Paloma De La Peña
Biographic Data
| ID | 105471 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Paloma De La Peña |
| GIVEN NAMES | Paloma |
| FAMILY NAME | De La Peña |
| SIGNATURE | DE LA PEÑA P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of the Witwatersrand |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9731-7001 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 430 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 31 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 12 |
Raw Material Sourcing Analyses of Ochre and Stone Tools from the Middle Stone Age site of Mwulu’s Cave (Limpopo, South Africa)
Marshill Rockshelter (Eastern Cape, South Africa): A new late Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological sequence in the Maloti-Drakensberg piedmont
This paper reports on a new archaeological research project in the Stormberg region of South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province that began in 2018. After four prospecting surveys, an archaeological site — Marshill Rockshelter — was selected that could offer a long diachronic chronostratigraphic framework from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene in order to understand the deep past of this region and the long-term occupation of a mountain environment…
Nuevos datos sobre el yacimiento El Peñón de Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo (valle del Alto Guadiato, Córdoba). Aportación al estudio de la Prehistoria Reciente Cordobesa
En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de la prospección arqueológica realizada en El Peñón de Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo (Córdoba, España). El objetivo de esta intervención era valorar el registro arqueológico del yacimiento y documentar la existencia de cultura material que indicasen la presencia de un espacio de producción metalúrgica. Los trabajos realizados han permitido confirmar que se llevó a cabo una actividad metalúrgica en el interior …
First technological approach to a late Holocene pottery assemblage from the Marshill site in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
Is the StW 53 cranium (Sterkfontein, South Africa) the earliest evidence of tool-assisted hominin modification? New data from a neotaphonomic experiment and the virtual reconstruction of its linear ma…
Olieboomspoort, South Africa
Identifying accurate artefact morphological ranges using optimal linear estimation: Method validation, case studies, and code
A fundamental goal of archaeologists is to infer the behaviour of past humans from the attributes of the artefacts they left behind. The archaeological record is, however, fragmented and often provides a partial record of the total artefacts produced by a given population. In turn, there is potential for population-level morphometric data, and therefore behavioural inferences, to be biased relative to the trends realised in the past. This include…
Ochre use at Olieboomspoort, South Africa: Insights into specular hematite use and collection during the Middle Stone Age
Recent excavations at Olieboomspoort (OBP) in the Waterberg Mountains of South Africa confirmed previous research at the site that highlighted an abundance of ochre in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits. Here, we report on the results of an analysis of the ochre from the MSA deposits excavated in 2018-2019. Fossilised equid teeth from these deposits were recently dated to approximately 150 ka, an early date for such a sizeable ochre assemblage i…
Luis Gerardo Vega Toscano: (Huelva, 1956 - Madrid, 2021)
The place beyond the trees: Renewed excavations of the Middle Stone Age deposits at Olieboomspoort in the Waterberg Mountains of the South African Savanna Biome
Olieboomspoort is one of the few rock shelters in the vast interior of southern Africa documenting pulses of occupation from the Acheulean until the end of the Later Stone Age. Revil Mason excavated the site in 1954 and attributed the large Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic assemblage to his middle phase of the so-called Pietersburg Industry. Recent work at the site has focused on the Holocene layers, but little is known about the earlier phases of s…
Howiesons Poort
The Howiesons Poort is a technological tradition within the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa. This technological tradition shows different characteristics, technical and symbolic (the engraving of ostrich eggshell containers, the appearance of engraved ochre, formal bone tool technology, compound adhesives for hafting and a great variability in hunting techniques), which only developed in an extensive manner much later in other parts of the wo…
Plant taphonomy, flora exploitation and palaeoenvironments at the Middle Stone Age site of Mwulu's Cave (Limpopo, South Africa): An Archaeobotanical and Mineralogical Approach
Project Piedemonte: Between the Maloti-Drakensberg and the Great Escarpment in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
A new project maps mobility patterns and social networks from prehistory to historical times in the western piedmont of the Maloti-Drakensberg, South Africa, and considers how rock art sites relate to seasonal or transhumance patterns in the region
Assessing raw material's role in bipolar and freehand miniaturized flake shape, technological structure, and fragmentation rates
Revisiting Mwulu's Cave: New insights into the Middle Stone Age in the southern African savanna biome
Trampling vs. Retouch in a Lithic Assemblage: A Case Study from a Middle Stone Age Site, Steenbokfontein 9KR (Limpopo, South Africa)
At the site of Steenbokfontein 9KR, virtually 80% of the lithic blanks presented retouch—an extreme proportion for Middle Stone Age assemblages. The high percentage of putative retouch led us to investigate whether post-depositional processes played a role in the preservation of the lithic assemblage. We designed and performed an experiment that reproduced all the archaeological conditions inferred from the site formation analyses to determine if…
New Excavations at Border Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
New excavations at Border Cave use high-resolution techniques, including FT-IR, for sediment samples and thin sections of micromorphology blocks from stratigraphy. These show that sediments have different moisture regimes, both spatially and chronologically. The site preserves desiccated grass bedding in multiple layers and they, along with seeds, rhizomes, and charcoal, provide a profile of palaeo-vegetation through time. A bushveld vegetation c…
A techno-functional perspective on quartz micro-notches in Sibudu's Howiesons Poort indicates the use of barbs in hunting technology
Responses of South African Agate and Chalcedony When Heated Experimentally, and the Broader Implications for Heated Archaeological Minerals
Here we present a database of responses by South African agate and chalcedony to heat treatment. This will assist analyses of heated stone tools not only in South African archaeological sites, but wherever heated agate and chalcedony pieces were knapped. The minerals are abundant worldwide. To replicate potential heating methods during the Stone Age we placed some minerals in a wood fire, some under coals, and others were buried in sediments bene…
Holocene large mammal mass death assemblage from South Africa
Milky Quartz Bipolar Reduction and Lithic Miniaturization: Experimental Results and Archaeological Implications
We present experimental data examining the energetics and identification of axial bipolar reduction in contexts of lithic miniaturization on milky quartz. These experiments answer two specific questions. First, does bipolar reduction provide any benefits over freehand reduction? Second, can axial bipolar reduction be distinguished from freehand reduction? Our data show that bipolar reduction requires significantly less time to reduce a percentage…
Raw material procurement and use at Gargas Cave (Hautes-Pyrénées, France): A Pyrenean-foothill economy during the Gravettian period
Situado en el centro de la cadena de los Pirineos, la cueva de Gargs -complejo de arte parietal y sitio de hbitat-ha sido objeto de nuevas investigaciones desde 2004. A partir de estudios interdisciplinares sobre las materias primas utilizadas en las series seas, lticas y de adornos personales, adems del anlisis arqueozoolgico de los vestigios de fauna, se ha podido percibir mejor el panel de recursos movilizados por los grupos gravetienses que o…
Direct evidence for human exploitation of birds in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa: The example of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal
La tecnología lítica de los Abrigos de "Abdasan" y "Aougni N’Ourigh", (valle de Oukaïmeden, Alto Atlas, Marruecos)
The main technological strategies of the lithic material of Abadsan and Aougni N’Ourigh are presented. The knapping methods and the techniques are specifically described following a chaîne opératoire approach. Moreover, the main knapping objectives are pointed out. Finally, some functional insights are proposed following the macroscopic traces found
A Qualitative Guide to Recognize Bipolar Knapping for Flint and Quartz
This paper presents a list of macroscopic characteristics for recognising pieces resulting from bipolar knapping. I performed specific experiments in fine grained flint and in quartz. I describe the main characteristics of bipolar knapping in a qualitative manner and discuss the usefulness and limitations of this qualitative methodology for these two types of rocks
A Qualitative Guide to Recognize Bipolar Knapping for Flint and Quartz
This paper presents a list of macroscopic characteristics for recognising pieces resulting from bipolar knapping. I performed specific experiments in fine grained flint and in quartz. I describe the main characteristics of bipolar knapping in a qualitative manner and discuss the usefulness and limitations of this qualitative methodology for these two types of rocks
New Excavations at Border Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
New excavations at Border Cave use high-resolution techniques, including FT-IR, for sediment samples and thin sections of micromorphology blocks from stratigraphy. These show that sediments have different moisture regimes, both spatially and chronologically. The site preserves desiccated grass bedding in multiple layers and they, along with seeds, rhizomes, and charcoal, provide a profile of palaeo-vegetation through time. A bushveld vegetation c…
A techno-functional perspective on quartz micro-notches in Sibudu's Howiesons Poort indicates the use of barbs in hunting technology
The Interpretation of Bipolar Knapping in African Stone Age Studies
Bipolar knapping is presented as a case study for the interpretation of African Prehistory. Bipolar knapping was first thought of as a typological marker but, lately, it has been referred to as a technological marker. I challenge the idea that the technological change represented by bipolar knapping should be understood as a technological marker, because to do so is simply a translation of an outdated typological definition taken unconsciously fr…
New knapping methods in the Howiesons Poort at Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
Milky Quartz Bipolar Reduction and Lithic Miniaturization: Experimental Results and Archaeological Implications
We present experimental data examining the energetics and identification of axial bipolar reduction in contexts of lithic miniaturization on milky quartz. These experiments answer two specific questions. First, does bipolar reduction provide any benefits over freehand reduction? Second, can axial bipolar reduction be distinguished from freehand reduction? Our data show that bipolar reduction requires significantly less time to reduce a percentage…
Revisiting Mwulu's Cave: New insights into the Middle Stone Age in the southern African savanna biome
Bipolar Knapping in Gravettian Occupations at El Palomar Rockshelter (Yeste, Southeastern Spain)
This work was developed under the framework of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología projects BHA2003-03290 and DGCYT PB-93-0446 (field campaign 1996) and since 2004 under the field grants of Junta de Castilla La Mancha. The lithic analyses were 59 supported by a FPU fellowship from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación to Dr. Paloma de la Peña
Trampling vs. Retouch in a Lithic Assemblage: A Case Study from a Middle Stone Age Site, Steenbokfontein 9KR (Limpopo, South Africa)
At the site of Steenbokfontein 9KR, virtually 80% of the lithic blanks presented retouch—an extreme proportion for Middle Stone Age assemblages. The high percentage of putative retouch led us to investigate whether post-depositional processes played a role in the preservation of the lithic assemblage. We designed and performed an experiment that reproduced all the archaeological conditions inferred from the site formation analyses to determine if…
The place beyond the trees: Renewed excavations of the Middle Stone Age deposits at Olieboomspoort in the Waterberg Mountains of the South African Savanna Biome
Olieboomspoort is one of the few rock shelters in the vast interior of southern Africa documenting pulses of occupation from the Acheulean until the end of the Later Stone Age. Revil Mason excavated the site in 1954 and attributed the large Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic assemblage to his middle phase of the so-called Pietersburg Industry. Recent work at the site has focused on the Holocene layers, but little is known about the earlier phases of s…
Assessing raw material's role in bipolar and freehand miniaturized flake shape, technological structure, and fragmentation rates
The beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in the Baetic Mountain area (Spain)
Direct evidence for human exploitation of birds in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa: The example of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal
Sobre la identificación macroscópica de las piezas astilladas: Propuesta experimental
El morfotipo lítico “pieza astillada” (pièces esquillées o splintered pieces) ha sido relacionado, por los estudios de Prehistoria, con dos actividades muy distintas: la talla posada sobre yunque –también denominada “talla bipolar”– y el empleo de piezas intermedias –a modo de cuña/cincel– para el trabajo de materias primas duras (hueso, madera y asta). Se presenta una propuesta experimental que busca distinguir macroscópicamente estos dos tipos …
Ochre use at Olieboomspoort, South Africa: Insights into specular hematite use and collection during the Middle Stone Age
Recent excavations at Olieboomspoort (OBP) in the Waterberg Mountains of South Africa confirmed previous research at the site that highlighted an abundance of ochre in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits. Here, we report on the results of an analysis of the ochre from the MSA deposits excavated in 2018-2019. Fossilised equid teeth from these deposits were recently dated to approximately 150 ka, an early date for such a sizeable ochre assemblage i…
Plant taphonomy, flora exploitation and palaeoenvironments at the Middle Stone Age site of Mwulu's Cave (Limpopo, South Africa): An Archaeobotanical and Mineralogical Approach
Responses of South African Agate and Chalcedony When Heated Experimentally, and the Broader Implications for Heated Archaeological Minerals
Here we present a database of responses by South African agate and chalcedony to heat treatment. This will assist analyses of heated stone tools not only in South African archaeological sites, but wherever heated agate and chalcedony pieces were knapped. The minerals are abundant worldwide. To replicate potential heating methods during the Stone Age we placed some minerals in a wood fire, some under coals, and others were buried in sediments bene…
Identifying accurate artefact morphological ranges using optimal linear estimation: Method validation, case studies, and code
A fundamental goal of archaeologists is to infer the behaviour of past humans from the attributes of the artefacts they left behind. The archaeological record is, however, fragmented and often provides a partial record of the total artefacts produced by a given population. In turn, there is potential for population-level morphometric data, and therefore behavioural inferences, to be biased relative to the trends realised in the past. This include…
Project Piedemonte: Between the Maloti-Drakensberg and the Great Escarpment in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
A new project maps mobility patterns and social networks from prehistory to historical times in the western piedmont of the Maloti-Drakensberg, South Africa, and considers how rock art sites relate to seasonal or transhumance patterns in the region
First technological approach to a late Holocene pottery assemblage from the Marshill site in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
Holocene large mammal mass death assemblage from South Africa
Sobre la identificación macroscópica de las piezas astilladas: Propuesta experimental
El morfotipo lítico “pieza astillada” (pièces esquillées o splintered pieces) ha sido relacionado, por los estudios de Prehistoria, con dos actividades muy distintas: la talla posada sobre yunque –también denominada “talla bipolar”– y el empleo de piezas intermedias –a modo de cuña/cincel– para el trabajo de materias primas duras (hueso, madera y asta). Se presenta una propuesta experimental que busca distinguir macroscópicamente estos dos tipos …
A propósito del Gravetiense…El paso de cultura a tecnocomplejo: Un caso ejemplar de pervivencia particularista
En este trabajo se realiza un recorrido historiográfico sobre los conceptos de Gravetiense y Perigordiense. Sepretende mostrar cómo ha cambiado la consideración de este fenómeno desde cultura a tecnocomplejo, resaltandoque, sin embargo, las bases teóricas que provocaron dicho cambio apenas han sido modificadas. Asimismo,se realiza una llamada de atención sobre la presente complacencia por la perspectiva tecnológica que, paradójicamentey en contra…
The beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in the Baetic Mountain area (Spain)
Bipolar Knapping in Gravettian Occupations at El Palomar Rockshelter (Yeste, Southeastern Spain)
This work was developed under the framework of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología projects BHA2003-03290 and DGCYT PB-93-0446 (field campaign 1996) and since 2004 under the field grants of Junta de Castilla La Mancha. The lithic analyses were 59 supported by a FPU fellowship from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación to Dr. Paloma de la Peña
New knapping methods in the Howiesons Poort at Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
La tecnología lítica de los Abrigos de "Abdasan" y "Aougni N’Ourigh", (valle de Oukaïmeden, Alto Atlas, Marruecos)
The main technological strategies of the lithic material of Abadsan and Aougni N’Ourigh are presented. The knapping methods and the techniques are specifically described following a chaîne opératoire approach. Moreover, the main knapping objectives are pointed out. Finally, some functional insights are proposed following the macroscopic traces found
A Qualitative Guide to Recognize Bipolar Knapping for Flint and Quartz
This paper presents a list of macroscopic characteristics for recognising pieces resulting from bipolar knapping. I performed specific experiments in fine grained flint and in quartz. I describe the main characteristics of bipolar knapping in a qualitative manner and discuss the usefulness and limitations of this qualitative methodology for these two types of rocks
The Interpretation of Bipolar Knapping in African Stone Age Studies
Bipolar knapping is presented as a case study for the interpretation of African Prehistory. Bipolar knapping was first thought of as a typological marker but, lately, it has been referred to as a technological marker. I challenge the idea that the technological change represented by bipolar knapping should be understood as a technological marker, because to do so is simply a translation of an outdated typological definition taken unconsciously fr…
Raw material procurement and use at Gargas Cave (Hautes-Pyrénées, France): A Pyrenean-foothill economy during the Gravettian period
Situado en el centro de la cadena de los Pirineos, la cueva de Gargs -complejo de arte parietal y sitio de hbitat-ha sido objeto de nuevas investigaciones desde 2004. A partir de estudios interdisciplinares sobre las materias primas utilizadas en las series seas, lticas y de adornos personales, adems del anlisis arqueozoolgico de los vestigios de fauna, se ha podido percibir mejor el panel de recursos movilizados por los grupos gravetienses que o…
Direct evidence for human exploitation of birds in the Middle Stone Age of South Africa: The example of Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal
Responses of South African Agate and Chalcedony When Heated Experimentally, and the Broader Implications for Heated Archaeological Minerals
Here we present a database of responses by South African agate and chalcedony to heat treatment. This will assist analyses of heated stone tools not only in South African archaeological sites, but wherever heated agate and chalcedony pieces were knapped. The minerals are abundant worldwide. To replicate potential heating methods during the Stone Age we placed some minerals in a wood fire, some under coals, and others were buried in sediments bene…
Holocene large mammal mass death assemblage from South Africa
Milky Quartz Bipolar Reduction and Lithic Miniaturization: Experimental Results and Archaeological Implications
We present experimental data examining the energetics and identification of axial bipolar reduction in contexts of lithic miniaturization on milky quartz. These experiments answer two specific questions. First, does bipolar reduction provide any benefits over freehand reduction? Second, can axial bipolar reduction be distinguished from freehand reduction? Our data show that bipolar reduction requires significantly less time to reduce a percentage…
Trampling vs. Retouch in a Lithic Assemblage: A Case Study from a Middle Stone Age Site, Steenbokfontein 9KR (Limpopo, South Africa)
At the site of Steenbokfontein 9KR, virtually 80% of the lithic blanks presented retouch—an extreme proportion for Middle Stone Age assemblages. The high percentage of putative retouch led us to investigate whether post-depositional processes played a role in the preservation of the lithic assemblage. We designed and performed an experiment that reproduced all the archaeological conditions inferred from the site formation analyses to determine if…
New Excavations at Border Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
New excavations at Border Cave use high-resolution techniques, including FT-IR, for sediment samples and thin sections of micromorphology blocks from stratigraphy. These show that sediments have different moisture regimes, both spatially and chronologically. The site preserves desiccated grass bedding in multiple layers and they, along with seeds, rhizomes, and charcoal, provide a profile of palaeo-vegetation through time. A bushveld vegetation c…
A techno-functional perspective on quartz micro-notches in Sibudu's Howiesons Poort indicates the use of barbs in hunting technology
Assessing raw material's role in bipolar and freehand miniaturized flake shape, technological structure, and fragmentation rates
Revisiting Mwulu's Cave: New insights into the Middle Stone Age in the southern African savanna biome
Howiesons Poort
The Howiesons Poort is a technological tradition within the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa. This technological tradition shows different characteristics, technical and symbolic (the engraving of ostrich eggshell containers, the appearance of engraved ochre, formal bone tool technology, compound adhesives for hafting and a great variability in hunting techniques), which only developed in an extensive manner much later in other parts of the wo…
Plant taphonomy, flora exploitation and palaeoenvironments at the Middle Stone Age site of Mwulu's Cave (Limpopo, South Africa): An Archaeobotanical and Mineralogical Approach
Project Piedemonte: Between the Maloti-Drakensberg and the Great Escarpment in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
A new project maps mobility patterns and social networks from prehistory to historical times in the western piedmont of the Maloti-Drakensberg, South Africa, and considers how rock art sites relate to seasonal or transhumance patterns in the region
The place beyond the trees: Renewed excavations of the Middle Stone Age deposits at Olieboomspoort in the Waterberg Mountains of the South African Savanna Biome
Olieboomspoort is one of the few rock shelters in the vast interior of southern Africa documenting pulses of occupation from the Acheulean until the end of the Later Stone Age. Revil Mason excavated the site in 1954 and attributed the large Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic assemblage to his middle phase of the so-called Pietersburg Industry. Recent work at the site has focused on the Holocene layers, but little is known about the earlier phases of s…
Luis Gerardo Vega Toscano: (Huelva, 1956 - Madrid, 2021)
Olieboomspoort, South Africa
Identifying accurate artefact morphological ranges using optimal linear estimation: Method validation, case studies, and code
A fundamental goal of archaeologists is to infer the behaviour of past humans from the attributes of the artefacts they left behind. The archaeological record is, however, fragmented and often provides a partial record of the total artefacts produced by a given population. In turn, there is potential for population-level morphometric data, and therefore behavioural inferences, to be biased relative to the trends realised in the past. This include…
Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (26 works) · Geography (24 works) · Archaeology (23 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (20 works) · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies (18 works) · Geology (15 works) · Middle Stone Age (11 works) · Paleontology (11 works) · Pleistocene (9 works) · Assemblage (archaeology (8 works)