The use of bones as retouchers at Unit III of Teixoneres Cave (MIS 3; Moià, Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

Prehistoric human groups organize their subsistence strategies according to environmental parameters and socio-cultural variables. Functional analysis of artefacts allows researchers to recognize different activities and the characteristics of their utilization and to formulate hypotheses about the duration and the way that sites were occupied. Bones used as tools for the manufacture and maintenance of lithic artefacts have been recognized in multiple archaeological contexts. The Middle Palaeolithic site of the Teixoneres Cave (Moià, Barcelona, Spain) has yielded a small collection of bone fragments which were used as retouchers. The stratigraphic sequence is characterised by an alternation in the hominid and carnivore occupations. The sublevel IIIb (MIS 3) is the unit showing the highest anthropic intensity with lithic tools, human-induced damage on faunal specimens and, specifically, bone retouchers. In this study these bone artefacts have been studied according to the main standardized taphonomical and technological methods. Additionally, experimental protocols with bones used for retouching or re-sharpening quartz and flint flakes were conducted, which showed the different use traces produced on the bone surface. The analysis of the data indicates that these archaeological bone retouchers were obtained and discarded in situ, without any configuration of the blank. Before their abandonment, bone retouchers were used to occasionally retouch and re-sharpen the lithic implements, especially the local quartz artefacts. This paper aims to explore new types of lithic raw material in experiments with bone retouchers and add data to the multidisciplinary study of the site.