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Rodríguez Hidalgo, Antonio

Affiliated Researcher

E-mail: arodriguez@iphes.cat

I was born in Mérida, Spain, the ancient capital of the Roman province known as Lusitania. This fortuitous event marked my childhood, surrounded by historical and archaeological heritage. At the age of eight, I read a fabulous book titled 'The New Story of Adam and Eve.' The book explains the evolutionary process with amazing pictures of hominid fossils, evocative African landscapes, and intrepid explorers. That captivated me forever, and I decided to devote myself to the study of human evolution. Thirty years later, I am a Paleolithic archaeologist interested in taphonomy, zooarchaeology, forensic anthropology, and cannibalism. My research focuses on human behavior in the past, with a special interest in the evolution of strategies, tactics, and techniques developed for subsistence. I also delve into human-animal interactions and the formation processes of faunal accumulations.

I primarily work in The Magic Mountain (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain), but I also conduct research in East Morocco (Ain Bni Mathar-Guefait Basin), The Cradle of Humanity (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania), , and other fascinating sites in Iberia such as Maltravieso Cave, Santa Ana Cave, Abric Romaní, Cova Foradada, and La Malia rock shelter.

I earned a Ph.D. from Rovira i Virgili University (Tarragona, Spain) and Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (Paris), conducting research on bones from Gran Dolina (Atapuerca). I gained valuable experience during short-term stays at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Subsequently, I received two awards for my thesis, one from my university and the other from the University of Tübingen in Germany. I served as a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral fellow researcher at the Complutense University of Madrid (2017-2021) in the Department of Prehistory which Hugo Obermaier founded in 1922, and as Maria de Maeztu postdoctoral fellow researcher at IPHES (2021-2023). Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Prehistory and Archaeology Department at Universidad de Sevilla (Spain).

As an archaeologist, I have worked across all chronologies, from 2 million years (Dmanisi, FLK_North, AGS site) to the mass graves of the Spanish Civil War. I have contributed to various archaeological consultancy firms, participating in large infrastructure projects, and also served as a consultant for the Spanish Government. However, my true passion lies in researching human evolution and disseminating my findings to the public. You can follow my updates on X (AKA Twitter) @WhiteRabbit36


Papers:

  • Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; et al. Taphonomic criteria for identifying Iberian lynx dens in quaternary deposits. Nature: Sci. Reports 10, 7225 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63908-6

  • Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; et al. 2019. The Châtelperronian Neandertals of Cova Foradada (Calafell, Spain) used imperial eagle phalanges for symbolic purposes. Science Advances. Vol. 5, no. 11, eaax1984 DOI:10.1126/sciadv.aax1984

  • Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; et al. 2017. Human predatory behavior and the social implications of communal hunting based on evidence from the TD10.2 bison bone bed at Gran Dolina (Atapuerca, Spain). Journal of Human Evolution. Academic Press Inc. 105, pp.89-122.

  • Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; et al. 2016. Subsistence dynamics during the Lower Paleolithic in Gran Dolina cave (Atapuerca, Spain). Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Urgeschichte (MGFU). 25, pp.11-47.

  • Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; et 2016. Bird-bone modifications by Iberian lynx: A taphonomic analysis of non-ingested red-legged partridge remains. Quaternary International. Elsevier. 241-9, pp.228-238.

  • Saladié, P. & Rodríguez Hidalgo, A. 2016. Archaeological Evidence for Cannibalism in Prehistoric Western Europe: from Homo antecessor to the Bronze Age. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. Springer. 10.1007/s10816-016-9, pp.1-38. ISSN 1072-5369.

  • Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; et al. 2016. Season of bison mortality in TD10.2 bone bed at Gran Dolina site (Atapuerca): Integrating tooth eruption, wear, and microwear methods. Journal of Archaeological Science: Report. Elsevier. 6, pp.780-789.

  • Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; et al. 2015. Hominin subsistence and site function of TD10.1 bone bed level at Gran Dolina site (Atapuerca) during the late Acheulean. Journal of Quaternary Science. John Wiley & Sons. 30-7, pp.679-701. ISSN 1099-1417.

  • Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; et al. 2015. Expansion of the referential framework for the rabbit fossil accumulations generated by Iberian lynx. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology. Elsevier. 418, pp.1-11. ISSN 0031-0182.

  • Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; et al. 2013. Feeding behaviour and taphonomic characterization of non-ingested rabbit remains produced by the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus). Journal of Archaeological Science. Elsevier. 4-7, pp.3031-3045. ISSN 0305-4403.

  • Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; Saladié, P.; Canals, A. 2013. Following the white rabbit: A case of a small game procurement site in the upper Palaeolithic (Sala de las Chimeneas, Maltravieso Cave, Spain). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. Wiley. 23-1, pp.34-54. ISSN 1099-1212.

  • Domínguez-Rodrigo, M., Baquedano, E., Organista, E., Cobo-Sánchez, L., Mabulla, A., Maskara, V., Gidna, A., Pizarro-Monzo, M., Aramendi, J., Belén Galán, A., Cifuentes-Alcobendas, G., Vegara-Riquelme, M.,Jiménez-García, B., Abellán, N., Barba, R., Uribelarrea, D., Martín-Perea, D., Diez-Martin, F., Maíllo-Fernández, M., Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A., Courtenay, Ll., Mora, R., Maté-González, M.A.,Gonzalez-Aguilera, D. (2021). Early Pleistocene faunivorous hominins were not kleptoparasitic: relevance for the evolution of human anatomy and socio-ecology. Scientific Reports 11.

  • Madurell-Malapeira, J.; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; Aouraghe, H.; Haddoumi, H.; Van Der Made, J.; Bartolini-Lucenti, S.; Oujaa, A.; Saladié, P.; Bengamra, S.; Marín, J.; Souhir, M.; Farkouch, M.; Mhamdi, Hicham; Aissa, Al-M.; Werdelin, L.; Chacón, M. G. y Sala-Ramos, R., (2021). First small-sized Dinofelis, evidence from the Plio-Pleistocene of North Africa, Quaternary Science Reviews, 265. 1 August 2021, 107028.

  • Alba, David M.; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; Aouraghe, Hassan; Van Der Made, Jan; Oujaa, Aïcha; Haddoumi, Hamid; Saladié, Palmira; Aissa, Al Mahdi; Marín, Juan; Farkouch, Mourad; Lorenzo, Carlos; Bengamra, Said; Delson, Eric; Chacón, María Gema y Sala-Ramos, Robert, (2021). New macaque remains from Morocco, Journal of Human Evolution, 153, April 2021, 102951.

  • Saladié, P., Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A., Domínguez-Rodrigo, M., Vallverdú, P., Mosquera, M., Ollé, A., Huguet, R., Cáceres, I., Arsuaga, J.L., Bermúdez de Castro, J.M., Carbonell, E., (2021). Dragged, lagged, or undisturbed: reassessing the autochthony of the hominin-bearing assemblages at Gran Dolina (Atapuerca,Spain). Archaeological and Anthropological Science, 13, 65 (2021).

  • Sala, N.; Pablos, A.; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; Arriolabengoa, M.; Alcaraz-Castaño, M.; Cubas, M.; Posth, C.; Krause, J.; Nägele, K.; Pantoja-Pérez, A.; Arlegi, M.; Rodríguez-Almagro, M.; Conde-Valverde, M.; Arribas, A.; Cuenca-Bescós, G.; Gómez-Olivencia, A., (2021). Cueva de los Torrejones revisited. New research in a classic site from inland Iberia. Quaternary Science Reviews, 253, 1 February 2021, 106765.

  • Marín, J.; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; Saladié, P.; Boulbes, N.; Magniez, P.; Testu, A. y Moigne, A.-M., (2020). Taphonomic analysis of horse remains from Mousterian and Aurignacian Units from Bize-Tournal cave (Aude, France), Comptes Rendus - Palevol 19, 189-2015.

  • Marín, J.; Daujeard, C.; Saladié, P.; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; Vettese, D.; Rivals, F.; Boulbes, N.; Crégut-Bonnoure, E.; Lateur, N.; Gallotti, R.; Arbez, L.; Puaud, S. y Moncel, M. H., (2020). Corrigendum to “Neanderthal faunal exploitation and settlement dynamics at the Abri du Maras, level 5 (South-eastern France)”(Quaternary Science Reviews (2020) 243, (S0277379120304340), (10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106472)), Quaternary Science Reviews 248.

  • Marín, J.; Daujeard, C.; Saladié, P.; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; Vettese, D.; Rivals, F.; Boulbes, N.; Crégut-Bonnoure, E.; Lateur, N.; Gallotti, R.; Arbez, L.; Puaud, S. y Moncel, M. H., (2020). Neanderthal faunal exploitation and settlement dynamics at the Abri du Maras, level 5 (south-eastern France), Quaternary Science Reviews, 243, 1 September 2020, 106472.

  • Marginedas, F.; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; Soto, M.; Bello, S. M.; Cáceres, I.; Huguet, R. y Saladié, P., (2020). Making skull cups: Butchering traces on cannibalised human skulls from five European archaeological sites, Journal of Archaeological Science 114.

  • Gómez-Olivencia, A.; Arlegi, M.; Arceredillo, D.; Delson, E.; Sanchis, A.; Núñez-Lahuerta, C.; Fernández-García, M.; De Alvarado, M. V.; Galán, J.; Pablos, A.; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; López-Horgue, M. A.; Rodríguez-Almagro, M.; Martínez-Pillado, V.; Rios-Garaizar, J. y Van Der Made, J., (2020). The Koskobilo (Olazti, Navarre, Northern Iberian Peninsula) paleontological collection: New insights for the Middle and Late Pleistocene in Western Pyrenees, Quaternary International, 566–567, 20 November 2020, Pages 113-140.

  • García-Sagastibelza, A.; Arribas, J. L.; López-Onaindia, D.; Pomeroy, E.; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; Castex, D.; Couture-Veschambre, C. y Gómez-Olivencia, A., (2020). The human remains from the Lumentxa cave (Lekeitio, Biscay, Northern Iberian Peninsula): Paleobiology, Taphonomy and Chronology, Quaternary International, 566–567, 20 November 2020, Pages 191-210

  • De Lombera-Hermida, A.; Rodríguez-Álvarez, X. P.; Mosquera, M.; Ollé, A.; García-Medrano, P.; Pedergnana, A.; Terradillos-Bernal, M.; López-Ortega, E.; Bargalló, A.; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, A.; Saladié, P.; Bermúdez De Castro, J. M. y Carbonell, E., (2020). The dawn of the Middle Paleolithic in Atapuerca: the lithic assemblage of TD10.1 from Gran Dolina, Journal of Human Evolution 145.