Not only domestic spaces: dismantling short-term occupations in Level 497D of Cova Gran de Santa Linya (Pre-Pyrenees, Spain)

Abstract

The Early Upper Paleolithic Level 497D of Cova Gran (Pre-Pyrenees, Spain) comprises large assemblages of lithics, fauna, hearths, ash accumulations and well-preserved refitting sequences. This provides exceptional information to analyze spatial patterns and deepen our understanding of the socio-economic behavior of these human groups. This large interdisciplinary dataset has allowed us to carry out a detailed spatial study based on density analysis, geostatistics, fabric analysis and orientation techniques, revealing a structuring of the activities performed within the rock shelter. The distribution and accumulation of lithic artifacts, fauna and refits, and their association with the 10 hearths and ash accumulations, show that different types of activities were developed at the site, as well as showing the different uses of the hearths. 497D is a palimpsest where several short-term occupations and/or activities could have occurred in a relatively short period of time, avoiding prolonged exposure to biotic and abiotic post-depositional factors that could have significantly disturbed this well-preserved assemblage. This level shows a place visited several times in relation to the development of specific activities, with movements throughout the landscape for the exploitation of local and regional resources, and less so its use as a domestic space. This implies that the central settlement, or dwelling space, would have been located somewhere other than Cova Gran.