 1 millon de anos, y ha proporcionado indicaciones de presencia humana en forma de industria litica y marcas de corte. Este tiempo senala el principio de una serie de cambios climaticos, ambientales y faunisticos fundamentales. La parte inferior de la secuencia de Gran Dolina (TDW4-TD8inf) se situa en la transicion del Pleistoceno Inferior a Medio, y permite una caracterizacion muy precisa de los cambios faunisticos y ambientales alrededor de este limite. El nivel TD6 ha proporcionado una coleccion abundante de restos de Homo antecessor. El registro arqueologico, incluyendo industria del Modo 1, marcas de corte etc., permite la rara oportunidad de estudiar el comportam...
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2021
The apparently regular and favourable climate that characterizes the Holocene as an interglacial ... more The apparently regular and favourable climate that characterizes the Holocene as an interglacial period shows, however, important climatic instability well documented in the Northern Hemisphere. These fluctuations from colder to warmer or wetter to drier affected both biodiversity and human societies in the last 12,000 years, although the impact in Southern America is still poorly known. We are here investigating the biodiversity of small mammal faunas, more sensitive to climatic changes than large mammals, combining taphonomic and palaeoecological data in the Argentine Pampas to better understand the global nature and effect of these Holocene climatic fluctuations. This paper is pioneering applying in this region palaeoecological methodologies practised in European sites, such as the chorotype classification and biomes overlap analyses. The Pampean Region is an ecotone with a confluence of three climatic regions where any change in climatic conditions should be easily detected. Our results, based on the palaeoecological requirements of small mammals, do not indicate severe changes, and most of the sites show climatic stability except for one of them, in which a possible trend towards present conditions (temperate/humid) can be inferred.
Scientific Reports, 2020
Megamammals constituted an important component in the Pleistocene faunal communities of South Ame... more Megamammals constituted an important component in the Pleistocene faunal communities of South America. Paleobiological and paleoecological studies involving different megamammal taxa have increased significantly in the last years, but there are still several poorly-known issues of its life history. In this work, we analyze an assemblage composed of 13 individuals of different ontogenetic stages, and possibly different sex, belonging to the giant ground sloth Lestodon armatus (Xenarthra, Folivora), recovered from Playa del Barco site (Pampean Region, Argentina). A dating of 19,849 years Cal BP allows assigning this assemblage to a period of the MIS (Marine Isotope Stage) 2 related to the end of the Last Glacial Maximum. Based on multiple lines of research (e.g. taphonomy, paleopathology, osteohistology, isotopy), we interpret the origin of the assemblage and diverse paleobiological and paleoecological aspects (e.g. social behavior, ontogenetic changes, sexual dimorphism, diseases, re...
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2017
The taphonomic methodology for the study of small mammal fossil was based mainly on actualistic s... more The taphonomic methodology for the study of small mammal fossil was based mainly on actualistic studies of bones and teeth of insectivores (Soricidae, Talpidae, Erinaceidae) and rodents (Arvicolinae, Muridae) recovered from pellets of birds of prey and scats of carnivorous mammals from different places of North America, Europe and Africa. The digestive corrosion patterns on teeth of the South American rodents Sigmodontinae, Caviinae, Ctenomyidae and Abrocomidae, and the marsupials Monodelphini of central Argentina were observed. The comparison between the South American samples with the North American, African and European samples allowed us to establish similarities and differences in the digestive corrosion of the teeth. The main agreements have been recorded in the following groups: Arvicolinae with Caviinae and Abrocomidae; Murinae with Sigmodontinae; Soricidae, Talpidae and Erinaceidae with Monodelphini. However, the particular and simplified configuration of the molars of Ctenomyidae with thicker enamel and dentine exposed has promoted a new description of the categories of digestive corrosion. Likewise Muridae and Sigmodontinae molars, Ctenomyidae presents a delay in the appearance of signs of digestion with regard to other caviomorphs (Caviinae, Abrocomidae). This contribution may, therefore, be useful to know the origin of these South American faunas and the exact taphonomic agent that produced these assemblages. Finally, small mammal samples from an archaeopalaeontological site from Northwestern Patagonia, Argentina, were studied in order to apply the new methodology emerged from the recent samples.
Antiquity, 2016
Control of fire was a hallmark of developing human cognition and an essential technology for the ... more Control of fire was a hallmark of developing human cognition and an essential technology for the colonisation of cooler latitudes. In Europe, the earliest evidence comes from recent work at the site of Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar in southeastern Spain. Charred and calcined bone and thermally altered chert were recovered from a deep, 0.8-million-year-old sedimentary deposit. A combination of analyses indicated that these had been heated to 400-600ºC, compatible with burning. Inspection of the sediment and hydroxyapatite also suggests combustion and degradation of the bone. The results provide new insight into Early Palaeolithic use of fire and its significance for human evolution.
Quaternary International, 2014
Lakeshore sites such as Cerro de la Garita (Miocene of Teruel, Spain) and Senèze (Pliocene of Hau... more Lakeshore sites such as Cerro de la Garita (Miocene of Teruel, Spain) and Senèze (Pliocene of Haute-Loire, France) yielded fossils with distinct puncture marks. These marks were described as "punctures surrounded by plastically deformed bone" by Pesquero (2006), Pesquero et al. (in press) and Fernández-Jalvo et al. (in press) who proposed that the marks were caused by compression or trampling on bones against coarse sediment grain when deposited in damp environments. A series of experiments was performed to test this hypothesis. Cow, red deer and fallow deer metapodials were compressed by applying a mechanical load on them against a gravel substrate under dry/damp environments. Results confirm that these characteristic puncture marks are associated with compression efforts on bones in wet environments.
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2015
In their taphonomic study of a Cretaceous dinosaur fossil from the Gobi desert (Mongolia), Kremer... more In their taphonomic study of a Cretaceous dinosaur fossil from the Gobi desert (Mongolia), Kremer et al. (2012) noted that the histological sections of this fossil preserved within their core iron oxide microspheres containing carbonaceous matter. They interpreted the carbonaceous nature of these structures as organic matter and suggested a microbial origin (probably bacterial) for the structures. Microspheres, similar both in composition and shape, have been identified in fossils from Cerro de la Garita, a Miocene mammalian site in Teruel, Spain. In the latter case, compact bone was also attacked by terrestrially associated bacteria (microscopic focal destruction [MFD]) which were enriched in iron and gives support to the idea that bacteria acted as the biological agent for iron precipitation during soft tissue decomposition in the early stages of bone diagenesis. Subsequent diagenetic episodes of mineralization related to the environmental context differ between these two sites; calcite precipitation at the palaeo-lakeshore of Cerro de la Garita and calcite and gypsum in the Gobi desert study case of Kremer et al. (2012). If the microsphere is bacterial in origin, it may be a useful taphonomic indicator of terrestrial exposure within a transitional environment of land and water.
Irish Journal of Earth Sciences, 2010
Azokh Cave is located in the southern Caucasus and contains a Pleistocene and Holocene sediment i... more Azokh Cave is located in the southern Caucasus and contains a Pleistocene and Holocene sediment infill. The site is significant due to its geographic location at an important migratory route-way between the African subcontinent and Eurasia, and the recovery of Middle Pleistocene hominid remains in the sedimentary sequence during a previous phase of excavation. The stratigraphy of the largest of the cave's entrance passages, Azokh 1, is described in full in this paper for the first time. It is broadly divisible into nine units. Our ...
Quaternary International, 2012
Quaternary International, 1996
The study of past ecosystems can be complex due to taphonomic processes. These processes may alte... more The study of past ecosystems can be complex due to taphonomic processes. These processes may alter the spatial and temporal location of fossils during site formation. The Dolina site (Burgos, Spain) provides an example of the contribution of taphonomy to the interpretation of the past environments. This site belongs to the Atapuerca-Ibeas cave complex with extensive evidence of human activity throughout the Pleistocene. The small mammal assemblages from Dolina show evidence that predation has biased species composition to some degree. Especially in two levels (TD4 and TDll), predator activity appears to have interfered with palaeoecological interpretations and exaggerated inferred climatic changes during the Middle Pleistocene. Once possible bias due to taphonomic agents is recognized, a more realistic and precise interpretation of the palaeoecology of this area is possible, as well as a history of the cave infilling as a background to human use of the cave.
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 2013
We present radiocarbon dates, stable isotope data, and osteological analysis of the remains of a ... more We present radiocarbon dates, stable isotope data, and osteological analysis of the remains of a minimum of 17 individuals deposited in the western part of the burial chamber at Coldrum, Kent. This is one of the Medway group of megalithic monuments – sites with shared architectural motifs and no very close parallels elsewhere in Britain – whose location has been seen as important in terms of the origins of Neolithic material culture and practices in Britain. The osteological analysis identified the largest assemblage of cut-marked human bone yet reported from a British early Neolithic chambered tomb; these modifications were probably undertaken as part of burial practices. The stable isotope dataset shows very enrichedδ15N values, the causes of which are not entirely clear, but could include consumption of freshwater fish resources. Bayesian statistical modelling of the radiocarbon dates demonstrates that Coldrum is an early example of a British Neolithic burial monument, though the...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2007
Despite the enormous potential of analyses of ancient DNA for phylogeographic studies of past pop... more Despite the enormous potential of analyses of ancient DNA for phylogeographic studies of past populations, the impact these analyses, most of which are performed with fossil samples from natural history museum collections, has been limited to some extent by the inefficient recovery of ancient genetic material. Here we show that the standard storage conditions and/or treatments of fossil bones in these collections can be detrimental to DNA survival. Using a quantitative paleogenetic analysis of 247 herbivore fossil bones up to 50,000 years old and originating from 60 different archeological and paleontological contexts, we demonstrate that freshly excavated and nontreated unwashed bones contain six times more DNA and yield twice as many authentic DNA sequences as bones treated with standard procedures. This effect was even more pronounced with bones from one Neolithic site, where only freshly excavated bones yielded results. Finally, we compared the DNA content in the fossil bones of...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008
Two coastal sites in Gibraltar, Vanguard and Gorham's Caves, located at Governor's Beach ... more Two coastal sites in Gibraltar, Vanguard and Gorham's Caves, located at Governor's Beach on the eastern side of the Rock, are especially relevant to the study of Neanderthals. Vanguard Cave provides evidence of marine food supply (mollusks, seal, dolphin, and fish). Further evidence of marine mammal remains was also found in the occupation levels at Gorham's Cave associated with Upper Paleolithic and Mousterian technologies [Finlayson C, et al. (2006) Nature 443:850–853]. The stratigraphic sequence of Gibraltar sites allows us to compare behaviors and subsistence strategies of Neanderthals during the Middle Paleolithic observed at Vanguard and Gorham's Cave sites. This evidence suggests that such use of marine resources was not a rare behavior and represents focused visits to the coast and estuaries.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 1996
Fossil bones of small mammals from two levels at Olduvai Bed I (Tanzania) were analysed for a ran... more Fossil bones of small mammals from two levels at Olduvai Bed I (Tanzania) were analysed for a range of elements using electron microprobe techniques. Comparison of the fossil samples is made with those of recent samples collected from close to the Natron alkaline lake (Tanzania). Values for the elements Na, Sr, Ba are significantly higher, and S lower in the fossil samples relative to the recent samples. In addition, concentrations of the rare earth elements reach exceptionally high concentration levels (i.e. >6 wt.%) in one of the sites, whereas these elements are not detected in the recent samples. The high concentrations of these elements in the fossil samples are clearly a result of diagenetic alteration, although the effects of digestion are likely to have had some influence on the processes involved in the incorporation of elements during fossilisation. Statistical analyses show there are significant differences in the chemical compositions of fossil bones from two levels in Bed I. Observed changes in the rare earth element patterns, in particular the Ce anomaly, suggest that relative differences in the redox potentials of the burial and depositional environments existed at the two levels. Fluctuations in the size and extent of the palaeolake are considered to be the likely cause of these differences.
Uploads
Papers by Yolanda Fernandez-Jalvo