Shearwater Eggs in Lobos 3, a Holocene Site of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands)
Carmen Núñez-Lahuerta,
Miguel Moreno-Azanza,
Manuel Pérez-Pueyo,
M. del Carmen Del-Arco-Aguilar,
Mercedes Del-Arco-Aguilar,
Celia Siverio-Batista,
Carolina Castillo-Ruiz,
Penélope Cruzado-Caballero
Affiliations
Carmen Núñez-Lahuerta
Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
Miguel Moreno-Azanza
Aragosaurus-IUCA Reconstrucciones Paleoambientales, Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Manuel Pérez-Pueyo
Aragosaurus-IUCA Reconstrucciones Paleoambientales, Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
M. del Carmen Del-Arco-Aguilar
Departamento de Geografía e Historia (Área de Prehistoria), Universidad de La Laguna, Prof. José Luis Moreno Becerra s/n, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
Mercedes Del-Arco-Aguilar
Museo Arqueológico de Tenerife, Organismo Autónomo de Museos y Centros, Cabildo de Tenerife, Calle del Lomo 9a, 38400 Puerto de la Cruz, Spain
Celia Siverio-Batista
Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología (Área Arqueología), Universidad de Granada, Campus Universitario de Cartuja, 18071 Granada, Spain
Carolina Castillo-Ruiz
Departamento de Biología Animal, Edafología y Geología (Área de Paleontología), Universidad de La Laguna, Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez, s/n, Apartado 456, 38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
Penélope Cruzado-Caballero
Aragosaurus-IUCA Reconstrucciones Paleoambientales, Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Two eggs (L29 and N28) were recovered in the Holocene site of Lobos 3, (Islote de Lobos, north Fuerteventura, Canary Islands), the site has been interpreted as a purple dye workshop from the Early Roman Empire Epoch. For the first time, eggs from a Holocene deposit of the Canary Islands have been analyzed in terms of size, shape, and biomineral structure, and studied on the basis of several thin sections and SEM analysis. The analysis of the remains allowed the assignation of both eggs to Procellariidae birds, thanks to the relative proportion of the eggshell layers and the vesiculation patterns. The size of the eggs allowed the assignation of L29 to cf. Calonectris/Puffinus, and to cf. Puffinus for N28. The absence of more structural analysis on Procellariiformes eggshells prevent a more specific assignation. The accumulation pattern of the eggs is compatible with a seasonal occupation pattern of the Roman site.
