Detecting human mobility in the Pyrenees through the analysis of chert tools during the Upper Palaeolithic
Keywords:
petroarchaeology, Alonsé Cave, Forcas I Shelter, Cantabrian Lower Magdalenian
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to present the preliminary results of PhD research focused on hunter-gatherer groups that occupied the Central and Eastern Pyrenees during the Magdalenian period. This research aims to improve the knowledge we have about those Magdalenian groups, specifically concerning their lithic procurement strategies. The core of the study is based on the lithic tools collected from two archaeological sites - Alonsé Cave and Forcas I Shelter, both in Huesca, Spain-, and in particular those made from chert, because they are both a spatial and a cultural marker at the same time. These cherts have been studied using petroarchaeological methods, and as a result, it has been possible to detect the type of procurement strategies carried out and to guess the relation existing between those human groups and their environment, especially in what refers to mobility strategies.
References
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Sánchez, M. & Mangado, X., 2013, La industria lítica de Cova Alonsé. Materias primas: tipos y aprovisionamiento In: El asentamiento magdaleniense de Cova Alonsé (Estadilla, Huesca), Monografías Arquelógicas Vol. 48, (Montes, L. & Domingo, R., Eds.), University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza: p. 41-53. (In Spanish) (“Lithic tools from Alonsé Cave. Raw materials: types and procurement”)
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Tarriño, A., 2006, El sílex en la Cuenca Vasco-Cantábrica y Pirineo Navarro. Caracterización y su aprovechamiento en la Prehistoria, Monografías (Museo y Centro de Investigación de Altamira) Vol. 21, Ministerio Cultura, Madrid, 264 p. (In Spanish) (“Chert in the Cantabrian-Basque basin and the Navarrese Pyrenees. Characterisation and its use in Prehistory”)
Terradas, X., 1996, La gestió dels recursos minerals entre les comunitats caçadores-recol•lectores: vers una representació de les estratègies de proveïment de matèries primeres, Ph.D. thesis at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, 279 p. (In Catalan) (“Management of mineral resources between hunter-gatherer communities: toward a representation of raw material sourcing strategies”)
Utrilla, P. & Mazo, C., 2007, La Peña de Las Forcas de Graus (Huesca). Un asentamiento reiterado desde el Magdaleniense Inferior al Neolítico Antiguo, Saldvie, 7: 9–37. (In Spanish) (“The Peña de Las Forcas de Graus (Huesca). A repeated settlement from the Lower Magdalenian to the Ancient Neolithic”)
Vera, J.A., 2004, Geología de España, Instituto Geológico y Minero Español, Madrid, 884 p. (In Spanish) (“Geology of Spain”)
Foucher, P., 2004, Les industries lithiques du complexe Gravettien-Solutréen dans les Pyrénées, Ph.D Thesis at University of Toulouse – Le Mirail, Toulouse, 334 p. (In French) (“Lithic industries from the Gravettian - Solutrean complex in the Pyrenees”)
Grégoire, S., 2000, Origine des matières premières des industries lithiques du Paléolithique pyrénéen et méditerranéen. Contribution à la connaissance des aires de circulations humaines, Ph.D. Thesis at University of Perpignan, Perpignan, 246 p. (In French) (“Origin of raw materials origin from the lithic industries of the Pyrenean and Mediterranean Paleolithic. Contribution to the knowledge of human circulation”)
Lacombe, S., 1998, Préhistoire des groupes culturels au Tardiglaciaire dans les Pyrénées centrales. Apports de la technologie lithique, Ph.D. thesis at University of Toulouse – Le Mirail, Toulouse, 770 p. (In French) (“Cultural groups Prehistory in the Central Pyrenees during the Late Glacial Period. Contributions of lithic technology”)
Mangado, X., 2004, L’arqueopetrologia del sílex. Una clau per al coneixement paleoeconòmic i social de les poblacions prehistòriques, Societat Catalana d’Arqueologia, Barcelona, 116 p. (In Catalan) (“The petroarchaeology of chert. A key to understanding the social and paleoeconomical knowledge of prehistoric groups”)
Mangado, X., 2005, La caracterización y el aprovisionamiento de los recursos abióticos en la Prehistoria de Cataluña: las materias primas silíceas del Paleolítico Superior Final y el Epipaleolítico, BAR International Series Vol. 1420, Archaeopress, Oxford, 205 p. (In Spanish) (“Characterization and abiotic resource procurement in Prehistory of Catalonia: siliceous raw materials from the Final Upper Palaeolithic and the Mesolithic”)
Menéndez, L., Rosell, J., Canals, A. & Mosquera, M., 2009, El nivel G de las Fuentes de San Cristóbal (Huesca, España): Nuevas aportaciones al estudio del Paleolítico medio en el Pre-pirineo aragonés, Revista C&G, 23 (1-2): 95-111. (In Spanish) (“Las Fuentes de San Cristóbal (Huesca, Spain) level G: new contributions to Middle Paleolithic in Aragon Pyrenean foothills”)
Montes, L. & Domingo, R., 2013, El asentamiento magdaleniense de Cova Alonsé, Monografías Arquelógicas Vol. 48, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 154 p. (In Spanish) (“The Magdalenian settlement of Cova Alonsé (Estadilla, Huesca”)
Montes, L. & Utrilla, P., 2008, Le Paléolithique Supérieur dans la moyenne vallée de l’Èbre, L’Anthropologie, 112 : 168-181. (In French) (“The Upper Palaeolithic in the Middle Ebro basin”) doi:10.1016/j.anthro.2008.02.005
Normand, C., 2002, Les ressources en matières premières siliceuses dans la basse vallée de l’Adour et ses affluents. Quelques données sur leur utilisation au Paléolithique supérieur In: Comportements techniques et économiques des sociétés du Paléolithique supérieur dans le contexte pyrénéen, (Cazals, N., Ed.), unpublished report, SRA Midi-Pyrénées: p. 26-38. (In French) (“Siliceous raw resources in the Adour lower valley and its tributaries. Some data on their use during the Upper Palaeolithic”)
Ortega, D., 2002, Mobilitat i desplaçaments dels grups caçadors-recol•lectors a inicis del Paleolític superior a la regió pirinenca oriental, Cypsela, 14: 11-26. (In Catalan) (“Hunter-gatherer mobility and movement in the Eastern Pyrenees during the early Upper Palaeolithic”)
Sáez, A., 1987, Estratigrafía y sedimentología de las formaciones lacustres del tránsito Eoceno – Oligoceno del NE de la Cuenca del Ebro, Ph.D. thesis at the University of Barcelona, Barcelona, 353 p. (In Spanish) (“Stratigraphy and sedimentology of the lacustrine formations from the Eocene – Oligocene transition in the northeast of the Ebro basin”)
Sánchez, M. & Mangado, X., 2013, La industria lítica de Cova Alonsé. Materias primas: tipos y aprovisionamiento In: El asentamiento magdaleniense de Cova Alonsé (Estadilla, Huesca), Monografías Arquelógicas Vol. 48, (Montes, L. & Domingo, R., Eds.), University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza: p. 41-53. (In Spanish) (“Lithic tools from Alonsé Cave. Raw materials: types and procurement”)
Simonnet, R., 1999, De la Géologie à la Préhistoire: le silex des Prépyrénées. Résultats et réflexions sur les perspectives et les limites de l’étude des matières premières lithiques, Paléo, 11: 78-88. (In French) (“From Geology to Prehistory: Pyrenean foothills cherts. Results and reflections on the opportunities and limitations of the study of lithic raw materials”)
Tarriño, A., 2006, El sílex en la Cuenca Vasco-Cantábrica y Pirineo Navarro. Caracterización y su aprovechamiento en la Prehistoria, Monografías (Museo y Centro de Investigación de Altamira) Vol. 21, Ministerio Cultura, Madrid, 264 p. (In Spanish) (“Chert in the Cantabrian-Basque basin and the Navarrese Pyrenees. Characterisation and its use in Prehistory”)
Terradas, X., 1996, La gestió dels recursos minerals entre les comunitats caçadores-recol•lectores: vers una representació de les estratègies de proveïment de matèries primeres, Ph.D. thesis at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, 279 p. (In Catalan) (“Management of mineral resources between hunter-gatherer communities: toward a representation of raw material sourcing strategies”)
Utrilla, P. & Mazo, C., 2007, La Peña de Las Forcas de Graus (Huesca). Un asentamiento reiterado desde el Magdaleniense Inferior al Neolítico Antiguo, Saldvie, 7: 9–37. (In Spanish) (“The Peña de Las Forcas de Graus (Huesca). A repeated settlement from the Lower Magdalenian to the Ancient Neolithic”)
Vera, J.A., 2004, Geología de España, Instituto Geológico y Minero Español, Madrid, 884 p. (In Spanish) (“Geology of Spain”)
Published
15-Mar-2014
How to Cite
Sánchez de la Torre, M. (2014). Detecting human mobility in the Pyrenees through the analysis of chert tools during the Upper Palaeolithic. Journal of Lithic Studies, 1(1), 263-279. https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.v1i1.778
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Research Articles
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