Publications by authors named "Maria Martin Seijo"
The extraordinary preservation of Cueva de Los Murciélagos (Albuñol, Spain) provides a unique opportunity to identify the materials and the techniques involved in archery during the Early Neolithic period. Arrows with preserved feathers, tied fibres, adhesive substance, and two probable bowstrings have been studied trough an unprecedented multi-proxy investigation, including microscopy and biomolecular methods, to unravel archery techniques. The study has identified the oldest known sinew bowstrings, the first evidence for the use of olive tree (Olea europaea) and reed (Phragmites sp.
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- The Iberian Peninsula played a crucial role in understanding human settlement in Eurasia, particularly during the transition from Neandertals to anatomically modern humans.
- There was a notable lack of human presence in central Iberia for about 16,000 years following the Neandertals' disappearance until evidence of human occupation re-emerges around 36,200 years ago.
- The findings indicate that despite a shift towards colder and dryer conditions, anatomically modern humans successfully adapted their subsistence strategies and settled in areas previously thought to be uninhabitable, challenging existing views on early population dynamics in southwestern Europe.
Plant material culture can offer unique insights into the ways of life of prehistoric societies; however, its perishable nature has prevented a thorough understanding of its diverse and complex uses. Sites with exceptional preservation of organic materials provide a unique opportunity for further research. The burial site of Cueva de los Murciélagos in southern Iberia, uncovered during 19th-century mining activities, contained the best-preserved hunter-gatherer basketry in southern Europe, together with other unique organic artifacts associated with the first farming communities, such as sandals and a wooden hammer.
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- - Recent discoveries in Northwest Iberia reveal some of the earliest Western European remains of rye, dating back to between the 3rd century and the first half of the 1st century BCE, but their chronological and cultural contexts have not been fully analyzed.
- - Rye was typically present in archaeological samples alongside spelt and other cereals, likely functioning as a weed in those early agricultural fields, before disappearing for about two centuries.
- - After its absence, rye reemerged in the 3rd-4th centuries CE as a significant crop, with notable changes in grain size only appearing in a settlement from the 10th-11th century, indicating limited evolution in grain morphology prior to the Medieval period.