Microlithic lithic technology of Neandertal shellfishers from El Cuco rockshelter (Cantabrian Region, Northern Spain)

Abstract

El Cuco level X has yielded the most striking evidence of shellfish consumption by Neandertals on the Atlantic seaboard. Dated to the end of the regional Middle Paleolithic, this level has also yielded a small lithic assemblage abandoned by Neandertals in a small number of occupations at the site. This assemblage is characterized by its microlithic nature. The microlithic blanks and tools were obtained from Levallois, Discoid and blade productions using a combination of local, distant and very distant flints. How the technology was managed at El Cuco indicates that it served to supply tools to a Neandertal group with high residential mobility that exploited a broad spectrum of resources, including shellfish. We interpret this as further evidence of Neandertal population decrease in the region after 50,000 BP, probably driven by a shortage of resources, that ultimately led to the untangling of social networks and to their temporary disappearance from the Cantabrian Region.