La Brana-Arintero

La Brana-Arintero
Name	La Brana-Arintero
Caption	Skeletal remains from La Brana
Map type	Spain
Location	Province of León, Castile and León
Region	Iberian Peninsula
Type	Mesolithic cemetery
Epochs	Mesolithic
Excavations	1990s–2000s

La Brana-Arintero La Brana-Arintero is a Mesolithic burial site in the Province of León, Castile and León, Spain, notable for exceptionally preserved human remains and genomic data that inform debates about the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Europe. The site has been cited in studies alongside sites from the Iberian Peninsula, the Danubian basin, the Pontic-Caspian steppe, and the British Isles, linking research by institutions such as the Max Planck Institute, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC).

Discovery and archaeological context

The discovery was made during fieldwork coordinated by regional heritage services and teams from the University of León in a landscape characterized by karstic features and upland valleys similar to other Iberian Mesolithic localities like Alosno, El Collado, and Cueva de Nerja. Excavations involved stratigraphic techniques developed at sites including Dolní Věstonice, Star Carr, and La Braña, and the project referenced comparative frameworks established by researchers working at Monte Verde, Magdalenian contexts, and Epipaleolithic assemblages in the Cantabrian corridor. Collaboration included specialists from the Museo Arqueológico Nacional, the British Museum, the National Museum of Denmark, and laboratories at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Human remains and preservation

Skeletal remains at La Brana-Arintero show exceptional preservation of cranial and post-cranial elements with preservation conditions compared to those at Ötzi's discovery site, Lagar Velho, and the Sunghir burials. The taphonomic context invoked comparisons with peat bog bodies like Tollund Man and promontory burials from the Atlantic fringe, while collagen and tooth enamel preservation enabled isotopic and genomic analyses performed in facilities such as the Natural History Museum, University College London, and the Institut Jacques Monod. Associated faunal remains prompted reference to assemblages from Cueva de El Castillo, El Mirón, and Zafarraya.

Genetic analyses and ancient DNA findings

Ancient DNA extracted from La Brana-Arintero individuals contributed to population genomics studies that integrated data from hunter-gatherers in Scandinavia, the Baltic, the Balkans, and Central Europe, and compared them with genomes from Neolithic farmers associated with the Linearbandkeramik, Cardial Ware, and the Mediterranean Neolithic expansion. Results discussed affinities with Western Hunter-Gatherers (WHG) alongside contrasts to Eastern Hunter-Gatherers (EHG), Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers (CHG), and Anatolian Neolithic farmers, referencing datasets from the Max Planck Institute, Harvard Medical School, and the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Analyses employed approaches used in studies of Kinship at Boncuklu, genomic shifts at the Yamnaya horizon, and admixture modeling applied to sites such as Loschbour, Motala, and Villabruna.

Physical anthropology and morphology

Osteological analysis at La Brana-Arintero reported robusticity and cranial metric features compared with series from Mesolithic contexts in Scandinavia, the Italian Peninsula, the Balkans, and the British Mesolithic. Comparative morphology invoked specimens from La Hoguette, Cramond, Vlasac, and Grotta dei Romani, while dental wear and pathology analyses mirrored research on Hunter-Gatherer dentitions from Gough's Cave, Starčevo, and Epipaleolithic assemblages in the Levant. Physical traits were interpreted alongside palaeogenetic phenotyping studies that referenced pigmentation alleles identified in Loschbour, La Braña, and Motala remains.

Cultural artifacts and burial practices

Associated grave goods and lithic assemblages at La Brana-Arintero included microliths and bone tools comparable to industries such as the Azilian, Sauveterrian, and Natufian contexts, and showed technological affinities with sites like Grotta Arene Candide, Cueva de los Aviones, and Tequendama. Burial position, orientation, and evidence for ochre or pigment use were compared to practices documented at Sunghir, Vedbaek, Kunda, and the Afontova Gora series, while symbolic behaviors invoked parallels with decorative motifs from the Neolithic of the Iberian Mediterranean, the Mesolithic of the Baltic, and shell bead traditions in the Maglemosian.

Chronology and dating methods

Radiocarbon dating of charcoal, bone collagen, and associated organic materials at La Brana-Arintero used accelerator mass spectrometry protocols employed at laboratories such as the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit and the French Centre for Isotopic Research, producing dates that fit within the Mesolithic span calibrated against IntCal curves used in studies of sites like La Pasiega, Cueva de Nerja, and El Sidrón. Bayesian modeling integrated stratigraphic sequences and compared chronologies with the onset of the Cardial expansion, the Linearbandkeramik chronology, and postglacial demographic changes documented in the Atlantic façade and Central European sequences.

Significance for European Mesolithic-Neolithic transition

La Brana-Arintero is significant for reconstructing interactions between indigenous hunter-gatherers and incoming farming populations, informing debates involving models developed from Cardial, Linearbandkeramik, and Balkan Neolithic datasets, and later steppe-related movements tied to the Yamnaya and Corded Ware phenomena. The site’s genomic, isotopic, and cultural evidence has been integrated into syntheses by research groups at the Max Planck Institute, University of Cambridge, and University College London, and features in comparative discussions with findings from Anatolia, the Balkans, the Iberian Neolithic, and the Atlantic seaboard, contributing to broader narratives involving Mesolithic persistence, admixture processes, and the formation of modern European genetic landscapes.

Category:Mesolithic sites in Spain