The common objective pursued by team members from the Research Group for Palaecological and Geoarchaeological Studies (GEPEG) is to determine the physical and chemical composition of different archaeological materials (e.g., plant remains, bone, teeth and shells) along with establishing their age for the purpose of understanding site formation processes.  Our research is mainly concerned with prehistory and proto-history, although insights into other time periods are also gained due to the application of our research methods to a variety of materials.

Our team members have different research backgrounds such as Archaeology, Chemistry, Physics, Botany and Biology.  The application of these different research approaches to a variety of archaeological remains allows for a more coherent and complete interpretation of the archaeological record.

The full integration of fieldwork and laboratory analyses is a cornerstone in GEPEG studies.  We believe that researchers ought to work in both locations, and wherever possible even at the same time.  To this end, and over the last few years, we have brought our laboratory work directly to the field.  For instance, a portable Forier Infrared Spectrometer is used on site for the purpose of establishing the broad mineralogical composition of archaeological sediments.  Moreover, a petrographic microscope is also used to identify the various mineral components of these sediments, such as: phytoliths, fecal spherulites, charcoals and other remains that aid in the characterization of soil samples.  Back at the laboratory, GEPEG researchers use a variety of non-movable equipment such as that needed for radiocarbon dating, micromophological studies, diffraction of X Rays, extraction of phytoliths,…etc.  Thus, our work is done in different phases involving different time lines depending on the kind of study undertaken.

PRESENT RESEARCH PROJECTS:

The study of fire:

Coinciding with the emergence of social and cognitive capacities of the first humans, the use of fire has been essential to human survival.  Most crucial in this trajectory is the transition from a more sporadic use of fire that took advantage of natural occurrences to the purposeful production and control of it for different purposes.  This shift was one of the most important technological leaps in the history of human origins.

In order to improve our knowledge about the use and control of fire, a detailed study of archaeological remains directly or indirectly associated with the production of fire and surrounding sediments are most important.  To this end, analyses designed for the identification of plant fuel used in the production of fire are undertaken along with the quantification of a range of other plant remains.

Reconstruction of palaeoenvironment and palaeovegetation:

The role of past landscapes in the physical, cultural and social development of the first hominids has become an increasingly important topic of research.  Much of this emphasis has been promoted by the environmental school that argues that behavioral changes and social organization of human groups is the result of ecological variables.  To know about the landscape and physical environment where early hominids developed is crucial for understanding their adaptation to and subsequent control of it.  This research avenue is of great importance to our team members, which explains the great dedication by many of them to the reconstruction of past vegetation and landscape during the Plio-Pleistocene of eastern Africa and South Africa.

Within this line of research, we highlight the research efforts conducted by several GEPEG team members since 2001 in Olduvai Gorge and as part of OLAPP (Olduvai Landscape Paleoanthropological Project), a project led by Prof. Robert Blumenschine from Rudgers University (USA).  This is an innovative multidisciplinary study aimed at reconstructing life ways and survival patterns of early hominids.  This study is based on predictive behavioral models and their comparison to empirical archaeological observations.  Hence, a number of behavioral patterns regarding the use of past environments are proposed on the basis of actualistic studies.

Another project where GEPEG members are actively involved with is one currently underway at several Middle Paleolithic caves situated in Mossel Bay (South Africa).  Prof. C. Marean (Arizona State University, USA) has directed excavations there since 2001.  GEPEG’s participation in this project involves a combined study of marine invertebrates, phytoliths and also, more recently, charcoal remains.  The main objective of the Mossel Bay Project is to understand the origins of early modern humans and the emergence of modern behavior during the Middle Paleolithic.  This project also revises the long held hypothesis that cognitive capacities of modern humans developed in Europe around 45 ka. According to the evidence found in Mossel Bay and other coastal sites in South Africa, however, this development would have taken place much earlier in the African continent.

The study of marine shell remains have contributed with an important source of paleoenvironemntal observations (e.g., geographic configuration of the landscape, sea level change), dietary reconstructions and coastal foraging strategies of early modern humans.  Moreover, the collection of marine shells for purposes other than subsistence, such as those related to esthetic perceptions, could offer insight into the cognitive capacities of these early modern humans.

Agriculture and animal domestication:

The main objective pursued with this line of research is to improve our understanding on the origins of agriculture and animal husbandry in the Mediterranean region.  When studying the domestic activities carried out by our ancestors, special attention is given to the Levant due to its pioneering role in the socio-economic processes that lead to agriculture and animal domestication.  A diachronic perspective informs the economic developments experienced by prehistoric societies in this region, where paleoecological and socioeconomic factors that gave rise to the domestication of plants and animals are identified.

GEPEG has developed innovative methodologies regarding this research line over the last few years.  The quantitative, morphological and morphometric analyses of phytoliths are effective tools for differentiating domestic plants from wild ones, and for taxonomic identifications to species level as exemplified by  Tel Dor (Israel), El Wad Terrace) (Mont Carmel, Israel) and Ayn Abu Nukhayla (Wadi Rum, Jordania) case studies.