Professor Nick Barton
Research Interests
Early symbolism; Modern human behaviour in the Middle and Later Stone Age of North Africa; Human adaptations to environmental change in the Later Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic of Britain and northern Eurasia; Lithic technology and experimental archaeology; Cave taphonomy
Geographic Areas
Britain, North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia)
Research Activities
Co-director with Professor Bouzouggar, Rabat University, of excavation at Taforalt Cave in Morocco, which is aimed at the understanding of human behaviour and environmental change in North Africa over the last 200,000 years. Recently completed a major collaborative NERC project as Co-Principal Investigator concerning the response of humans to rapid environmental change. Nearing completion of a monographic study on the Middle and Later Stone Age levels at Taforalt cave, for which he received a Leverhulme Fellowship in 2012-13. Most recently, with Dr Louise Humphrey (Natural History Museum) and Professor Martin Bell (Reading University), has been awarded a Major Leverhulme Research Award for a project on Cemeteries and Sedentism in North Africa, to investigate changes in hunter-gatherer behaviour prior to the Neolithic.
Links
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Bone retouchers and technological continuity in the Middle Stone Age of North Africa.
Turner, E, Humphrey, L, Bouzouggar, A, Barton, NJanuary 2020|Journal article|PloS oneEvidence for specialised bone tools has recently been reported for the Middle Stone Age of North Africa [one], which complements similar finds of slightly younger age in South Africa [two, three]. However, until now scant reference has been made to lesser known tools also made of bone ('bone retouchers') that were employed specifically as intermediaries for working or refining stone artefacts, that are sometimes present in these assemblages. In this paper we describe 20 bone retouchers from the cave of Grotte des Pigeons at Taforalt in north-east Morocco. This is the largest stratified assemblage of bone retouchers from a North African MSA site, and the biggest single collection so far from the African Continent. A total of 18 bone retouchers was recovered in securely dated archaeological levels spanning a period from ~ 84.5 ka to 24 ka cal BP. A further two bone retouchers were found in a layer at the base of the deposits in association with Aterian artefacts dating to around 85,000 BP and so far represent the earliest evidence of this type of tool at Taforalt. In this paper we present a first, detailed description of the finds and trace the stages of their production, use and discard (chaîne opératoire). At the same time, we assess if there were diachronic changes in their form and function and, finally, explore their presence in relation to stone tools from the same occupation layers of the cave.Bone and Bones, Humans, Archaeology, Fossils, Technology, History, Ancient, Morocco -
Cemeteries and Sedentism in the Later Stone Age of NW Africa: Excavations at Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, Morocco
BARTON, R, Bouzouggar, A, Collcutt, SN, Humphrey, LTEdited by:BARTON, ROctober 2019|Book -
Infant funerary behavior and kinship in Pleistocene hunter-gatherers from Morocco.
Humphrey, L, Freyne, A, van de Loosdrecht, M, Hogue, JT, Turner, E, Barton, N, Bouzouggar, AOctober 2019|Journal article|J Hum EvolInfant remains are relatively uncommon in the late Pleistocene (Upper Palaeolithic) archaeological record. Funerary treatment is considered indicative of social status and mirrors cultural attitudes toward the deceased or the group they represent. Here we report on the burials of six infants, including three who died at birth or shortly thereafter, from Later Stone Age (Iberomaurusian) levels at Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, in Morocco dating to ∼14,500 cal BP. Funerary treatment of the infants was equivalent to that of older individuals within the community, indicating an inclusive social status. The burials of two of the six infants, shown by previous aDNA analysis to be brother and sister, were overlain by ochre stained grinding stones that may have served as grave markers. In this case, a uniquely shared funerary treatment mirrored a close biological relationship, suggesting that kinship contributed to the patterning of funerary behavior within this Pleistocene burial assemblage.Archeology, Iberomaurusian, Infant burials, Later stone age, North Africa, Siblings, Archaeology, Burial, Family, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Morocco, Social Networking -
ZooMS identification of bone tools from the North African Later Stone Age
Desmond, A, Barton, N, Bouzouggar, A, Douka, K, Fernandez, P, Humphrey, L, Morales, J, Turner, E, Buckley, MOctober 2018|Journal article|Journal of Archaeological Science© 2018 This study applies peptide mass fingerprinting (also known as ‘ZooMS’) to bone tools from the North African Palaeolithic, as the first stage in a research programme aimed at understanding distinct phases within a bone tool chaîne opératoire. We report on the largest collection of bone tools from the North African Later Stone Age (LSA), from the cave site of Taforalt (Grotte des Pigeons) in eastern Morocco. Their appearance at this site from c. 15,000 cal BP appears to coincide with other changes in human behaviour which led to increased sedentism, cemetery use, and intensive exploitation of certain food resources. As such, bone tools can provide insights into how such broad-scale cultural renegotiations may have been brokered technologically, independent of the lithic record. Here, we explore initial raw material selection and manufacture strategies through use of ZooMS, a technique that permits identification of specific animals from very small bone samples. We found that ZooMS is highly suitable for use on the Taforalt material, and that bone tool morphology and construction tracks closely with the original animal from which a tool was made. Our results indicate that the Iberomaurusian occupants of Taforalt embedded bone tools within culturally-mediated technological strategies, potentially involving other perishable materials. -
Pleistocene North African genomes link Near Eastern and sub-Saharan African human populations
,van de Loosdrecht, M, Bouzouggar, A, Humphrey, L, Posth, C, Barton, N, Aximu-Petri, A, Nickel, B, Nagel, S, Talbi, EH, El Hajraoui, MA, Amzazi, S, Hublin, J-Jet alMay 2018|Journal article|Science -
90,000 year-old specialised bone technology in the Aterian Middle Stone Age of North Africa.
Bouzouggar, A, Humphrey, LT, Barton, N, Parfitt, SA, Clark Balzan, L, Schwenninger, J-L, El Hajraoui, MA, Nespoulet, R, Bello, SMJanuary 2018|Journal article|PloS oneThe question of cognitive complexity in early Homo sapiens in North Africa is intimately tied to the emergence of the Aterian culture (~145 ka). One of the diagnostic indicators of cognitive complexity is the presence of specialised bone tools, however significant uncertainty remains over the manufacture and use of these artefacts within the Aterian techno-complex. In this paper we report on a bone artefact from Aterian Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits in Dar es-Soltan 1 cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. It comes from a layer that can be securely dated to ~90 ka. The typological characteristics of this tool, which suggest its manufacture and use as a bone knife, are comparatively similar to other bone artefacts from dated Aterian levels at the nearby site of El Mnasra and significantly different from any other African MSA bone technology. The new find from Dar es-Soltan 1 cave combined with those from El Mnasra suggest the development of a bone technology unique to the Aterian.Bone and Bones, Ribs, Animals, Mammals, Humans, Microscopy, Electron, Scanning, Artifacts, Cognition, Archaeology, Fossils, Africa, Northern, Caves -
A new Later Upper Palaeolithic open-air site with articulated horse bone in the Colne Valley, Berkshire
Barclay, A, Bello, S, Bradley, P, Harding, P, Higbee, L, Manning, A, Powell, J, Macphail, R, ROBERTS, A, Stewart, M, Barton, RNDecember 2017|Journal article|Antiquity -
A new Later Upper Palaeolithic open-air site with articulated horse bone in the Colne Valley, Berkshire
Barclay, A, Bello, S, Bradley, P, Harding, P, Higbee, L, Manning, A, Powell, J, Macphail, R, Roberts, A, Stewart, M, Barton, NDecember 2017|Journal article|ANTIQUITY -
Identifying bird remains using ancient DNA barcoding
Dalén, L, Lagerholm, VK, Nylander, JAA, Barton, N, Bochenski, ZM, Tomek, T, Rudling, D, Ericson, PGP, Irestedt, M, Stewart, JRJune 2017|Journal article|Genes© 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Bird remains that are difficult to identify taxonomically using morphological methods, are common in the palaeontological record. Other types of challenging avian material include artefacts and food items from endangered taxa, as well as remains from aircraft strikes. We here present a DNA-based method that enables taxonomic identification of bird remains, even from material where the DNA is heavily degraded. The method is based on the amplification and sequencing of two short variable parts of the 16S region in the mitochondrial genome. To demonstrate the applicability of this approach, we evaluated the method on a set of Holocene and Late Pleistocene postcranial bird bones from several palaeontological and archaeological sites in Europe with good success. -
Range shifts or extinction? Ancient DNA and distribution modelling reveal past and future responses to climate warming in cold-adapted birds.
,Lagerholm, VK, Sandoval-Castellanos, E, Vaniscotte, A, Potapova, OR, Tomek, T, Bochenski, ZM, Shepherd, P, Barton, N, Van Dyck, M-C, Miller, R, Höglund, J, Yoccoz, NGet alApril 2017|Journal article|Glob Chang BiolGlobal warming is predicted to cause substantial habitat rearrangements, with the most severe effects expected to occur in high-latitude biomes. However, one major uncertainty is whether species will be able to shift their ranges to keep pace with climate-driven environmental changes. Many recent studies on mammals have shown that past range contractions have been associated with local extinctions rather than survival by habitat tracking. Here, we have used an interdisciplinary approach that combines ancient DNA techniques, coalescent simulations and species distribution modelling, to investigate how two common cold-adapted bird species, willow and rock ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus and Lagopus muta), respond to long-term climate warming. Contrary to previous findings in mammals, we demonstrate a genetic continuity in Europe over the last 20 millennia. Results from back-casted species distribution models suggest that this continuity may have been facilitated by uninterrupted habitat availability and potentially also the greater dispersal ability of birds. However, our predictions show that in the near future, some isolated regions will have little suitable habitat left, implying a future decrease in local populations at a scale unprecedented since the last glacial maximum.Lagopus , Pleistocene, approximate Bayesian computation, climate change, colonization, extinction, palaeogenetics, phylogeography, species distribution modelling, Adaptation, Physiological, Animals, Birds, Climate, Climate Change, Cold Temperature, DNA, Ancient, Ecosystem, Europe -
Reconsidering the MSA to LSA transition at Taforalt Cave (Morocco) in the light of new multi-proxy dating evidence
Barton, RNE, Bouzouggar, A, Collcutt, SN, Carrión Marco, Y, Clark-Balzan, L, Debenham, NC, Morales, JAugust 2016|Journal article|Quaternary International -
From Lake to Sand: The Archaeology of The Farafra Oasis Western Desert, Egypt. Edited by Barbara E. Barich, Giulio Lucarini, Mohamed A. Hamdan, and Fekri A. Hassan. F. A. Edizioni All’Insegna del Giglio, Florence, 2014. ...
Barton, NJanuary 2016|Journal article|Libyan Stud Libyan Studies -
New radiocarbon dates for the earliest Later Stone Age microlithic technology in Northwest Africa
Hogue, JT, Barton, RNEJanuary 2016|Journal article|Quaternary international : the journal of the International Union for Quaternary Research. -
Oxygen and carbon isotopes in Gerbillinae (gerbil) teeth provide palaeoaridity records in two Late Pleistocene Moroccan sites
Jeffrey, A, Stoetzel, E, Parfitt, S, Barton, N, Nespoulet, R, El Hajraoui, MA, Bouzouggar, A, Denys, C, Lee-Thorp, JAJanuary 2016|Journal article|JQI Quaternary International: Part B
Undergraduate teaching
Undergraduate course convenor for:
- Honour Moderations Paper 3 - Perspectives on Human Evolution
- FHS option paper - Archaeology of Modern Human Origins
Director of Studies for undergraduates at Hertford College.
Postgraduate teaching
Postgraduate taught course options in: