Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37729133›Full record

ArticlePloS one2023

As above, so below: Deposition, modification, and reutilization of human remains at Marmoles cave (Cueva de los Marmoles: Southern Spain, 4000-1000 cal. BCE).

Zita Laffranchi, Marco Milella, Juan Carlos Vera Rodríguez, María José Martínez Fernández, María Dolores Bretones García, Sylvia Alejandra Jiménez Brobeil, Julia Brünig, Inmaculada López Flores, Juan Antonio Cámara Serrano, Rafael M Martínez Sánchez

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
6.4field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

Zita LaffranchiDepartment of Physical Anthropology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-8553-771X
Marco MilellaDepartment of Physical Anthropology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0003-1027-6601
Juan Carlos Vera RodríguezDepartamento de Historia, Geografía y Antropología, Centro de Investigación en Patrimonio Histórico, Cultural y Natural, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain.
María José Martínez FernándezDepartamento de Historia, Geografía y Antropología, Centro de Investigación en Patrimonio Histórico, Cultural y Natural, Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain.
María Dolores Bretones GarcíaConsejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte Delegación Territorial en Jaén, Junta de Andalucía Jaén, Spain.
Sylvia Alejandra Jiménez BrobeilDepartment of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Physical Anthropology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
Julia BrünigDepartment of Forensic Medicine, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Inmaculada López FloresIndependent Researcher, "Arqueoantropología", Sevilla, Spain.
Juan Antonio Cámara SerranoDepartamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain.ORCID 0000-0003-4007-0639
Rafael M Martínez SánchezDepartamento de Historia, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain.
University of Bern · CHUniversidad de Granada · ESUniversidad de Huelva · ESJunta de Andalucía · ESUniversidad de Sevilla · ESUniversity of Córdoba · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The deposition and manipulation of human remains in natural caves are well known for the Neolithic of Southern Iberia. The cultural meaning of these practices is however still largely unclear. Cueva de los Marmoles (CM, Priego-Córdoba) is one of the most important cave contexts from Southern Spain, which returned a large number of commingled skeletal remains suggesting its funerary use from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Here we discuss CM from a chronological and cultural perspective based on new radiocarbon, anthropological, and taphonomic analyses. These include the estimation of the minimum number of individuals, the exploration of fragmentation patterns characterizing different skeletal regions, and the macroscopic and microscopic analysis of modifications to the remains of possible anthropic origin. Radiocarbon data point to a funerary use of CM between the 5th -2nd millennium cal. BCE. MNI estimates reveal the presence of at least 12 individuals (seven adults and five nonadults). The low representation of elements from hands and feet suggests that individuals were placed in the cave while partially decomposed. Anthropic traces on the remains (e.g. fresh fractures, marrow canal modifications, and scraping marks) hint at their intentional fragmentation, cleaning from residual soft tissues, and in some cases reutilization. These practices are well-exemplified by the recovery of one "skull cup" and of two long bones used as tools. These data align with those from other cave contexts from the same geographic region, suggesting the presence, especially during the Neolithic period, of shared ideologies centered on the human body.

Indexed as

Body RemainsCavesAdultAnthropologyFootHumansSpain

Identifiers

PMID37729133
PMCPMC10511113
OpenAlexW4386884646

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.