El Salt
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El Salt is an archaeological site from the
Middle Paleolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleoli ...
near
Alcoy Alcoy ( ca-valencia, Alcoi) is an industrial and university city, region and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 res ...
, in the Spanish
Province of Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province. Likewise, the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Community (Alica ...
, which was frequented by groups of
archaic humans A number of varieties of ''Homo'' are grouped into the broad category of archaic humans in the period that precedes and is contemporary to the emergence of the earliest early modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') around 300 ka. Omo-Kibish I (Omo I) f ...
for thousands of years. Scientists have found evidence of
Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While th ...
settlements, including fire pits and
flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
tools, dating back at least 50,000 years, including six teeth; they disappeared from the site and possibly the
Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
some 45,000 years ago. In 2014, the then-oldest known human
coprolites A coprolite (also known as a coprolith) is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology. The name is de ...
were discovered at the site, which revealed that Neanderthals' diets included plants.


Description

El Salt is located close to the confluence of the Polop and Barxell (or Barchell) rivers, minor rivers that are tributaries of the
Serpis The Serpis () is a short coastal river in the provinces of Alicante and Valencia, in Spain. The river starts at the feet of the Carrasqueta, a mountain area southwest to Alcoi, by the confluence of the Polop and Troncal streams. In its initial pa ...
. It is an open-air
rock shelter A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves (karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alway ...
at 680 (or 700) meters above sea level, one of several site clusters in the plain of
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
that give evidence of "significant levels of mobility across extended territories" by population groups. The site has a 6.3 meters thick stratified deposit, at the bottom of a limestone wall, 38 meters high, which is covered with
tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine. ...
and
travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...
deposits.
Thermoluminescence dating Thermoluminescence dating (TL) is the determination, by means of measuring the accumulated radiation dose, of the time elapsed since material containing crystalline minerals was either heated (lava, ceramics) or exposed to sunlight (sediments ...
indicated its age is between 60.7 ± 8.9 and 45.2 ± 3.4 Ka. Thirteen
lithostratigraphic Lithostratigraphy is a sub-discipline of stratigraphy, the geology, geological science associated with the study of stratum, strata or rock layers. Major focuses include geochronology, comparative geology, and petrology. In general, strata are ...
units are grouped into five different segments; the second contains units IX-XII, containing "horizontally bedded fine sands with abundant archaeological remains and combustion residues". Evidence of campfires are found in abundance in unit X, some 50,000 years old. That unit is up to 35 cm thick, and one of its sub-units (called Xb, 10-14 cm thick and browner, with more clay, than Xa) suggests that the climate at the time of deposit was more humid than today's. Unit X suggests "several diachronic human occupation episodes and different site functions". Analysis of the
coprolite A coprolite (also known as a coprolith) is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology. The name is de ...
s left at the site (the sample had been left on the remains of a campfire) indicated the donor was omnivorous: fats associated with meat consumption were found, but also evidence that the donor had eaten plants. A study published in 2014 indicates that Neanderthals may have disappeared from the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
some 45,000 years ago, perhaps 5,000 years earlier than from the rest of Europe.


History of the research

Excavations at the site were done in the 1960s already. Recent excavations have been directed by a research group from the
University of La Laguna The University of La Laguna (ULL; Spanish: ''Universidad de La Laguna'') is a public research university situated in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife, Spain. It is the oldest university in the Canary Islands. The university ...
since 1986, led by Prof. Bertila Galván; it is supported by grants from MICINN/FEDER and the government of the
Valencian Community The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid with ...
.


See also

*
List of Neanderthal sites This is a list of archeological sites where remains or tools of Neanderthals were found. Europe Belgium * Schmerling Caves, Engis * Naulette * Scladina * Spy-sur-l'Orneau * Veldwezelt-Hezerwater France * Vaucluse, Bau de l'Aubesier * Biache-S ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salt, El 1986 archaeological discoveries 2014 archaeological discoveries Alcoy Neanderthal sites Prehistoric sites in Spain Province of Valencia Rock shelters Archaeological sites in the Valencian Community