Estrategias de aprovechamiento de las materias primas líticas en la costa oriental de Asturias (VIII-III milenios a.c.)

Se estudia la evolución del comportamiento de los últimos cazadores-recolectores y los primeros agricultores y ganaderos de la costa oriental de Asturias respecto al aprovisionamiento de materias primas líticas, las técnicas aplicadas para transformarlas, y sus relaciones entre sí y con las características del utillaje. Se exploran también las vinculaciones de lo anterior con las técnicas de subsistencia, la amplitud de las áreas de captación de recursos y las relaciones con otras comunidades.The aim of this paper is to analyse the evolution oft he behaviour of the last hunter-gatherers and the earliest farmers of the eastern coast of Asturias (northern Spain) with regard to the supply of lithic raw materials, the techniques used to modify them, and their relations among themselves and with the attributes of the tools. Their links with subsistence techniques, widih of resource catchment areas, and relationship with other communities are also discussed

Algunos indicios arqueológicos de perduraciones de elementos religiosos epipaleolíticos hasta el III milenio BC en el este de Asturias

Cualquier intento de reconstruir la religión de las sociedades prehistóricas supone internarnos en un terreno deslizante y sembrado de obstáculos, como señala acertadamente A. Leroi-Gourhan1. A las enormes dificultades que plantea el abordar hechos espirituales por medio de las técnicas arqueológicas se le une, salvo en el caso de unos pocos grupos protohistóricos, la absoluta inexistencia de nexos culturales entre nosotros y las comunidades que tratamos de estudiar

Determinaciones de isótopos estables en restos humanos de la región Cantábrica : Aportación al estudio de la dieta de las poblaciones del Mesolítico y el Neolítico

Se presentan los resultados de una serie de análisis de isótopos estables de carbono y el nitrógeno realizados sobre colágeno de huesos humanos del Paleolítico Superior, el Mesolítico, el Neolítico, la Edad del Bronce y las Edades Media y Moderna. Como en otras zonas de la Europa atlántica, en la región Cantábrica se constata un fuerte incremento del consumo de proteínas de origen marino durante el Mesolítico, y un regreso a una dieta básicamente terrestre en el Neolítico. La variabilidad constatada en las muestras mesolíticas permite plantear la coexistencia de grupos que explotaban los recursos marinos y otros centrados en las zonas interiores

The Archaelogical district of La Garma (Cantabria): research, conservation and social use

RESUMEN: Se ofrece un panorama del proyecto de investigación que se está desarrollando desde 1996 para el estudio, conservación y puesta en valor del Complejo Arqueológico de La Garma. Se incide especialmente en los complejos problemas que conlleva la conservación de los restos arqueológicos superficiales y el conjunto de arte rupestre de la Galería Inferior, y las actuaciones desarrolladas al respecto. Finalmente, se valora la situación de la Zona Arqueológica de La Garma en relación con el contexto socioeconómico regional, y se exploran sus potencialidades y limitaciones como sitio de uso y disfrute social.ABSTRACT: This paper presents a general account of a research project that has been carried on since 1996 for the investigation, preservation and social use of the Archaeological District of La Garma (Cantabria, Spain). Special emphasis is placed on the problems involved in the conservation of the surface archaeological remains and the Palaeolithic rock art of the Galería Inferior Subsequently, the role of La Garma inside its local socio-economic context is evaluated. Finally, the possibilities and limitations of public use of the La Garma area are also discussed

La Zona Arqueológica de La Garma (Cantabria): investigación, conservación y uso social

This paper presents a general account of a research project that has been carried on since 1996 for the investigation, preservation and social use of the Archaeological District of La Garma (Cantabria, Spain). Special emphasis is placed on the problems involved in the conservation of the surface archaeological remains and the Palaeolithic rock art of the Galería Inferior. Subsequently, the role of La Garma inside its local socio-economic context is evaluated. Finally, the possibilities and limitations of public use of the La Garma area are also discussed.Se ofrece un panorama del proyecto de investigación que se está desarrollando desde 1996 para el estudio, conservación y puesta en valor del Complejo Arqueológico de La Garma. Se incide especialmente en los complejos problemas que conlleva la conservación de los restos arqueológicos superficiales y el conjunto de arte rupestre de la Galería Inferior, y las actuaciones desarrolladas al respecto. Finalmente, se valora la situación de la Zona Arqueológica de La Garma en relación con el contexto socioeconómico regional, y se exploran sus potencialidades y limitaciones como sitio de uso y disfrute social

New insights into the use and circulation of reindeer antler in northern Iberia during the Magdalenian (ca. 21-13 cal ka BP)

Interactions between prehistoric foragers and reindeer at the end of the Pleistocene are still poorly documented in northern Iberia, particularly the reasons and means by which their antlers were collected, processed and circulated. Here we review the main osseous industries dated to between 21 and 13 cal ka BP, focusing on the use and circulation of reindeer antler as a raw material for the production of weapons and tools by Magdalenian foragers. Thirty-six reindeer antler artefacts were identified from 11 Iberian sites that are located at either end of the Pyrenees: the Cantabrian region to the west, and to a lesser extent, in Catalonia to the east. Despite biases in the identification of production objectives (end-products), a detailed techno-typological, chronological and geographical analysis of these assemblages reveals both the existence of a consistent reindeer antler industry in northern Iberia and long-distance connections between the Cantabrian region and the Pyrenees. The integration of contemporary macrofaunal data makes it possible to explore the extension of the reindeer?s ecological niche in northern Iberia, as well as strategies for the acquisition and circulation of reindeer antler in the peninsula. Assuming that some reindeer assemblages result from the import of raw materials to supply manufacturing activities, we propose a scenario where the acquisition of reindeer antlers may have been organised at a local scale in the Basque region, and potentially in the neighbouring territories of Navarre, Cantabria and Asturias. On the other hand, in Catalonia, the combination of both faunal and technological data supports the hypothesis that reindeer antlers were imported (along with pelts) over longer distances, probably from the northern Pyrenees.This research was primarily financed by an international collaboration between the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and the European Union (NextGenerationEU/PRTR) as part of the HumAntler project (PCI2021-122053-2 B) based at the Grupo I + D + i EvoAdapta (UC). Funding was also provided by the UMR-5608 TRACES laboratory of the University of Toulouse and PID2020-114462 GB-I00 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (University of Salamanca)

Isotopic evidence of strong reliance on animal foods and dietary heterogeneity among Early-Middle Neolithic communities of Iberia

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope research on past populations in the Iberian Neolithic has emphasized the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. This study provides the first isotopic insights into the diet and subsistence economy of Early and Middle Neolithic populations from open-air sites in interior north-central Iberia. We present bone collagen carbon (?13C) and nitrogen (?15N) isotope ratios for 44 humans and 33 animals recovered from six cemeteries of the Ebro valley and the northern Iberian Plateau. The results obtained are consistent with the C3 terrestrial diets typical of other contemporary south-western European populations, but the spacing between human and herbivore values from Los Cascajos and Paternanbidea sites is higher than expected, and a significant positive correlation is identified between the ?13C and ?15N human values at both. Moreover, the results clearly differ from those of the Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic in the same region, which show significantly lower ?13C and ?15N values. These findings contribute to an understanding of the implementation of an agro-pastoral economy in interior Iberia, suggesting a stronger reliance on animal foods among the first Neolithic groups of inner Iberia than in subsequent periods as well as differential access to some resources (possibly suckling herbivores) in the diet, which may point to the existence of early social or economic inequalities that do not seem to be linked to age and sex parameters or to mortuary treatment.This research was funded by the Basque Government (POS_2013_1_147; POS_2014_2_24; POS_2015_2_ 0001) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (project ‘Coastal societies in a changing world: A diachronic and comparative approach to the Prehistory of SWEurope from the late Palaeolithic to the Neolithic (CoChange)’ (HAR2014-51830-P)). The study has also been supported by a Newton International Fellowship funded by the British Academy (NF170854); the Basque Government (IT542/10); the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) (UFI11/09); and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (projects ‘Los Caminos del Neolítico’ (HAR2009-09027) and ‘Los Caminos del Neolítico II’ (HAR2013-46800-P))

La arquitectura defensiva y doméstica del castro del Alto de La Garma (Cantabria)

RESUMEN: El castro del Alto de La Garma, en Omoño, en Ribamontán al Monte, es un pequeño recinto fortificado de la Primera Edad del Hierro situado en la zona costera de Cantabria. Las excavaciones realizadas han permitido documentar una ocupación en dos fases. La primera, que se enmarca en la Edad del Hierro i, cuenta con una muralla defensiva construida en terrazas y viviendas circulares, cuya cronología puede situarse entre finales del s. VIII a. C. y finales del s. VI a. C. La segunda fase, tras una centuria de abandono, se fecha entre el final del s. V y el IV a. C., se caracteriza por la construcción de una muralla de doble careado. Algunos materiales arqueológicos y la datación absoluta abren la posibilidad de que esta fortificación, tras un nuevo abandono, hubiera sido utilizada durante la Segunda Edad del Hierro o durante la etapa romana. En este artículo se analizan sus ocupaciones a partir del estudio de la arquitectura defensiva y doméstica, poniéndose en relación con otros yacimientos de la Edad del Hierro de la región cantábrica.ABSTRACT: The archaeological site of Alto de La Garma, in Omoño, Ribamontán al Monte, is an Early Iron Age little hillfort located in the coastal area of Cantabria. The excavations carried out have documented a settlement with two occupation phases. The first, which dates from the Iron Age i, has a defensive wall built in terraces and circular houses, whose chronology is between the end of the 8th century bc and the end of the 6th century bc. The second phase, after a century of abandonment, dates between the end of the 5th and the 4th century bc, is characterized by the construction of a double-faced wall. Some archaeological materials and absolute dating also open the possibility that the hillfort, after a new abandonment, was in use during the Second Iron Age or the Roman Age. In this paper we present a study of all their occupations focusing on the analysis of its defensive and domestic architecture, in relation to others archaeological sites from the Iron Age of the Cantabrian Region