Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Life and Death in El Mirador Cave. Anthropological and Palaeopathological Analysis of a Collective Burial

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Prehistoric Herders and Farmers

Part of the book series: Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology ((IDCA))

Abstract

El Mirador cave is a key site for understanding the settlement processes of the communities of Late prehistory. In 2009, excavation began of a Chalcolithic collective burial in a small chamber in the NE corner of the cave. The deposit yielded numerous remains from individuals of different ages and both sexes. This study primarily aimed to establish the demographic and biological profile of the population, as well as to evaluate its health status. The results obtained indicated the presence of a heterogeneous group with high infant mortality. In terms of pathologies, various diseases (e.g., degenerative joint disease, congenital disorders, metabolic diseases, and skeletal trauma) have been documented, mainly related to the lifestyle and daily activities of this human group. Overall, the incidence of the different pathologies is low, but taken together, our results suggest that some individuals from El Mirador cave may have suffered from certain ailments and diseases that could suggest a diminished quality of life. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that valuable information can be obtained from commingled skeletal assemblages.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alemán Aguilera, I., Botella López, M. C., & Ruiz Rodríguez, L. (1997). Determinación del sexo en el esqueleto postcraneal. Estudio de una población mediterránea actual. Archivo Español de Morfología, 2, 69–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alfonso, M. P., Thompson, J. L., & Standen, V. G. (2005). Reevaluating Harris lines–A comparison between Harris lines and enamel hypoplasia. Collegium Antropologicum, 29(2), 393–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alles, A. J., & Sulik, K. K. (1990). Retinoic acid-induced spina bifida: Evidence for a pathogenetic mechanism. Development, 108(1), 73–81. https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.108.1.73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angelucci, D. E., Boschian, G., Fontanals, M., Pedrotti, A., & Vergès, J. M. (2009). Shepherds and karst: The use of caves and rock-shelters in the Mediterranean region during the Neolithic. World Archaeology, 41, 191–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438240902843659

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, S., Cloutier, L., Arredondo, C., Roksandic, M., & Matheson, C. (2013). Spina bifida in a pre-Columbian Cuban population: A paleoepidemiological study of genetic and dietary risk factors. International Journal of Paleopathology, 3(1), 19–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2013.01.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aufderheide, A. C., & Rodríguez-Martín, C. (1998). The Cambridge encyclopedia of human paleopathology. Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avrahami, E., Frishman, E., Fridman, Z., & Azor, M. (1994). Spina bifida occulta of S1 is not an innocent finding. Spine, 19(1), 12–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellinger, D. C. (2005). Teratogen update: Lead and pregnancy. Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology, 73(6), 409–420. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdra.20127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Belmonte, M. T. (2012). Determinación de la estatura a través de la tibia en población española contemporánea. Doctoral dissertation. Universidad de Granada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennett, K. A. (1972). Lumbo-sacral malformations and spina bifida occulta in a group of proto-historic Modoc Indians. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 36(3), 435–439. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330360315

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Botella, M. (2003). Patología tumoral ósea. In A. Isidro & A. Malgosa (Eds.), Paleopatología: la enfermedad no escrita (pp. 249–262). Masson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boucherie, A., Castex, D., Polet, C., & Kacki, S. (2017). Normal growth, altered growth? Study of the relationship between Harris lines and bone form within a post-medieval plague cemetery (Dendermonde, Belgium, 16th century). American Journal of Human Biology, 29(1), e22885. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.22885

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, S. T., & Suchey, J. M. (1990). Skeletal age determination based on the os pubis: A comparison of Acsádi-Nemeskéri and Suchey-Brooks methods. Human Evolution, 5, 227–238. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02437238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brothwell, D. (2012). Tumors: Problems of differential diagnosis in paleopathology. In A. L. Grauer (Ed.), A companion to paleopathology (pp. 420–433). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444345940.ch23

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bruzeck, J. (2002). A method for visual determination of sex, using the human hip bone. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 117, 157–168. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.10012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buikstra, J., & Ubelaker, D. (1994). Standards for data collection from human skeletal remains (p. 44). Fayetteville: Arkansas Archaeological Survey Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cáceres, I., Lozano, M., & Saladié, P. (2007). Evidence for Bronze Age Cannibalism in El Mirador Cave (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). Americal Journal of Physical Anthropology, 133, 899–917.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calce, S. E., Kurki, H. K., Weston, D. A., & Gould, L. (2018). The relationship of age, activity, and body size on osteoarthritis in weight-bearing skeletal regions. International Journal of Paleopathology, 22, 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2018.04.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campillo, D. (2001). Introducción a la Paleopatología. Bellaterra Arqueología.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campo, M. (2003). Paleopatología de la columna vertebral. In A. Isidro & A. Malgosa (Eds.), Paleopatología: la enfermedad no escrita (pp. 163–194). Masson, S.A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cano-Cano, N., Buguet-Coca, A., Euba, I., Expósito, I., & Allué, E. (this volume). Agriculture and forest management at El Mirador cave. In E. Allué, P. Martín, & J. M. Vergès (Eds.), Prehistoric herders and farmers – A transdisciplinary overview of the archaeological record from El Mirador cave (Interdisciplinary contributions to archaeology). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ceperuelo, D., Lozano, M., Duran-Sindreu, F., & Mercadé, M. (2014). Root canal morphology of Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age human populations of El Mirador cave (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). The Anatomical Record, 297, 2342–2348. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.22958

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ceperuelo, D., Lozano, M., Duran-Sindreu, F., & Mercadé, M. (2015). Supernumerary fourth molar and dental pathologies in a chalcolithic individual from the El Mirador cave site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). HOMO – Journal of Comparative Human Biology, 66, 15–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchb.2014.05.007

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Das, S. K., & Farooqi, A. (2008). Osteoarthritis. Best Practice & Research Clinical Rheumatology, 22, 657–675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.berh.2008.07.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edmonds, E. W., & Polousky, J. (2013). A review of knowledge in osteochondritis dissecans: 123 years of minimal evolution from König to the ROCK study group. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 471(4), 1118–1126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-012-2290-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eng, J. T. (2016). A bioarchaeological study of osteoarthritis among populations of northern China and Mongolia during the Bronze Age to Iron Age transition to nomadic pastoralism. Quaternary International, 405, 172–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.07.072

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estebaranz-Sánchez, F., Martínez, L. M., Alrousan, M., Chamel, B., Molist, M., Coqueugniot, E., & Pérez-Pérez, A. (2018). Spinal dysraphism at the Syrian Neolithic site of Dja’de el-Mughara. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 10(6), 1375–1387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0460-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferembach, D. (1963). Frequency of spina bifida occulta in prehistoric human skeletons. Nature, 199, 100–101. https://doi.org/10.1038/199100a0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferembach, D., Schwindezky, I., & Stoukal, M. (1980). Recommendation for age and sex diagnoses of skeletons. Journal of Human Evolution, 9, 517–549. https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2484(80)90061-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geber, J. (2014). Skeletal manifestations of stress in child victims of the G reat I rish F amine (1845–1852): Prevalence of enamel hypoplasia, Harris lines, and growth retardation. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 155(1), 149–161. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.22567

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez-Sánchez, D., Olalde, I., Pierini, F., Matas-Lalueza, L., Gigli, E., et al. (2014). Mitochondrial DNA from El Mirador Cave (Atapuerca, Spain) reveals the heterogeneity of chalcolithic populations. PLoS One, 9(8), e105105. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González Martín, A. (2008). Mitos y realidades en torno a la excavación, el tratamientoy el estudio de los restos arqueológicos no-adultos. In F. Gusi, S. Muriel, & C. Olaria (Eds.), Nasciturus, infans, puerulus vobis mater terra: la muerte en la infancia (pp. 57–76). Diputación de Castellón. Servicio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas y prehistóricas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Groza, V. M., Simalcsik, A., & Bejenaru, L. (2013). Spina bifida occulta in medieval and post-medieval skeletons from IASI city, in North-East Romania. Biologie animala, LIX, 101–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gualdi-Russo, E., Manzon, V. S., Saguto, I., & Rinaldo, N. (2020). Life and death in Italian prehistory: The case of the sailor from Spina. World Neurosurgery, 139, 106–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2020.03.153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haber, M., Avilés, A., & Lomba-Maurandi, J. (2012). Estudio antropológico preliminar de los restos humanos calcolíticos del enterramiento múltiple de Camino del Molino (Carava de la Cruz, Murcia). In D. Turbón, L. Fañanás, C. Rissech, & A. Rosa (Eds.), Biodiversidad humana y evolución (pp. 236–242). Crítica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halcrow, S. E., & Tayles, N. (2008). The bioarchaeological investigation of childhood and social age: Problems and prospects. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 15, 190–215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-008-9052-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, H. A. (1931). Lines of arrested growth in the long bones in childhood: The correlation of histological and radiographic appearances in clinical and experimental conditions. The British Journal of Radiology, 4(47), 561–588. https://doi.org/10.1259/0007-1285-4-48-622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henneberg, R. J., & Henneberg, M. (1999). Variation in the closure of the sacral canal in the skeletal sample from Pompeii, Italy, 79 AD. Perspectives in Human Biology, 4(1), 177–188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hernando, R., Allué, E., Cano-Cano, N., Martín, P., Ustünskaya, M. C., & Lozano, M. (this volume). Human diet at El Mirador cave. In E. Allué, P. Martín, & J. M. Vergès (Eds.), Prehistoric herders and farmers – A transdisciplinary overview of the archaeological record from El Mirador cave (Interdisciplinary contributions to archaeology). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiménez-Brobeil, S. A., Roca-Rodríguez, M., Al Oumaoui, I., & Du Souich, P. (2012). Vertebral pathologies and related activity patterns in two mediaeval populations from Spain. Collegium Antropologicum, 36, 1019–1025.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jurmain, R. D. (1991). Degenerative changes in peripheral joints as indicators of mechanical stress: Opportunities and limitations. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 1(3–4), 247–252. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.1390010319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jurmain, R. D., & Kilgore, L. (1995). Skeletal evidence of osteoarthritis: A palaeopathological perspective. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 54, 443–450. https://doi.org/10.1136/ard.54.6.443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jurmain, R. D., Cardoso, F. A., Henderson, C., & Villotte, S. (2012). Bioarchaeology’s holy grail: The reconstruction of activity. In A. L. Grauer (Ed.), A companion to paleopathology (pp. 531–552). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444345940.ch29

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kilgore, L., Jurmain, R., & Gerven, D. V. (1997). Palaeoepidemiological patterns of trauma in a medieval Nubian skeletal population. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 7, 103–114. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1099-1212(199703)7:2%3C103::aid-oa319%3E3.0.co;2-5

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knüsel, C. J., Göggel, S., & Lucy, D. (1997). Comparative degenerative joint disease of the vertebral column in the medieval monastic cemetery of the Gilbertine Priory of St. Andrew, Fishergate, York, England. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 103(4), 481–495. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(199708)103:4<481::aid-ajpa6>3.0.co;2-q

  • Kumar, A., & Tubbs, R. S. (2011). Spina bifida: a diagnostic dilemma in paleopathology. Clinical Anatomy, 24(1), 19–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, M. E. (2000). Non-adult Palaeopathology: Current status and future potential. In M. Cox & S. Mays (Eds.), Human osteology in archaeology and forensic science (pp. 39–57). Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lieverse, A. R., Weber, A. W., Bazaliiskiy, V. I., Goriunova, O. I., & Savel’ev, N.A. (2007). Osteoarthritis in Siberia’s Cis-Baikal: Skeletal indicators of hunter–gatherer adaptation and cultural change. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 132, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieverse, A. R., Mack, B., Bazaliiskii, V. I., & Weber, A. W. (2016). Revisiting osteoarthritis in the Cis-Baikal: Understanding behavioral variability and adaptation among middle Holocene foragers. Quaternary International, 405, 160–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.03.019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lovejoy, C. O., Meindl, R. S., Pryzbeck, T. R., & Mensforth, R. P. (1985). Chronological metamorphosis of the auricular surface of the ilium. A new method for the determination of adult skeletal age at death. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 68(1), 15–28. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330680103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, M., Bermúdez de Castro, J. M., Arsuaga, J. L., & Carbonell, E. (2017). Diachronic analysis of cultural dental wear at the Atapuerca sites (Spain). Quaternary International, 433, 243–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.028

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lozano, M., Gamarra, B., Hernando, R., & Ceperuelo, D. (this volume). Dental and oral pathologies at El Mirador cave (sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). In E. Allué, P. Martín, & J. M. Vergès (Eds.), Prehistoric herders and farmers – A transdisciplinary overview of the archaeological record from El Mirador cave (Interdisciplinary contributions to archaeology). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malgosa, A. (2003). Marcadores de estrés ocupacional. In A. Isidro & A. Malgosa (Eds.), Paleopatología: la enfermedad no escrita (pp. 221–235). Masson, S.A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marginedas, F., Saladié, P., Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A., & Moreno-Ibáñez, M. A. (this volume). Characterization of the processing of human bodies in the case of cannibalism at El Mirador cave. In E. Allué, P. Martín, & J. M. Vergès (Eds.), Prehistoric herders and farmers – A transdisciplinary overview of the archaeological record from El Mirador cave (Interdisciplinary contributions to archaeology). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martín, P., Rosell, J., & Vergès, J. M. (2009). La gestión de los recursos faunísticos durante el Neolítico en la Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos): los niveles 19 y 20 de la Cueva del Mirador. Trabajos de Prehistoria, 66(2), 77–92. https://doi.org/10.3989/tp.2009.09024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martín, P., Expósito, I., Burguet-Coca, A., Lira, J., Blanco-Lapaz, A., & Tornero, C. (this volume). Husbandry and wild animal exploitation. Characteristics and evolution from a multidisciplinary perspective. In E. Allué, P. Martín, & J. M. Vergès (Eds.), Prehistoric herders and farmers – A transdisciplinary overview of the archaeological record from El Mirador cave (Interdisciplinary contributions to archaeology). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martín-Flórez, J. S. (2010). Caracterización antropológica de dos poblados de la Edad del Bronce de la Península ibérica: El Castellón Alto y la Motilla de Azuer. @rqueología y Territorio, 7, 69–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mathieson, I., Lazaridis, I., Rohland, N., Mallick, S., Patterson, N., Roodenberg, S. A., … Reich, D. (2015). Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians. Nature, 528(7583), 499–503. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendonça, M. C. (1998). Contribución para la identificación humana a partir del estudio de las estructuras óseas. Determinación de la talla a través de la longitud de los huesos largos. Doctoral dissertation. Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, C., Nicklisch, N., Held, P., Fritsch, B., & Alt, K. W. (2011). Tracing patterns of activity in the human skeleton: An overview of methods, problems, and limits of interpretation. HOMO – Journal of Comparative Human Biology, 62, 202–217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchb.2011.03.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, L. E., Adzick, N. S., Melchionne, J., Pasquariello, P. S., Sutton, L. N., & Whitehead, A. S. (2004). Spina bifida. Lancet, 364(9448), 1885–1895. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(04)17445-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molnar, P., Ahlstrom, T. P., & Leden, I. (2011). Osteoarthritis and activity— An analysis of the relationship between eburnation, musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM) and age in two Neolithic hunter–gatherer populations from Gotland, Sweden. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 21, 283–291. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.1131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molto, J. E., Kirkpatrick, C. L., & Keron, J. (2019). The paleoepidemiology of Sacral Spina Bifida Occulta in population samples from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. International Journal of Paleopathology, 26, 93–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2019.06.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mutlu, H., Kızgut, B., Sözer, Ç. S., Ürker, K., Açar, O., & Erol, A. S. (2020). Sacral spina bifida occulta rare occurrence in Byzantine Belentepe population in Muğla, Turkey: A possible case for adequate folic acid intake. Homo: Internationale Zeitschrift fur die Vergleichende Forschung am Menschen, 71, 175–188. https://doi.org/10.1127/homo/2020/1233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olalde, I., Lalueza-Fox, C., & Reich, D. (this volume). Genomic analysis of the individuals from El Mirador cave. In E. Allué, P. Martín, & J. M. Vergès (Eds.), Prehistoric herders and farmers - A transdisciplinary overview of the archaeological record from El Mirador Cave. Interdisciplinary contributions to archaeology. Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortner, D. J. (2003). Identification of pathological conditions in human skeletal remains. Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Papageorgopoulou, C., Suter, S. K., Rühli, F. J., & Siegmund, F. (2011). Harris lines revisited: Prevalence, comorbidities, and possible etiologies. American Journal of Human Biology, 23(3), 381–391. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.21155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phenice, T. W. (1969). A newly developed visual method of sexing in the os pubis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 30, 297–301. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330300214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rihuete, C. (2000). Dimensiones bio-arqueológicas de los contextos funerarios. Estudio de los restos humanos de la necrópolis prehistórica de la Cova des Càrritx (Ciutadella, Menorca). Doctoral dissertation. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez, A., Allué, E., & Buxó, R. (2016). Agriculture and livestock economy among prehistoric herders based on plant macro-remains from El Mirador (Atapuerca, Burgos). Quaternary International, 414, 272–284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.01.045

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, J., Waldron, T., Dieppe, P., & Watt, I. (1987). Arthropathies in palaeopathology: The basis of classification according to most probable cause. Journal of Archaeological Science, 14(2), 179–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-4403(87)90005-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez, J. A., Gómez, F., & Arroyo, E. (1992). Estudio de las líneas de Harris en los restos óseos medievales de la iglesia de San Francisco, Medina de Rioseco (Valladolid). Munibe. Suplemento, 8, 213–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaefer, M., Black, S., & Scheuer, L. (Eds.). (2009). Juvenile osteology: A laboratory and field manual. Academic. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374635-1.X0001-X

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Serio Tejero, I., Heras Martínez, C., Galera Olmo, V., & Bastida Ramírez, A. (2018). El enterramiento colectivo de “El Perdido” (Torres de la Alameda-Madrid): paleodemografía y paleoauxología. Complutum, 29(2), 299–317. https://doi.org/10.5209/cmpl.62582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silva-Pinto, V., Arriaza, B., & Standen, V. (2010). Evaluación de la frecuencia de espina bífida oculta y su posible relación con el arsénico ambiental en una muestra prehispánica de la Quebrada de Camarones, norte de Chile. Revista Médica de Chile, 138(4), 461–469. https://doi.org/10.4067/s0034-98872010000400010

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spector, T. D., & MacGregor, A. J. (2004). Risk factors for osteoarthritis: Genetics. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 12, 39–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joca.2003.09.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swift, J., Cupper, M. L., Greig, A., Westaway, M. C., Carter, C., Santoro, C. M., Wood, R., et al. (2015). Skeletal arsenic of the pre-Columbian population of Caleta Vitor, northern Chile. Journal of Archaeological Science, 58, 31–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2015.03.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taskaynatan, M. A., Izci, Y., Ozgul, A., Hazneci, B., Dursun, H., & Kalyon, T. A. (2005). Clinical significance of congenital lumbosacral malformations in young male population with prolonged low back pain. Spine, 30(8), 210–213. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.brs.0000158950.84470.2a

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vegas Aramburu, J. I., Armendáriz, A., & Ajamil, J. (2007). San Juan Ante Portam Latinam: Una inhumación colectiva prehistórica en el Valle Medio del Ebro. Memoria de las excavaciones arqueológicas, 1985, 1990 y 1991. Diputación Foral de Álava.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vergès, J. M. (this volume). Funerary practices at El Mirador cave. In E. Allué, P. Martín, & J. M. Vergès (Eds.), Prehistoric herders and farmers – A transdisciplinary overview of the archaeological record from El Mirador cave (Interdisciplinary contributions to archaeology). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vergès, J. M., Allué, E., Angelucci, D. E., Cebrià, A., Díez, C., Fontanals, M., Manyanós, A., Montero, S., Moral, S., Vaquero, M., & Zaragoza, J. (2002). La Sierra de Atapuerca durante el Holoceno: datos preliminares sobre las ocupaciones de la Edad del Bronce en la Cueva de El Mirador (Ibeas de Juarros, Burgos). Trabajos de Prehistoria, 59, 107–126. https://doi.org/10.3989/tp.2002.v59.i1.213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vergès, J. M., Allué, E., Fontanals, M., Morales, J. I., Martín, P., Carrancho, Á., Expósito, I., Guardiola, M., Lozano, M., Marsol, R., Oms, X., Euba, I., & Rodríguez, A. (2016). El Mirador cave (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain): A whole perspective. Quaternary International, 414, 236–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.01.044

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vergès, J. M., Fontanals, M., Vaquero, M., Zaragoza, J., Angelucci, D. E., Moral, S., Cebrià, A., Morales, J. I., Rodríguez, A., Martín, P., & Allué, E. (this volume). Site description and the environment. In E. Allué, P. Martín, & J. M. Vergès (Eds.), Prehistoric herders and farmers – A transdisciplinary overview of the archaeological record from El Mirador cave (Interdisciplinary contributions to archaeology). Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Villotte, S., & Knüsel, C. J. (2013). Understanding entheseal changes: Definition and life course changes. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 23(2), 135–146. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wasterlain, S. N., Costa, A., & Ferreira, M. T. (2018). Growth faltering in a skeletal sample of enslaved nonadult Africans found at Lagos, Portugal (15th–17th centuries). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 28(2), 162–169. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2643

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, E., & Jurmain, R. (2007). Osteoarthritis revisited: A contemporary review of aetiology. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 17, 437–450. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.889

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ytrehus, B., Carlson, C. S., & Ekman, S. (2007). Etiology and pathogenesis of osteochondrosis. Veterinary Pathology, 44(4), 429–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yustos, M., Lozano, M., Morales, J. I., Iglesias-Bexiga, J., & Vergès, J. M. (2021). Degenerative joint disease in the chalcolithic population of El Mirador cave (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain): The vertebral column. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 31(2), 162–175. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2936

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, H., Merrett, D. C., Jing, Z., Tang, J., He, Y., Yue, H., … Yang, D. Y. (2017). Osteoarthritis, labour division, and occupational specialization of the Late Shang China – Insights from Yinxu (ca. 1250–1046 B.C.). PLoS One, 12(5), e0176329. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zúñiga-Thayer, R., Suby, J., Flensborg, G., & Luna, L. (2018). Osteocondritis disecante. Primeros resultados en restos humanos de cazadores-recolectores del Holoceno en Patagonia austral. Revista Del Museo De Antropología, 11, 107–120. https://doi.org/10.31048/1852.4826.v11.n1.18882

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Spanish Government (PGC2018-093925-B-C32, (MINECO/FEDER), and by CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya, AGAUR agency, 2017 SGR 1040, 2017 SGR 836, 2019 PFR-URV-91. We want to express our gratitude to all the team members working at El Mirador cave since 1999.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Tarragona, Spain

    Javier Iglesias-Bexiga & Marta Yustos

  2. Departament d’Història i Història de l’Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain

    Marta Yustos

  3. Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain

    Francisco Etxeberria-Gabilondo

Authors
  1. Javier Iglesias-Bexiga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marta Yustos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Francisco Etxeberria-Gabilondo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Javier Iglesias-Bexiga .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Tarragona, Spain

    Ethel Allué

  2. Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Tarragona, Spain

    Patricia Martín

  3. Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Tarragona, Tarragona, Spain

    Josep Maria Vergès

1 Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary Information 8.1

Summary of the sample analyzed for the estimation of the minimum number of individuals (DOCX 22 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Iglesias-Bexiga, J., Yustos, M., Etxeberria-Gabilondo, F. (2022). Life and Death in El Mirador Cave. Anthropological and Palaeopathological Analysis of a Collective Burial. In: Allué, E., Martín, P., Vergès, J.M. (eds) Prehistoric Herders and Farmers. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12278-1_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12278-1_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-12277-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-12278-1

  • eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation