DEATHREVOL

The emergence of funerary behavior is one of the most controversial aspects in the field of human evolution. New methodological approaches in the field of taphonomy can help elucidate fundamental facets of hominini behavior, making important contributions to our understanding of our ancestors. The European fossil record is an essential source of information due to the relative abundance of fossil skeletons, many of which have been interpreted as burials, and the possibility of biological and cultural interactions between different human species. Nevertheless, direct taphonomic analyses of these human fossils are rare. DEATHEREVOL is a multi-disciplinary research project aimed at investigating the origins of funerary behavior during the Middle Pleistocene, and tracing this behavior across the entire European Paleolithic archaeological record. This project involves the participation of a large team of researchers and a network of methods including classical and innovative taphonomic analyses, virtual reconstructions for forensic analysis, the study of spatial distribution patterns, the global relationship of different sites, and mathematical models to interconnect the wide spectrum of data collected. In particular, the results will help determine whether mortuary practices and a culture of death, preceded the appearance of modern humans and Neanderthals.