RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Archaeomagnetic Tools Applied to the Study of Middle Palaeolithic Hearths: The Level R (ca. 60 ka BP) at Abric Romaní (NE Iberian Peninsula)
A1 del Río del Río, Judit
A1 Palencia Ortas, Alicia
A1 Gómez Paccard, Miriam .
A1 Carrancho Alonso, Ángel
A1 Saladie, Palmira .
A1 Chacón Navarro, María Gema
A1 Carbonell, Eudald
A1 Vallverdú, Josep
K1 Archaeomagnetism
K1 Hearths
K1 Middle Palaeolithic
K1 Neanderthals
K1 Iberian Peninsula
K1 Paleolítico
K1 Paleolithic period
K1 Arqueología
K1 Archaeology
AB Due to its long occupation throughout the Middle Palaeolithic and the abundance of its pyrotechnological evidence, the Abric Romaní rockshelter (Capellades, Barcelona) provides an ideal setting for studying Neanderthal fire use. We conducted an archaeomagnetic study of four hearths from Level R (ca. 60 ky BP). Rock magnetism experiments, including hysteresis loops, and backfield, isothermal remanent magnetisation acquisition and thermo-magnetic curves, were conducted on three specimens per hearth to investigate their magnetic mineralogy. To explore the raw material’s ability to become magnetised, we performed a laboratory-induced partial thermo-remanent magnetisation acquisition in a 50μT field at various increasing temperatures. Our results indicate that the material is predominantly diamagnetic, but contains a small proportion of low coercivity magnetic minerals, likely magnetite. A total of 106 oriented specimens underwent progressive thermal demagnetisation up to 580 °C. Directional results at the specimen level show either a single component or two: one between 250 and 420 °C and another between 300 and 550 °C. Three out of the four hearths yielded normal-polarity archaeomagnetic directions, within the range of secular variation expected for their estimated age; the poor quality of the data prevented any analysis of the remaining structure. These findings suggest that, despite the hearths’ low content in ferromagnetic minerals, they are able to acquire a thermal or thermochemical-remanent magnetisation, accurately recording the Earth’s magnetic field though their high-temperature component. The low-temperature component may reflect a subsequent thermo-chemical or chemical alteration that partially remagnetised the original direction.
PB Springer
YR 2025
FD 2025-02
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10259/11197
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10259/11197
LA eng
NO This work was funded by the FPU20/03664 contract granted by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the project PID2019105796GB-I00 of the Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Junta de Castilla y León, the European Regional Development Fund (project BU037P23), and Fundación PALARQ. Excavations at the Abric Romaní were carried out with the support of the Departament de Cultura of the Generalitat de Catalunya (ARQ001SOL-201–2022), Town Council of Capellades and Romanyà-Valls S.A, the SGR 2021 01237 (AGAUR), and the I + D + i project PID2022-138590NB-C41, funded by MCIN/AEI/https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033and by the ERDF A way of making Europe. P.S., J.V. and M.G.Ch. research is funded by the CERCA Program (Generalitat de Catalunya).
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos
RD 27-abr-2026