Two Oldowanassemblages in the Plio-

Pleistocene deposits of the Orce region,

southeast Spain
& E. MAESTRO*
J. GIBERT,LL. GIBERT,A. IGLESIAS

Stone artefacts reported froin the Orce region (Grenada, Spain) indicate a first human
presence in western Europe as early as the Plio-Pleistocene boundary, making a long
chronology for European hominids against the claims for a briefer human presence.
Excavations of Barranco Le6n-5 and Fuentenueva-3a in 1995 have produced two groups
oflithic artefacts of Oldowan type, seen as the most ancient of western Europe by faunal
associations and palaeomagnetic study.

The first horninid colonization of Europe by
Homo was much debated in the Paris 1989 sym-
posium (Bonifay & Vandermeersch 1991). One
conclusion regarding the oldest lithic artefacts
was:
The case for even older archaeological sites of up
two millon years old in southern France, Spain and
Czechoslovakia looks weaker still: there are no widely
accepted hominid remains and the human origin of
the stone artefacts is disputed.

, . . les premiers peuplenients huniains de ces

The ANTIQUITY and Nature articles both opposed
regions sont tr2s unciens, onterieurs a u dkbut d u the conclusions of the Paris meeting, and the
Plkisfockne ancien, dont d h n cige superieur ou egai Orce and Cueva Victoria findings were thus
B 2 M.a localises d a n s le sud d u pays. Cependant, relegated to oblivion.
ces p l u s anciens vestiges n e sont reprksentks que The finds of TD6 in Atapuerca (Carbonell et
par des objets isoles (muis, semble-t-il de typologie al. 1995) extended the age in the short chronol-
t r e s sz?re)hien situks dans skries stratigraphiques ogy to 750,000 years old, but nothing essential
bien datkes [Localites d e Cortijo d e don Alfonso, changed; these remains were classified as a primi-
Orce . . .). tive form of Homo heidelbergensis (later homo
The 1993 Tautavel meeting of European,
antecessor (Bermudez de Castro et al. 19971and
related to the Mauer mandible, still considered
Moroccan and Caucasian Palaeolithic special-
to be the oldest human fossil in Europe.
ists developed the short chronology which
After the 1995 International Conference of
recognized the first human occupation of Eu-
Human Paleontology in Orce (SE Spain),Dennell
rope from after 500,000 years. ANTIQUITY pub-
& Roebroeks (1996: 541) modified the short
lished an article (Roebroeks & Kolfschoten 1994)
chronology in ANTIQUITY, confirming that at
which summarized the conclusions of the
present a
Tautavel meeting. The discovery of the Boxgrove
tibia in England (Roberts 1994) provided new short chronology is more reasonable than a long
and important arguments which seemed to one for northern Europe, and perhaps even for south-
support this hypothesis. Clive Gamble (1994) ern Europe outside Spain, if that was initially colo-
remarked in Nature: nized via North Africa and not the Near East.
* J. Gibert, Instituto Paleontologia M. Crusafont, Escola Industrial 2 3 , 08201 Sabadell, Barcelona, Spain.
ciherorce8mx3.redestb.es
LI. Giliert, lnstituto Paleontologia M. Crusafont. 08201 Sabadell, Barcelona, SpainiDept. Recursos naturals i
contaminaciir, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain.
A. Iglesias, Dept. Prehistoria, Uiiiversidad Santiago, Plaza Universidade S/N, 15701 Santiago d e Compostela, Spain
E. Maostro, Dept. Geologia, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Edifici C, Campus Universitari, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain.
\
lieceived 18 March 1997, accepted 6 June 1997, revised 15 September 1937.
72 (1998): 17-25
ANTIQIIIIY
18 J. GIBER, LL. GIBERT, A. IGLESIAS & E. MAESTRO

1. Geological m a p of the Guadix-Bnza basin, southeast Spain.

FIGURE

The Orce and Cueva Victoria sites, discussed
here, demonstrate Spains exceptional position.
General setting
The northeast sector of the Guadix-Baza ba-
sin, in southeast Spain (FIGUREI), contains a
continental sedimentary sequence over 100 me-
tres deep. Sedimentation in this area was al-
most continuous between the Late Miocene and
the Upper Pleistocene. These Plio-Pleistocene
sediments form seven depositional cycles sepa-
rated by unconformities. These cycles began
with fluvial sediments and finished with lacus-
trine deposits. The deposition of one or other
of these depended on the relative position of the
lake level mainly in relation to global climatic
oscillations (Ll. Gibert et al. 1997) (FIGURE 2).
The deposit of BL-5 at Barranco Le6n is lo-
cated in a unique bed of fine sand that belongs
to the distal part of a small alluvial system,
varying in thickness between 1 0 and 25 cm.
Discovered by Josep and Lluis Gibert in 1979,
BL-5 is a classical palaeontological site (first
published by Agusti 1984).During a survey in
1983, the first lithic artefacts were discovered
by J. Gibert and A. Iglesias (7. Gibert eta1 1992).
Systematic work began in the summer of 1995,
under the supervision of L1. Gibert, the area
excavated being 2 0 sq. m. The excavation re-
vealed a lower mandible of hippopotamus sur-
rounded by more than a hundred lithic artefacts,
associated with the following fauna: Castillomys
 TWO OLDOWAN ASSEMBLAGES IN PLIO-PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS OF SOUTHEAST SPAIN 19

FIGURE 2. General correlation of different stratigraphic sections in the Orce region, including the three
palaeornagnetic sections. The stratigraphy shows unconforinity-bounded depositional cycles occurred,
offering an important guide to chronology and correlation. The majority of the palaeontological sites
located in the eastern part o f this region are associated with a palustrine deposit, called the Black
Uetrital Unit (L1. Gibert et al. 1997; in press). It occurs within the lacustrine series of deposits of Cycle 5
and contains only one faunal group. At Bnrranco de Orce and Fuentenueva, this same faunu is
associated with n normal magnetic event which various authors have interpreted as the Olduvai event.

Custillomys cf. crusufonti, Mimomys sp. Allo- Chronology

phuiomys pliocaenicus, Equus grunatensis, Hip-
popotamus ainphibius antiquus and a human
molar fragment (FICIJRE3b). The excavation also
revealed footprints of large mammals preserved
over the surface of the dark clay bed located
immediately below BL-5.
The Fn-3a site is located in a very marginal
zone of the basin. The sediments that outcrop
there contain organic matter and belong to a
lacustrine marginal environment. Lithic arte-
facts were found by J. Gibert and J. Serrallonga
on the surface together with fossil mammals
during a survey in 1990; later in 1992, more
artefacts appeared when an electrical company
was carrying out work near-by (J. Gibert et al
1992). Systematic excavation in 1995 carried
out under the supervision of A. Turq locatcd
numerous lithic artefacts associated with
Mimomys sp., Allophuiomys pliocaenicus,
Equ u s granatensis, Hippopotamus amphibius
antiquus, Mummuthus meridionalis, Bovini
indet. The majority of the lithic artefacts were
closely associated with remains of large mam-
mals in three distinct archaeological levels.
The deposits have been dated through palaeo-
magnetic and biostratigraphic methods. Three
palaeomagnetic sections have been analysed,
the longest (over 100 m long) near Galera vil-
lage (Garces 1994; Agusti et a]. 1997). Garces
identified four clear normal events, of which
three were Gauss and one Olduvai. A normal
event in the Orce Ravine (near Orce village) is
interpreted as the normal Olduvai period (Agusti
et ul 1987; 1997; J. Gibert et a1 1994; L1. Gibert
et a1 1995; Semah 1985).Finally Oms et af (1995)
found a deposit of possible Olduwan period
in the Fuentenueva section (J. Gibert et al. 1994;
Oms et al. 1995). This last palaeomagnetic sec-
tion is not included here because the data arc
unclear due to less magnetic sensibility in the
materials (Oms pers. conim.) although they
could be easily correlated with the normal in-
tervals attributed to Olduvai period found in
the Orce Ravine and Galera sections.
The Orce Ravine palaeomagnetic section is
easier to correlate with the Le6n Ravine sec-
tion (450 ni to the cast) with its bed with evi-
dence for human remains (BL-5)(FIGURE 4). The
20 1. GIBERT, LL. GIBERT, A. IGLESIAS & E. MAESTRO

Olduvai event identified in the Orce Ravine is

Underwater high
lensity gravity flows
Lacustrine
limestones
Palustrine sediments
(Black Detrital Unit)
Shallow lacustrine limestones, with
palaeosoils
easy to correlate stratigraphically with the
Olduvai event localized in the Galera section
(FIGURE 2). BL-5 is located in the same litho-
stratigraphic unit (Black Detrital Unit) as site
0 7 in the Orce Ravine section, where the base
of the Olduvai event is associated with
Allophaiomys pliocaenicus (Agusti et al. 1997)
(FIGURE 4). The detailed stratigraphical corre-
lations (J. Gibert et al. 1994; L1. Gibert et al.
1995; L1. Gibert et al. 1997; in press) show
Allophaiomys pliocaenicus is always related
to the Olduvai normal polarity. Bio-
stratigraphical studies demonstrate it is below
the Olduvai event, where the faunal break of
Mn-17 (Mimomysreidi, Gacela borbonica, Equus
stenonis vireti) is replaced by the BL-5 fauna.
This is characterized by the appearance of
Allophaiomys, and its faunal associations, which
appear to have arrived from both Asia and Af-
rica (Martinez 1992; Gibert et al. 1995).
The Fuentenueva-3a site is located 8 m above
the BL-5 site, somewhere above the Olduvai
event and below the Jaramillo event (FIGURE
5). These two palaeomagnetic sections revealed
in the Orce region are enough to give a very
approximate age to the palaeontological and
archaeological sites of this region through the
application of stratigraphical, sedimentological
and palaeontological criteria. The paleomagnetic
data in this new stratigraphical and sedimento-
logical framework (FIGURES 2 , 4 ) shows that the
palaeoanthropological sites are located inside
the Black Detrital Unit: Barranco L6On-5, Cortijo
de Don Alfonso and Barranco del Paso sites
(Gibert et al. 1992) and are chronologically near
the base of the Olduvai event. The Venta Micena
site is inside the Olduvai event and Fuentenueva
3a near the top of it (FIGURE 5).

Lithic artefacts
Barranco Le6n-5 has produced 1 1 2 lithic arte-
facts: 114 of flint, 1of quartzite and 1 of Jurassic
dolomite, together with 5 dolomitic manuports.
One hundred lithic artefacts were found at
Fuentenueva-3a: 98 of flint, 1 of Jurassic dolo-
mite, and 1 of quartzite, also 2 0 dolomite
manuports. The flint from BL-5 is of good quality

FIGUKE 3a. Barranco Le6n sedimentary sequence

showing different levels, the location of the BL-5
bed and the palaeomagnetic data associate
inferred from the general correlation (FFIGCmE 2).
 TWO 'OLDOWAN' ASSEMBLAGES IN PLIO-PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS OF SOUTHEAST SPAIN 21

FIGURE 3b. Excavation

plan of BL-5 m a d e in
the s u m m e r of 1995
indicating the
distribution of lithic
artefacts and of
hippopotam us
remains and the
location of h u m a n
rema i m .

FIGLJRE4. Detailed stratigraphic correlation between t h e Orce Ravine palaeomagnetic section a n d the
Barranco Ledn section, 450 m apart. BL-5 site, Cortijo de Don Alfonso bed and Barranco del Paso bed
are located within the Black Detrital Unit together with the base of the Olduvai event.

and is mostly grey in colour. The flint cores
from BL-5 are small (FIGURE 6), with a mean
length of 43 mm, and the surfaces show cen-
tripetal flake removal. The flakes are very abun-
dant and are of substantial size (FIGURE 7 ) , the
mean length 40.7 mm within a range of 20-
61mm. The butts have a very variable morphol-
ogy, and the flakes are not usually cortical. Two
chopper-cores, one of flint and the other of
dolomite, have worked edges (FIGURE 8). At
Fuentenueva-3 the flint is a uniform white colour
and of good quality, with some pieces having
secondary iron oxide staining. The five cores
found in Fuentenueva-3a have centripetal flak-
ing and one shows a laminar tendency (FIGIJRE
9); their mean length is 65 mm. The flakes are
of mean length 59 mm [range 21-64 mm) with
plain striking platforms (FIGURE 10). Some of
22 J. GIBERT, LL. GIBERT, A. IGLESIAS & E. MAESTRO

FIGURE
6 . Cores from BL-5.

5. Synthesized sedimentary sequence for

FIGURE
the Orce region showing the palaeomagnetic
results and the stratigraphical locution of the most
interesting sites with the type of remuins associated

the Fn-3a and EL-5 flakes show probable use

traces (FIGURES 7 & lo), though no microwear
study has yet been attempted. The quantity of
retouched flakes is approximately half that of
non-retouched flakes (FIGURE 11).There is a
chopper-core of quarzite possibly used as a
hammerstone, to judge by abrasion on the cor-
tical face (FIGURE 1 2 ) . The local Jurassic lime-
stone is slightly recrystallized and useful
working edges can be obtained by percussion.
This lithic material has been classified in FIGURE 7. FIakesfrom B L - ~ the
; arrows show
TABLE 1. probable use traces.
 TWO 'OLDOWAN' ASSEMBLAGES IN PLIO-PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS OF SOUTHEAST SPAIN 23

8. A flint chopper-core from BL-5.

FIGLJRE
The source areas from which rock was ob-
tained for tool manufacture changed over time.
The BL-5 flint is of Jurassic origin; probably
the source area was the alluvial fan deposits
2 km to the southwest, behind Orce village,
where it is easy to find this material.
Fuentenueva-3a flint has a different origin,
some 4 km to the northeast of the site in
Pliocene deposits, which must have been
exposed at the time. All the quarzite also came 9. Core from FR-3a.
FIG~JRE
from northeast of the site, the nearest depos-
its being 6 km northeast of Fn-3a and 8 km even classified as such, being the first well-
from BL-5. defined examples of Oldowan in Europe.
The BL-5 and Fn-3a lithic assemblages show
no important differences (FIGURE 13). They Acknowledgements. We would like to thank all those stu-
are industries with a very simple chaine dents who helped us in the excavation of summer 1895.
Special thanks to F. Gonzalez for his help and the great
opkratoire, lacking any sign of bifacial flak- number of artefacts that he discovered. This paper has been
ing techniques. Accordingly both can be com- supported by the project D.1.G.C.Y.T PB94-1222-CO2-01
pared in general terms to the Oldowan and of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science.

FIGLJRE 10. Flakes

from Fn-3a: the flake
on the left shows
probable use traces.
24 1. GIBERT, LL. GIBERT, A. IGLESIAS & E. MAESTRO

11. Retouched flake from Fn-%?a.

FIC~JRE

Fuentenueva-3a Barranco Leon

unretouched whole flakes 26 20

unretouched flake fragments 17 7
retouched flakes 10 13
chopper-cores 1 1
cores 5 3 TABLE 1.Lithic
debris 27 44 material from
indeterminate fragments 14 19 Fuenten ueva-3a and
manuports 20 5 Barranco Leon-5.

FIG~JRE 13.
Comparative classifi-
cation of the
Barranco Leon and
Fuentenueva 3 lithic
artefacts. The figure
shows that the
artefact assemblages
are siniilar f o r the two
sites.
 TWO 'OLDOWAN' ASSEMBLAGES IN PLIO-PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS OF SOUTHEAST SPAIN
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