Lithic raw material procurement at El Horno Cave (Cantabria, Northern Spain)

Abstract

El Horno Cave is located in the middle Asón valley, Northern Spain. From 1999 to 2007, six fieldwork seasons excavated a surface area of 3.5m2. The intact part of the deposit at El Horno (Levels 1, 2 and 3) has yielded a series of remains which can be assigned to upper Magdalenian occupations, an attribution supported by the radiocarbon dates. Lithics are coherent with the attribution of Levels 1 and 2 to this phase. In the case of Level 2, the cultural attribution is also supported by a particularly diagnostic osseous assemblage, including harpoons and portable art. The few lithics in Level 3 are equally compatible with the attribution to the recent Magdalenian. A sample of 503 pieces from levels 1, 2 and 3 (meaning 29% of the collected lithic remains) has been considered to study the lithic raw materials. The studied sample includes all the retouched pieces and the larger knapping debris. A collection with the most representative examples of each flint type has been made, to reflect the variability in the raw materials used at the site. The method used was the textural analysis of the flint by observing them with a stereo microscope Olympus SZ61, normally at magnifications of x10 or x20, although some observations required as much as x100 magnification. Flint is the main raw material representing 98% of the studied sample. Other lithic resources have been identified: quartzite, rock crystal and radiolarite. Among determined flint pieces is remarkable the presence of Flysch flint type (>80%), Monte Picota/Loza flint (around 10%) and flints from Treviño and Urbasa outcrops which represent less than 5% of the assemblage. The management of the different raw materials in the context of the chaînes operatoires is analyzed, as well as the variability of the flints procurement along the archaeological sequence.