The end of the Solutrean in the Eastern Cantabrian region. Few data for a complex problem

Abstract

Investigations about the Solutrean-Magdalenian transition are highly dependent on the radiometric chronologies and on the cultural classifications of archaeological assemblages. The situation in SW France seems quite ordered with a Badegoulian technocomplex (ca. 23.6- 20,5 kyr Cal BP) situated between recent Solutrean and Lower Magdalenian (Ducasse, 2012). Some authors have claimed the presence of Badegoulian assemblages in the Cantabrian Region (Aura et al., 2012) but, by now, there is no clear proof for that (Rios-Garaizar et al., 2013). On the contrary, in the Cantabrian region there is a characteristic late Solutrean with rare foliates, high percentages of backed bladelets and some raclettes, which extents until ca. 20.0 kyr cal BP. This represents a probable local transition to Lower Magdalenian, which, from a technological point of view, is mainly characterized by the use of multicomposite hunting weapons. Despite this situation could be an artifact of archaeological research development in both sides of Pyrenees, we propose that it could be the result of the coexistence of more or less permeable cultural traditions (Badegoulian and Late Solutrean) in SW France and N Spain. We will discuss these hypothesis taking in account the available environmental and archaeological information for the Late Solutrean in Eastern Cantabrian Region and Western Pyrenees.