lunes, 13 de junio de 2011

Estudios fisicoquímicos de pinturas prehistóricas



Vídeo YouTube (uned el 10/06/2011) añadido a Paleo Vídeos > Prehistoria de España y Portugal > L.R.1.3

Las pinturas rupestres, las primeras manifestaciones artísticas del ser humano que han perdurado hasta nuestros días, siempre esconden un misterio. ¿Cómo vivían sus autores? ¿Por qué pintaron un animal en este determinado lugar? ¿Qué materiales emplearon? ¿Hace cuánto tiempo? Esas preguntas son la que intenta responder un grupo de investigación formado por químicos, físicos, biólogos y geólogos de la UNED, la Universidad Castilla La Mancha, el Laboratorio de análisis e investigación de bienes culturales del Gobierno de Aragón y el Instituto Catalán de Paleoecología Humana y Evolución Social.

Su línea de investigación se dirige al estudio de la estructura y composición físico-química de las pinturas prehistóricas dentro de la península ibérica y se sirven de las tecnologías del siglo XXI para analizar lo pintado por artistas que vivieron hace aproximadamente 8.000 años. Arte y Ciencia se conjugan para conocer los materiales de las pinturas, cómo están distribuidos y su época.

Participan:
Antonio Hernanz, Profesor de Ciencias y Técnicas Físico-Químicas UNED;
Juan Francisco Ruiz López, Arqueólogo Universidad Castilla-La Mancha;
Santiago Martín Fernández, Técnico Especialista Dpto. Física Matemática y de Fluidos.
Producción y realización: CEMAV.

Pré-textes. L'homme préhistorique en morceaux


Livre: Pré-textes. L'homme préhistorique en morceaux
Yves Coppens (Auteur)
Broché: 400 pages
Editeur : Odile Jacob (6 juin 2011)
Collection : SCIENCES

Présentation de l'éditeur

« Voici, après Pré-ambules, ou les premiers pas de l homme, Pré-textes, ou l homme préhistorique en morceaux. Ces morceaux se rapportent, bien sûr, aux hommes fossiles que j ai toujours fréquentés, souvent cherchés, parfois trouvés, mais aussi aux produits artisanaux ou artistiques, parfois les deux, de leur esprit.

C est un vrai livre de paléoanthropologie et de préhistoire qui fait le tour des sujets servis par ces disciplines. En dehors des faits évoqués en permanence et illustrés souvent, je souhaiterais en effet que le lecteur, et notamment le jeune lecteur, trouve dans ces textes la passion de la recherche, l éclat de ses résultats et l élégance de ses démonstrations, en d autres termes l esprit scientifique tel qu il m a séduit, tel que je l ai vécu et continue, bien sûr, de le vivre. » Y. C.

Dans un style clair et enlevé, voici donc, par l un de nos plus grands paléontologues, reconnu dans le monde entier, un livre, aussi plaisant que riche, qui nous présente plus de vingt ans d actualité préhistorique.

... Hominides.com

jueves, 9 de junio de 2011

Pileta Cave, Spain pics off web



Galería de fotos de pinturas rupestres de la Cueva de la Pileta por tjmarshall57 el 13 de enero de 2007 / 13 fotos (excepto laja-3s). Imágenes reproducidas del sitio www.benaojan.net/

Nota: Esta galería ya se posteó el 27 de Ene de 2007 en el Archivo del noticiario, pero el link había caducado.

Contenido relacionado: La Cueva de la Pileta en la Red

martes, 7 de junio de 2011

Ancestral Appetites: Food in Prehistory


Book: Ancestral Appetites: Food in Prehistory
Author: Kristen J. Gremillion
Paperback: 188 pages
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (March 14, 2011)

Related: 7-Jun-2011. An 'all natural' diet? There's no such thing

COLUMBUS, Ohio – From the paleolithic diet to the raw food diet, many health-conscious Americans now want to eat the way they believe our ancient ancestors ate.

But some of these dietary prescriptions make little sense for modern humans, according to a new book on the evolution of the use of food and eating habits among prehistoric people.

While there is much we can learn from what our ancestors ate, many of our more modern foods and diets were developed for very good reasons, said Kristen Gremillion, associate professor of anthropology at Ohio State University.

Gremillion is author of the new book Ancestral Appetites: Food in Prehistory (Cambridge University Press, 2011), which explores how humans have adjusted the food they eat and the way they prepare it in response to new knowledge and new environments.

"Humans are omnivores and we can eat a wide range of things," Gremillion said.

"Rather than try to base a healthy diet on what we think people used to eat thousands of years ago, it would probably make more sense to look at our nutritional requirements today and find the best way to meet them."

One issue that Gremillion has with many new diet fads is the claim that they are somehow more "natural" because they focus on a time before modern culture spoiled our eating habits.

"That time never existed," Gremillion said.

"Human dietary behavior can't be reduced just to our biology. Culture has always played a part in what we eat and how we eat it. And people have always been innovating, finding new foods to eat and new ways to prepare them. There's no way to say that there's only one way we are supposed to eat."

One popular diet today is the so-called "paleo" or "paleolithic" diet, sometimes also called the caveman diet. This diet is based on what people ate before the introduction of agriculture. There is an emphasis on lean meats and fruits and vegetables, and avoiding processed foods and grains of all kinds.

Gremillion said the paleo diet is scientifically based and a healthy way to eat. But it is not somehow more natural than other diets.

"It's not unnatural for humans to eat cereals and grains, despite what some people may claim. Humans started agriculture because it was difficult to get enough food through hunting and gathering. Cereal grains provided a stable source of calories," she said.

Cereal grains can't be the sole basis of a diet, but they can be part of healthy meals, she said.

While the paleo diet does have a scientific basis, Gremillion said the raw food diet does not. This diet emphasizes getting most calories from uncooked, unprocessed foods.

"There is not really anything to be gained by eating only raw foods. We have been cooking food for hundreds of thousands of years," she said.

While cooking does remove some nutrients from foods, it also breaks down the compounds in foods to make some nutrients easier for our bodies to extract. In addition, it is much easier on our teeth and jaws than tearing and crushing hard and fibrous foods.

"Cooking caught on for a reason, and there is no real reason to give it up."

The concern for returning to a more natural state often involves not only what we eat, but how and where we grow foods and domesticate animals.

Much of Gremillion's own research involves the origins of agriculture in eastern North America, and how the early peoples in North America interacted with the environment.

"There's been a tendency in American culture to think the pristine wilderness is somehow totally separate from people. But it is a misconception that the landscapes we want to bring back were untouched by people," she said.

Humans have been managing the environment in North America from the moment they stepped foot on the continent, she said. One of the earliest ways Native Americans managed the environment was through the use of fire to clear areas for their use. Later on, they also adopted small-scale agriculture.

Since their numbers were small, their overall impact on the landscape was limited, according to Gremillion. They probably realized they had to protect the environment to a certain extent, so it would be available to their children and grandchildren.

"But it was not just a spiritual attachment to nature. It was a practical way to live off the land," she said.

Gremillion said that in everything related to eating – from what foods we eat, to how we grow it to how we prepare it – there is no one natural way.

"Humans are flexible. That's what we do better than any other animal, and that means we can adapt to conditions, she said.

"There's not some natural way to eat that we need to get back to. Culture informs everything we do."

Eurekalert.org/

Centro de Interpretación de la Prehistoria de Andalucía (El Rincón de la Victoria, Málaga)



Frente a otros once equipos participantes, el estudio de Luis Machuca ha sido el ganador del concurso para el Centro de Interpretación de la Prehistoria de Andalucía y musealización de la Cueva del Tesoro de El Rincón de la Victoria, en Málaga.

El proyecto contempla tres ámbitos de actuación: el propio edificio del museo, la puesta en valor de las cuevas —declaradas Bien de Interés Cultural—, y el diseño de un parque arqueológico en torno al conjunto. El proyecto crea un nuevo ‘hito paisajístico’ que debe distinguirse del entorno que le rodea, pero que se adapta a la complicada topografía integrándose en la ladera.

Para albergar el programa del museo, el estudio malagueño propone un edificio en forma de ‘lazo’ al que se accede desde la parte superior, desde donde se desciende siguiendo un recorrido en suave rampa que se cierra sobre sí mismo llegando hasta el punto de partida, y que puede realizarse en sentido inverso. Diseñado como edificio de energía cero (EEC), el museo está planteado como un referente en el uso racional de la energía.

Fuente: Arquitecturaviva.com
Fotos: Luís Machuca y Asociados / Archdaily.com