New research on the Magdalenian at Cova Rosa (Ribadesella, Asturias)

Abstract

Cova Rosa is an archaeological site located in Asturias, Northern Spain, excavated by Professor Francisco Jordá Cerdá in 1958 and 1959. Several researchers have published the materials from this excavation since the 1970s. In 1964, Professor Jordá Cerdá carried out a little-known dig. The results of this research are still unpublished. F. Jordá and Alejandro Gómez Fuentes excavated the deposit again from 1975 to 1979, in an area of 13m2, where they concentrated on the Magdalenian occupations. This work is being studied now thanks to his excavation logbook, and the find of the archaeological remains, which are mostly stored in the Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Salamanca, but also in Asturias Archaeological Museum. We present the study of the archaeological remains from the Magdalenian levels documented in the 1964 and 1975-1979 fieldworks. A first approach is made to the Magdalenian hunter-gatherers' use of firewood, by means of anthracological analysis, and faunal resources, through the study of the osseous remains of mammals and fish, and mollusc shells.