8.2 ka BP paleoclimatic event and the Ebro Valley Mesolithic groups: Preliminary data from Artusia rock shelter (Unzué, Navarra, Spain)

This paper presents the results of the first excavation campaign of the Artusia rock shelter in Unzué, Navarre, Spain. Chronocultural and archaeobiological analyses revealed five different occupation phases (Artusia I–V) within the regional Mesolithic timeline, specifically in the Mesolithic of Notches and Denticulates (Artusia I and II) and the Geometric Mesolithic (Artusia III, IV, and V). In addition, the study of the sedimentological and palaeoenvironmental evolution in the entire record helped to clearly define several climatic events which developed around 6550 cal BC–8500 cal BP and 6250 cal BC–8200 cal BP. Here, we present a description of these events and their (pre)historical interpretation with the aim of recognizing how they influenced the Mesolithic hunter–gatherer groups living in the Ebro Basin of the Iberian Peninsula.projects “Los Caminos del Neolítico” -HAR2009- 09027- and “Los Caminos del Neolítico II” -(HAR2013-46800-P)- under directed by Dr. Manuel Rojo Guerra, granted by the Subdirectorate General for Research Projects/General Directorate of Research and Management of the National Plan for R and D and Innovation/Secretary of State for Research of the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain, and co-financed by the Government of Navarre. All analytical work and radiocarbon dating were carried out within the project “Origins and spread of agriculture in the western Mediterranean region” -ERC-2008-AdG 230561-, coordinated by Dr. Leonor Pe~na Chocarro and financed by the European Research Council

Symbols in motion: Flexible cultural boundaries and the fast spread of the Neolithic in the western Mediterranean

International audienceThe rapid diffusion of farming technologies in the western Mediterranean raises questions about the mechanisms that drove the development of intensive contact networks and circulation routes between incoming Neolithic communities. Using a statistical method to analyze a brand-new set of cultural and chronological data, we document the large-scale processes that led to variations between Mediterranean archaeological cultures, and micro-scale processes responsible for the transmission of cultural practices within farming communities. The analysis of two symbolic productions, pottery decorations and personal ornaments, shed light on the complex interactions developed by Early Neolithic farmers in the western Mediterranean area. Pottery decoration diversity correlates with local processes of circulation and exchange, resulting in the emergence and the persistence of stylistic and symbolic boundaries between groups, while personal ornaments reflect extensive networks and the high level of mobility of Early Neolithic farmers. The two symbolic productions express different degrees of cultural interaction that may have facilitated the successful and rapid expansion of early farming societies in the western Mediterranean

The Neolithisation of the Western Mediterranean: new debate about an old issue

International audienc

Las cerámicas: tipología, tipometría y decoración

International audienc

Explorando la variabilidad de los primeros contextos cerámicos en el arco nord−occicdental del Mediterráneo

International audienc

Entre deux vers : la paléoparasitologie, l’exemple du gisement d’Els Trocs à San Feliu de Veri (Huesca, Espagne)

National audienceLes analyses paléoparasitologiques se sont principalement concentrées ces dernières années pour la période néolithique sur les gisements lacustres en raison de leur milieu amphibie et donc de la très bonne conservation des vestiges, notamment des œufs d’helminthes (Bouchet, 1995). Dans cet article il s’agira de présenter les résultats préliminaires de l’analyse d’Els Trocs (San Feliu de Veri-Bisaurri, province de Huesca, Espagne), qui a fait l’objet de deux colonnes de prélèvements. La grotte d’Els Trocs a permis des résultats heuristiques sur les différences de conservation des propagules au sein d’un même gisement ainsi qu’un aperçu de la biodiversité helminthologique humaine et animale

Insights into the Late Mesolithic toolkit : use-wear analysis of the notched blades. Case-studies from the Iberian Peninsula

International audienceDuring the last decades we have gained a considerable amount of data about the Mesolithic lithic toolkit in the Western Mediterranean. A large set of instruments probably existed for a variety of purposes: foraging practices (both hunting and fishing), food processing, crafting activities, etc. Disposable tools, scarcely elaborated, coexisted with formal and more complex instruments, often composed of multiple parts and realized on a variety of raw-materials (e.g. stone, shell or bone inserts; bone or wood hafts, etc.). In this paper we will consider one particular type of tool that appears in the Western Mediterranean starting from the Seventh-Sixth millennia BC: the notched and denticulated blades. We will consider and interpret from a functional viewpoint materials from five different Late Mesolithic contexts: the Cocina Cave and Vallmayor IX in the NE of the Peninsula, Artusia rock-shelters in Navarre and Atxoste and Mendandia rock-shelters in the Basque country.Durante l'ultimo decennio, la nostra conoscenza dello strumentario litico Mesolitico nel Mediterraneo Oc-cidentale si è considerabilmente arricchita. Sappiamo che esistevano una varietà di strumenti utilizzati per scopi diversi: l'ottenimento di alimenti (sia attraverso la caccia, che la pesca), l'elaborazione di tali alimenti, la produzione di artefatti, etc. Strumenti di natura speditiva, scarsamente elaborati, coesisterono con strumenti formali, più complessi, spesso costituiti di più parti e di materie prime diverse (es. inserti in pietra, conchiglia, osso, manici in legno od osso, etc.). In questo articolo ci concentriamo su un particolare tipo di strumento che compare nel Mediterraneo Occidentale tra il VII-VI millennio a.C.: le lame a incavi e dentico-late. Consideriamo i materiali provenienti da cinque diverse siti del Mesolitico recente: la Grotta Cocina e il sito di Vallmayor IX nel nord-est della Penisola Iberica, il riparo sottoroccia di Artusia in Navarra e i siti di Atxoste e Mendandia nei Paesi Baschi e ne proponiamo un'interpretazione funzionale