TY - JOUR
T1 - Paleoambiente del Pleistoceno tardío en un sitio arqueológico de la Edad de Piedra Media en Guinea Ecuatorial
T2 - una aproximación paleopedológica
AU - Cruz-y-Cruz, Tamara
AU - Terrazas-Mata, Alejandro
AU - Pogosyan, Lilit
AU - Sedov, Sergey
AU - Pi-Puig, Teresa
AU - Rivera-González, Iran
AU - Menéndez-Iglesias, Beatriz
AU - Rodríguez-Rivas, Jorge
AU - Cabadas-Báez, Héctor
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022,Boletin de la Sociedad Geologica Mexicana. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Key evidence of human occupation in Africa during the Middle Palaeolithic (Middle Stone Age [MSA]) is available from the south and east of the continent, where semi-arid climate prevails. Rare evidence of MSA human occupation in the humid tropical region was recently reported from Equatorial Guinea. To identify if paleolithic human occupation occurred in the tropical forest, the stratigraphy of the recently discovered archaeological site “Mabewele I” was analyzed using a paleopedological approach. The properties evaluated along a vertical profile are: granulometry, magnetic susceptibility (K), free iron extractable with sodium dithionite (Fed), total organic carbon (TOC), chemical composition by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction mineralogy (XRD), ternary plot of the three main oxides (SiO2-Al2O3-Fe2O3), phytoliths and micromorphology. The predominant fraction is sand, with a significant clay content (> 30 %). The K and the Fed presented low values, as well as the TOC. XRF showed few variations along the sequence and XRD showed that the clays are mainly kaolinites, with a very low component of vermiculites. The phytoliths correspond to tropical vegetation with few changes in the vegetal composition between the deep and superficial zones. A charcoal from the lower part of the profile was dated between 12.57-12.24 ka cal BP, while the main artifact horizon was located at the bottom. The analytical results appear contradictory: on the one hand, there is evidence of intense chemical weathering under a humid tropical climate, but the clay cutans in the pores are very scarce and incipient and the iron nodules are mostly anorthic. This indicates that the sequence is composed of pedosediments associated with a high environmental dynamism, with short periods of erosion-sedimentation-pedogenesis. The results allow us to propose that humans inhabited the tropical forest during the MSA and that erosion-sedimentation processes could be related to anthropization processes.
AB - Key evidence of human occupation in Africa during the Middle Palaeolithic (Middle Stone Age [MSA]) is available from the south and east of the continent, where semi-arid climate prevails. Rare evidence of MSA human occupation in the humid tropical region was recently reported from Equatorial Guinea. To identify if paleolithic human occupation occurred in the tropical forest, the stratigraphy of the recently discovered archaeological site “Mabewele I” was analyzed using a paleopedological approach. The properties evaluated along a vertical profile are: granulometry, magnetic susceptibility (K), free iron extractable with sodium dithionite (Fed), total organic carbon (TOC), chemical composition by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction mineralogy (XRD), ternary plot of the three main oxides (SiO2-Al2O3-Fe2O3), phytoliths and micromorphology. The predominant fraction is sand, with a significant clay content (> 30 %). The K and the Fed presented low values, as well as the TOC. XRF showed few variations along the sequence and XRD showed that the clays are mainly kaolinites, with a very low component of vermiculites. The phytoliths correspond to tropical vegetation with few changes in the vegetal composition between the deep and superficial zones. A charcoal from the lower part of the profile was dated between 12.57-12.24 ka cal BP, while the main artifact horizon was located at the bottom. The analytical results appear contradictory: on the one hand, there is evidence of intense chemical weathering under a humid tropical climate, but the clay cutans in the pores are very scarce and incipient and the iron nodules are mostly anorthic. This indicates that the sequence is composed of pedosediments associated with a high environmental dynamism, with short periods of erosion-sedimentation-pedogenesis. The results allow us to propose that humans inhabited the tropical forest during the MSA and that erosion-sedimentation processes could be related to anthropization processes.
KW - Equatorial guinea
KW - Middle stone age
KW - Paleopedology
KW - Rainforest
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142272915&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.18268/BSGM2022v74n3a200622
DO - 10.18268/BSGM2022v74n3a200622
M3 - Artículo
AN - SCOPUS:85142272915
SN - 1405-3322
VL - 74
JO - Boletin de la Sociedad Geologica Mexicana
JF - Boletin de la Sociedad Geologica Mexicana
IS - 3
M1 - A200622
ER -