Variability in the use of the Mousterian denticulates and notches of Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain)

Abstract

Bordes defined a denticulate as a tool with one or more than one non-adjacent edges knapped with a succession of notches. Denticulates and notches are two of the more ubiquitous types of the Mousterian panoply of western Europe. New research suggests that these tools are more complex than expected, from both a typometric and functional point of view. They appear not to be as standardized as appeared before. Moreover, new functional studies point to denticulates as versatile tools. In this contribution, we present the results of the use-wear analysis of a Mousterian sample of denticulates and notches coming from the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain). This site has preserved the remains of some Neanderthal occupations being a campsite where domestic activities have been performed. Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter is, in fact, one of the largest campsites of the Iberian Peninsula. Denticulates and notches dominate the group of retouched tools. The preference for quartz raw materials is a particularity of the site, not very common among other Mousterian sites of the Peninsula. This quartz comes to the site in form of cobbles and fragments taken from dykes collected from the immediate surroundings. Use-wear on quartz has its own peculiarities due to the special features of the raw material. Nevertheless, the wear marks are usually better preserved than those formed on other traditionally considered being better materials like flint. Previous studies on a small sample from that site pointed to the versatility of denticulates in working on different tasks related to butchering and woodworking. The denticulates examined were used in both a transversal fashion (scraping) to work hard materials like wood or bone and, in less stent, in a longitudinal fashion. Then, we proposed further work on a larger selection to throw more light on the types of activity undertaken. The results of this study are now presented.