J Velasco‐vázquez
Biographic Data
| ID | 154529 |
|---|---|
| NAME | J Velasco‐vázquez |
| GIVEN NAMES | J |
| FAMILY NAME | Velasco‐vázquez |
| SIGNATURE | VÁZQUEZ J V |
| AFFILIATIONS | Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0339-3500 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 47 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 120 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 47 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Lethal and non-lethal encounters in an island setting: Long-term trajectories of violence among Canarian–Amazigh populations (3rd–15th centuries CE)
Materializing gender in Iberian prehistory: Sex, age and decubitus in Bronze age burials
Research on gender in prehistoric Iberia has focused largely on cemeteries with rich grave goods, while regions with sparse, atypical mortuary records remain understudied. We address this gap for the Middle–Late Bronze Age Cogotas I group (circa 1850–1150 cal BC) by testing whether lateralized burial position (left/right decubitus) expresses gendered norms once sex and age are known. We analysed 29 primary inhumations (13 males/16 females) from 1…
Impaled and Displayed: Human Skull Manipulation and Mortuary Practices in the Prehispanic Canary Islands
Large Cranial Vault Lesions (Scalping?) Among the Guanches (Tenerife, Canary Islands)
The aim of the present study is to describe some large lesions observed in cranial vaults belonging to pre‐Hispanic individuals (Guanches) from Tenerife. Among the 41 pre‐Hispanic skulls housed at the Instituto de Canarias Cabrera Pinto of the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife, Canary Islands), we identified two cases from Barranco del Agua de Dios, an archaeological site with many dwelling sites and burial caves that was occupied by t…
A life in the sea: Prevalence of auditory exostosis among the nonadult prehispanic population of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)
The permanent settlement of North African Amazigh groups on the island of Gran Canaria during the early centuries of the Common Era, as in the remainder of the Canary archipelago, entailed the transference and subsequent adaptation of mainland lifeways and ideological frameworks to an insular context. This study focuses on the interaction between the Indigenous population and the sea to understand how this relationship evolved over time and shape…
Two examples of anthropic manipulation and postmortem processing of human remains at megalithic sites in inland Iberia: La Cabaña and Los Zumacales (Spanish northern sub-plateau)
Several recent studies have demonstrated the complexity of funerary practices in megalithic burials. Mortuary taphonomy has proposed models to explain these practices, in which different actions, such as the generation of primary and secondary deposits, the selection and manipulation of bone remains, the extraction of materials from the grave, and so forth, can be identified. However, in the northern sub-plateau of the Iberian Peninsula, the inte…
Cementerios, cambio social y migración en el tiempo de los antiguos canarios
Este trabajo profundiza en la periodización de las prácticas funerarias de los antiguos canarios. Se aportan nuevas fechas y se usa un tratamiento bayesiano de las dataciones para examinar los intervalos de inicio, final y tasa de cambio de las tres categorías sepulcrales definidas: cuevas, túmulos y fosas/cistas. Los cambios en las prácticas funerarias solo pueden ser entendidos en el marco social de referencia, que en el caso grancanario necesi…
Cemeteries, social change and migration in the time of the Ancient Canarians
This paper delves into the proposal for periodisation of funerary practices among the Ancient Canarians. New radiocarbon dates are provided together with a Bayesian treatment used to estimate the onset and later tempo of the three burial categories previously established: caves, tumuli, and pit-graves/cists, as well as their temporal activity patterns. Changes in funerary practices can only be understood within the social framework of reference w…
Poblamiento y cambio social de un territorio aislado? Propuestas sobre la evolución de la ocupación territorial de la isla de Gran Canaria en época prehispánica
La colonización de las Islas Canarias ha sido objeto de diversos trabajos; sin embargo, la implantación humana en los diferentes territorios y su evolución en el tiempo es una cuestión que prácticamente no ha recibido atención en la investigación. En este trabajo presentamos una propuesta interpretativa de las dinámicas de ocupación de la isla de Gran Canaria entre los ss. III y XV d. C. desde una perspectiva temporal y comparada basada en la lon…
Una contribución a la problemática del sexo bioantropológico mediante análisis proteómico del esmalte dental de restos humanos de la Prehistoria reciente de la submeseta norte ibérica
La determinación sexual de restos humanos arqueológicos ha descansado tradicionalmente en los análisis bioantropológicos, asumiéndose la incertidumbre que ello suponía y la imposibilidad de conocer esta importante variable en el caso de los subadultos. Para mitigar tales inconvenientes, se cuenta hoy con las técnicas de ADN antiguo, pero sus requerimientos impiden su generalización. En este trabajo se ensaya una alternativa, el análisis proteómic…
Perinatal burials at pre-Hispanic noncemetery sites in Gran Canaria: Tophet, infanticide, or natural mortality
In this paper, we perform the first multidisciplinary study of perinatal burials at a pre-Hispanic domestic site in Gran Canaria. For that, we carried out bioanthropological analyses, the genetic determination of the molecular sex of the individuals, and the contextualization of their chronological and cultural affiliations. To date, these remains had been associated to a local re-interpretation of a Phoenician-Punic tophet or as evidence of fema…
Postmortem Animal Interference in an Indigenous Burial (Lanzarote, Canary Islands): Implications for Archaeological Research
This article addresses the study of an indigenous burial at Mina Mountain (Lanzarote), dating from cal A.D. 1300 to 1402. Pre-European funerary contexts in Lanzarote are scarce, resulting in a particular historical situation for a population that lived on the island for at least 1,400 years, whose dead people and burial sites are virtually unknown. We analyze the available data on mortuary practices of the native population, adding a new example …
Oral conditions of the pre-Hispanic mummies of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)
The end of a long journey. Tumulus burials in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands) in the second half of the first millennium AD
This paper addresses the study of tumulus necropolises among the pre-Hispanic population of Gran Canaria. In this first characterisation, their emergence is contextualised in the social framework of the ancient Canarians and historical links with the North African sphere are proposed. Published radiocarbon determinations for the tumulus phenomenon of the first millennium AD on the continent have been reviewed and a Bayesian model has been created…
Use of decayed wood for funerary practices: Archaeobotanical analysis of funerary wooden artefacts from Prehispanic (ca. 400–1500 CE) Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)
A propósito del poblamiento aborigen en Gran Canaria. Demografía, dinámica social y ocupación del territorio
Este trabajo aborda el estudio de la dinámica poblacional y demográfica de la ocupación prehispánica de Gran Canaria. Para ello se ha recurrido al análisis de la distribución del sumatorio de probabilidad de las dataciones radiocarbónicas procedentes, en este caso, de contextos funerarios. Los resultados obtenidos se compararon con dos modelos teóricos nulos de crecimiento poblacional, tratando de explicarlos teniendo en cuenta la información arq…
Climatic change and diet of the pre-Hispanic population of Gran Canaria (Canary Archipelago, Spain) during the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age
Isolation and violence on an oceanic island: Lethal injuries in a pre-Hispanic burial in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)
This paper analyzes different forms of violence identified among the ancient Canarians, a population that settled an oceanic island and remained there, without regular external contacts, for more than a millennium. Specifically, we focus on a funerary deposit composed of 14 individuals with high rates of violence, in some cases of a lethal nature. The study uses forensic anthropology techniques to characterize the individuals’ injuries. It also e…
Manipulación de restos humanos en el Bronce Medio meseteño: El fragmento fronto-facial hallado en el yacimiento de La Huelga (Dueñas, Palencia)
La investigación sobre restos humanos prehistóricos, tradicionalmente centrada en las sepulturas y enterramientos de esqueletos completos, relegó el estudio de los restos secundarios y aislados, cuya gran importancia en relación con prácticas mortuorias complejas se ha ido revelando, por contra, en la bibliografía antropológica y bioarqueológica. En el caso de los yacimientos de la Edad del Bronce del interior peninsular, la creciente presencia d…
Violent encounter or capital punishment? Evidence of lethal violence in an indigenous burial from Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain)
century cal AD, from Fuerteventura Island. The pattern of injuries of the skeletal remains, together with the grave's features suggest exceptional circumstances of death and funerary treatment differing from those commonly observed elsewhere among the indigenous population of the Canary Archipelago. The study first uses forensic anthropology techniques to characterise the individual's injuries before turning to archaeological and ethno-historical…
The genomic history of the Iberian Peninsula over the past 8000 years
Genomics of the Iberian Peninsula Ancient DNA studies have begun to help us understand the genetic history and movements of people across the globe. Focusing on the Iberian Peninsula, Olalde et al. report genome-wide data from 271 ancient individuals from Iberia (see the Perspective by Vander Linden). The findings provide a comprehensive genetic time transect of the region. Linguistics analysis and genetic analysis of archaeological human remains…
La dimensión temporal y el fenómeno sepulcral entre los antiguos canarios
In archaeological cultures, classifying historical processes is a complex task when their timeframe is missing. Such a circumstance has represented a secular handicap hindering the knowledge of the first inhabitants of Gran Canaria, accentuated by the shortage of chronological references that allow the understanding of the occupation of a territory defined by its insular condition. This has led to the idea of a ‘simple culture’ in which the numer…
Dobles exequias y circulación de reliquias en el Calcolítico Inicial de la Cuenca del Duero: Sobre las inhumaciones parciales del “recinto de fosos” de Santa Cruz III (Cabezón de Pisuerga, Valladolid)
‘Double burials’ concept, early theorized by R. Hertz (1907), has been a frequent interpreting framework in many studies of Anthropology and Archaeology of Death. This paper applies Hertz’s approach to the funerary rituals of the Early Copper Age in Duero Basin (c. 3000-2400 cal BC), starting from a bioarchaeological study of the partial burials located in 2 pits of the Santa Cruz III causewayed enclosure (Cabezón de Pisuerga, province of Vallado…
Dos tumbas individuales calcolíticas en las inmediaciones de los dólmenes de Osorno y Simancas: Estudio bioantropológico, ofrenda de perros y ‘postvida’ megalítica en el valle medio del Duero
Con motivo de presentar dos tumbas individuales en fosa inéditas, se aborda un estudio de conjunto sobre las prácticas funerarias del Calcolítico Precampaniforme en la submeseta norte española. Pese a su carácter mayoritario en el registro arqueológico, se discute la representatividad como norma de este tipo de sepulturas; se rastrean comportamientos propios de rituales de enterramiento en dos tiempos, preludio de los documentados en este mismo e…
Kinship analysis and allelic dropout: A forensic approach on an archaeological case
The remains in the LTB tomb were not a traditional nuclear family (father, mother and son/daughter) and it was probably a tomb where two women, one of them pregnant, were buried
Paleodietary analysis of the prehistoric population of the Canary Islands inferred from stable isotopes (carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen) in bone collagen
Calculus, periodontal disease and tooth decay among the prehispanic population from Gran Canaria
Dental caries among the prehispanic population from Gran Canaria
The island of Gran Canaria was inhabited in pre‐Hispanic times by people of North African origin who arrived on the island towards the second half of the first millennium BC. In previous studies, we reported that there are some differences between the coastal inhabitants from Gran Canaria, mainly buried in tumuli, and those from the central mountains, mainly buried in caves. For example, the prevalence of auricular exostoses is higher among the p…
Climatic change and diet of the pre-Hispanic population of Gran Canaria (Canary Archipelago, Spain) during the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age
Familiar Kinship? Palaeogenetic and Isotopic Evidence from a Triple Burial of the Cogotas I Archaeological Culture (Bronze Age, Iberian Peninsula)
This paper examines the identification of kinship relations in archaeological multiple burials and advocates the application of different methods and lines of research to clarify such issues in relation to funerary practices. Recognizing family relationships – an important task in research on prehistoric societies – is especially complicated and interpretations have often been made without an adequate empirical basis. Bioarchaeological, isotopic …
Manipulación de restos humanos en el Bronce Medio meseteño: El fragmento fronto-facial hallado en el yacimiento de La Huelga (Dueñas, Palencia)
La investigación sobre restos humanos prehistóricos, tradicionalmente centrada en las sepulturas y enterramientos de esqueletos completos, relegó el estudio de los restos secundarios y aislados, cuya gran importancia en relación con prácticas mortuorias complejas se ha ido revelando, por contra, en la bibliografía antropológica y bioarqueológica. En el caso de los yacimientos de la Edad del Bronce del interior peninsular, la creciente presencia d…
The Paths of the European Conquest of the Atlantic: Osteological Evidence of Warfare and Violence in Gran Canaria (XV Century)
European expansion in the Atlantic in the Late Middle Ages often implied the use of violence, involving tactics and weaponry unknown to some of the affected populations. Among the first places to suffer this violence were the Canary Islands, whose conquest lasted the whole of the 15th century. Documentary information about this historical episode is abundant, whereas archaeological evidence testifying to it is very rare. However, an individual fr…
A propósito del poblamiento aborigen en Gran Canaria. Demografía, dinámica social y ocupación del territorio
Este trabajo aborda el estudio de la dinámica poblacional y demográfica de la ocupación prehispánica de Gran Canaria. Para ello se ha recurrido al análisis de la distribución del sumatorio de probabilidad de las dataciones radiocarbónicas procedentes, en este caso, de contextos funerarios. Los resultados obtenidos se compararon con dos modelos teóricos nulos de crecimiento poblacional, tratando de explicarlos teniendo en cuenta la información arq…
Damaged Burials or Reliquiae Cogotenses? On the Accompanying Human Bones in Burial Pits Belonging to the Iberian Bronze Age
V iolence in paradise: C ranial trauma in the prehispanic population of G ran C anaria ( C anary I slands)
Objectives This paper addresses the prevalence and pattern of physical violence in the prehispanic society of Gran Canaria and discusses its link with the social structure and insular context in which that people lived. Materials and Methods 347 prehispanic crania from Guayadeque Ravine (575–1415 AD) have been examined in order to determine the frequency, types, location, and timing of trauma. Results Craniofacial injuries are present in 27.4% of…
Double‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry in the diagnosis of osteopenia in ancient skeletal remains
Bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by double‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DEXA) accurately estimates the bone mass in living individuals, and is thus the method usually employed in the diagnosis and follow‐up of osteopenia. It is preferred, in clinical settings, to the more invasive and destructive histomorphometrical assessment of trabecular bone mass in undecalcified bone samples. This study was performed in order to examine the value of DEXA‐…
Una contribución a la problemática del sexo bioantropológico mediante análisis proteómico del esmalte dental de restos humanos de la Prehistoria reciente de la submeseta norte ibérica
La determinación sexual de restos humanos arqueológicos ha descansado tradicionalmente en los análisis bioantropológicos, asumiéndose la incertidumbre que ello suponía y la imposibilidad de conocer esta importante variable en el caso de los subadultos. Para mitigar tales inconvenientes, se cuenta hoy con las técnicas de ADN antiguo, pero sus requerimientos impiden su generalización. En este trabajo se ensaya una alternativa, el análisis proteómic…
Violence targeting children or violent society? Craniofacial injuries among the pre-Hispanic subadult population of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)
The approach to Gran Canaria's pre-Hispanic period has traditionally been dominated by a romantic and propitious view of its indigenous populations advocating a historical evolution on the margin of the conflicts and contradictions common to any society. Yet new data indicate that the ancient Canarians were subject to high rates of internal violence linked to the island's isolation and harsh biogeographical conditions, as well as marked personal …
Fatal Injuries in a pre-Hispanic Canary Mummy: Violence, Accident or Ritual Suicide
Perimortem traumas have been identified in a pre-Hispanic Canary mummy (fifth-sixth centuries cal AD). The location and nature of the fractures in the cranium, cervical vertebrae, ribs and both legs indicate a fall from a considerable height, which would have been the cause of death. Supported by forensic anthropology criteria and historical information about the population of origin, the circumstances in which the fatal injuries might have occur…
Quantitative computerized tomography for the diagnosis of osteopenia in prehistoric skeletal remains
Noninvasive estimation of bone mass in ancient vertebrae
Histomorphometry is useful in the assessment of trabecular bone mass (TBM), and thus, in the estimation of the prevalence and intensity of osteopenia in ancient population groups. However, it is a destructive method. It is therefore necessary to explore the accuracy of nondestructive approaches, such as radiography, bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by double‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DEXA), bone density (BD), or optical density (OD) in the …
Two examples of anthropic manipulation and postmortem processing of human remains at megalithic sites in inland Iberia: La Cabaña and Los Zumacales (Spanish northern sub-plateau)
Several recent studies have demonstrated the complexity of funerary practices in megalithic burials. Mortuary taphonomy has proposed models to explain these practices, in which different actions, such as the generation of primary and secondary deposits, the selection and manipulation of bone remains, the extraction of materials from the grave, and so forth, can be identified. However, in the northern sub-plateau of the Iberian Peninsula, the inte…
Perinatal burials at pre-Hispanic noncemetery sites in Gran Canaria: Tophet, infanticide, or natural mortality
In this paper, we perform the first multidisciplinary study of perinatal burials at a pre-Hispanic domestic site in Gran Canaria. For that, we carried out bioanthropological analyses, the genetic determination of the molecular sex of the individuals, and the contextualization of their chronological and cultural affiliations. To date, these remains had been associated to a local re-interpretation of a Phoenician-Punic tophet or as evidence of fema…
Isolation and violence on an oceanic island: Lethal injuries in a pre-Hispanic burial in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)
This paper analyzes different forms of violence identified among the ancient Canarians, a population that settled an oceanic island and remained there, without regular external contacts, for more than a millennium. Specifically, we focus on a funerary deposit composed of 14 individuals with high rates of violence, in some cases of a lethal nature. The study uses forensic anthropology techniques to characterize the individuals’ injuries. It also e…
Dobles exequias y circulación de reliquias en el Calcolítico Inicial de la Cuenca del Duero: Sobre las inhumaciones parciales del “recinto de fosos” de Santa Cruz III (Cabezón de Pisuerga, Valladolid)
‘Double burials’ concept, early theorized by R. Hertz (1907), has been a frequent interpreting framework in many studies of Anthropology and Archaeology of Death. This paper applies Hertz’s approach to the funerary rituals of the Early Copper Age in Duero Basin (c. 3000-2400 cal BC), starting from a bioarchaeological study of the partial burials located in 2 pits of the Santa Cruz III causewayed enclosure (Cabezón de Pisuerga, province of Vallado…
Dos tumbas individuales calcolíticas en las inmediaciones de los dólmenes de Osorno y Simancas: Estudio bioantropológico, ofrenda de perros y ‘postvida’ megalítica en el valle medio del Duero
Con motivo de presentar dos tumbas individuales en fosa inéditas, se aborda un estudio de conjunto sobre las prácticas funerarias del Calcolítico Precampaniforme en la submeseta norte española. Pese a su carácter mayoritario en el registro arqueológico, se discute la representatividad como norma de este tipo de sepulturas; se rastrean comportamientos propios de rituales de enterramiento en dos tiempos, preludio de los documentados en este mismo e…
Nueva Luz Sobre Un Viejo Hallazgo: El Enterramiento De Las Terrazas Del Manzanares (Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Madrid) Y Su Supuesta Vinculación Al Grupo Cogotas I. New Apporaches About an Old Finding: The Bu…
La escasez de documentos funerarios del “horizonte Cogotas I”, en el Bronce Medio/Final de la Meseta, explica la expectación despertada por un enterramiento descubierto hace medio siglo en la localidad de Rivas-Vaciamadrid. Una inhumación no exenta de polémica que, nada más publicarse en 1974, se adscribió a Cogotas I gracias una datación de 14C del esqueleto, al acompañamiento excepcional de dos puntas de lanza de bronce y a su posible relación …
Canary islands aborigin sex determination based on mandible parameters contrasted by amelogenin analysis
Contribución de la bioantropología a la reconstrucción de los procesos productivos prehistóricos. Exostosis en el canal auditivo en la población prehispánica de Gran Canaria
En el presente trabajo se pretende abordar el papel de los estudios bioantropológicos en la reconstrucción de los procesos productivos de las sociedades del pasado. Esta finalidad es perseguida a partir del examen y valoración de la prevalencia de exostosis óseas en el canal auditivo en la población prehistórica de Gran Canaria. Las exostosis auditivas constituyen una lesión ósea, bien documentada en trabajos experimentales y clínicos, estrechame…
Harris lines in the prehispanic population of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)
Corticomedular index of the right tibia in the diagnosis of osteopenia in prehistoric skeletal remains
Corticomedular index of the right tibia in the diagnosis of osteopenia in prehistoric skeletal remains
This study examined the diagnostic accuracy of the corticomedular index obtained at the midpoint of the shaft of right tibia as an indicator of osteopenia in a prehistoric sample composed of 133 individuals. Osteopenia was assessed by a histomorphometrical measure of trabecular bone volume (TBV) in an undecalcified bone section of a small part of the proximal epiphysis to: Mild, moderate, and severe osteopenia were defined as TBV values less than…
Bone lead in the prehistoric population of Gran Canaria
The present study determined the lead concentration in bone tissue from 40 prehistoric individuals of Gran Canaria, and in a sample of 19 modern day residents of the Canary Islands. Higher bone lead values were observed in the modern sample (18.65 +/- 12.13 &mgr;g/g dry bone tissue) than in the ancient sample (4.41 +/- 3.45 &mgr;g/g dry bone tissue, P < 0.001). Older individuals showed higher bone lead values than younger individuals, but only in…
Harris lines in the prehispanic population of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)
Auricular exostoses in the prehistoric population of Gran Canaria
Auditory exostoses are bone anomalies located in the external auditory canal. The bulk of clinical observations and some experimental data support the idea that their development depends on prolonged exposure to cold water. This study was performed in order to analyze the prevalence of auditory exostoses among the prehispanic population of Gran Canaria, comparing it between men and women and between individuals buried in coastal regions and centr…
Contribución de la bioantropología a la reconstrucción de los procesos productivos prehistóricos. Exostosis en el canal auditivo en la población prehispánica de Gran Canaria
En el presente trabajo se pretende abordar el papel de los estudios bioantropológicos en la reconstrucción de los procesos productivos de las sociedades del pasado. Esta finalidad es perseguida a partir del examen y valoración de la prevalencia de exostosis óseas en el canal auditivo en la población prehistórica de Gran Canaria. Las exostosis auditivas constituyen una lesión ósea, bien documentada en trabajos experimentales y clínicos, estrechame…
Double‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry in the diagnosis of osteopenia in ancient skeletal remains
Bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by double‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DEXA) accurately estimates the bone mass in living individuals, and is thus the method usually employed in the diagnosis and follow‐up of osteopenia. It is preferred, in clinical settings, to the more invasive and destructive histomorphometrical assessment of trabecular bone mass in undecalcified bone samples. This study was performed in order to examine the value of DEXA‐…
Noninvasive estimation of bone mass in ancient vertebrae
Histomorphometry is useful in the assessment of trabecular bone mass (TBM), and thus, in the estimation of the prevalence and intensity of osteopenia in ancient population groups. However, it is a destructive method. It is therefore necessary to explore the accuracy of nondestructive approaches, such as radiography, bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by double‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DEXA), bone density (BD), or optical density (OD) in the …
Calculus, periodontal disease and tooth decay among the prehispanic population from Gran Canaria
Dental caries among the prehispanic population from Gran Canaria
The island of Gran Canaria was inhabited in pre‐Hispanic times by people of North African origin who arrived on the island towards the second half of the first millennium BC. In previous studies, we reported that there are some differences between the coastal inhabitants from Gran Canaria, mainly buried in tumuli, and those from the central mountains, mainly buried in caves. For example, the prevalence of auricular exostoses is higher among the p…
Quantitative computerized tomography for the diagnosis of osteopenia in prehistoric skeletal remains
Canary islands aborigin sex determination based on mandible parameters contrasted by amelogenin analysis
Paleodietary analysis of the prehistoric population of the Canary Islands inferred from stable isotopes (carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen) in bone collagen
Entheseal changes and sexual division of labor in a North-African population: The case of the pre-Hispanic period of the Gran Canaria Island (11th–15th c. CE)
Nueva Luz Sobre Un Viejo Hallazgo: El Enterramiento De Las Terrazas Del Manzanares (Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Madrid) Y Su Supuesta Vinculación Al Grupo Cogotas I. New Apporaches About an Old Finding: The Bu…
La escasez de documentos funerarios del “horizonte Cogotas I”, en el Bronce Medio/Final de la Meseta, explica la expectación despertada por un enterramiento descubierto hace medio siglo en la localidad de Rivas-Vaciamadrid. Una inhumación no exenta de polémica que, nada más publicarse en 1974, se adscribió a Cogotas I gracias una datación de 14C del esqueleto, al acompañamiento excepcional de dos puntas de lanza de bronce y a su posible relación …
Muertes ritualizadas en la Edad del Bronce de la Península Ibérica: Un enterramiento inusual en Los Rompizales (Quintanadueñas, Burgos)
Se presenta un excepcional caso de muerte de cuatro individuos (tres masculinos y uno femenino, fallecidos entre los 7 y los 17 aos) hallados en un enterramiento en hoyo de la fase formativa de Cogotas I, en la Edad del Bronce de la Meseta. El modelo bayesiano de las dataciones radiocarbnicas sita el enterramiento entre 1501 y 1431 cal BC. Tras examinar las lesiones seas identificadas en los cuatro y determinar que fueron el resultado de acciones…
The Paths of the European Conquest of the Atlantic: Osteological Evidence of Warfare and Violence in Gran Canaria (XV Century)
European expansion in the Atlantic in the Late Middle Ages often implied the use of violence, involving tactics and weaponry unknown to some of the affected populations. Among the first places to suffer this violence were the Canary Islands, whose conquest lasted the whole of the 15th century. Documentary information about this historical episode is abundant, whereas archaeological evidence testifying to it is very rare. However, an individual fr…
Familiar Kinship? Palaeogenetic and Isotopic Evidence from a Triple Burial of the Cogotas I Archaeological Culture (Bronze Age, Iberian Peninsula)
This paper examines the identification of kinship relations in archaeological multiple burials and advocates the application of different methods and lines of research to clarify such issues in relation to funerary practices. Recognizing family relationships – an important task in research on prehistoric societies – is especially complicated and interpretations have often been made without an adequate empirical basis. Bioarchaeological, isotopic …
Fatal Injuries in a pre-Hispanic Canary Mummy: Violence, Accident or Ritual Suicide
Perimortem traumas have been identified in a pre-Hispanic Canary mummy (fifth-sixth centuries cal AD). The location and nature of the fractures in the cranium, cervical vertebrae, ribs and both legs indicate a fall from a considerable height, which would have been the cause of death. Supported by forensic anthropology criteria and historical information about the population of origin, the circumstances in which the fatal injuries might have occur…
Kinship analysis and allelic dropout: A forensic approach on an archaeological case
The remains in the LTB tomb were not a traditional nuclear family (father, mother and son/daughter) and it was probably a tomb where two women, one of them pregnant, were buried
Damaged Burials or Reliquiae Cogotenses? On the Accompanying Human Bones in Burial Pits Belonging to the Iberian Bronze Age
V iolence in paradise: C ranial trauma in the prehispanic population of G ran C anaria ( C anary I slands)
Objectives This paper addresses the prevalence and pattern of physical violence in the prehispanic society of Gran Canaria and discusses its link with the social structure and insular context in which that people lived. Materials and Methods 347 prehispanic crania from Guayadeque Ravine (575–1415 AD) have been examined in order to determine the frequency, types, location, and timing of trauma. Results Craniofacial injuries are present in 27.4% of…
Violence targeting children or violent society? Craniofacial injuries among the pre-Hispanic subadult population of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)
The approach to Gran Canaria's pre-Hispanic period has traditionally been dominated by a romantic and propitious view of its indigenous populations advocating a historical evolution on the margin of the conflicts and contradictions common to any society. Yet new data indicate that the ancient Canarians were subject to high rates of internal violence linked to the island's isolation and harsh biogeographical conditions, as well as marked personal …
The genomic history of the Iberian Peninsula over the past 8000 years
Genomics of the Iberian Peninsula Ancient DNA studies have begun to help us understand the genetic history and movements of people across the globe. Focusing on the Iberian Peninsula, Olalde et al. report genome-wide data from 271 ancient individuals from Iberia (see the Perspective by Vander Linden). The findings provide a comprehensive genetic time transect of the region. Linguistics analysis and genetic analysis of archaeological human remains…
La dimensión temporal y el fenómeno sepulcral entre los antiguos canarios
In archaeological cultures, classifying historical processes is a complex task when their timeframe is missing. Such a circumstance has represented a secular handicap hindering the knowledge of the first inhabitants of Gran Canaria, accentuated by the shortage of chronological references that allow the understanding of the occupation of a territory defined by its insular condition. This has led to the idea of a ‘simple culture’ in which the numer…
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