Tortugas calcolíticas y medievales en el II Encuentro de Zooarqueología Ibérica

Durante los días 23, 24 y 25 de junio se celebró el II Encuentro de Zooarqueología Ibérica (EZI2021), que se realizó en versión online. En este congreso se presentaron dos trabajos sobre tortugas halladas en contextos arqueológicos, en los que participa el Grupo de Biología Evolutiva de la UNED. El primero de ellos suponía una síntesis del registro procedente de cerca de una veintena de yacimientos medievales ibéricos. El segundo aportaba nuevos datos sobre los restos de quelonios del yacimiento calcolítico madrileño de Camino de las Yeseras. Estos son los resúmenes:

A review of the data concerning medieval archaeological turtle findings from the Iberian Peninsula is presented. In order to update and examine this information a comprehensive literature review was performed. These results combined with the analysis of specimens from several archaeological sites where turtle findings were hitherto unpublished are the starting point of a study offering firsthand systematic identifications and archaeological interpretations. Freshwater terrapin (Emys orbicularis and Mauremys leprosa) and tortoise (Testudinidae indet.) remains from eighteen medieval archaeological sites have been analysed. This recent investigation has provided singular taphonomic evidence regarding the consumption of turtles during the Middle Ages.

The presence of more than 4000 terrapin shell fragments as the sole content of a pit in the ditched enclosure of Camino de las Yeseras has been reported as a unique finding of these reptiles for the Iberian Peninsula (Pérez et al., 2011; Boneta et al., 2013). Two species were identified in this pit as belonging to the European pond terrapin (i.e. Emys orbicularis) and the Spanish terrapin (i.e. Mauremys leprosa). Recent faunal investigations of diverse features and chronologies in this large long-term occupation site (mainly belonging to the 3rd Millennium cal BC), have identified 10 new terrapin osseous remains from seven different contexts. The aim of this contribution is to present the first results of their identification in features, pits and huts, and to discuss their spatial distribution in the site. Otherwise, intermingled with other mammalian faunal remains in different contexts, their evidence in other features give us a new insight to comprehend the reach of their caption as a consumption resource in a site located nearby the confluence of the Jarama and Henares rivers.

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Más información:

Referencias:

• Boneta, I., Liesau, C. y Pérez-García, A. (2021). Terrapin remains from the Chalcolithic site of Camino de las Yeseras (San Fernando de Henares, Madrid): a spatial summary. EZI2021 Book of Abstracts: 30-31. 
• Boneta, I., Liesau, C. y Pérez-García, A. (2021). Medieval Archaeological Turtle Remains in the Iberian Peninsula. EZI2021 Book of Abstracts: 59 

Imágenes: Diapositiva inicial de la presentación sobre restos de tortugas en yacimientos ibéricos medievales (arriba) / Contexto de los hallazgos de quelonios en el yacimiento calcolítico madrileño de Camino de las Yeseras (abajo).