The collaboration agreement between the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH) and Paleolítico Vivo was presented at the CENIEH this morning. This will enable further expansion of the Comparative Anatomy Osteological Collection (COAC), as well as research and outreach activities in the fields of Experimental Archaeology, Taphonomy, Traceology, and Paleontology.

The participants in the press conference to present this agreement were Nohemi Sala, a researcher specializing in Taphonomy, and Felipe Cuartero Monteagudo, a technician at the Experimental Archaeology and Taphonomy Laboratory, both for the CENIEH, while Paleolítico Vivo was represented by its codirectors Estefanía Muro Rodríguez and Eduardo Cerdá Romero.

This collaboration will enhance the research capacity of both institutions, by combining the CENIEH Experimental Archaeology Laboratory with the Experimental Taphonomy Station at the Paleolítico Vivo park, where it will be possible to conduct experiments with the use of fire and the distinct launching techniques for Paleolithic weapons, from simple wooden javelins to the Mesolithic use of bows and arrows, and including Upper Paleolithic atlatls and darts.

In addition, when natural animal deaths take place, the carcasses which would otherwise be discarded will be used for Taphonomy, Experimental Archaeology, and Comparative Anatomy work, and an experimental design for these resources will be so devised that they can eventually be incorporated into the CENIEH collections.

“The way we CENIEH technicians and researchers conduct these experiments will also offer Paleolítico Vivo scientific outreach material of the very highest quality, because we will be communicating the schedule for them and some of the preliminary results we are obtaining to the visiting public on a continuous basis”, say Sala and Cuartero