Overview of karst in Rembang and Blora: their prehistoric cave settlement potential

Despite the potential of the Rembang zone mountain range is meagre compared to the Kendeng mountain range situated to the south, the Rembang Zone is still known to have archaeological potential. Research in the Rembang Zone in Blora and Rembang regencies have been conducted since 2005. This study aims to reveal the potential for prehistoric cave occupations in the two regencies, which are influenced by karst morphology and lithology. The biggest impact of the morphology and lithology is the lack of caves, rock shelters, or the formation of collapsed doline, which are adequate as prehistoric cave dwellings.

The smelting of copper in the third millennium cal BC Trentino, north-eastern Italy

This paper presents observations and analyses on seven slag pieces from two third-millennium cal BC (Late Copper Age/Early Bronze Age) rock shelters in the Trentino, north-eastern Italy: La Vela di Valbusa and the Riparo di Monte Terlago. We review previous work on contemporary slags from the region and show that the smelting did not follow the well-known ‘Timna’, ‘Eibner’ or so-called ‘Chalcolithic’ copper smelting processes. We show that ethnographic accounts of copper smelting in the Himalayas (Sikkim and Nepal) illuminate the smelting process, in particular the lack of preliminary roasting or ore beneficiation by washing, the use of slags as fluxes for the first smelt (matte smelting) and the use of wooden (?) implements to lift the hot slags from the furnace during the smelt. The rock inclusions in the slag are consistent with an ore origin from mines at Calceranica or Vetriolo, as previously reported in the literature.

Approaches to Visibility and Strategical Control of the Sierra Harana Schematic Rock Art (Granada, Spain)

An approach about territorial control and mobility in Sierra Harana (Granada, Spain) during Late Prehistory is presented in this paper, according to rock shelters with schematic rock art distribution. Different aspects have been analysed by using tools provided by Geographic Information Systems (GIS): the relationship between rock shelters and hydrographic network and water springs, and, mainly, their visual control. The association between rock shelters with schematic rock art and burial caves use during the Neolithic period is observed in the study area. A strong link between rock shelters and traditional pathways is also attested. These facts can be read as a way to mark symbolically certain routes that could be aimed to short transhumance practice.

Cave and rock shelter sediments of southern Africa: a review of the chronostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental record from Marine Isotope Stage 6 to 1

Caves and rock shelters contribute important records to local, regional and sub-continental reconstructions of environment and climate change through the southern African Quaternary. Against a backdrop of pronounced climate change, the archaeological record of the Marine Isotope Stage 6 to 1 period in southern Africa documents a remarkable time in the behavioural and technological evolution of anatomically modern humans. Significant evidence of this evolution is represented in diverse components of the sedimentary record in caves and rock shelters in the region. We present a catalogue of published caves and rock shelters in southern Africa that preserve temporally-relevant clastic and chemical palaeoclimatic proxies in order to: (1) facilitate the integration of cave and rock shelter sedimentary data into broader, regional chronostratigraphically-correlated palaeoclimatic sequences; and (2) identify possible areas and proxies that require focused research in the future. To demonstrate the complexity of the Marine Isotope Stage 6 to 1 stratigraphic record and use of palaeoenvironmental proxies, we present three case studies representing interior and coastal contexts: Border Cave, Klasies River Mouth and Pinnacle Point. These examples aptly demonstrate the challenges of these contexts, but also the opportunities for palaeoenvironmental research in southern Africa when conducted through integrated, multidisciplinary approaches. Published records of palaeoenvironmental research from cave and rock shelter sequences in southern Africa are heavily biased to the South African coastal areas and the record is temporally and spatially fragmented. However, there are interesting patterns in the chronostratigraphic record and in the distribution of sites within the context of the geology and vegetation ecology of southern Africa that require further exploration. There are also promising techniques in stable isotope analysis that can be applied to abundant sedimentary components found in the region’s caves and rock shelters, and in its museums.

The Use of Rock Shelters During the Early Neolithic in the North of Alicante (Spain). The Site of Penya Roja de Catamarruc (Alicante, Spain) as a Case Study

The first Neolithic communities settled in the East of the Iberian Peninsula developed a complex strategy of land occupation. These strategies evolved as their social, demographic, and economic bases were transformed. In this paper, we focus on the analysis of archaeological sites located under rock shelters, which were recurrently occupied throughout the Early Neolithic. To deepen this analysis, we reviewed the archaeological record of Penya Roja de Catamarruc (Planes, Alicante), as well as other sites of similar characteristics. This information, combined with different spatial analyses – prominence, visibility, and capacity of use of the soils – allowed us to define a series of patterns of occupation and exploitation of the territory of the first Neolithic communities. This study highlights the importance of the forest as a resource related not only to hunting and gathering as traditionally seen, but also to shepherding.