Spatiotemporal patterns on the appearance of the first trapezes industries in the Late Mesolithic of the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

The first appearance and subsequent spread of trapeze industries in Western Europe has been recurrently addressed in connection to Neolithization processes and grounded in techno-typological analysis focused on the opposition between two technological systems. However, the precise chronology of its onset as well as the underlaying mechanism of their diffusion remains as an open question. Comprehensive previous works have systematized the archaeological information and radiocarbon dates available, demonstrating the speed of the process. In this paper, we critically evaluate and analyze the lithic assemblages and radiocarbon record of the Iberian Peninsula to identify the spatiotemporal pattern of the appearance of Late Mesolithic blade and trapeze lithic industries. We find that trapezes industries appeared in the Iberian archaeological record in between 8600-8400 cal BP, spreading from the Western Pyrenees, following a northeast-southwest geographic gradient, to subsequently reach Central Portugal at c.8300 cal BP. The high diffusion rates for this dispersal process advocates for the hypothesis of social diffusion of technologies within Mesolithic socio-spatial structures as the main driving mechanism.