Radiometric dates and micromorphological evidence for synchronous domestic activity and sheep penning in a Neolithic cav
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Radiometric dates and micromorphological evidence for synchronous domestic activity and sheep penning in a Neolithic cave: Cueva de El Toro (Málaga, Antequera, Spain) Natalia Égüez & Carolina Mallol & Dimas Martín-Socas & M. Dolores Camalich
Received: 16 May 2014 / Accepted: 10 November 2014 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
Abstract We present radiocarbon dates and preliminary micromorphological information from the Neolithic cave site of Cueva del Toro (Antequera, Málaga, Spain). This site has yielded a rich early and late Neolithic archaeological record. The late Neolithic assemblage reflects specialized handcraft activity including in situ ceramic manufacture, textile production, and food processing along with sheep and goat penning, suggesting that the cave occupants and their domestic animals shared the same living space. Until now, dating of the stratigraphic sequence was incomplete, and the function of the combustion activities carried out at the cave remained unclear. New absolute dates from the main late Neolithic domestic activity area, corresponding to the most intense Neolithic occupation of the cave, allow us to place the entire sequence between 5320 and 5170 BP (or 4250–3950 to 2σ Cal BC). Micromorphological results show that many combustion features from this site represent recurrently burnt episodes on sheep/goat stabling deposits all along the sequence, corroborating human-goat/sheep cohabitation. This practice had not been previously documented in southern Spain for such early dates. Our results exemplify the importance of characterizing archaeological deposits at a microstratigraphic scale of observation. Keywords Neolithic . Sheep penning . Stabling floors . Sheep dung . Combustion . Spherulites . Microstratigraphy . N. Égüez (*) SERP (Seminari d’Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques), Departament de Prehistòria, Història Antiga i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08001 Barcelona, Spain e-mail: [email protected] C. Mallol : D. Martín-Socas : M. D. Camalich Departamento de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de La Laguna, Campus de Guajara, 38071 Tenerife, Spain
Micromorphology . Radiocarbon dating . Iberian Peninsula . Spain . Andalusia
Introduction Archaeological investigations across the south of the Iberian Peninsula, particularly the southeast, have revealed complex and diversified Neolithic population dynamics (Martín Socas et al. 1998; Camalich Massieu and Martín Socas 2013; Martín Socas and Camalich Massieu 2014). There is significant evidence of Neolithic occupation of this region dating to around the second half of the VII millennium BP at several sites. This evidence takes the form of seasonal settlements associated to highly mobile communities of unknown size. For sites located in the Málaga region, at the lower Guadalteba River valley and the Ronda Depression, a scenario featuring the existence of small hamlets along fertile soils of valleys and dry stream beds has been proposed (Aguayo Hoyos et al. 1990a, b: 61 and 513; Aguayo Hoyos et al. 1990a, b
