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Contact information
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Keywords
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Links
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Archaeomalacology
Aquatic resources
Paleodiet
Hunter-fisher-gatherer
Stable isotopes
Sediment organic residues
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Research lines
- Management and consumption of marine resources
- Effects of food-producing societies on the hunter-fisher-gatherer economy
I am interested in learning about the changes in the management of aquatic resources in the last prehistoric hunter-fisher-gatherer populations and the role of these marine resources in their food consumption habits. Moreover, it’s about understanding how the appearance of food-producing socities influenced and modified the management and consumption practices of these resources.
The study of the feeding practices of human groups in the past allows us to understand and explain our evolutionary process and the causes or factors that contributed to our technological development and changes in the economy, social and political relations. As part of my ongoing Phd. Dissertation we set the main objective of investigating changes in diet and food consumption patterns during a key moment in history, the transition from the early Pleistocene to the initial Holocene. With a focus on the role of aquatic resources, we will evaluate if their importance in diet changes with the adoption of animal domesticates during the early Neolithic through a sample from deposits from the Cantabrian and the Mediterranean coasts. The study is based on oxygen isotopes analysis (δ18O) in Patella Vulgata and Patella caerulea shells, isotopic analysis of δ13C and δ15N on amino acids, and geochemical analysis of organic residues in archaeological artifacts, structures and sediments from archaeological levels associated with processing these resources. It’s a highly innovative approach in archaeology that will highlight the different work processes involved in the acquisition and consumption of aquatic resources and will also establish their economic value and importance in human nutrition. This thesis will be developed under the superivision of Dr. Antoni Rosell Melé (UAB-Institute of Environmental Science and Technology), Dr. Esteban Álvarez Fernández (University of Salamanca) and Dr. Maria Saña Seguí (UAB).
Works on faunal assemblages from…
Spain
Stable isotopes study of the malacofauna remains from Cueva de Nerja (Nerja, Málaga), El Cierro (Frenu, Ribadesella, Asturias), Los Gitanos (Castro Urdiales, Cantabria) and La Garma A (Omoño, Santander, Cantabria).
- Cueva de Nerja (Nerja, Málaga) – Upper Pleistocene-Holocene transition
One of the key sites for the study marine resources management in the upper Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the western Mediterranean. The archaeological interventions in the Mina and Vestibule rooms provided abundant malacological remains dated between 12,000-6,000 cal BP and 12,500-4,000 cal BP, respectively.
- El Cierro (Frenu, Ribadesella, Asturias) – Upper Pleistocene-Holocene transition
It’s one of the few concheros with a complete stratigraphy covering the upper Pleistocene-Holocene transition. The site has two Azilian levels (levels D and C) and a mesolithic level (level B) that cover a chronology ranging from 13,000-8,000 cal BP.
- Los Gitanos (Castro Urdiales, Cantabria) – Mesolithic to Bronze age
It’s one of the few Neolithic sites on the Cantabrian coast with abundant malacological remains. This deposit has four levels (A4, A3, A2, A1) dated between 5,000 and 2,600 cal BC.
- La Garma A (Omoño, Santander, Cantabria) – Upper Magdalenian and Mesolithic
It’s one of the deposits located on La Garma hill, by Santander’s Bay. The archaeological deposit contains levels ascribed to the upper Magdalenian (level N and W) and the mesolithic (level Q) dated between 13,200-11,700 cal BC and 6,800-5,600 cal BC, respectively.
Research projects
HAR2017-88304-P: Arqueobioquímica de la alimentación durante el neolítico peninsular: nuevos marcadores y referenciales para el estudio de las pautas de producción y consumo en Arqueología. PI: Dr. Maria Saña.
Featured publications
Álvarez-Fernández, E., Bécares-Pérez, J., Jordá-Pardo, J., Aguirre, A., Álvarez-Alonso, D., Aparicio, M., Barrera, I., Carral, P., Carriol, R. Cubas, M., Cueto, M., Douka, K., Elorza, M., Fernández-Gómez, M. J., Gabriel, S., Garcia-Ibaibarriaga, N., Iriarte-Chiapusso, M. J., Llave, C., Maestro, A., Arias, P., (2019). Palaeoenvironmental and Chronological context of human occupations at El Cierro Cave (Northern Spain) during the transition from the late Upper Pleistocene to the early Holocene. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 29, 102-138.