Testing the Roc de Marsal Neandertal "Burial" with Geoarchaeology

Authors

Paul Goldberg, University of TubingenFollow
Vera Aldeias, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Harold L. Dibble, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Shannon P. Mcpherron, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Dennis Sandgathe, University of Pennsylvania
Alain Turq, University of Bordeaux

RIS ID

99819

Publication Details

Goldberg, P., Aldeias, V., Dibble, H. L., Mcpherron, S. P., Sandgathe, D. & Turq, A. (2017). Testing the Roc de Marsal neandertal “burial” with geoarchaeology.Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 9 (6), 1005-1015.

Abstract

The question of intentional Neanderthal interment continues to be debated in paleoanthropology. Among the criteria that can be used to investigate the intentionality of a burial, many of them rely on geoarchaeological data that speak to the context of the human remains. In this paper, we revisit the original attribution of the Roc de Marsal Neandertal infant as an intentional burial by evaluating the sedimentary context, pit structure, and taphonomical aspects of the remains and their integration with data from the most recent excavations at the site. From a geoarchaeological point of view, no clear anthropogenic ritual signature was found. On the contrary, all the available evidence points towards natural formation processes associated with the initial deposition and subsequent burial of the Roc de Marsal Neandertal infant.