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

During 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 pur-poses: foraging practices (both hunting and fishing), food processing, crafting activities, etc. Dispos-able tools, scarcely elaborated, coexisted with formal and more complex instruments, often com-posed 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-shel-ters in Navarre and Atxoste and Mendandia rock-shelters in the Basque country

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