Organic geochemical evidence of human-controlled fires at Acheulean site of Valdocarros II (Spain, 245 kya).

ABSTRACT: Among the outstanding questions about the emergence of human-controlled fire is the systematic recurrence between the geochemical remains of fire and its preservation in the archaeological record, as the use of fire is considered a technological landmark, especially for its importance in food cooking, defensive strategies, and heating. Here we report fossil lipid biomarkers associated with incomplete combustion of organic matter at the Valdocarros II site, one of the largest European Acheulean sites in Spain dated to marine isotopic stage (MIS) 8/7 (~ 245 kya) allowing a multiproxy analysis of human-controlled fire use. Our results reveal isolated cases of highly concentrated and diverse polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alkylated PAHs (APAHs), along with diagnostic conifer-deriv

SUBMITTER: Stancampiano LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10195786 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature