As above, so below: deposition, modification, and reutilization of human remains at Marmoles cave (Cueva de los Marmoles: Southern Spain, 4000-1000 cal BCE)

Milella, Marco; M. Martínez Sánchez, Rafael; Pichler, Sandra; Vera Rodríguez, Juan Carlos; Martínez Fernández, María José; Cámara Serrano, Juan Antonio; Laffranchi, Zita (April 2023). As above, so below: deposition, modification, and reutilization of human remains at Marmoles cave (Cueva de los Marmoles: Southern Spain, 4000-1000 cal BCE). American Journal of Biological Anthropology, p. 118. Wiley

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The deposition, retrieval, and manipulation of human remains in natural caves are well known throughout Prehistory in the Iberian Peninsula. Although these practices are archaeologically documented from the 6th to the 2nd millennium BCE, their biocultural meaning is still largely unclear. Here we present and discuss new anthropological and taphonomic data from Cueva de los Marmoles (CM, Priego-Cordoba), a cave context from Southern Spain that returned a large number of commingled skeletal remains documenting its funerary use from ca. 4000 to 1000 cal BCE. Our aims are to: a) estimate the minimum number (MNI) and demographic distribution of the buried individuals; b) reconstruct the depositional and post depositional processes characterizing this assemblage. We analyzed macroscopically and microscopically all skeletal finds (410 bone fragments and 57 dental remains), and quantified the MNI and anatomical distribution of anthropic traces using the approach of Mack et al. (2016). We tested the statistical significance of these patterns using nonparametric tests and logistic models. Results highlight: a) a MNI of 12 (7 adults - including four females and one male - and 5 nonadults); b) cut marks and fresh fractures on 5 and 116 bone fragments respectively (1% and 28% of total), including one example of "skull cup"; c) no specific trend in the anatomical distribution of anthropic traces. These results suggest that CM was the focus of specific rituals centered on the human body and, when compared with similar contexts from Southern Iberia, the presence of shared funerary traditions and ideologies in this region.

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