Energy cost of lithic raw material catchment at Sierra de Atapuerca. An experimental project

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of raw materials selection and catchment in the Middle Pleistocene at Sierra de Atapuerca. We introduce a new methodology based on energy expenditure, which will produce new results about the cost of raw materials supply and their relationship with anthropometric variables. Neogene chert and quartzite were selected because they are the raw materials most commonly used for the manufacture of stone tools in all the lithic assemblages from the Trinchera del Ferrocarril archaeological sites. In Bioenergy Research began to be used in Prehistory in recent years, mainly based on estimations from predictive equations. In contrast, this project is based on actual measurements inliving subjects to make inferences that will be related to the archaeological record of Gran Dolina. TD10-2 level is taken as reference because it is a high intensity occupation, with almost 10,000 lithic artifacts. The experimental design is composed of several procedures: an Anthropometric and body composition Protocol and ventilatory Indirect Calorimetry Protocol. To carry it out, we arrange a sample of 20 individuals of both sexes who will make two trips to the two selected raw material outcrops. As a result of this experiment, we will get their absolute and relative rates of energy expenditure that will be corrected by their anthropometric parameters. Ultimately, all this will allow us to approach the differences in energy cost between the uptake of one or another raw material, and to relate it to their abundance in the archaeological site. Likewise, the relationship between body composition and energy expenditure will help us in the future to make more precise estimations for fossil populations.