Three lectures on current prehistoric archeological research in Spain will be presented at the University of New Mexico, Sept. 1 – 3. Lawrence G. Straus, UNM professor of anthropology, and Gloria Cuenca Bescós, professor of paleontology, University of Zaragoza, Spain, will speak.
Straus has conducted archeological excavations in Spain, France, Portugal and Belgium annually since 1972. Beginning in 1996, Straus focused his research on El Mirón Cave in Cantabria, Spain. He considers the project to be one of his most significant endeavors in 30 years of archeological research.
Cuenca Bescós is a specialist on rodents and a member of the Atapuerca Research Team that has analyzed rodent remains from El Mirón.
Hundreds of thousands of artifacts have been uncovered at the cave including stone tools, debris from making stone tools, antler points and ornaments made of shell and tooth. Straus says only a few human remains have been uncovered. The oldest material excavated dates back 41,000 years, the time of Neanderthal Man. Researchers have also uncovered rock art, dating to the Magdalenian period, 11,000 to 16,000 years ago.
On Sept. 1, Straus will present “The Golden Age of the Late Paleolithic in Cantabrian Spain: New Evidence on the Magdalenian from El Mirón Cave.” The talk begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Hibben Center, room 105.
On Sept. 2, same time and location, Cuenca Bescós will speak on “Ice Age Chronology and Landscapes in the Iberian Pleistocene: What Can We Learn from the smallest animals of Atapuerca?”
From 12 noon to 1 p.m., Sept. 3, in room 178 of the UNM Anthropology Building, Cuenca Bescós will speak at a brown bag lunch seminar titled “The Atapuerca Project and Human Evolution in Europe Before the Neanderthals.” The Instituto Cervantes, (Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the UNM Department of Anthropology jointly sponsor the lectures. All events are free and open to the public.
Contact: Greg Johnston, (505) 277-1816
Posted by Sumrow at August 27, 2004 01:35 PM