2026-06-17T22:10:53Zhttps://riubu.ubu.es/oai/request

oai:riubu.ubu.es:10259/51582021-11-10T09:38:25Zcom_10259.4_2560com_10259_5086com_10259_2604col_10259.4_2561

Terradillos Bernal, Marcos Allué, Ethel Carrancho Alonso, Ángel Díez Fernández-Lomana, Juan Carlos Iriarte Chiapusso, María José Jordá Pardo, Jesús F. Vallverdú, Josep Open-air camp Sixth millennium cal BC Start of Neolithic Combustion structures Duero River basin During the course of the excavations of the San Quirce open-air archaeological site in Spain, an unusual negative structure was identified in the Holocene level dated ca. sixth millennium cal BC. A fire pit alongside a single post-hole and intense fire-burning activity was recorded. Yet, the most striking feature of the structure is the absence of any artifactual or faunal record associated to it, something without a known archaeological parallel. Its interpretation represents an archaeological challenge addressed through a multidisciplinary approach including geoarchaeological, palaeobotanical techniques and experimental archaeology. Fifteen stratigraphically distinguishable combustion events showing a diachronic fire record, the significant structure’s dimensions and particularly the post-hole, indicate its anthropic origin. Archaeomagnetic and micromorphological data allowed reconstructing and temporally sequencing some formation and post-depositional processes, some involving water flows. Maximum heating temperatures between 480 and 525 °C were determined in one of the combustion features studied. The identification of grassy tufts would suggest a seasonal settlement of the site. We cannot yield a definite explanation for the artifactual absence, but the available data and an experimental archaeology recreation suggest that the structure could be used as a small hut/open-air bivouac, over which short-lived occupations were repeatedly carried out. 2019-11-07 2019-11-07 2019-09 info:eu-repo/semantics/article 1866-9557 http://hdl.handle.net/10259/5158 10.1007/s12520-019-00835-2 eng Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 2019, V. 11, n. 9, p. 4873–4890 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00835-2 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/JCyL/BU235P18 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Springer