Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo
Degree in History (B. A. 2006), Master Erasmus Mundus in Quaternary Archeology (M. A. 2008) and PhD on Prehistory with international mention (2010-2015). My PhD thesis was approved with High Honors and awarded with two international prizes, the Tübingen Research Prize in Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology (2016) and the Student Poster Prize of the European Society for the Study of Human Evolution (2015). Specialist in Paleolithic archeology, I developed my doctoral training in collaboration with several research teams, the most prominent among them is the Atapuerca Research Team. I collaborate permanently with the Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES). I participated in several competitive and noncompetitive R + D projects at the Rovira i Virgili Uni., IPHES and Uni. of Barcelona. Currently I am postdoc researcher at Complutense University of Madrid (Prehistory Department) and IDEA (Institute of Evolution in Africa).
The keywords that can define my research are: Paleolithic Archeology, Zooarchaeology, Taphonomy, Paleontology and Subsistence. My research focuses on Human Behavior in the past, with special interest on the evolution of the strategies, tactics and techniques developed for the subsistence inferred from the faunal record. The fossil accumulation formation processes are very important part of my research too. Lower Paleolithic is my main focus, but I developed works about other periods of Prehistory as well as theoretical and methodological researches about bone modifications, with special emphasis on experimental taphonomy.
Address: IDEA (Instituto de Evolución en África), Calle Covarrubias 36, 28010, Madrid, Spain.
The keywords that can define my research are: Paleolithic Archeology, Zooarchaeology, Taphonomy, Paleontology and Subsistence. My research focuses on Human Behavior in the past, with special interest on the evolution of the strategies, tactics and techniques developed for the subsistence inferred from the faunal record. The fossil accumulation formation processes are very important part of my research too. Lower Paleolithic is my main focus, but I developed works about other periods of Prehistory as well as theoretical and methodological researches about bone modifications, with special emphasis on experimental taphonomy.
Address: IDEA (Instituto de Evolución en África), Calle Covarrubias 36, 28010, Madrid, Spain.
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Papers by Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo
been described as product of the anthropic activities, been the carnivore activities testimonial. The mainly taxa recorded are the
Cervus elaphus, which represent the medium-sized animals, and equids (Equus ferus/Equus hydruntinus), which represent the
main large sized animals. However, Stephanorhinus sp. hemitoechus and Bos primigenius have been also identified in many levels.
The faunal remains of Abric Romaní are characterized by a high presence of high survival elements, mainly mid shaft of long bones
and teeth. This study is focused on the methodology proposed by Faith and Gordon [1]: differences in the skeletal distribution of
animals according to their size and weight; the statistical correlation between the skeletal profiles and standard food utility index;
and the anatomical diversity of size-weight categories Results indicate an unconstrained transport strategy in all the studied levels
and in all size-weight categories. However, we found differences in the skeletal distribution of medium-sized and large animals,
which may be due to different transport strategies. We applied the same analysis to Hadza assemblages in order to compare them
with the assemblages of Abric Romaní. The analogy reveals similar results to those found at Abric Romaní. The most striking feature
of the examined Hadza assemblages is the superposition of several transport events as a result of successive occupation/deposition
events. This fact support that the superposition of several transport strategies and occupation events could be responsible of an unconstrained
transport strategy deduced from our results. This suggests that the transport strategies used by Neanderthals at Abric
Romaní are also characterized by a high degree of diversity in transport decisions. However, some transport strategies could be
identified. The significant correlations between the unsaturated marrow index and the high survival elements indicate transport
strategies based on the rates of economic return. Therefore one of these transport types in the Abric Romaní sequence is related
to the nutritional marrow and grease richest. These conclusions can be extrapolated to other Middle Palaeolithic assemblages with
similar skeletal profiles, in which human activity is the main cause of the accumulation.
Here we present the faunal analysis of the "bison bone bed" layer from TD10.2 sub-unit (Gran Dolina site, Atapuerca, Spain) based on zooarchaeology and taphonomical archaeology methods (4). To obtain the results we have taken into account taxonomic diversity rates, skeletal profiles, mortality profiles, seasonality, statistical approaches to density mediated attrition and taphonomic modifications in bone surfaces.
The taxonomic and anatomical composition indicates a monospecific assemblage heavily dominated by axial elements of Bison sp. The abundance of anthropogenic modifications are in concordance with early and primary access to the carcasses and the development of systematic butchering focused on the exploitation of meat and fat and the transportation of high yield elements to somewhere near the cave. Together with a catastrophic and seasonal mortality pattern, our research suggests the procurement of bison by communal hunting as early as circa 400 ka B.P.
Ethnographic, ethnohistorical, and archeological analogies allowed us to interpret the "bison bone bed" as a kill-butchering site used for several seasonal events of mass communal hunting in which herds of bison were slaughtered to be exploited intensively by the hominines that occupied the cave. The repeated seasonal use of one location on the landscape for the development of specific tasks can be related with a modern logistical like pattern of resource management. In the same way, the early existence of mass communal hunting as a predation technique inform us about the emergence of cognitive, technological, and social skills similar to those exhibited by other modern communal hunters.
Evidence from monospecific faunal assemblages largely dominated by large ungulates that exhibit a high number of animals slaughtered, catastrophic mortality profiles, seasonal mortality, systematic exploitation of carcasses, and transport of elements of high utility is common features used to infer communal hunting in the MP, Upper Paleolithic, and recent times (5). These characteristics are fully consistent with those observed in the faunal assemblage of the TD10.2 "bison bone bed", suggesting that cognitive and technological capabilities required for successful communal hunting of large ungulates was fully developed in the pre-Neanderthal populations of Atapuerca as early as the Middle Pleistocene.
The use of zooarchaeology and taphonomy as methodological tools has allowed us to explore previous interpretation to develop new hypotheses. The data provided by ongoing excavations support the hypothesis of the Cave Bear den on the lower levels and introduce the presence of spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) dens at a later time. The testimonial presence of cutmarks on some remains and 1 lithic fragment, require us to propose possible scenarios of interaction between hominids and carnivores.
Our object of study is faunal assemblage of level M of Abric Romani (51-55 ka BP). We have applied a taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis over whole remains bigger than 2cm. We have reconstructed the original anatomical representation through MNI, MNE and MAU, in addition we have also analyzed the bone surface to identified pre/postdepositional alterations. With the aim of identify potential transport strategies have been applied SFUI and Shannon diversity index on the elements of high survival.
The faunal assemblage of level M of Abric Romani is a fully anthropic accumulation. Neanderthals carried out a transport strategy Unconstrained, where the anatomical
elements were introduced based on their abundance in a complete skeleton. We observed a similar anatomical representation in all animal sizes, so transportation was not differentially performed according to the animal weight. With the aim of understand the behavioral implications of this type of transport strategy we have applied the same statistical model sets generated by Hadza groups. We know that they have at least six different transport strategies conditioned by various causes. However, the application of SFUI and Shannon diversity index pointing to unconstrained transport strategy, with similar results to those found in the level M.
The principal characteristic of the M level of Abric Romani, as well as the Hadzas assemblages analyzed are the overlapping hunting and transportation events. The successive occupations and depositions hide each specific event. This apparently results in a homogeneous assemblage, but that is a result of a behavior characterized by variability. The transport of the different elements is not determined exclusively by the animal size or nutritional value of the elements. The main characteristic of transport is the high diversity of elements that can be transported in each hunting event. This behavior requires highly organizational capacity, resulting from a high sociocultural complexity which characterized the Neanderthal groups.
Among these predators, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), is an excellent candidate to be studied since: 1) its diet is based almost exclusively on rabbits and 2) its historical distribution overlaps with one of the most interesting areas for small game research, the Iberian Peninsula and southern France.
The present study focuses on the Iberian lynx as taphonomic agent, presenting the analysis non-ingested rabbit remains collected in captive breeding centers of "El Acebuche" y "La Olivilla" (Southern Spain). Our results show a predominance of the distal segment of the appendicular skeleton on the anatomical representation. Breakage pattern is variable, with a high proportion of whole bones of the autopodium and heavy breakage of zeugopodium and stylopodium. Surface modifications on bones are extremely rare.