Joan Daura
Honorary Visiting FellowDepartment of Archaeology and Anthropology |
 |
Short Biographical Note
Born in 1979, Joan Daura is Doctor of Palaeolithic Archaeology at the University of Barcelona. Now he is a Research Fellow at the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Bristol, with a Spanish post-doc fellowship. Prior to this he was a researcher at the University of Barcelona. Now he is the director of a research project in Spain about Neanderthals and the changes in landscape around the Mediterranean coast.
The main aim of his research is the study of human evolution during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene in the Western Mediterranean coast, specifically, in the Garraf complex (northern Mediterranean region of Spain). Essentially, the research is centred between the upper half of the Middle Pleistocene and the latest Upper Pleistocene; stages MIS 11 and MIS 2. The main goal is to investigate the relationship between humans (Homo neanderthalensis) and carnivores as principal competitors. For a deep study of this aspect, he is conducting an archaeological fieldwork program, operating in different deposits. Furthermore, he is studying old archaeological and faunal collections from the area.
The surprising recent discovery of a Neanderthal jaw (Daura, et, al., 2005) from the Garraf complex cave (Cova del Gegant) represents an important new addition to the human fossil record from the Iberian Peninsula. It also gives evidence of the course of human evolution in the northern Mediterranean region of Spain. The preserved morphology of this fossil allows us to describe it as a Neanderthal, which makes Cova del Gegant the only known site in Catalonia where diagnostic human skeletal remains in association with Middle Paleolithic stone tools and faunal remains were recorded.
His research on Cova del Rinoceront, Cova del Coll Verdaguer, Terrasses dels Canyars, Dolina de l’Esquerda de les Alzines, with 11m infilling, will provide us with a reconstruction of the paleoenviromental sequence ranging from the Late Middle to the Upper Pleistocene in the Mediterranean coast.
Research Interests
- Neanderthal remains
- Middle and Lower Palaeolithic Culture
- Climatic changes during the Upper Pleistocene
Ongoing field project
- The first human occupation in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The main objective of his research is the study of Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) from the Middle to the Upper Pleistocene (300-30 Ka) and their relationship with carnivores, especially regarding the competition for resources and territory.
Director of Archaeological Expeditions
- Cova del Rinoceront (Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain). Since 2002
This is a cave with Middle and Upper Pleistocene deposits dated between 85 ka and 212 ka. The site is a carnivore den with abundant Pleistocene faunal remains and a few stone tools (Mousterian).
- Cova del Coll Verdaguer (Cervelló, Barcelona, Spain). Since 2004.
This cave is a hyena den used in Upper Pleistocene (55-35 ka), where faunal remains, coprolites and a few stone tools were found. Fieldwork is being carried out inside the cave and at the entrance.
- Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona, Spain). Since 2007.
Cova del Gegant is a cave containing Upper Pleistocene archaeological and palaeontological material. A Neanderthal mandible was recovered from the site, which is one of the few in Catalonia where diagnostic human skeletal remains in association with Middle Palaeolithic stone tools and faunal remains were recorded.
- Dolina de l`Esquerda de les Alzines (Begues, Barcelona, Spain). Since 2004.
- Dolina de les Alzines (Begues, Barcelona, Spain). Since 2004.
- Cova Bonica (Vallirana, Barcelona, Spain). Since 2008.
- Terrasses dels Canyars (Gava, Barcelona, Spain). Year 2007.