François-Xavier Le Bourdonnec

This study investigated the Chupícuaro ceramic production in Formative Mesoamerica through geochemical and petrographic examinations of a large set of Chupícuaro ceramic vessel sherds. The results are consistent with local domestic production using locally available resources, both for clays and for pigments of the painted decorations. Several production sites with their own sources of raw materials would have co‐existed in the Acámbaro Valley, capable of great technical and stylistic mastery and uniformity. This production has evolved in the diachrony. In particular, the study reveals a change in the sources of raw materials between the two successive periods Chupícuaro and Mixtlan.

The Caribbean islands witnessed a population expansion of ceramic‐using horticulturalists during the Early Ceramic Age (ca. 500 BC to 750 AD) from the Orinoco Valley to Puerto Rico. We examined 18 lithic artefacts from Guadeloupe and Dominica initially thought to be obsidian, a material believed to be absent from those islands. We investigated the volcanic or meteoritic origin of this unique and yet unknown material through observation (binocular, SEM, microtomography) and geochemical analyses (PIXE, SEM‐EDS, ED‐XRF, EPMA, LA‐ICP‐MS). Elemental analyses rule out the hypothesis of an origin from a meteoritic impact (i.e. identification as tektites). Most of the artefacts have an andesitic composition (2), which appears to be unique among ‘massive’ glasses. The only artefact with a rhyolitic composition has been traced back to the Guadeloupe's Volcan du Tuf, where glassy fragments have been collected and analysed. The geological source of the other vitreous artefacts that exhibit an andesitic composition could be from a sublocal subduction‐arc volcanism (maybe from Martinique), although no volcanic vitreous material of this kind has ever been reported worldwide. These results once again highlight the regional mobility of Early Ceramic populations and the production of standard lithic products using a highly original, albeit low‐quality, local lithic resource, and provide valuable references for future identification of similar materials.

Archaeological studies carried out in recent decades have demonstrated that the Pre‐Pyrenees, a mountain range in north‐east Iberia, were regularly frequented by several human groups during the Late Pleistocene. The Cova del Parco archaeological site is an example of this large‐scale and regular human presence. The site was discovered and first excavated in the 1970s, and since the 1980s, a team from the University of Barcelona has been conducting archaeological work. So far, we have found that the site was at least frequented from the Middle Magdalenian upon historical times. In this paper, we present the results of the archaeopetrological, geochemical and geographic information system (GIS) analyses of chert tools ascribed to the Middle Magdalenian sequence. The textural, micropalaeontological and geochemical analysis of the lithic artefacts has allowed us to identify several chert types from local, regional and long‐distance sources. Some of these cherts had their origin in the northern slopes of the Pyrenean chain, suggesting that this mountain chain was regularly crossed by Magdalenian groups. Next, we performed GIS analyses to determine the paths and connections that may have linked the archaeological site with the different chert outcrops, and to identify the best routes for crossing the Pyrenean Mountain range. Moreover, this study provides a larger vision of the mobility and the complex economic interactions between the different Magdalenian groups that settled Cova del Parco at the end of the Late Pleistocene.

Cherts originating from carbonate lacustrine environments have been widely exploited by Upper Palaeolithic hunter‐gatherers in the south of the Pyrenees. Archaeo‐petrographic sourcing studies have identified different potential sources but were unable to distinguish them. This study conducted geochemical characterisation of geological and archaeological lacustrine chert samples using laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), and applied the supervised classification model partial least squares–discriminant analysis to LIBS spectra. The model was able to discriminate geological sources and provide predictions for the origin of a selection of chert artefacts recovered at the Middle Magdalenian level from Cova del Parco (Lleida, Spain).

Sourced from the Tyrrhenian Islands and exchanged over long distances, obsidian was used widely across prehistoric Western Europe. An obsidian core and bladelets from a newly discovered rockshelter site in south-eastern Spain, however, raised the possibility of an unrecognised mainland source of obsidian. EDXRF analysis of the Early Magdalenian finds from La Boja links them to a source 125km to the south-west. The artefacts were discarded during two brief activity phases at the site, indicating that obsidian procurement was integral to the technological choices of the site's users. The specificities of the technocomplex may explain the unique nature of this occurrence.

The origin and evolution of hominin mortuary practices are topics of intense interest and debate^1,2,3. Human burials dated to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) are exceedingly rare in Africa and unknown in East Africa^1,2,3,4,5,6. Here we describe the partial skeleton of a roughly 2.5- to 3.0-year-old child dating to 78.3 ± 4.1 thousand years ago, which was recovered in the MSA layers of Panga ya Saidi (PYS), a cave site in the tropical upland coast of Kenya^7,8. Recent excavations have revealed a pit feature containing a child in a flexed position. Geochemical, granulometric and micromorphological analyses of the burial pit content and encasing archaeological layers indicate that the pit was deliberately excavated. Taphonomical evidence, such as the strict articulation or good anatomical association of the skeletal elements and histological evidence of putrefaction, support the in-place decomposition of the fresh body. The presence of little or no displacement of the unstable joints during decomposition points to an interment in a filled space (grave earth), making the PYS finding the oldest known human burial in Africa. The morphological assessment of the partial skeleton is consistent with its assignment to Homo sapiens, although the preservation of some primitive features in the dentition supports increasing evidence for non-gradual assembly of modern traits during the emergence of our species. The PYS burial sheds light on how MSA populations interacted with the dead.

Recent archaeological research has highlighted the potential role of mobile pastoral groups in the diffusion of raw materials and technological innovations between the southern Caucasus and north‐western Iran from the Neolithic onwards. Two successive projects, PAST‐OBS and SCOPE, were designed to explore this hypothesis through the study of obsidian consumption patterns from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age using a flexible analytical strategy that considerably extends the scale of obsidian studies in these regions. By focusing on the exploitation of obsidian at multiple levels—local, regional and interregional—we hope to unravel the complexity of the obsidian networks under study. The aim of this paper is to present (1) a reassessment of the work so far carried out by previous obsidian studies, with a view to homogenizing and to clarifying the nomenclature in use; and (2) an introduction to the PAST‐OBS and SCOPE projects in order to initiate a discussion of our preliminary results.

This paper reports the results of a recent geological and archaeological survey conducted in the Sarab district (Sabalan area) in Northwestern Iran. This survey aimed to identify potential obsidian outcrops in the region and to investigate archaeological sites in the vicinity to assess their obsidian exploitation patterns. We located a new obsidian source, Ideloo, and surveyed the previously known archaeological sites of Tepe Qalehjoogh, Kultepe Asbfrooshan, Tepe Emam Chay and Qaleh Tepe Abarghan. Here, we describe the methods and results of our surveys, along with the geochemical characterisation, using portable XRF and LA‐ICP‐MS, of both the new outcrop and the obsidian artefacts found on the sites. Our analyses have revealed the consumption of Ideloo obsidian on three of the four sites surveyed, confirming its exploitation by local communities. While validating previous assumptions regarding the existence of potential obsidian sources in Northwestern Iran, our study also highlights the consumption of raw materials originating from the Caucasus or Eastern Anatolia in complement to local resources. However, the diffusion of the Ideloo obsidian seems so far restricted to a small area, which suggests more complex consumption and trade patterns than previously expected.

Fuente del Trucho cave (Asque‐Colungo, Huesca, Spain) is located in the central Pre‐Pyrenean range in north‐east Iberia, in the Arpán ravine, a tributary of the Vero River. The mouth of the cave is 22 m wide and it is oriented to the south‐east. The entrance gives access to a 24 m‐deep hall. Palaeolithic paintings were discovered in the cave in 1978. The Fuente del Trucho art comprises two sectors: the external with some engraved motifs and the internal featuring more than 100 painted motifs distributed in 21 panels. Archaeological works have been undertaken since 1979, identifying several human occupations from the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. This paper presents results obtained after the analysis of lithic raw materials. The analyses were performed using the classical archaeopetrological approach, which comprises textural, micropalaeontological and petrographical analyses, combined with the application of geochemical methods, using energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (ED‐XRF) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS). The results show that chert and quartzites were the most commonly used rocks. Different types and origins of chert were identified, demonstrating the existence of a wide mobility for lithic raw material procurement during all the Palaeolithic occupations.