Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 39 (4) 2011

Annotation:  The Upper Paleolithic Site of Dodekatym-2 in Uzbekistan Daggers from the Fofonovo Burial Ground in the Collection of the Museum of the Buryat Scientifi c C Hundidero: MIS 4 Open Air Neanderthal Occupations in Sierra de Atapuerca Absolute and Relative Chronology and Cultural Attribution of Neolithic Sites in the Kulunda Steppe Technological Analysis of Ceramics from Early Sarmatian Burials in the Southwestern Urals Archaeological Studies of the Kamenny Ambar (Olgino) Fortifi ed Settlement Silver Dish with Fighting Scenes from the Lower Ob Region Lacquer Cups of the Western Han Dynasty (Noin Ula, Mongolia): An Analysis of Inscriptions Tinder Bag with a Chinese Inscription Ancient Agriculture in Western Siberia: Problems of Argumentation, Paleoethnobotanic Methods, and A Red Marals at Satakular in the Alai The “Kirghiz Frontier” and the Frontier Volosts of the Tomsk Uyezd in the 17th Century: Formulation Sacred Space and the Art of its Representation in the Ethnic Culture of Northern Asia: Artifacts of Pottery Making in the Village of Balkhar, Dagestan The Diet of Siberian Peasants on Lenten Days (the 19th Century) Craniometric Characteristics of the Ust-Ishim People (the Southern Taiga Part of the Irtysh Basin,   

Hundidero: MIS 4 Open Air Neanderthal Occupations in Sierra de Atapuerca

M. Navazo, R. Alonso-Alcalde, A. Benito-Calvo, J.C. Díez, A. Pérez-González, and E. Carbonell.

Many caves in Sierra de Atapuerca contain archaeological and anthropological remains from the Early Pleistocene until the Holocene. The fi rst half of the Late Pleistocene (MIS 4 and 3) has only been detected in open air deposits discovered on the basis of total cover surface surveys. Excavation at one of them, Hundidero, began in 2004. The Middle Paleolithic tool record spans the period between 70 ka and 56 ka. The technological and typological features of Hundidero, along with records from 30 other contemporary open air sites at Atapuerca, suggest repeated visits by Neanderthals who shared the same cultural tradition, characterized by expedient tool production, a diversity of exploitation techniques, a microlithic tendency, a search for dorsal faces, and the reuse of previous tools. These characteristics do not seem to depend on the conditions of the raw materials, the climate or the group’s activities.

Keywords: Middle Paleolithic, lithic technology, MIS 4, open air sites, human occupations, Sierra de Atapuerca.