Piecing together a new mosaic: Gravettian lithic resources and economic territories in the Western Pyrenees
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Piecing together a new mosaic: Gravettian lithic resources and economic territories in the Western Pyrenees Aitor Calvo 1,2
&
Alvaro Arrizabalaga 2
Received: 20 July 2020 / Accepted: 22 October 2020 / Published online: 26 November 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract To palliate the current scarcity of information about lithic raw materials in the Western Pyrenees during the Gravettian, the study of ten assemblages has explored the flint procurement patterns and economic organisation of the territory. The study was based on the macro- and microscopic analysis of the different lithic remains. A wide range of flint varieties were used, including some excellent rocks for knapping and others of poorer quality. This diversified catchment pattern was defined by the criteria of quality and suitability for reduction. Although procurement took place mostly at the primary outcrops, there is some evidence of limited acquisition in secondary deposits. Within the economic territory of the Western Pyrenees, divergences in the connections between the outcrops on one side of the mountains and the archaeological sites on the other may indicate different territorial or economic roles for each side. In general terms, the northern side may have been more residential with more stable habitation, while the southern side was linked with logistic tasks and more seasonal occupation. The economic connections between this territory and surrounding areas revealed by the lithic resources are the reflection of inter-group contacts and an economic mosaic imbricated with a cultural or symbolic one. Keywords Raw materials . Lithic industry . Territory . Economy . Upper Palaeolithic . Gravettian
Introduction The study of raw materials is currently the best window affording a glimpse of Palaeolithic economy and geography. The gradual progress in the characterisation of lithic resources during the last four decades has enabled studies that until then could not have been addressed, such as procurement patterns (e.g. Tarriño 2000; Aubry et al. 2004; Sauer 2016; Sánchez et al. 2016; Gómez de Soler et al. 2020) or the mobility and territoriality of Palaeolithic populations (e.g. Blades 1999; Fernandes et al. 2008; Aubry et al. 2012; Fontes et al. 2016; Turq et al. 2017), among others. Furthermore, the relation
* Aitor Calvo [email protected] 1
Institute of Prehistory and Protohistory, Department of Classical World and Asian Cultures, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Kochstr. 4/18, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
2
Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Paseo de la Universidad 5, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
between raw material data and typological, technological, typometric and use-wear information is allowing the determination of their management and use patterns (e.g. RiosGaraizar 2012; Arrizabalaga et al. 2014; García-Rojas 2014; Calvo 2019; Calvo et al. 2019; Prieto et al. 2020). In the Western Pyrenees, research on lithic raw materials has concent
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