IPHES-CERCA's research on lithic spheroids featured in a report on the German program "Terra X"

The research conducted by IPHES-CERCA on Lower Paleolithic lithic spheroids has been featured in a report on the prestigious German television program Terra X, broadcast by the ZDF Channel. The 15-minute report aired on February 22 as part of an episode dedicated to great archaeological enigmas.

The project, funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation and coordinated by Dr. Deborah Barsky, a researcher at IPHES-CERCA and associate professor at the Rovira i Virgili University (URV), analyzes the issue of spheroids (lithic pieces of approximately spherical morphology documented in Oldowan and Acheulean assemblages) with the aim of understanding their configuration, production techniques, and potential functionality. The main archaeological contexts studied correspond to the Lower Paleolithic sites of the Guadix-Baza Basin in Orce (Granada), one of the key territories for understanding the first human occupations in Western Europe. These materials form a fundamental basis for advancing the interpretation of a type of object that has generated scientific debate for decades.

The studies developed by the IPHES-CERCA team are providing new experimental, technological, and taphonomic data that contribute to clarifying the configuration processes of spheroids and their possible role within early human technologies.

Filming took place at the IPHES-CERCA headquarters on May 21 and 22, with the participation of various members of the research and technical team. During these sessions, content was recorded showing the different lines of work developed at the center: from techno-typological and experimental analysis to refitting studies, microscopic analysis, 3D modeling, and bone fracture experiments. Images of the center's facilities and laboratories were also recorded, highlighting the scientific infrastructure and the human team involved in the project.

In an initial phase, five short educational videos (less than ten minutes each) were produced for the Gerda Henkel Foundation, which will soon be available on the organization's official website. This content has been integrated into the report broadcast on Terra X, reinforcing the international dimension of the project. In addition to the footage recorded at IPHES-CERCA, the program also incorporated recordings made in an archaeological context, helping to contextualize the assemblages studied.

This participation has represented an outstanding opportunity to provide international visibility to the research developed by IPHES-CERCA and to bring a fundamental scientific debate about the first human technologies closer to the general public.

You can watch the report via this link starting at 34:21.