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  • Vallparadís
  • Terrasa
  • Vallparadís
  • Spain
  • Catalonia
  • Barcelona
  • Terrassa

Credits

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Monuments

Periods

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Chronology

  • 980000 BC - 950000 BC
  • 960000 BC - 700000 BC

Season

    • Research (2005-2007) This site was excavated between 2005 and 2007 and contains a long stratigraphic sequence extending from the late Lower to the early Middle Pleistocene. Evidence of human occupation comes in the shape of lithic tools and fauna with cut marks, which have been identified in levels with reversed polarity from the Early Pleistocene (units EVT7/4) and levels with normal polarity from the start of the Middle Pleistocene (units EVT3/2). The most important archaeological levels are 10 and 10c (EVT7), whose more than 780 m2 have already been the subject of anarea excavation in. The work resulted in the documentation of an abundant Mode 1 lithic assemblage associated with numerous anthropized faunal remains, which were dated by palaeomagnetism and biostratigraphy of macro and micro-mammalian fauna to the upper limit of the Jaramillo (c. 0.98 Ma) and by ESR/U-series to 0.83 + 0.13 Ma. The unit EVT7 tools are of small format and made with local raw materials. The _chaînes_ _opératoires_ show weakly-developed carving sequences based on bipolar-on-anvil methods and the shaping of lithic flakes, denticulate tools, scrapers and becs on pebbles, clasts, fragments and stone chips, and also a chopper. A technological comparison with Lower Pleistocene sites in Europe would suggest that they all share the same technology (Mode 1) with slight variations. Similarly, the taphonomic and archaeozoological analyses from Vallparadis, Orce and Atapuerca indicate that they have common adaptive strategies. All these technological and adaptive characteristics made it possible for the human populations of the Iberian Peninsula to compete for resources with large carnivores and adapt to different ecosystems and changes in climate. Archaeological work on the upper sequence (units EVT4/2) brought to light a lithic assemblage made using longer _chaînes_ _opératoires_. It also showed an increase in the size of the artefacts and a better choice of raw materials for carving. This would indicate changes in collection areas frequented by the hominids related to the appearance of Mode 2. In order to complete the chronostratigraphic framework, datings were carried out on samples of quartz grains extracted from sediment and tooth fossils using ESR (Electron Spin Resonance) and ESR combined with uranium-thorium. The results are very significant and tally with those obtained using biochronology and palaeomagnetism. The Vallparadis site now has an accurate, consistent chronostratigraphic framework that enables it to be placed chronologically at the end of the Lower Pleistocene, within a time scale running between the Jaramillo and Brunhes geomagnetic events. Along with the TD-6 Gran Dolina and the TE-9 Sima del Elefante in the Atapuerca Mountains (Burgos), this is a key site for studying the earliest human settlements in Europe.

Bibliography

    • Martínez, K., Garcia, J. (2007): "Vallparadís, història dels primers homínids d’Europa", Tribuna d’arqueologia, pp. 45–68.
    • Alba, D.M., Moyà-Solà, S., Madurell, J., Aurell, J. (2008): "Dentognathic remains of Macaca (Primates, Cercopithecidae) from the late early Pleistocene of Terrassa (Catalonia, Spain)", Journal of Human Evolution, 55, pp. 1160–1163.
    • Martínez, K., Garcia, J., Carbonell, E., Agustí, J., Bahain, J.-J., Blain, H.-A., Burjachs, F., Cáceres, I., Duval, M., Falguères, C., Gómez, M., Huguet, R. (2010): "A new Lower Pleistocene archeological site in Europe (Vallparadís, Barcelona, Spain)", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, pp. 5762–5767.
    • Madurell-Malapeira, J., Minwer-Barakat, R., Alba, D.M., Garcés, M., Gómez, M., Aurell-Garrido, J., Ros-Montoya, S., Moyà-Solà, S., Berástegui, X. (2010): "The Vallparadís section (Terrassa, Iberian Peninsula) and the latest Villafranchian faunas of Europe", Quaternary Science Review, 29, pp. 2972–2982.
    • Madurell-Malapeira, J., Alba, D.M., Minwer-Barakat, R., Aurell-Garrido, J., Moyà-Solà, S. (2012): "Early human dispersals into the Iberian Peninsula: a comment on Martínez et al. (2010) and Garcia et al. (2011)", Journal of Human Evolution, 62, pp. 169–173.
    • Duval, M., Moreno, D., Shao, Q., Voinchet, P., Falguères, C., Bahain, J.-J., Garcia, T., Garcia, J., Martínez, K. (2011): "Datación por ESR del yacimiento arqueológico del Pleistoceno inferior de Vallparadís (Terrassa, Cataluña, España)", Trabajos de Prehistoria, 68(1), pp. 7–24.
    • Minwer-Barakat, R., Madurell-Malapeira, J., Alba, D., Aurell-Garrido, J., Moyà-Solà, S. (2011): "Pleistocene rodents from the Torrent de Vallparadís section (Northeastern Spain): biochronological implications", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 31(4), pp. 1–17.
    • Garcia, J., Martínez, K., Carbonell, E. (2011): "Continuity of the first human occupation in the Iberian Peninsula: Closing the archaeological gap", Comptes Rendus Palevol, 10, pp. 279–284.
    • Duval, M., Falguères, C., Bahain, J.-J. (2012): "Age of the oldest hominin settlements in Spain: contribution of the combined U-series/ESR dating method applied to fossil teeth", Quaternary Geochronology, 10, pp. 410–417.
    • Garcia, J., Martínez, K., Carbonell, E., Agustí, J., Burjachs, F. (2012): "Defending the early human occupation of Vallparadís (Barcelona, Iberian Peninsula): A reply to Madurell-Malapeira et al. (2012)", Journal of Human Evolution, 63, pp. 568–575.
    • Garcia, J., Landeck, G., Martínez, K., Carbonell, E., (2013): "Hominin dispersals from the Jaramillo subchron in central and south-western Europe: Untermassfeld (Germany) and Vallparadís (Spain)", Quaternary International, 316, pp. 73–93.
    • Garcia, J., Martínez, K., Carbonell, E. (2013): "The Early Pleistocene stone tools from Vallparadís (Barcelona, Spain): rethinking the European Mode 1", Quaternary International, 316, pp. 94–114.
    • Lozano-Fernández, I., Agustí, J., Cuenca-Bescós, G., Blain, H.-A., López-García, J. M., Vallverdú, J. (2013): "Pleistocene evolutionary trends in dental morphology of Mimomys savini (Rodentia, Mammalia) from Iberian Peninsula and discussion about the origin of the genus Arvicola", Quaternaire, 24, pp. 165–176.
    • Lozano-Fernández, I., Cuenca-Bescós, G., Blain, H.-A., López-García, J. M., Agustí, J. (2013): "Mimomys savini size evolution in the Early Pleistocene of south-western Europe and possible biochronological implications", Quaternary Science Reviews, 76, pp. 96–101.
    • Martínez, K., Garcia, J., Carbonell, E. (2013): "Hominin multiple occupations in the Early and Middle Pleistocene sequence of Vallparadís (Barcelona, Spain)", Quaternary International, 316, pp. 115–122.
    • Martínez, K., Garcia, J., Burjachs, F., Yll, R., Carbonell, E. (2014): "Early human occupation of Iberia: the chronological and palaeoclimatic inferences from Vallparadís (Barcelona, Spain)", Quaternary Science Reviews, 85, pp. 136–146.
    • García, J., Martínez, K., Cuenca-Bescós, G., Carbonell, E. (2014): "Human occupation of Iberia prior to the Jaramillo magnetochron (>1.07 Myr)", Quaternary Science Reviews, 98, pp. 84-99.