Dissecting Middle Palaeolithic Palimpsests at El Salt and Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain)
Dissecting Middle Palaeolithic Palimpsets at El Salt and Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain)
Our lab has carried out extensive geoarchaeological research at the Middle Palaeolithic sites of El Salt and Abric del Pastor, located in Alcoy, Spain—key contexts for investigating the behavioral patterns of the last Neanderthal communities in southeastern Iberia. A central objective of this work was to disentangle the complex, cumulative archaeological palimpsests through a microcontextual approach. To achieve this, we combined diverse sources of microstratigraphic data—including micromorphology, archaeomagnetism, archaeobotany, and geo- and biochemistry—with broader archaeological and paleoecological datasets such as GIS-based spatial analysis, Raw Material Unit (RMU) studies of lithic assemblages, and zooarchaeological and anthracological evidence.
One of the key challenges in archaeology is accessing events at a human timescale, as opposed to the broader geological scale. However, the growing availability and resolution of archaeological science methods have expanded our ability to detect subtle traces of human activity. Our work emphasized the importance of combining well-executed fieldwork, detailed microstratigraphic analysis, and the integration of multiple lines of evidence to refine our understanding of Neanderthal occupations and the contexts in which they took place.
In this context, the PALEOCHAR ERC Consolidator Grant project (2017–2023) played a central role. It investigated how Neanderthal diet, fire use, settlement patterns, and local vegetation were shaped by changing environmental conditions. A distinctive aspect of the project was its focus on microscopic and molecular traces of organic and charred matter preserved in sediments. Experimental and geoarchaeological work carried out during PALEOCHAR demonstrated that the black layers commonly found beneath Middle Palaeolithic hearths were rich in preserved organic residues. Formed at moderate temperatures—typically below 300°C—these charred layers provided stable conditions for the long-term preservation of lipid biomarkers. The project revealed that these layers acted as valuable archives of Neanderthal activity, offering insights into food processing, fire technologies, spatial organization, and local ecology. By targeting these overlooked sedimentary contexts, PALEOCHAR contributed a new dimension to our understanding of Neanderthal lifeways and site formation processes.
Funding
Publications
PALEOCHAR
Connolly, R., Jambrina-Enríquez, M., Herrera-Herrera, A.V., & Mallol, C. 2021. Investigating Hydrogen Isotope Variation during Heating of n-Alkanes under Limited Oxygen Conditions: Implications for Palaeoclimate Reconstruction in Archaeological Settings. Molecules 26(7): p.1830. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/molecules26071830
de Vera, C. R., Herrera-Herrera, A. V., Jambrina-Enríquez, M., Sossa-Ríos, S., González-Urquijo, J., Lazuen, T., & Mallol, C. 2020. Micro-contextual identification of archaeological lipid biomarkers using resin-impregnated sediment slabs. Scientific reports, 10(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77257-x
Herrera-Herrera, A. V., Mohamed-Rodríguez, N., Socas-Rodríguez, B., & Mallol, C. 2020. Development of a QuEChERS-based method combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the analysis of alkanes in sediments. Microchemical Journal, 104774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2020.104774
Lambrecht, G., & Mallol, C. 2020. Autofluorescence of experimentally heated bone: Potential archaeological applications and relevance for estimating degree of burning. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 31, 102333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102333
Lambrecht, G., de Vera, C. R., Jambrina-Enríquez, M., Crevecoeur, I., Gonzalez-Urquijo, J., Lazuen, T., & Mallol, C. 2021. Characterisation of charred organic matter in micromorphological thin sections by means of Raman spectroscopy. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 13(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01263-3
Jambrina-Enríquez, M., Herrera-Herrera, A.V., de Vera, C.R., Leierer, L., Connolly, R. and Mallol, C., 2019. n-Alkyl nitriles and compound-specific carbon isotope analysis of lipid combustion residues from Neanderthal and experimental hearths: identifying sources of organic compounds and combustion temperatures. Quaternary Science Reviews, 222, p.105899. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.105899
Herrera-Herrera, A.V. and Mallol, C., 2018. Quantification of lipid biomarkers in sedimentary contexts: Comparing different calibration methods. Organic geochemistry, 125, pp.152-160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.07.009
Jambrina-Enríquez, M., Herrera-Herrera, A.V. and Mallol, C., 2018. Wax lipids in fresh and charred anatomical parts of the Celtis australis tree: Insights on paleofire interpretation. Organic Geochemistry, 122, pp.147-160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orggeochem.2018.05.017
El Salt
Mayor, A., Sossa-Ríos, S., Vaquero, M., & Hernández, C. M. (2025). Recycling and implications for Neanderthal productive strategies in the stratigraphic unit VIII of the El Salt rockshelter (Alcoi, Eastern Iberia). Lithic Technology, 50(1), 82-99. https://doi.org/10.1080/01977261.2024.2356952
Herrejón-Lagunilla, Á., Villalaín, J.J., Pavón-Carrasco, F.J., Serrano Sánchez-Bravo, M., Sossa-Ríos, S., Mayor, A., Galván, B., Hernández, C.M., Mallol, C. and Carrancho, Á., (2024). The time between Palaeolithic hearths. Nature, 630(8017), pp.666-670. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07467-0
Sossa-Ríos, S., Mayor, A., Sánchez-Romero, L., Mallol, C., Vaquero, M., & Hernández, C. M. (2024). The time of the stones: a call for palimpsest dissection to explore lithic record formation processes. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 1-51. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10816-024-09666-5
Bencomo, M., Mayor, A., Sossa-Ríos, S., Jardón, P., Galván, B., Mallol, C., & Hernández, C. M. (2023). Use-wear analysis applied in a dissected palimpsest at the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt (eastern Iberia): working with lithic tools in a narrow timescale. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 15(7), 92. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-023-01787-4
Mayor, A., Sossa-Ríos, S., Molina, F. J., Pérez, L., Galván, B., Mallol, C. & Hernández, C. M. (2022). An instance of Neanderthal mobility dynamics: a lithological approach to the flint assemblage from stratigraphic unit VIII of El Salt rockshelter (Alcoi, eastern Iberia). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 44, 103544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103544
Marquina-Blasco, R., Fagoaga, A., Crespo, V.D., Bailon, S., Mallol, C., Hernández, C.M., Galván, B., Ruiz-Sánchez, F.J. (2021). Amphibians and reptiles as palaeonvironmental proxies during the Late Pleistocene (MIS3): The case of Stratigraphic Unit V of El Salt, Alcoi, Spain, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 110372.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110372.
Leierer, L., Alonso, Á. C., Pérez, L., Lagunilla, Á. H., Herrera-Herrera, A. V., Connolly, R., Jambrina-Enríquez, M., Hernández, C. & Mallol, C. (2020). It’s getting hot in here–Microcontextual study of a potential pit hearth at the Middle Paleolithic site of El Salt, Spain. Journal of Archaeological Science, 123, 105237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105237
Mayor, A., Hernández, C. M., Machado, J., Mallol, C., & Galván, B. (2020). On identifying Palaeolithic single occupation episodes: archaeostratigraphic and technological approaches to the Neanderthal lithic record of stratigraphic unit xa of El Salt (Alcoi, eastern Iberia). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 12(4), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01022-4
Rampelli, S., Turroni, S., Mallol, C., Hernandez, C., Galván, B., Sistiaga, A., Biagi, E., Astolfi, A., Brigidi, P., Benazzi, S. and Lewis, C.M., (2021). Components of a Neanderthal gut microbiome recovered from fecal sediments from El Salt. Communications biology, 4(1), pp.1-10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01689-y
Leierer, L., Jambrina-Enríquez, M., Herrera-Herrera, A.V., Connolly, R., Hernández, C.M., Galván, B. and Mallol, C., (2019). Insights into the timing, intensity and natural setting of Neanderthal occupation from the geoarchaeological study of combustion structures: A micromorphological and biomarker investigation of El Salt, unit Xb, Alcoy, Spain. PloS one, 14(4), p.e0214955. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214955
Connolly, R., Jambrina-Enríquez, M., Herrera-Herrera, A.V., Vidal-Matutano, P., Fagoaga, A., Marquina-Blasco, R., Marin-Monfort, M.D., Ruiz-Sánchez, F.J., Laplana, C., Bailon, S. and Pérez, L., (2019). A multiproxy record of palaeoenvironmental conditions at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abric del Pastor (Eastern Iberia). Quaternary Science Reviews, 225, p.106023.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106023
Fagoaga, A., Blain, H. A., Marquina-Blasco, R., Laplana, C., Sillero, N., Hernández, C. M., Mallol, C. & Ruiz-Sánchez, F. J. (2019). Improving the accuracy of small vertebrate-based palaeoclimatic reconstructions derived from the Mutual Ecogeographic Range. A case study using geographic information systems and UDA-ODA discrimination methodology. Quaternary Science Reviews, 223, 105969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.105969
Fagoaga, A., Laplana, C., Marquina-Blasco, R., Machado, J., Marin-Monfort, M. D., Crespo, V. D., Hernández Gómez, C. Mallol, C., Galván, B. & Ruiz-Sánchez, F. J. (2019). Palaeoecological context for the extinction of the Neanderthals: A small mammal study of Stratigraphic Unit V of the El Salt site, Alcoi, eastern Spain. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 530, 163-175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110221
Sistiaga, A., Mallol, C., Galván, B., Summons, R. (2014). The Neanderthal meal: a new perspective using faecal biomarkers. PloS one. 9 – 6, pp. e101045 – e101045. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0101045
Garralda, M.D., Galván, B., Hernández, C.M., Mallol, C., Gómez, J.A. and Maureille, B., (2014). Neanderthals from El Salt (Alcoy, Spain) in the context of the latest Middle Palaeolithic populations from the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. Journal of Human Evolution, 75, pp.1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.02.019
Galván, B., Hernandez, C.M., Mallol, C., Mercier, N., Sistiaga, A. and Soler, V., (2014). New evidence of early Neanderthal disappearance in the Iberian Peninsula. Journal of Human Evolution, 75, pp.16-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.06.002
Gómez de la Rua, D., Mallol, C., Galván, B. and Gómez, C.H., (2010). Una visión geoarqueológica general del yacimiento musteriense de El Salt (Alcoy, Alicante) a partir de la micromorfología de suelos. Recerques del Museu d’Alcoi, 19, pp.19-32. ISSN 1135-2663
Abric del Pastor
Sossa-Ríos, S., Mayor, A., Hernández, C. M., Bencomo, M., Pérez, L., Galván, B., Mallol, C. & Vaquero, M. (2022). Multidisciplinary evidence of an isolated Neanderthal occupation in Abric del Pastor (Alcoi, Iberian Peninsula). Scientific Reports, 12, 15883. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-20200-z
Mallol, C., Hernández, C., Mercier, N., Falguères, C., Carrancho, Á., Cabanes, D., Vidal-Matutano, P., Connolly, R., Pérez, L., Mayor, A. and Arous, E.B., (2019). Fire and brief human occupations in Iberia during MIS 4: Evidence from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain). Scientific reports, 9(1), pp.1-11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-54305-9
Vidal-Matutano, P., Hernández, C.M., Galván, B. and Mallol, C., (2015). Neanderthal firewood management: evidence from stratigraphic unit IV of Abric Del Pastor (eastern Iberia). Quaternary Science Reviews, 111, pp.81-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.01.010
Machado, J., Hernández, C.M., Mallol, C. and Galván, B., (2013). Lithic production, site formation and Middle Palaeolithic palimpsest analysis: in search of human occupation episodes at Abric del Pastor Stratigraphic Unit IV (Alicante, Spain). Journal of Archaeological Science, 40(5), pp.2254-2273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.01.002
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