Person:
Martín Perea, David Manuel

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David Manuel
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Martín Perea
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Universidad Complutense de Madrid
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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Victoria Cabrera Site: A Middle Stone Age site at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
    (Quaternary International, 2019) Maíllo-Fernández, José-Manuel; Marín, Juan; Solano Megías, Irene; Uribelarrea Del Val, David; Martín Perea, David Manuel; Aramendi, Julia; Medialdea, Alicia; Arteaga, Carlos; Pernas Hernandez, Marta; Gidna, Agnes; Neogi, Sayantani; Baudot, Eva; Narváez, Carlos; Mabulla, Audax
    Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) is a key site for the study and comprehension of human evolution in East Africa. However, the origin of Homo sapiens and the Middle Stone Age have been poorly understood in the Gorge thus far. In this study, we present the dating, taphonomic, technological and typological analyses of the lithic industry and faunal remains excavated at the Victoria Cabrera Site (VCS) during the 2017 fieldwork season. The stratigraphic sequence of the site contains several levels of fluvial origin, some of them with lithic and faunal remains. Most remains (lithics and bones) are affected by rounding processes. Infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating has provided ages between 90 and 70 ka BP for these layers that can be related to the Marine Isotope Stage 5a. Lithics are scarce and the dominant raw materials are Naibor Soit quarzite and basalt, followed by phonolite, chert and quartz as the most common raw materials. The lithic technology is based on the production of flakes obtained from prepared cores, with the discoid method and, to a lesser extent the Levallois method being the most frequently used. The retouched blanks are described as “substratum” or “domestic” tools (sidescrapers, notches or denticulates). There is just one heavy duty piece and points are absent. The faunal assemblage includes Alcelaphinae, Antilopinae and Equidae. The major parts of the unidentified faunal remains are size 3 ungulates, followed by carcasses of size 2 and size 4 species. We cannot relate lithic and bones because no cut marks or percussion marks have been identified and carnivore action is scarce. In sum, VCS represents the first accurately dated Middle Stone Age site, with lithic and faunal remains in Olduvai Gorge.
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    Early Pleistocene faunivorous hominins were not kleptoparasitic, and this impacted the evolution of human anatomy and socio-ecology
    (Scientific reports, 2021) Domínguez Rodrigo, Manuel; Baquedano, Enrique; Organista, Elia; Cobo Sánchez, Lucía; Mabulla, Audax; Maskara, Vivek; Gidna, Agnes; Pizarro Monzo, Marcos; Aramendi, Julia; Galán Abellán, Ana Belén; Cifuentes Alcobendas, Gabriel; Vegara Riquelme, Marina; Jiménez García, Blanca; Abellán, Natalia; Barba, Rebeca; Uribelarrea Del Val, David; Martín Perea, David Manuel; Díez Martín, Fernando; Maíllo Fernández, José Manuel; Rodríguez Hidalgo, Antonio; Courtenay, Lloyd A.; Mora, Rocío; Maté González, Miguel Ángel; González Aguilera, Diego
    Humans are unique in their diet, physiology and socio-reproductive behavior compared to other primates. They are also unique in the ubiquitous adaptation to all biomes and habitats. From an evolutionary perspective, these trends seem to have started about two million years ago, coinciding with the emergence of encephalization, the reduction of the dental apparatus, the adoption of a fully terrestrial lifestyle, resulting in the emergence of the modern anatomical bauplan, the focalization of certain activities in the landscape, the use of stone tools, and the exit from Africa. It is in this period that clear taphonomic evidence of a switch in diet with respect to Pliocene hominins occurred, with the adoption of carnivory. Until now, the degree of carnivorism in early humans remained controversial. A persistent hypothesis is that hominins acquired meat irregularly (potentially as fallback food) and opportunistically through klepto-foraging. Here, we test this hypothesis and show, in contrast, that the butchery practices of early Pleistocene hominins (unveiled through systematic study of the patterning and intensity of cut marks on their prey) could not have resulted from having frequent secondary access to carcasses. We provide evidence of hominin primary access to animal resources and emphasize the role that meat played in their diets, their ecology and their anatomical evolution, ultimately resulting in the ecologically unrestricted terrestrial adaptation of our species. This has major implications to the evolution of human physiology and potentially for the evolution of the human brain.
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    The Dorothy Garrod Site: a new Middle Stone Age locality in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
    (Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2022) Maíllo Fernández, José Manuel; Marín, Juan; Martín Perea, David Manuel; Uribelarrea Del Val, David; Asiaín Román, Raquel; Solano Megías, Irene; Baquedano, Enrique; Domínguez Rodrigo, Manuel; Gidna, Agness; Medialdea, Alicia; Steven, Hekima Mwamakimbula; Chilonzi, Daniel Haruni; Arteaga, Carlos; Mabulla, Audax
    Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) is a key site for the study of human evolution as well as the origin of modern humans and the Middle Stone Age (MSA). In this study, we present a new MSA location named Dorothy Garrod Site (DGS), found in the main branch of Olduvai Gorge. The site has only one archaeological level, located stratigraphically in the Upper Ndutu. Although it has not yet been possible to radiometrically date it, it has yielded numerous archaeological remains with a functional association between the faunal remains and the lithic industry. The fauna identified includes Alcelaphini, Hippotragini, and Equidae, some of which present percussion marks and evidence of burning. The lithic industry involved knapping using discoid methods. The retouched blanks are denticulates and retouched flakes with, up to now, a total absence of points. DGS is therefore a new site that will aid our understanding of modern human occupations in northern Tanzania in a period for which there is a dearth of properly contextualised archaeological evidence.
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    Mineral assemblages and low energy sedimentary processes in the FLK-Zinj, DS, PTK and AMK complex palaeolandscape (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)
    (Quaternary International, 2019) Martín Perea, David Manuel; Fesharaki, Omid; Rey Samper, Jesús Javier; Arroyo Rey, Xabier; Uribelarrea Del Val, David; Cobo-Sánchez, Lucía; Baquedano, Enrique; Mabulla, Audax; Domínguez Rodrigo, Manuel
    The mineralogical composition of the clay stratum (level 22) that contains the FLK Zinj-DS-PTK-AMK complex, the only example of pene-contemporaneous early Pleistocene sites occurring on the same palaeolandscape and simultaneously covered by the same ash fall tuff, shows significant intra-site and inter-site differences. Overall, level 22A is related to a more hydrologically closed system, with higher salinity and alkalinity than level 22B. Both levels show fresher water was entering the system from the DS area during deposition. Textural analysis of the studied samples shows great microporosity and abundant edge-to-edge and edge-to-face contacts between crystals. These results have major repercussions for the interpretation of the archaeological assemblages in the FLK Zinj-DS-PTK-AMK palaeolandscape. First, this implies that two distinct archaeological levels formed at different times with different environmental conditions in most of these localities. Second, textural analyses provide evidence that no important sedimentary compaction took place after the deposition of this layer. This affects interpretations of palaeolandscape geomorphology. Third, it shows that the sedimentary processes during all the clay sequence occurred in very low-energy conditions. This reinforces that no significant physical forces disturbed the original configurations of materials contained within these assemblages and reinforces their autochthony. Behavioural interpretations can, thus, be more solidly built upon the conception that those sites preserve most of their original in situ properties.