Thesis summary by F. Xavier Oms Arias
Early Neolithic-Neolithisation process by F. Xavier Oms Arias
The spread of the agriculture to the Southwest of Europe is one of the most important phenomena i... more The spread of the agriculture to the Southwest of Europe is one of the most important phenomena in the history of the humankind. In this context the sea-pathways played an important role as vehicle of expansion of the new subsistence practices, technology and cultural knowledge.
The Mediterranean is one of the regions where these aspects are particularly apparent. However, exciting new data are arising from other coastal environments. The important novelties on the Atlantic, Baltic or North Sea reflect an increase in the density and quality of the research focused on the transition to the farming and livestock way of life in coast landscapes.
This session is intended as a forum for the critical assessment of the new data and for the discussion of the settlement patterns, the coastal resources and the spread of farming to littoral and inland environments. It aims to be a meeting among researchers who focused their activity on the study of neolithisation processes and Neolithic in coastal areas.
RESUMEN En este trabajo se presentan y evalúan las 10 datacio-nes disponibles para los niveles ne... more RESUMEN En este trabajo se presentan y evalúan las 10 datacio-nes disponibles para los niveles neolíticos de la Balma Margineda (Andorra). Después de analizar la naturaleza de las muestras y sus contextos arqueoestratigráficos de procedencia, consideramos que únicamente tres de ellas, realizadas recientemente, son aceptables. Éstas confieren una horquilla mucho más rejuvenecida de la ocupación de la que se proponía en base a las dataciones antiguas. En este nuevo escenario se analiza el material cerámico y lítico de los niveles in situ, para situar adecuadamente el yacimiento en el marco actual del conocimiento del Neolítico antiguo en esta región pirenaica. ABSTRACT This work discusses the radiocarbon evidence from the Neolithic layers of the Balma Margineda (Andorra). Since the last excavation campaigns during the '90s, a total of ten 14C dates has been obtained. We discuss their stratigraphic provenance and suggest that only three of the ten 14C dates should be considered reliable. The new dates assign the Neolithic occupations to a more recent chronology. Moreover, we also present a brief revision of the ceramic and lithic materials from the in situ Neolithic layers, in order reinterpret the site using the most recent data on the Early Neolithic of Pyrenean region.
Excavations at Cova Bonica (Barcelona, Spain) have revealed 98 human remains, grouped into five a... more Excavations at Cova Bonica (Barcelona, Spain) have revealed 98 human remains, grouped into five age clusters and corresponding to a minimum of six non-articulated individuals. The remains are clearly associated with Cardial pottery, lithic artifacts, and ornaments suggesting an Early Neolithic horizon. The radiocarbon dating of three human individuals provides a reliable attribution to this period, with a range between ca. 5470 and 5220 CAL B.C., identifying it as one of the few assemblages of human remains directly dated from this period. These remains correspond to a rare collective human inhumation and join a growing body of samples from the Cardial Neolithic, which is providing some of the important sites for the study of population movement and the spread of Neolithization along the western Mediterranean coast.
Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française, tome 109 nª4: 651-670
L'Anthropologie, Jan 1, 2010
Résumé Dans ce travail nous avons réalisé une recompilation de toutes les datations disponibles p... more Résumé Dans ce travail nous avons réalisé une recompilation de toutes les datations disponibles pour le Néolithique ancien cardial du nord-est de la péninsule Ibérique avec l'objectif de limiter le plus possible l'intervalle chronologique de cette période. C'est pour cette raison que les calibrations de toutes les dates existantes sont ici présentées sur une même courbe et qu'une courbe critique, tenant compte du degré de fiabilité de chacune, d'elle est réalisée. Les critères stratigraphiques, taxonomiques et radiométriques ont aussi été pris en compte. À la fin de ce travail on remarque que la durée de la phase cardiale est centrée sur la deuxième moitié du VI e millénaire cal. BC. # 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. Tous droits réservés.
El yacimiento arqueológico de El Cavet se halla en el núcleo urbano de la localidad costera de Ca... more El yacimiento arqueológico de El Cavet se halla en el núcleo urbano de la localidad costera de Cambrils (Tarragona). Se emplaza en una área extensa, situada entre la riera de Maspujols y el barranco del Regueral, que la delimitan, a 1.2 Km. de distancia del litoral.
Saguntum PLAV nº45: 25.-38, 2013
Trabajos de Prehistoria
En este trabajo se presentan datos inéditos acerca de tres asentamientos al aire libre situados e... more En este trabajo se presentan datos inéditos acerca de tres asentamientos al aire libre situados en el llano prelitoral del Penedès (Barcelona) con ocupaciones del Neolítico inicial: el hábitat de Les Guixeres de Vilobí y las agrupaciones de silos-fosas de La Serreta y el Mas d'en Boixos . Se estudian sus materiales cerámicos y 5 fechas radiocarbónicas inéditas en el marco de la discusión sobre el Neolítico antiguo del nordeste de la Península Ibérica y de la neolitización del Mediterráneo occidental . Se propone que esta zona fue clave y con cierta densidad poblacional durante las primeras fases neolíticas y comparable a enclaves emblemáticos como el cercano valle del Llobregat (Garraf-llano de Barcelona y Vallès) o la zona alicantina . La antigüedad de las fechas obtenidas aporta nuevos datos al debate acerca del primer neolítico en la Península Ibérica .
Trabajos de Prehistoria 71.1: 134-145, 2014
La reactivación de la actividad arqueológica española a partir de los años 1950, especialmente pr... more La reactivación de la actividad arqueológica española a partir de los años 1950, especialmente prolífica en algunas regiones como Cataluña, incorporó algunos yacimientos clave para el conocimiento de los grandes procesos culturales del pasado . Es el caso de las cuevas del Toll y Font Major cuyas colecciones de cerámica cardial, por su cantidad y calidad, han sido de referencia para el Neolítico antiguo en distintos momentos . En cambio cuentan con pocos o nulos datos contextuales debido a los métodos que se emplearon en esas prime-ras intervenciones . En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de las realizadas entre 2006 y 2011 en ambos yacimientos . La combinación de nuevos materiales encuadrables en distintas fases del Neolítico antiguo cardial con fechas radiocarbónicas de muestras de vida corta nos permite retrasar sensiblemente la fase cardial de la Cova del Toll, así como fechar por primera vez de forma absoluta la fase cardial de la Cova de la Font Major .
The spread of farming out of the Balkans and into the rest of Europe followed two distinct routes... more The spread of farming out of the Balkans and into the rest of Europe followed two distinct routes: an initial expansion represented by the Impressa and Cardial traditions, which followed the Northern Mediterranean coastline; and another expansion represented by the LBK tradition, which followed the Danube River into Central Europe. While genomic data now exist from samples representing the second migration, such data have yet to be successfully generated from the initial Mediterranean migration. To address this, we generated the complete genome of a 7,400 year-old Cardial individual (CB13) from Cova Bonica in Vallirana (Barcelona), as well as partial nuclear data from five others excavated from different sites in Spain and Portugal. CB13 clusters with all previously sequenced early European farmers and modern-day Sardinians. Furthermore, our analyses suggest that both Cardial and LBK peoples derived from a common ancient population located in or around the Balkan Peninsula. The Iberian Cardial genome also carries a discernible hunter-gatherer genetic signature that likely was not acquired by admixture with local Iberian foragers. Our results indicate that retrieving ancient genomes from similarly warm Mediterranean environments such as the Near East is technically feasible.
The spread of farming out of the Balkans and into the rest of Europe followed two distinct routes... more The spread of farming out of the Balkans and into the rest of Europe followed two distinct routes: an initial expansion represented by the Impressa and Cardial traditions, which followed the Northern Mediterranean coastline; and another expansion represented by the LBK tradition, which followed the Danube River into Central Europe. While genomic data now exist from samples representing the second migration, such data have yet to be successfully generated from the initial Mediterranean migration. To address this, we generated the complete genome of a 7,400 year-old Cardial individual (CB13) from Cova Bonica in Vallirana (Barcelona), as well as partial nuclear data from five others excavated from different sites in Spain and Portugal. CB13 clusters with all previously sequenced early European farmers and modern-day Sardinians. Furthermore, our analyses suggest that both Cardial and LBK peoples derived from a common ancient population located in or around the Balkan Peninsula. The Iberian Cardial genome also carries a discernible hunter-gatherer genetic signature that likely was not acquired by admixture with local Iberian foragers. Our results indicate that retrieving ancient genomes from similarly warm Mediterranean environments such as the Near East is technically feasible.
Les excavacions arqueològiques a la cova Foradada han permès observar una complexa estratigrafia ... more Les excavacions arqueològiques a la cova Foradada han permès observar una complexa estratigrafia que , en alguns punts, es troba molt alterada:
Radiocarbon dating (Neolithic) by F. Xavier Oms Arias
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.
Radiocarbon dating of samples of charred cereal, biomolecularly confirmed sheep bone, human bone ... more Radiocarbon dating of samples of charred cereal, biomolecularly confirmed sheep bone, human bone from
burials, and diagnostic artifacts places the appearance of the ‘Neolithic package’ in Iberia ca. 5500 Cal bc.
The earliest dates are statistically indistinguishable from Catalonia to Portugal and, whenever their archaeological
context is secure, the associated pottery includes a significant, if not majority cardial-decorated
component. These patterns are consistent with models of maritime pioneer colonization whereby the arrival
of domesticates results from the dispersal of farming groups carrying the Cardial cultural tradition.
L'Anthropologie, 2010
Pour citer cet article : Morales, J.I., et al., La chronologie du Néolithique ancien cardial du n... more Pour citer cet article : Morales, J.I., et al., La chronologie du Néolithique ancien cardial du nord-est de la péninsule Ibérique. Datations, problématique et méthodologie. L'Anthropologie (2010),
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.
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Thesis summary by F. Xavier Oms Arias
Early Neolithic-Neolithisation process by F. Xavier Oms Arias
The Mediterranean is one of the regions where these aspects are particularly apparent. However, exciting new data are arising from other coastal environments. The important novelties on the Atlantic, Baltic or North Sea reflect an increase in the density and quality of the research focused on the transition to the farming and livestock way of life in coast landscapes.
This session is intended as a forum for the critical assessment of the new data and for the discussion of the settlement patterns, the coastal resources and the spread of farming to littoral and inland environments. It aims to be a meeting among researchers who focused their activity on the study of neolithisation processes and Neolithic in coastal areas.
Radiocarbon dating (Neolithic) by F. Xavier Oms Arias
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.
burials, and diagnostic artifacts places the appearance of the ‘Neolithic package’ in Iberia ca. 5500 Cal bc.
The earliest dates are statistically indistinguishable from Catalonia to Portugal and, whenever their archaeological
context is secure, the associated pottery includes a significant, if not majority cardial-decorated
component. These patterns are consistent with models of maritime pioneer colonization whereby the arrival
of domesticates results from the dispersal of farming groups carrying the Cardial cultural tradition.
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.
The Mediterranean is one of the regions where these aspects are particularly apparent. However, exciting new data are arising from other coastal environments. The important novelties on the Atlantic, Baltic or North Sea reflect an increase in the density and quality of the research focused on the transition to the farming and livestock way of life in coast landscapes.
This session is intended as a forum for the critical assessment of the new data and for the discussion of the settlement patterns, the coastal resources and the spread of farming to littoral and inland environments. It aims to be a meeting among researchers who focused their activity on the study of neolithisation processes and Neolithic in coastal areas.
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.
burials, and diagnostic artifacts places the appearance of the ‘Neolithic package’ in Iberia ca. 5500 Cal bc.
The earliest dates are statistically indistinguishable from Catalonia to Portugal and, whenever their archaeological
context is secure, the associated pottery includes a significant, if not majority cardial-decorated
component. These patterns are consistent with models of maritime pioneer colonization whereby the arrival
of domesticates results from the dispersal of farming groups carrying the Cardial cultural tradition.
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.
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.
unnoticed, whereas they exist. In this paper we present some of these structures and propose a first series of reflections on these non- normative deposits.
called the ‘Servei d’Investigacions Arqueológiques del Patrimoni Artístic Nacional d’Andorra’ in a Pyrenean valley
in Andorra allowed the investigation of the Feixa del Moro site. In a high-altitude area below a series of abandoned
terraces, several dwellings and burial structures were located, all of them with chronologies ranging between the Early
and the Middle Neolithic (from the mid 5th millennium to the early 4th millennium cal. BC).
The distinctiveness of this site does not only lie in its geographical location, nor in the kind of structures discovered,
but also in the very good state of preservation of the human bone material recovered from the burials, making Feixa del
Moro one of the reference sites for the Neolithic in the Pyrenees and, in general, the Western Mediterranean.
So far, sites with a similar conservation of both bones and burial structures are really uncommon. Moreover, the concentration
in so small an area, and in the same stratigraphic unit, of such a diversity of evidence, including burials, silos
and hearths, is yet more unusual. There are no similar sites in Andorra, or even in the entire Pyrenees. The only other
burial site of comparable chronology discovered in the area is the Segudet site, and only a few high-altitude Neolithic
dwelling sites are known. Even if cist burials are quite common in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula and in Southern
France, Feixa del Moro is the first that has been found at high altitude.
The archaeological work undertaken between 1983 and 1985 provided a picture of a farming community belonging to
the so-called ‘Sepulcros de fosa’ Culture, established in the very heart of the Pyrenees and, thus, highlighted the complexity
of Neolithic settlement patterns, even in mountainous zones. At the same time, several analyses of the archaeological
materials were already carried out, making Feixa del Moro a reference site for archaeological research even now.
Nevertheless, three decades later, new methodologies and the technical advances available are allowing archaeologists
to refine old interpretations, to reopen old debates and to carry out new analyses that can improve our
understanding of the past. In this respect, since 2011, within the research project ‘Aproximación a las primeras
comunidades neolíticas del NE peninsular a través de sus prácticas funerarias’ (HAR2011-23149), funded by the
Spanish Ministry for the Economy and Competitiveness, a group of interdisciplinary researchers have begun to
study several Neolithic burial contexts in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, among which Feixa del Moro.
Following this perspective, in this paper, we present the outcome of the new analyses carried out on the burial
goods and of the biochemistry and radiocarbon analyses carried out on the human bone material from the three
cist burials of Feixa del Moro, with the aim of better understanding the early farming communities who settled
in the Pyrenees.
Since the last archaeological work carried out in the 1990s, large quantities of data have been lost. This has produced
a certain degree of confusion and misunderstanding that has been repeated in other studies undertaken a posteriori on
the site by other scholars. Some of these interpretations need to be revised. That it is why, within the current research
project, we are not only bringing in new analyses, but also re-examining all the old written and graphic information
available, as well as the state of the conserved archaeological material.
The data presented in this paper resume all the available information on the Feixa del Moro site, correcting old mistakes
and bias, updating the 1980s archaeological registers and presenting new analyses as well. Our aim is to ensure that
Feixa del Moro remains a reference site for the Pyrenean and Western Mediterranean Neolithic. At the same time, we
wish to encourage other researchers to undertake new analyses and to embrace new perspectives in order to improve
our understanding of Neolithic societies.
Pla de Tabac I due to the planned expansion of the rubble landfill site in the municipality of Montoliu de Lleida. Thirty Bronze Age structures (silos, ovens/combustion structures and possible postholes) were excavated.
Mediterrani. En un segon bloc s’analitzen les característiques
del primer neolític a Catalunya, prestant especial atenció
als hàbitats, els trets econòmics i els materials significatius
entre d’altres. Finalment, en un capítol específic, s’aprofundeix en els períodes interns dins el primer neolític del nord-est peninsular i la seva correspondència amb les ceràmiques decorades, que semblen indicar ja una primera regionalització a partir de 5500 cal BC.
Así, el acceso inmediato a una materia prima de alta calidad en un momento en que en el NE peninsular existen ya una serie de importantes redes de intercambios como la variscita, las hachas de procedencia alpina, la obsidiana e incluso la sal, podría haber motivado la ubicación del yacimiento en este enclave. El registro cerámico indica con claridad las relaciones de este grupo con otros de los tramos prelitorales de Cataluña, especialmente Molinot y Montboló, y el registro lítico preservado muestra una producción orientada a la obtención de soportes laminares en la que pudo utilizarse el tratamiento térmico.
En este trabajo presentamos los ejemplos de dos de las estructuras que más abundan, los hornos y los silos. Se trata de un estudio multidisciplinar en el que se combinan los datos obtenidos del registro antracológico, carpológico, lítico y cerámico según la variación tipológica de las estructuras. Como resultado, podemos entender el papel que jugó el fuego en la reproducción de las distintas actividades que se llevaron a cabo en el asentamiento.
Les sepultures de la Feixa del Moro
Monografies del MAC 2, Barcelona 2018,
ISBN: 978-84-393-9811-0 (PÀG. 185-195)
relacionados con su descubrimiento, quién llevó la gestión inicial de los yacimientos, etc., pueden consultarse en dicho monográfico.En el marco del proyecto de investigación que estamos llevando a cabo, hemos realizado una serie de estudios y análisis cuyos resultados mostraremos a continuación. Acompañaremos la descripción de las tumbas y de los materiales con las fotografías que nosotros hemos realizado en el Museu d’Arqueologia de Catalunya (sede Girona). Tales fotos se complementan con los magníficos dibujos que en su momento ya publicaron F. Riuró y M. Fusté en la citada monografía.
The Mediterranean is one of the regions where these aspects are particularly apparent. However, exciting new data are arising from other coastal environments. The important novelties on the Atlantic, Baltic or North Sea reflect an increase in the density and quality of the research focused on the transition to the farming and livestock way of life in coast landscapes.
This session is intended as a forum for the critical assessment of the new data and for the discussion of the settlement patterns, the coastal resources and the spread of farming to littoral and inland environments. It aims to be a meeting among researchers who focused their activity on the study of neolithisation processes and Neolithic in coastal areas.
Palabras clave: Neolítico Antiguo, noreste peninsular, tipos cerámicos, industria lítica, malacología.
funeràries neolítiques del nord-est de la Península Ibèrica. Les investigacions s’han dut a terme en el marc de varis projectes d’investigació finançats per el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad: HAR2011-23149, HAR2015-67323-C2, HAR2016-75201-P y HAR2016-75201-P. Una part dels projectes gira entorn dels enterraments en cista documentats en comarques de l’interior: Berguedà, Bages, i Solsonès, així com Andorra.