3
ebro valley, pyrenees and pre-pyrenees
North-western Atlantic basins.
133
Site
Map numbering
Abauntz
25
Arrillor
26
Atxoste
27
Cova del Parco
28
Roca dels Bous
29
Cova Gran de Santa Linya
30
Cova de l’Estret de Tragó
31
Fuente del Trucho
32
Fuentes de San Cristóbal
33
Gabasa
34
Kanpanoste Goikoa
35
Forcas
36
Nerets y Cova de les Llenes
37
Martinarri
38
Mendandia
39
Conjunto del valle del Montsant
40
Pleistocene and Holocene hunter-gatherers in Iberia and the Gibraltar Strait: the current archaeological record
148
Alfonso Alday*
The site at Atxoste (Vírgala, Álava)
Atxoste is a rock shelter located by the river Berrón, south facing in the middle of an extremely varied landscape with valley and mountain resources. It gave shelter to late Upper Magdalenian communities and although its roof collapsed at the beginning of the Holocene, the conditions of the site resulted in its occupation throughout the Mesolithic (all of its phases are represented), the Neolithic, the deposition of burials being its final use in the Metal Ages. The stratigraphic sequence is more than six metres thick and it is subdivided into several sections, where only the base layer –clay– and the surface –vegetable matter– are not of archaeological interest. We distinguish two major sedimentary units, the first from the late Pleistocene of rapid formation, and the second from the Holocene of slower constitution. The internal coherence of the sediment, the absolute dating and its cultural context guarantee the viability of the deposit that is, for the chronocultural environment in which it is encompassed, the most significant site in the Ebro basin, at least. Excavation of the shelter was carried out, without interruption, between 1995 and 2006 under the direction of A. Alday. Stratigraphic sequence Level VIII sedimentary base of humid, plastic and compact clays from Maestu diapir. Its initial light brown colour turns orangey. It has no archaeological interest. Level VII: 80cm thick, with a dark loam clay and organic material matrix, which incorporates large blocks encrusted at different times, compressing the soil. Cold and humidity caused waterlogging and frost weathering which fractured the blocks. Thus the level will evolve internally, with different colourations, textures and higher fracturing. Culturally, it corresponds to the late Upper *
Magdalenian, its lithic retouching is characterised by an extensive representation of back edged arrowheads and blades and scrapers. It has no noteworthy bone industry and the fauna is very fragmented. Level I: dense, one–and-a-half metre thick unit whose formation was affected by the collapse of the canopy and subsequent breaking of the blocks, causing various dispositional situations. Its considerable thickness can be separated internally: from its base to –320, characterised by the significance of major fracturing and the compactness of the soil; from –320 to –270, where the soil becomes lighter and takes on a looser texture; from –270 to the top, with more compact, gritty and organic sediments. This separation is coupled with the individualisation of three cultural units: the lower from the laminar Mesolithic, where back edge tools are the most abundant retouched objects; the intermediary Sauveterrian style, where the evolution of back edge arrowheads and the introduction of geometric microliths and splintered pieces is noticeable; the top, which offers a significant industrial change as its industry rests on lithic flake and denticulate tools made from irregular materials (racloirs, perforators or other prototypes); tools that define the Mesolithic of notched and denticulate tools. Level V with a thickness of 15-20 cm, with a loam structure, brown-red colour and constant presence of white and black (carbon) specks. There is a significant proportion of land molluscs and numerous hearths. Culturally, it adheres to the Mesolithic of notched and denticulate tools, offering a morphotechnological evolution compared to the previous episode. Level IV: its thickness ranges from 20 to 25 cm, with clarified soil, a noticeable fall in Helix cepaea nemoralis and elements with higher fractioning. They are more compact and humid sediments. Culturally, its retouched industry adheres to geometric Mesolithic, with more trapezoids than triangles, a presence of mircoburils, back edge blades
Área de Prehistoria Universidad del País Vasco (EHU/UPV). Tomás y Valiente s/n 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz.
[email protected]
ebro valley, pyrenees and pre-pyrenees
and a good selection of substrate elements (with a certain inheritance from lithic flake tools). Level III: of continuous formation but where several units can be distinguished. The lower (IIIb2) of 20cm of fine black loam, where helix colonies are represented that give a gritty feel to the soil; the intermediary ( IIIb1), of 20cm, with a horizontal disposition, with somewhat lighter loam soil and less granularity; the top, which is 20cm thick, with finer soil and dark grey loam. This level stands out for being unctuous and greasy. Its base responds to the characteristics of geometric Mesolithic, now with a higher presence of triangles compared to trapezoids. The other two sections correspond to early
Figure 1. Stratigraphy of the site at Atxoste
Neolithic; segments in double bevel among the retouched lithic industry being very significant; Boquique style patterns, among others, on pottery; the discovery of a large windmill for grinding vegetable matter; the profile of sickles and the identification of wild and domestic fauna. Level II: of varying thickness (between 15 and 35cm), it presents a mixture of soils and archaeological products from the burial phase (level I) and from the last period it was occupied as shelter (level II). The soil is loose and loamy, brown in colour and with lithic elements from the Chalcolithic. Level I: it conserves part of the organic matter from the surface level, in dry and loose brown soil, without a clear separation with respect to the next
149
150
Pleistocene and Holocene hunter-gatherers in Iberia and the Gibraltar Strait: the current archaeological record
horizon. Of the burial character ascribed to the Metal Ages, where a couple of bodies were arranged in foetal position, some in partial anatomical connection and the rest disorderly. Surface level: organic matter with a grainy texture, dry and dusty in place, with an irregular presence of blocks. It has no archaeological interest (Fig. 1). Level
Code
BP Date
GrA-9786
3360±40
GrA-9787
3470±40
GrA-24684
3680±50
GrA-24683
4980±50
GrA-6846
4730±50
GrN-22739
4560±110
GrA-9789
6220±50
GrA-13414
6050±40
GrA-13415
6940±40
GrA-13468
7140±50
GrA-13418
7340±50
GrA-14419
6970±40
GrA-13447
7810±40
GrA-13448
8030±50
GrA-15700
8510±80
GrA-15699
8760±50
GrA-15858
9550±60
GrA-35142
9510±50
GrA-22865
11720±70
GrA-22866
11760±70
GrA-23107
11690±80
GrA-22900
11800±60
GrA-13473
8840±50
GrN-26663
9650±150
GrA-35141
9450±50
GrN-26664
9510±150
GrN-26665
9820±150
GrN-26666
11910±170
GrN-26667
11960±180
F2
GrA-19554
12070±60
G
GrA-19502
12200±90
H
GrA-19870
11730±80
H2
GrA-19503
12540±80
I II III IIIb1 IIIb2 IV V VI VIb1
VII
D E E2 F
Table 1. Carbon dating 14
Cultural assessment Atxoste is an archaeological deposit that contains information almost without interruption over 10000 years of prehistory; it has a rich inventory of material, flint, pottery and bone, and abundant recordings of fauna and carbon (Fig 2). In the Late Glacial Maximum, Palaeolithic populations overflow their traditional environments of shelter to occupy more interior areas. In the Iberian Peninsula the phenomenon results in new settlements in, for example, the Ebro basin: in this context Atxoste reflects the settlement of populations in the upper reaches. The choice of the place and repeat visits demonstrate the interest of the communities in exploiting an environment where valley and mountain ecosystems coexist. This results in the wide spectrum of fauna recovered during excavation: stag, deer, horse, boar, goat, chamois, wolf, plus smaller fauna and, anecdotally, turtle. However, the territory does not have flint, the material used almost exclusively for making stone tools. It is collected in the outcrops of Urbasa (30km north east), Treviño and Loza (both at 30km south west), from the Cantabrian Flysch (at least 100km) and in Neolithic times, evaporite was collected from the Ebro (around 100 km south east). The percentages vary from one variety and another according to the characteristics of each episode, reflecting, in any case, the will to exploit the region further. The cultural stages represented refer us to various stages of the late hunter-gatherer. The Traceology define hunting practices, butchering, working hides, wood, bone… Over time, the presence of groups settling in the site stabilised; they extended their activities and in the late stage, they built a cabin next to the wall of the shelter as another sign of their geographic settling. This model lives on in the early stages of the Neolithic, with certain innovations: renewal of lithic tools, the introduction of pottery, crop and livestock domestication (according to the identification of direct taxa or from indirect evidence associated to these practices).
ebro valley, pyrenees and pre-pyrenees
Figure 2. Archaeological materials at the site in Atxoste
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