Subsistencia, movilidad y adaptación al medio de los cazadores-recolectores gravetienses en el sector occidental de la región cantábrica: la cueva de Coímbre (Asturias)

Álvarez-Alonso, David; Yravedra, José; Álvarez-Fernández, Esteban; Calvo, Aitor; Carral, Pilar; Chiapusso, María José Iriarte; Pardo, Jesús F. Jordá; Sesé, Carmen; Uzquiano, Paloma; Arrizabalaga, Álvaro

doi:10.3989/tp.2017.12183

Cited by 9 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 7 publications

(10 reference statements)

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“…Finally, in the western area, the percentages of flint in the selected assemblages increase, displaying similar frequencies as quartzites. La Viña, Llonín, Cueto de la Mina (Martínez & de la Rasilla 2012), but also Coimbre (Álvarez- Alonso et al 2017) and Sopeña (Pinto-Llona et al 2012) are indicative of this trend. During this period, the presence of quartz in sites such as La Viña, Sopeña and El Mirón is also noteworthy.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…This corpus allowed for the characterisation of the most representative flint types in the Cantabrian Region, and opened up the possibility of understanding complex procurement mechanisms and the determination of catchment areas for different Middle and, especially, Upper Palaeolithic sites. Research at sites such as Las Caldas (Corchón et al 2009), La Viña (Santamaría 2012(Santamaría : 254-1177, Coimbre (Álvarez- Alonso et al 2017;Tarriño & Elorrieta 2017), El Mirón, El Horno, El Perro, La Fragua (Rissetto 2009: 195-241;Fontes 2016;Fontes et al 2018), Ametzagaina (Calvo et al 2013), Aitzbitarte III, Amalda, Bolinkoba, Usategi (Calvo 2019: chapters 18 to 24; Calvo and Arrizabalaga 2020) and El Cuco (Rios-Garaizar 2020) has provided information about flint circulation in the Cantabrian Region. This information was used to determine the distribution ranges of some flint types, emphasising the importance of Kurtzia Flysch, Urbasa and Treviño flints as "tracer" types (all outcrops in the eastern part of the Cantabrian Region) and the establishment of new regional (e.g., Alba Formation Radiolarite, Gaintxurizketa Flysch flint, Monte Picota flint and Piloña flint) or local flint varieties (e.g., Vegamián Formation chert, Pendueles chert and Infiesto flint) (Tarriño et al 2015).…”

Section: New Geoarchaeological Methods New Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Prieto

Arrizabalaga

Yusta

2021

JLS

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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.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: New Geoarchaeological Methods New Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Prieto

Arrizabalaga

Yusta

2021

JLS

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“…The site was made known in 1971 (Moure & Gil 1972) and after the first fieldwork (Moure & Gil 1974) it was not studied again until a new research project was started in 2008 (Álvarez-Alonso 2017; Álvarez-Alonso et al 2009).…”

Section: Coímbre Cave: Geographic and Chronological Context Of The De...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…bp ) at its base, overlain by a barren layer and then an intense discontinuous Magdalenian occupation (between 20,730 and 14,230 cal. bp ) with levels belonging to the archaic, lower, middle and upper phases of the period (Álvarez-Alonso & Yravedra 2017; Álvarez-Alonso et al 2013; 2016; 2017; 2020).…”

Section: Coímbre Cave: Geographic and Chronological Context Of The De...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fieldwork was also carried out in Zone A between 2008 and 2010 (Álvarez-Alonso & Yravedra 2017; Álvarez-Alonso et al 2009; 2013), where the decorated pebble studied here was found. Its rich deposit was considerably altered in its upper layers by the extraction of sediment for agricultural purposes.…”

Section: Coímbre Cave: Geographic and Chronological Context Of The De...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Turning Art into Hammers: A Complex Biography of Palaeolithic Portable Art from Coímbre Cave (Asturias, Spain)

López-Calle¹,

Ibero²,

García-Diez³

et al. 2022

CAJ

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Palaeolithic representations can be approached from different perspectives. Studying the creative processes, we can glimpse the decisions that the Palaeolithic artists made and the actions they carried out to materialize an idea. Additionally, the combined study of both graphic and functional actions performed on an object provides a comprehensive approach and understanding of the evidence: in the first place, it allows us to hypothesize about the presence or absence of symbolic purpose of the representations; secondly, it makes the potential choice of eliminating such symbolism discernible for us. The monographic study of a Magdalenian pebble from Coímbre Cave (Asturias, Spain) engraved between 15,680 and 14,230 cal. bp shows that a mistake was made during the engraving process; subsequently an attempt was made to eliminate the representations, and finally the pebble was used as a hammerstone. This paper provides argumentation to reconstruct a complex biography of an object of Palaeolithic portable art, discussing intentional loss of symbolic value of both the decoration and the object and the latter's reuse (as raw material) for an economic or domestic purpose.

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Environment and subsistence strategies at La Viña rock shelter and Llonin cave (Asturias, Spain) during MIS3

Rasilla

Duarte

Sanchís³

et al. 2020

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Subsistencia, movilidad y adaptación al medio de los cazadores-recolectores gravetienses en el sector occidental de la región cantábrica: la cueva de Coímbre (Asturias)

Cited by 9 publications

References 7 publications

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

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

Turning Art into Hammers: A Complex Biography of Palaeolithic Portable Art from Coímbre Cave (Asturias, Spain)

Environment and subsistence strategies at La Viña rock shelter and Llonin cave (Asturias, Spain) during MIS3

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