A multidisciplinary team has identified new Neanderthal remains in the settlement of the Arbreda de Serinyà cave (Pla de l’Estany). Specifically, three human teeth corresponding to an infant, a juvenile individual and an adult individual have been found. Dues de les dents, coming from the N level of the cave, They have a minimum antiquity of 120,000 yearswhile the third dent, recovered from level J, is between 71,000 and 44,000 years.
The analysis of the set of remains has allowed us to identify a direct lower decidual molar (dent de llet), a lower permanent molar and a third upper premolar. Preliminary results indicate that these dents could be attributed to Homo neanderthalensis.
This is the main conclusion of the work published in the magazine American Journal of Biological Anthropologyin a team led by the doctor Marina Lozanoresearcher at IPHES-CERCA and associate professor at the Rovira i Virgili University, in which research and technical staff from the Catalan Institute of Cultural Heritage Research (ICRPC-CERCA), from the Institute of Research the History of the University of Girona, the University of Bordeaux and the International University of Catalonia.
The data have been obtained using a high-resolution microtomography (µCT) scanner to generate three-dimensional images of the three teeth found on the J and N levels of the cave. This will allow us to reconstruct and analyze the internal anatomy of the teeth, including the enamel-dentin junction (EDJ), the thickness of the enamel and the volume of the pulp cavity.
“The discovery is significant because it allows us to obtain more information about the presence of Neanderthals in the Trees at different times (about 120,000 years ago and between 71,000 and 44,000 years ago). The most modern subtraction is especially interesting because it is included in “The study of the subsistence strategies of the Neanderthals of the Iberian Peninsula, at a time when coexistence with anatomically modern humans is glimpsed,” says Lozano.
In fact, the investigation has revealed that the Neanderthals who will inhabit the Cova de l’Arbreda may have alternated between short seasonal occupations and longer settlements, which suggests an adaptation to climatic and environmental changes.
The cova de l’Arbreda is one of the settlements included in the archaeological complex of the caves of the Paratge del Reclau, of which they form part of three settlements such as the cova d’en Pau, the cova del Reclau Viver, the cova de Mollet, the Cova de Mollet III and the Cau del Roure. The Serinyà settlements have been instrumental in the development of prehistoric archeology in Catalonia and share a long history of interventions since the 1980s. In 2008 the buildings of the Reclau site will be declared Bé Cultural d’Interès Nacional and since 1997 the Parc de les Coves Prehistòriques de Serinyà has been accessible to the citizens.
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