“Mucientes Chert” in the Northern Iberian Plateau (Spain)

Fuertes-Prieto, Natividad; Neira-Campos, Ana; Fernández, E. Rivera; Gómez-Fernández, Fernando; Alonso-Herrero, Eduardo

doi:10.2218/jls.v1i1.785

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Geological study and recent surveys developed for the study of the Côa Valley sites have also revealed the potential of Miocene age lacustrine deposits containing flint (evaporitic silcrete) in the Douro and Tagus basin and the existence of Palaeogene pedogenic and groundwater silcretes (Armenteros Armenteros 1986;Aubry et al 2012;Blanco et al 2008;Fuertes Prieto et al 2014) (Figure 3).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upper Palaeolithic lithic raw material sourcing in Central and Northern Portugal as an aid to reconstructing hunter-gatherer societies

Aubry¹,

Gameiro

Llach

et al. 2016

JLS

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Abstract:We present the results of the study of lithic raw materials used in Upper Palaeolithic occupations preserved in caves, rockshelters and open-air sites from two different geological environments in Portugal. For the sites located in the Lusitanian Basin, flint or silcrete sources are easily available in close vicinity. The Côa Valley sites, located in the Iberian Massif, are within a geological environment where restricted fine-grained vein quartz and siliceous metamorphic rocks are available, but no flint or silcrete, even though both are present in the archaeological assemblages. Data from the two clusters of sites are compared with a third newly located site in the Lower Vouga valley, at the limit of the Iberian Massif with the Lusitanian Basin, where quartz vein raw material types are locally available and flint is about 40 kilometres distant. This study reveals prehistoric adaptations to these different geological contexts, with shorter networks for the Lusitanian basin sites contrasting with the long distance ones for the Côa Valley, and the Vouga site at an intermediary position. Finally, we propose that lithic raw material supply networks, defined by a GIS least-cost algorithm, could be used as a proxy not only for territoriality in the case of local and regional lithic raw material sources, but also to infer long-distance social networks between different Palaeolithic human groups, created and maintained to promote the access to asymmetrically distributed resources.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upper Palaeolithic lithic raw material sourcing in Central and Northern Portugal as an aid to reconstructing hunter-gatherer societies

Aubry¹,

Gameiro

Llach

et al. 2016

JLS

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“…(Figure 2). Samples belonging to this collection have been published in several papers such as those from Vegamián Formation (Herrero-Alonso et al 2016), Escalada Formation (Fuertes- and Mucientes locality (Fuertes- Prieto et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

LegioLit: Knappable material lithotheque in the Prehistory Laboratory at the University of León, Spain

Alonso

Fuertes-Prieto

Fernández‐Martínez

et al. 2018

JLS

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This work introduces a comparative collection located in the Prehistory Laboratory at the University of León (Spain) specialised in knappable raw materials, mainly comprising radiolarite and black chert (micro-crypto crystalline quartz), from the western Cantabrian Mountains (north of Iberian Peninsula). A standardised protocol of sample collection and data organisation was developed, which includes the use of several methodologies. First, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for referencing lithic sources. Second, direct observation of the sample for the macroscopic characterization, both de visu and stereomicroscope. Third, petrographic microscopy for a description of main petrological, and palaeontological features, complemented with the identification of the different minerals that make up the samples by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Forth, X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and Thermogravimetry – Differential Scanning Calorimetry (TG-DSC) for geochemical and thermal features of the samples. Finally, the results of these analyses were entered in a database. All this information is contributing towards the creation of a physical reference collection specialised in local Palaeozoic formations (mostly from Devonian to Carboniferous) that outcrop in the western Cantabrian Mountains, a region whose potential resource base was previously not very well known. This collection would allow to compare archaeological lithic remains from different sites inside and outside the Cantabrian Mountains.

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“…As a result, attempts have been made in recent years to characterise the types of chert that outcrop in different Iberian regions and were probably most used by prehistoric communities. Some examples in the Spanish literature include studies from the Baetic System (Lozano et al 2010;Morgado et al 2011), Madrid Basin (Bustillo and Pérez-Jiménez 2005), Northern subplateau (Fuertes-Prieto et al 2014), Cantabrian Mountains ) and the Basque-Cantabrian Basin and Navarran Pyrenees (Tarriño et al 2007(Tarriño et al , 2015. The current situation is quite different in the Ebro Basin, where many geological formations containing siliceous rocks are attested but these are not well characterized.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The chert from the Castelltallat Formation (south-central Pyrenees): archaeometric characterisation and archaeological implications

Ortega

Pau

Ibáñez

et al. 2017

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Chert from the limestones and marly limestones of Castelltallat Formation (Ebro Basin) was widely used throughout prehistoric times in north-eastern Iberia to produce stone tools due to its properties and accessibility.A rough estimate indicates that this rock -either as raw material or as lithic products-was distributed mainly to the north of the outcrops, over an area of 6000-8000km 2 . However, other rocks in the area have similar characteristics which can lead to confusion in the interpretation of its prehistoric use and distribution. In order to establish useful archaeometric criteria for differentiating this chert from other similar, the Castelltallat chert is characterised in petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical terms.The chert nodules are found to be homogenous at the macro-and microscopic level, with a significant presence of bioclasts, thus indicating they might be formed in a freshwater lake environment by the early diagenetic replacement of carbonates in shallow waters. The mineralogical composition is homogeneously uniform and of a flint type, characterised by an almost exclusive predominance of quartz, without any opaline phases, and a variable proportion of moganite. The iron oxide content is very low, whereas its chemical composition is unusually high in uranium which correlates positively with carbonate content and negatively with silica.Archaeometrical parameters are provided to reach a proper identification of tools knapped with this chert. This way, chert from Castelltallat Formation turns out to be a valuable lithological marker to evaluate the range of mobility of the human groups who lived in the north-eastern Iberia and their contacts with neighbouring areas.

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“Mucientes Chert” in the Northern Iberian Plateau (Spain)

Cited by 6 publications

References 2 publications

Upper Palaeolithic lithic raw material sourcing in Central and Northern Portugal as an aid to reconstructing hunter-gatherer societies

Upper Palaeolithic lithic raw material sourcing in Central and Northern Portugal as an aid to reconstructing hunter-gatherer societies

LegioLit: Knappable material lithotheque in the Prehistory Laboratory at the University of León, Spain

The chert from the Castelltallat Formation (south-central Pyrenees): archaeometric characterisation and archaeological implications

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