Ramification of lithic production and the search of small tools in Iberian Peninsula Middle Paleolithic
Introduction
The separation of lithic assemblages into tight technological categories (cores, flakes, byproducts, tools, waste) is a common analytical procedure, but it should be kept in mind that such categories did not exist among Paleolithic hunter–gatherers, or at least, that they were not as tight. The passage of artifacts from one category to another is observed in most archaeological assemblages (tools/cores, byproducts/retouched tools, abandoned/re-used tools, etc.), meaning that it was quite usual behavior. The analysis of this evidence can be very informative about the nature of lithic provisioning and management strategies, which is one of the best ways to understand crucial aspects of the socio-economical organization of paleolithic hunter–gatherer societies.
One of the most characteristic features of Western European Middle Paleolithic lithic assemblages is the existence of tools or raw flakes transformed into cores to produce new generation supports (ramification- (Bourguignon et al., 2004)). This is also the case in many of the Late Middle Paleolithic assemblages from Iberian Peninsula, but is not as common in the regional Early Middle Paleolithic (see for example (Rios-Garaizar et al., 2011). The ramification of production is related with mobility and the need for increment raw material productivity, but also with the need of small tools for specific activities. It can happen as an immediate solution to fulfill a concrete need or it can be a systematic strategy fully integrated in Neandertal technological systems. This ramification processes can be quite complex, including not only real recycling, understood as radical change of blank function (for example a tool transformed into core), but purposely made flakes to be exploited as cores, or integrated core-like exploitation within the resharpening process of some kinds of tools (e.g. Quina side scrapers).
Systematic application of ramified production suggests not only the existence of complex and planned tool provisioning strategies, but also the existence of structured productive processes where these new generation tools are integrated. This paper will determine if there was systematic ramified production in the Late Middle Paleolithic, through the analysis of several Iberian Peninsula assemblages. The existence of ramified production, its technological regularity, the weight of this production inside the assemblage, the use/transformation of new generation tools, and the relationship with raw material procurement and mobility strategies will be used to determine the significance of this kind of technological behavior.
Section snippets
Iberian Peninsula, Late Middle Paleolithic
The Iberian Peninsula is the southwesternmost region of Europe (Fig. 1). It has a very diverse geography, where several major regions can be recognized: Northern Cantabrian region, Castilian Plateau, Atlantic coastal region, Ebro Valley and Mediterranean coastal region. Each of these regions had particular climatic and environmental conditions during the Upper Pleistocene (UP), with a more or less continuous population of Neandertals during MP and modern humans in UP.
The Middle Paleolithic
Quina ramification process in Axlor rockshelter (Northern Iberian Peninsula)
The site of Axlor was excavated initially by Barandiarán (1980), and later by J. E. González, J. J. Ibañez and J. Rios-Garaizar (González Urquijo et al., 2006). Both excavations produced different stratigraphic sequences, the first one named with roman numerals (I–VIII) and the second one with letters (A to P). The correlations between old and new sequences, although they have been excavated in the same area, are not always easy. The upper levels III–V correspond to B–D levels, but no direct
Discussion
The use of ramified production strategies falls into the logic of recycling. The application of these strategies in sites such as Axlor or Amalda is rather systematic, and thus it seems that is an important part of lithic provisioning systems. This implies a certain degree of planning, because they carefully choose the characteristics of the flint blanks and tools to be transported in order to be susceptible to such secondary use as cores. There is also evidence of more opportunistic, or at
Conclusions
The ramification of production that can be understood as a systematic and predetermined recycling system is related both with the necessity to maximize raw material productivity but also with the search for small tools. The fabrication and use of small tools, not always using ramified productions, is one of the main features of Late Middle Paleolithic technological organization in the Iberian Peninsula. It is related with changes in productive processes that include new precision activities.
Acknowledgements
V.V. and A.E's research is supported by the projects PROMETEO II/2013/016 and HAR2011-24878 “Paleolítico medio final y Paleolítico superior inicial en la región central mediterránea (Valencia y Murcia)”. JRG developed part of this research in the Max Planck Institute of Leipzig with a Post-Doctoral Grant funded by the Basque Government. We want also to acknowledge all the participants in the Recycling Paleolithic meeting for fruitful discussions.
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