Research from the University of Malaga reveals that the Orce archaeological site functioned as a natural trap for large mammals during the Early Pleistocene, marking an important site for human activity and survival strategies in Western Europe. Credit: Dibujo Mauricio Antón Hienas+Mamut-Color
Located at Fuente Nueva-3, this Early Pleistocene archaeological site houses some of the oldest traces of human habitation in Western Europe.
Researchers at the University of Malaga have discovered, in an unprecedented way, the Early Pleistocene archaeological site of Orce, often referred to as the ‘elephant graveyard’ due to the abundance of remains from the extinct elephant. species Mammuthus meridionalis actually hid a natural trap in the form of quicksand.
The site of Fuente Nueva 3 (FN3), located at the northeastern end of the Guadix-Baza Depression (Granada), is one of the Orce deposits containing some of the earliest evidence of human presence in Western Europe – consisting of lithic assemblages. , that is, stones carved by our ancestors – dating back to one million four hundred thousand years ago.
Likewise, this archeological site preserves manuports—unmodified stones used as impact tools to break bones and access marrow and, possibly, as throwing weapons to scare off hyenas—and abundant fossils of large mammals. , some of which retain anthropogenic signs associated with skinning, butchering and marrow processing. And also bones with tooth marks caused by scavenging carnivores.
The results of this pioneering research were recently published in Iberian Journal of Geology.
Two archaeological levels
According to this study, co-directed by UMA Full Professor of Paleontology Paul Palmqvist and UMA Professor of Stratigraphy and Paleontology María Patrocinio Espigares, the fertile layers of this site have two different archaeological levels: lower (LAL) and upper (UAL ). Both levels preserve abundant skeletal remains and lithic tools. However, while the former shows a high density of manuports, which suggests that hominin activity was more intense at this level, the latter preserves many remains of megaherbivores, especially the extinct elephants. Mammuthus meridionaliswhich points to a greater involvement of giant hyenas.
This study was co-directed by UMA Full Professor of Paleontology Paul Palmqvist and UMA Professor of Stratigraphy and Paleontology María Patrocinio Espigares
Thus, these scientists have analyzed the statistical changes in the composition of the faunal assemblages preserved in these two levels and the sedimentology, specifically the size of the particles in the fertile layers of both levels. The latter is a key aspect in the research, as it shows a predominance of silt and clay in layers 2-3 of the lower level, and fine and very fine sand in layer 5 of the upper level.
“These fine sand sediments, deposited near the paleola that was in the region, will also contain slightly saline water, a mixture that explains that they could have functioned as quicksand where larger animals were trapped,” they said. UMA scientists.
Food for cleaners
Therefore, experts point out that the last level can be interpreted as a natural quicksand trap, in which megaherbivores were trapped due to the high weight of their limbs, and their half-submerged carcasses attracted scavengers, both hyenas and the people who fed on these. and left their lithic assemblages and coprolites – the fossilized droppings of hyenas – as evidence of their presence.
The new discovery made by UMA researchers represents a “very important milestone to gain more knowledge about the living strategies of our ancestors, the first Europeans, and their competition with the large carrion hyenas for access to these meat sources , as it is the first time a natural trap with these characteristics has been described in a fossil deposit of particular interest to human evolution.
Carrying out more detailed studies distinguishing the upper and lower archaeological levels, as well as the characterization of other important sites in the Orces region, such as Barranco León, which also contributes evidence of human presence, are the next planned steps by this UMA scientific team. , in which researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid and Tarragona also participate.
More than a decade of research at UMA in Orce
The University of Malaga has been researching the site of Fuente Nueva 3 for several decades. The first UMA publication to highlight the importance of this site, in 2013, described a partial elephant skeleton partially surrounded by flint flakes and coprolites, testifying to the competition between these two super-scavengers for carcass resources.
Reference: “Late Early Pleistocene site of Fuente Nueva-3 (Guadix-Baza Depression, SE Spain): a hyena toilet developed in a living sand trap for megaherbivores? by Paul Palmqvist, Isidoro Campaña, Alejandro Granados, Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro, Alejandro Pérez-Ramos, Guillermo Rodríguez-Gómez, Antonio Guerra-Merchán, Sergio Ros-Montoya, María Dolores-Ríguel-Ríguel nández and M. Patrocinio Espigares, 26 May 2024, Journal of Iberian Geology.
DOI: 10.1007/s41513-024-00241-1