Determination of lithic raw materials in Cantabrian Spain during Greenland Stadial 2: The Magdalenian of Tito Bustillo Cave (Ribadesella, Asturias)

• Published in: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
• Main Authors: Martín Jarque, Sergio, Herrero Alonso, Diego, Tarriño Vinagre, Antonio, López Tascón, Cristina, Prieto de Dios, Alejandro, Bécares, Julián, Álvarez Fernández, Esteban
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2022
• Subjects: Magdalenian; Sella valley; raw material supply; lithic reduction; use-wear; Flint; Greenland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10810/59395; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103678

The lithic assemblage studied here comes from the space known as the ' Area de Estancia in Tito Bustillo Cave (Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain), a representative Magdalenian site. The remains were found in Sub-level 1c2 in the Lower Complex (1LC), which was excavated by J.A. Moure Romanillo from 1981 to 1983 and is associated with abundant evidence of osseous industry, fauna, portable art, etc. The present study is especially innovative because it introduces a holistic approach to the understanding of the management of lithic resources by hunter -gatherer groups in the late Pleistocene. It establishes the two main groups of raw materials in the assemblage (flint and quartzite) and the different types through a petrographic description, and the different procurement strategies that were employed. Some preliminary results about the functionality of these tools are also offered. The occupants of this cave during the Greenland Stadial 2 traced a diversified and complex dynamic of exploitation of lithic resources that combined both the most immediate, easily available and in greater volume (for example, quartzite and Pilon similar to a flint), and the most distant, of good knapping quality (Flysch flint, funda-mentally). This circulation of raw materials is parallel to the patterns detected in other deposits in the region with a similar chronology. Significant differences are observed in the knapping schemes between raw materials based on the production of blanks for the manufacture of tools, whose typological classification and analysis of use-wear makes us propose a specialized and little diversified functionality, which is usually related to that of temporary occupations. This research was undertaken in the context of Ph.D. scholarship Junta de Castilla y León and Fondo Social Europeo (S. Martín-Jarque), and of the Spanish projects PID2020-114462 GB-100 and PID2020-118359 GB-I00 both funded by the Programa Estatal de Fomento de Generación de Conocimiento y Fortalecimiento Científico y Tecnológico, of the Spanish ...