Papers by Berta Morell Rovira
Journal of World Prehistory
This research combines Strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and Oxygen (δ18O) isotope analysis to challenge the ... more This research combines Strontium (87Sr/86Sr) and Oxygen (δ18O) isotope analysis to challenge the prevailing interpretation of patrilocal exogamic practices among eastern European Early Neolithic Linearbandkeramik (LBK) communities. Patrilocality has been considered the key factor influencing the mobility patterns of central Europe’s first farmers (c. 5500–4900 cal. BC), especially in the south-eastern Moravian region (Czech Republic). Focusing our attention on both male and female tooth enamel samples from cemeteries, settlement graves and small clusters of graves, this paper reassesses the correlation between mobility, biological sex, and funerary practices. This task is accomplished by establishing a new isotopic footprint using new 87Sr/86Sr data, as well as significantly increasing the number of sampled individuals for 87Sr/86Sr and δ18O. The outcome of this research contributes to a better understanding of the mobility patterns among early farmers in central Europe, challenging existing theories and providing new insights into their social and cultural dynamics.
Journal of Open Archaeology Data, 2021
This paper presents a compilation of radiocarbon dates associated with the process of arrival, de... more This paper presents a compilation of radiocarbon dates associated with the process of arrival, development and consolidation of the first farming communities that settled between the northwestern Mediterranean Arch and the High Rhine area approximately between 5900 and 2000 cal BC covering a large geographical area previously out of the main focus of 14 C data compilations. The database includes dates from scientific publications and it incorporates several fields for evaluating the quality and the reliability of the available samples. It overall provides 3617 radiocarbon dates that allow the scientific community to build chronological models that can be combined with other proxies such as spatial location, type of sample or chronocultural phase.
La Cova de l'Avellaner es uno de los contextos arqueológicos del noreste peninsular más conocidos... more La Cova de l'Avellaner es uno de los contextos arqueológicos del noreste peninsular más conocidos perteneciente cronológicamente a los inicios del neolítico. La presencia de tres cavidades con numerosos restos humanos y su cronología neolítica tan antigua, ha hecho de este yacimiento un lugar de referencia sobre las prácticas funerarias realizadas por aquellas primigenias comunidades agricultoras y pastoras. Las primeras dataciones que se realizaron a inicios de los 90 ofrecieron resultados con márgenes de incertidumbre demasiado altos, que generaban ciertas dudas sobre su validez. Por ello, recientemente decidimos iniciar un programa de dataciones para concretar la cronología de los tres espacios funerarios documentados. Se fecharon tres individuos, uno de cada espacio. Los resultados de esas dataciones y su contextualización en el marco de las primeras prácticas funerarias del noreste peninsular constituyen el objetivo del presente artículo. LABURPENA Neolitiko garaiko hasieran kokatu daitezkeen kontextu arkeologikoetatik hoberen ezagutzen denetako bat dugu Cova de l'Avellaner. Izan ere, haitzulo honek dituen hiru geletan topatzen diren giza aztarna ugari eta aintzineko kronologiak, lehen nekazal eta artzainei buruzko ikerke-tarako erreferentzi bilakatu dute. Dena den, lortu ziren lehen datazioek zeukaten ziurgarritasun marjin altuek beraien baliozkotazunari buruzko kezkak sortu zituzten. Hori dela eta, datazio programa berri bat hastea erabaki genuen, haitzuloaren hiru eremuen kronologia zehaztu ahal iza-teko. Helburu honekin, gela bakoitzeko gizabanako baten laginak datatu ziren. Artikulu honen helburuak datazio hauen emaitzak eta hauekin, Iberiar Penintsulako lehen ehortze praktiken testuinguru barruan, egindako interpretazioak azaltzea dira. ABSTRACT Until a few years ago, the available information regarding the funerary practices of the first Neolithic communities was negligible. Currently, this has changed significantly, thanks, particularly, to the works carried out in sites such as Cova Bonica or Can Sadurní. In this context, the Cova de l'Avellaner, the addressed site of this paper, was one of the best-known Early-Neolithic archaeological contexts from the Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The site has three cavities with numerous human remains. This exceptional archaeological record and its old chronology have made this cave a reference site of the funerary practices of the first farming societies. The information provided, both by contexts such as Cova de l'Avellaner, and those currently being excavated, seem to show that the caves were selected during this time as burial sites. Different individuals were buried in those cavities, probably accompanied by different tools, containers and ornaments as grave goods. The problem is that it is practically impossible to assign such elements to each of the dead and even to recognize others who could be part of the sediment that covered the bodies. In any case, in this paper a description of the discovered materials are presented, since their characteristics can help to recognize which type of artefacts could accompany the buried and because they also have an added value as a chronological marker; this is what has helped us to define better the moment in which the burials were practiced. The first radiocarbon dates from Cova de l'Avellaner were made during the nineties and provided too wide margins, so their validity is doubtful For this reason we have recently started a radiocarbon dating programme, in order to determine the chronology of the three funerary spaces
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2018
This paper sets out how to approach the chronology of an archaeological funerary practice, throug... more This paper sets out how to approach the chronology of an archaeological funerary practice, through a specific case study: the Neolithic “Pit Burials” funerary horizon of the northeastern Iberian Peninsula. Towards the end of the fifth millennium cal BC, the communities settled in this region began to systematically bury a large part of their population in individual, occasionally double, pits or stone boxes burials. Clear similarities have been documented with other neolithic European funerary horizons, such as the “Chasséen” in France or the “Cortaillod” in Switzerland, that suggest that it could be a larger-scale phenomenon. However, up to now the chronology of “Pit Burials” has not been fully defined, so describing and explaining this phenomenon both regionally and globally has been difficult. This paper fills this gap by presenting, on the one hand, new unpublished radiocarbon dates, addressing the methodological possibilities of statistical analysis and Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon dates in order to specify the chronology of funerary contexts. The results presented here not only show the chronology of the “Pit Burials”, and its relationship with the other similar European burials, from this methodological point of view for the first time, but also the methodological advantages of these statistical tools in order to specify the chronology of any other archaeological funerary practice.
Palevol, 2018
Camí de Can Grau is one of the most important Neolithic necropolises of the “Pit Burials” horizon... more Camí de Can Grau is one of the most important Neolithic necropolises of the “Pit Burials” horizon (North-East of the Iberian Peninsula. Late fifth–early fourth millennia cal BC), because of its large number of graves. However, the number of buried individuals and the type of grave goods of the site have some peculiarities suggesting that could be one of the last manifestations of this horizon. For proving that, a radiocarbon dating programme and some statistical analysis were carried out so as to determine its chronology. The results are discussed regarding the duration of the necropolis, the degree of contemporaneity between graves and grave goods and the number of buried individuals. Moreover, chronological relationships with other similar contexts of the same horizon and located in other regions are presented. This study goes beyond a purely local research, as it proposes a method for addressing the chronology of funerary contexts.
Radiocarbon, 2017
Bòbila Madurell-Can Gambús is the most emblematic Neolithic cemetery in the northeastern Iberian ... more Bòbila Madurell-Can Gambús is the most emblematic Neolithic cemetery in the northeastern Iberian peninsula, with a total of 179 documented pit burials. Artifacts made of exogenous raw materials, such as honey flint (southeastern France), jadeite, amphibolite, eclogite and nephrite (Alps and the Pyrenees), variscite (coast of northeastern Iberia), and even obsidian (Sardinia), have been found in the burials. The presence of these raw materials is not exclusive to this necropolis, but they have also been documented in many of the graves of this region during this period. The literature has singled out this funerary practice as the Pit Burials cultural horizon. However, until now the chronology of this funerary practice has not been fully defined, so it was difficult to explain the development of the chronology and the networks through which the materials reached northeast Iberia. New, unpublished radiocarbon (14C) dates of Bòbila Madurell-Can Gambús are presented, as well as the results of different statistical analyses and Bayesian modeling that specify its chronology. Through the contribution of new data on the chronology of Bòbila Madurell-Can Gambús new clues regarding the temporal dynamics of pit burials and the raw materials exchange networks associated with them are presented
Actes du colloque international. Paris, 18-20 novembre 2014. Archives d’Écologie Préhistorique, Toulouse , 2016
Bòbila Madurell-Can Gambús is the most emblematic Neolithic cemetery in the northeastern Iberian ... more Bòbila Madurell-Can Gambús is the most emblematic Neolithic cemetery in the northeastern Iberian peninsula, with a total of 179 documented pit burials. Artifacts made of exogenous raw materials, such as honey flint (southeastern France), jadeite, amphibolite, eclogite and nephrite (Alps and the Pyrenees), variscite (coast of northeastern Iberia), and even obsidian (Sardinia), have been found in the burials. The presence of these raw materials is not exclusive to this necropolis, but they have also been documented in many of the graves of this region during this period. The literature has singled out this funerary practice as the Pit Burials cultural horizon. However, until now the chronology of this funerary practice has not been fully defined, so it was difficult to explain the development of the chronology and the networks through which the materials reached northeast Iberia. New, unpublished radiocarbon (14C) dates of Bòbila Madurell-Can Gambús are presented, as well as the results of different statistical analyses and Bayesian modeling that specify its chronology. Through the contribution of new data on the chronology of Bòbila Madurell-Can Gambús new clues regarding the temporal dynamics of pit burials and the raw materials exchange networks associated with them are presented
In this contribution we present the design phase of an ABM implemented to understand how cultural... more In this contribution we present the design phase of an ABM implemented to understand how cultural identities and cultural standardization may have emerged in a prehistoric sedentary early complex society. The aim of the model is to explain how diversity and self-identification may have emerged in the small-scale societies of our prehistoric past. The model explores some possible decision process from the point of view of individuals, but at the level of the population, modelling social dynamics as a set of factors that constrain social actions. The agent does not decide as a rational individual, but probabilities for action at each cycle are taken into account as soon as local conditions change. It is a way for analysing the consequences of action without regarding the cognitive causes of action.
Journal Of Archaeological Scicence Report
Since its excavation, in the late 1980s, El Collado has been considered a Mesolithic funerary sit... more Since its excavation, in the late 1980s, El Collado has been considered a Mesolithic funerary site. Nevertheless, recent studies of the site chronology and other material evidence - excluding the human remains - have indicated more complex dynamics of this site, combining both funerary and habitation uses by Mesolithic communities.
First, a Bayesian model of the available radiocarbon dates provides information about the chronological dynamics in the human uses of the site. The model reveals that data are not representative of a single event but rather show the existence of several chronostratigraphic phases. Second, a noteworthy lithic assemblage from the site, which does not appear to be linked to the Mesolithic burials, can be attributed to the Notches and Denticulates Mesolithic facies in Mediterranean Iberia and the Ebro Basin. Technological and use-wear analyses of the lithic tools have been carried out in order to seek new data concerning the subsistence and craft activities performed by the communities that occupied the site. It must be noted that only in few cases similar studies had been applied previously on Mesolithic sites in the area of study. The first results show intense work on hard materials, such as wood, bone or antler, which a priori could lead to this site being considered a not specialized one from the functional point of view. These results are discussed taking into account all the inputs and possible biases due to the nature of the site and sampling carried out in the fieldwork.
In A. Vale, J. Alves-Ferreira, I. Garcia Rovira (eds), Rethinking Comparison in Archaeology, Cambridge Scholars Editions Publishing, 2017
Campana S, Scopigno R, Carpentiero G, Cirillo M, editors 2016. CAA2015 Keep the revolution going. Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology 2015., 2016
Survival or Event History Analysis is a set of statistical methods for examining not only event o... more Survival or Event History Analysis is a set of statistical methods for examining not only event occurrence but also the timing of events. These methods were developed for studying death – hence the name ‘survival’ analysis – and have been used extensively for that purpose in the social sciences and ecology; however, they can also be successfully applied to archaeology. The underlying idea is pretty basic but fundamental for archaeological and historical purposes: understanding the pattern of events in time and what factors are associated with when those events occurred. In this paper we have used some of these methods to study of the survival of Bronze Age cultural practices in Western Europe (from the Alps to the Mediterranean). We have used radiocarbon data from culturally homogenous geographical areas to discover how the duration spent in one cultural state affected the probability some entity will make a transition to another social state.
As in many other regions, the periodization of the Neolithic in the northeastern Iberian Peninsul... more As in many other regions, the periodization of the Neolithic in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula was
based upon relative dating obtained through ceramic typologies. Moreover, this prehistoric period was structured
using nomenclature borrowed from the Neolithization of southern France. A total of 37 new radiocarbon dates for
NE Iberia have been recently obtained with appropriate sampling criteria. These results have been used in conjunction
with other reliable 14C dates in order to assess the validity of traditional classifications established through the
study of ceramic typologies. The gradual improvement in the quality of sample choice and the available archaeological
records allowed the selection of 187 dates obtained mostly from short-lived taxa. This has enabled the chronological
boundaries to be adjusted as precisely as possible.
Radiocarbon and palaeodiet information has been obtained for two Neolithic necropolises in the no... more Radiocarbon and palaeodiet information has been obtained for two Neolithic necropolises in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula: Puig d’en Roca and Can Gelats (Girona, Spain). Although Puig d’en Roca is one of the most important necropolises in this period, it is also one of the least known as, following its excavation in the 1950s and 1960s, it has scarcely been restudied archaeologically. Can Gelats is one of the latest funerary sites of this period to be excavated and therefore is little known to the scientific community. Two key issues in the study of Neolithic communities in the western Mediterranean are addressed here. Few radiocarbon determinations have been obtained at funerary sites and they have usually been applied to a very small number of individuals in each cemetery (one or two dates). In a similar way, palaeodiet analysis of Neolithic cemeteries has rarely been attempted, and therefore the information presented here is of great importance to understand the diet in those societies. This paper presents a new series of dates for two of the most important Neolithic necropolises in north-east Iberia and approaches the subsistence patterns of the populations buried there.
CAA2014 21st Century Archaeology. Concepts, methods and tools. Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Edited by F. Giligny, F. Djindjian, L. Costa, P. Moscati and S. Robert, 2015
In this contribution we present the design phase of an ABM implemented to understand how cultural... more In this contribution we present the design phase of an ABM implemented to understand how cultural identities and cultural standardization may have emerged in a prehistoric sedentary early complex society. The aim of the model is to explain how diversity and self-identification may have emerged in the small-scale societies of our prehistoric past. The model explores some possible decision process from the point of view of individuals, but at the level of the population, modelling social dynamics as a set of factors that constrain social actions. The agent does not decide as a rational individual, but probabilities for action at each cycle are taken into account as soon as local conditions change. It is a way for analysing the consequences of action without regarding the cognitive causes of action.
Radiocarbon dating (Neolithic) by Berta Morell Rovira
The Sepulcros de Fosa is a historical period which has an extensive bibliographical record for no... more The Sepulcros de Fosa is a historical period which has an extensive bibliographical record for northeastern
Iberia. It has been attributed to the Middle Neolithic and dated to c.4000-3600 cal. BC. However, recent
archaeological research and several new radiocarbon dates indicate that the Sepulcros de Fosa culture
emerged earlier, during the Postcardial Neolithic period for nearly 800 years until the middle of 4th millennium
cal. BC. These dates were obtained as part of the project «Aproximación a las primeras comunidades neolíticas
del NE Peninsular a través de sus prácticas funerarias». The data indicate that the Sepulcros de Fosa began
first in the Penedès region and then moved to the Vallès region, where it reached its peak at c. 3500-3450
cal. BC.
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Papers by Berta Morell Rovira
First, a Bayesian model of the available radiocarbon dates provides information about the chronological dynamics in the human uses of the site. The model reveals that data are not representative of a single event but rather show the existence of several chronostratigraphic phases. Second, a noteworthy lithic assemblage from the site, which does not appear to be linked to the Mesolithic burials, can be attributed to the Notches and Denticulates Mesolithic facies in Mediterranean Iberia and the Ebro Basin. Technological and use-wear analyses of the lithic tools have been carried out in order to seek new data concerning the subsistence and craft activities performed by the communities that occupied the site. It must be noted that only in few cases similar studies had been applied previously on Mesolithic sites in the area of study. The first results show intense work on hard materials, such as wood, bone or antler, which a priori could lead to this site being considered a not specialized one from the functional point of view. These results are discussed taking into account all the inputs and possible biases due to the nature of the site and sampling carried out in the fieldwork.
based upon relative dating obtained through ceramic typologies. Moreover, this prehistoric period was structured
using nomenclature borrowed from the Neolithization of southern France. A total of 37 new radiocarbon dates for
NE Iberia have been recently obtained with appropriate sampling criteria. These results have been used in conjunction
with other reliable 14C dates in order to assess the validity of traditional classifications established through the
study of ceramic typologies. The gradual improvement in the quality of sample choice and the available archaeological
records allowed the selection of 187 dates obtained mostly from short-lived taxa. This has enabled the chronological
boundaries to be adjusted as precisely as possible.
Radiocarbon dating (Neolithic) by Berta Morell Rovira
Iberia. It has been attributed to the Middle Neolithic and dated to c.4000-3600 cal. BC. However, recent
archaeological research and several new radiocarbon dates indicate that the Sepulcros de Fosa culture
emerged earlier, during the Postcardial Neolithic period for nearly 800 years until the middle of 4th millennium
cal. BC. These dates were obtained as part of the project «Aproximación a las primeras comunidades neolíticas
del NE Peninsular a través de sus prácticas funerarias». The data indicate that the Sepulcros de Fosa began
first in the Penedès region and then moved to the Vallès region, where it reached its peak at c. 3500-3450
cal. BC.
First, a Bayesian model of the available radiocarbon dates provides information about the chronological dynamics in the human uses of the site. The model reveals that data are not representative of a single event but rather show the existence of several chronostratigraphic phases. Second, a noteworthy lithic assemblage from the site, which does not appear to be linked to the Mesolithic burials, can be attributed to the Notches and Denticulates Mesolithic facies in Mediterranean Iberia and the Ebro Basin. Technological and use-wear analyses of the lithic tools have been carried out in order to seek new data concerning the subsistence and craft activities performed by the communities that occupied the site. It must be noted that only in few cases similar studies had been applied previously on Mesolithic sites in the area of study. The first results show intense work on hard materials, such as wood, bone or antler, which a priori could lead to this site being considered a not specialized one from the functional point of view. These results are discussed taking into account all the inputs and possible biases due to the nature of the site and sampling carried out in the fieldwork.
based upon relative dating obtained through ceramic typologies. Moreover, this prehistoric period was structured
using nomenclature borrowed from the Neolithization of southern France. A total of 37 new radiocarbon dates for
NE Iberia have been recently obtained with appropriate sampling criteria. These results have been used in conjunction
with other reliable 14C dates in order to assess the validity of traditional classifications established through the
study of ceramic typologies. The gradual improvement in the quality of sample choice and the available archaeological
records allowed the selection of 187 dates obtained mostly from short-lived taxa. This has enabled the chronological
boundaries to be adjusted as precisely as possible.
Iberia. It has been attributed to the Middle Neolithic and dated to c.4000-3600 cal. BC. However, recent
archaeological research and several new radiocarbon dates indicate that the Sepulcros de Fosa culture
emerged earlier, during the Postcardial Neolithic period for nearly 800 years until the middle of 4th millennium
cal. BC. These dates were obtained as part of the project «Aproximación a las primeras comunidades neolíticas
del NE Peninsular a través de sus prácticas funerarias». The data indicate that the Sepulcros de Fosa began
first in the Penedès region and then moved to the Vallès region, where it reached its peak at c. 3500-3450
cal. BC.
transition between the last hunter-gatherer groups and the first farming communities. Although data
about the Late Mesolithic is still scanty, in recent years more information has been obtained about the
Early Neolithic as a consequence of several research projects and excavations. The few known Mesolithic
records and more abundant data on the Early Neolithic are studied here, highlighting the transition
between the two periods and the problem of the scarcity of information about the last Mesolithic huntergatherers.
With the available data, we propose a late extension of the ‘Notches and Denticulates
Mesolithic’ phase as the final Mesolithic population in the region. The first evidence of Neolithic communities
is then documented after a hiatus of about 500 years (c. 6000-5500 cal BC). These communities
initially settled in littoral and pre-littoral zones, although by c. 5300 cal BC they had occupied the rest of
northeast Iberia, including high mountain regions. From the start, these groups shared a consolidated
agricultural economy despite the fact specific differences are attested depending on their geographic
location.