Lithic raw material in the Cantabrian region: Dialectical relationship between flint and quartzite in the Palaeolithic record

Abstract

The increase, in quantitative and qualitative terms, of research attending to the geological nature of rocks found in archaeological contexts is changing our perspectives about social and economic territories articulated by Palaeolithic societies in the Cantabrian Region. Practically the only raw material researched in a solid geoarchaeological approach in this area is flint. This paper addresses how the near absence of in-depth geoarchaeological research into raw materials other than flint is modifying our perception of the procurement and management mechanism of raw material in the Cantabrian Region during the Palaeolithic.
 To consider this matter in depth, we present the bibliographic and quantitative analysis of 30 representative archaeological sites from the Cantabrian Region whose assemblages were described lithologically using basic and primary categories. The state of play depicts a geographic distribution of raw material in the Cantabrian Region where quartzite is associated with the western sector and flint with the east. Interconnected with this axis, there is a chronological tendency that promotes standardisation in the use of flint by Palaeolithic societies following a chronological order, from the older to the more recent periods. This information, and its contextualisation with the new perspectives resulting from the application of the geoarchaeological proposal used to understand flint procurement, allows us to understand the general tendencies of raw material distribution of the region. Especially, we can detect how the absence of geoarchaeological methodologies of other raw materials than flint has modified the perception of the economic and social dynamics articulated around raw material by Palaeolithic people. This bias does not only affect the geographical and chronological axes, emphasising information from the regions and periods where flint is represented, but also promotes the over-interpretation of long-distance procurement, therefore, building up narratives exclusively based on human mobility.
 This situation has generated an incomplete and unbalanced picture of the procurement and management strategies followed by Palaeolithic societies because quartzite, the second most-often used lithic raw material, and other raw materials have only been studied using geoarchaeological methods within the last few years. This research finally points to the continuation of in-depth research of quartzite and other raw materials as the next steps to re-interpret the current paradigms about procurement and management of raw material by Palaeolithic societies, and, therefore, modify our perspectives of social and economic territories.
 The research presented here addresses this situation and proposes the in-depth research of quartzite as the next step to re-interpret the current paradigms about procurement and management of raw material by Palaeolithic societies, and, therefore, modify our perspectives of social and economic territories. To do so, we have proposed a general raw material framework in the Cantabrian Region based on the 30 most representative sites whose assemblages were described lithologically using basic and primary categories. The state of the art depicted a geographic distribution of raw material in the Cantabrian Region where quartzite is associated with the western sector and flint with the east. Interconnected with this axis, there is a chronological tendency that promotes standardisation in the use of flint by Palaeolithic societies following a chronological order, from the older to the more recent periods.
 This information, and its contextualisation with the new perspectives resulting from the application of the geoarchaeological proposal used to understand flint procurement, allows us to understand the bias derived by the absence of geoarchaeological methodologies of other raw materials than flint. These biases are not only related with the geographical and chronological axes, emphasising information from the regions and periods where flint is represented, but also with the overinterpretation of long-distance procurement, therefore, promoting narratives exclusively based on human mobility.

Back to the Past. The paleogeography as key to understand the Middle Palaeolithic peopling at Grotta dei Santi (Mt Argentario – Tuscany)

“…From the one hand, indeed, the paleogeographic reconstruction will significantly help to understand the relation Humans-Territory. In particular, this work offers a helpful tool to frame Neandertal mobility patterns, the strategies of resources catching and landscape management (e.g., [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28], [29]). From the other hand, the digital elevation model obtained can contribute to visualize the landscape aspect not only during the occupation of Grotta dei Santi by Neandertals, but also in other phases of prehistory (e.g., from the Tyrrhenian Interglacial to the Last Glacial Maximum).…”

“…Eustatic fluctuations of sea level, tectonics, fluvial and glacial dynamics, and climate changes, along with other geomorphological agents, determine a difference in the aspect of past landscapes which gets greater and greater as one goes back in time [18]. Recently, the developments of geomatics applications to landscape and economic archaeology returned exciting results, significantly implementing our knowledge of Palaeolithic mobility patterns [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28], [29].…”

Organization of residential space, site function variability, and seasonality of activities among MIS 5 Iberian Neandertals

“…These observations shed light on one of the most protracted controversies of Paleolithic archeology, namely the interpretation of inter-assemblage variability in the Middle Paleolithic of western Europe. While late twentieth-century debates emphasized such factors as ethnicity, functionality, chronology, or blank reduction 51 – 54 , subsequent research has highlighted the importance of the constraints posed by raw material availability in the context of mobility and the procurement of subsistence resources 55 – 59 —a view that the evidence from Cueva Antón and other recently well-dated and well-studied MIS 5 Iberian contexts provides strong support for.…”

Paleogeographic reconstruction of the Tuscan coastal area nearby Grotta dei Santi (Monte Argentario, Italy) during the Neandertal occupation

“…This is particularly relevant for Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, given the crucial role of mobility for the economy and social structures of nomad groups [6], [7], [8], [9]. Recently, the developments of geomatics applications to landscape and economic archaeology returned exciting results, significantly implementing our knowledge of Palaeolithic mobility patterns [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]. The reconstruction of Palaeolithic mobility cannot be adequately addressed without a paleogeographic framing.…”