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Archaeological Survey on the Meseta del Norte (Province of Burgos, North-Central Spain)Author(s): G. A. Clark, L. G. Straus and C. Fuentes de M.Reviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the Arizona Academy of Science, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Feb., 1975), pp. 3-7Published by: Arizona-Nevada Academy of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40021313 .

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ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY ON THE MESETA DEL NORTE (PROVINCE OF BURGOS, NORTH-CENTRAL SPAIN)

G. A. CLARK Arizona State University, Tempe

L. G. STRAUS

University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

C. FUENTES DE M. Instituto Nacional Villajunco, Santander, Spain

[131]

INTRODUCTION. - Under a permit granted by the Comisaria de Excavaciones Arqueologicas Nacionales, a

systematic survey for prehistoric archaeological sites was conducted in the headwaters of the Ebro drainage, north-central Spain, during June/ August, 1972. The area surveyed consisted of a rectangle 'some 50 km long by 27 km wide, located in the northern part of Burgos province and including the extreme southern portion of the adjacent province of Santander (Fig. 1). This area constitutes the Cordillera Cantabrica/Meseta del Norte transitional zone; it was selected for investigation for three reasons.

First, the prehistory of the area is virtually unknown. Paleolithic sites recorded for northern Burgos numbered but four (Almagro, 1960, 1963; Breuil and Obermaier, 1913; Osaba, 1963; Carballo, 1910, 1921; Hernandez- Pachecho, 1917; Obermaier, 1925; Schlosser, 1923); no

paleolithic sites were certainly known for the survey area

proper. Informal surveys conducted by Freeman (1971

pers. comm.) and Jelinek (1971 pers. comm.) in the

valleys west of the Burgos/Santander highway (N. 623) indicated the presence of numerous caverns and rockshelters, but there were no indications that any had been tested for cultural remains.

Second, the survey area is transitional with respect to

topography. It straddles the montana on the north, consisting of folded limestones and granites of Carbon- iferous age (Melendez, et al, 1958), characterized by heather/gorse scrub vegetation, or alpine matorral {Erica spp., Calluna spp.) (Mapa Forestal de Espana, 1966; Mapa Geologico de Espana, 1966). To the south the desolate upland plateaux or paramos of Old Castile become the dominant landform. Both surfaces are

heavily dissected by the Rio Ebro and its major tributaries - the Rudron, the Trema and the Engana; the narrow river valleys supported a mixed deciduous/ coniferous forest cover, now often removed to facilitate

floodplain agriculture. Marked environmental variation

present along the North/South transect represented by the survey area must have afforded prehistoric man a number of microenvironmental zones which could have been exploited for subsistence purposes, if the area was inhabited or utilized at all. It was expected that differ- ential utilization of the microenvironmental niches

present would be revealed by preferential site location and by modes in site type by niche.

Finally, the survey area can be regarded as a transitional zone between the archeological manifesta-

tions of culture found along the Cantabrian coastal plain, more allied morphologically to French sites in the Dordogne than to the rest of the Iberian Peninsula, and the Spanish Levantine sites, which retain a distinctive character throughout the Upper Paleolithic and into Holocene times which is largely unrelated to the classical western European sequence (Almagro, 1963).

The few paleolithic sites located in northern Burgos and known from the literature were also visited. These are located in the Ona and Cornejo regions, respectively north and east of the survey proper, and in the vicinity of Ibeas de Juarros, some 15 km east of the capital at Burgos. In each of these peripheral areas, a local site reconnaisance was undertaken. Tests were made at Cueva La Blanca, near Ona, and at Atapuerca, near Ibeas.

PROCEDURE. - Some personal familiarity with the topography of northern Burgos and the use of detailed topographic maps permitted stratification of the survey area into three zones. These are the 1) narrow river valley bottomlands, consisting of the present floodplains and including rare terrace deposits; 2) the valley walls and associated talus slopes, and 3) the undifferentiated paramos, or upland plateaux. Sites and potential sites were located through extensive use of local informants, systematic foot survey in areas of dense concentration (valley walls, talus deposits) and by reference to sparse published sources not available in the United States (Osaba, 1963). A total of 59 potential sites were recorded, of which 57 were in cave and rockshelter situations.

RESULTS. - Sites were concentrated in five areas, named for nearby towns. These are 1) San Felices de Sedano/Covanera, on the Rio Rudron, 2) Orbaneja del Castillo, on the Ebro, 3) Cueva/Cornejo (Rio Trema), 4) Ona/Frias, on the Rio Oca and the Rio Molinar respec- tively, and 5) Ibeas de Juarros, on the Rio Arlanzon. Because of limitations imposed by crew size and time available, it was not possible to test by excavation all

potential sites recorded. Of hundreds of caves and rock- shelters visited by the survey team, numbers were

assigned only to those which contained sediments in sifficient quantitites to warrant the possibility of

prehistoric remains. Numbers were also assigned to sites where surface debris clearly indicated buried cultural

deposits. Archaeological material was recovered from 16 sites, although in some instances from surface contexts.

3

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4 JOURNAL OF THE ARIZONA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Vol. 10

Twelve sites were tested by small scale excavation; 8 yielded no evidence of human use or occupation and one produced probably Late Pleistocene material (Altuna, 1973 pers. comm.), including Upper Paleolithic artifactual debris. The remainder produced industrial sequences with associated fauna attributed to the late Bronze and early Iron Ages.

San Felices de Sedano/Covanera. - The area around San Felices was surveyed first because of numerous rock shelters visible from the Burgos/Santander highway. It quickly became apparent that potential sites were con- fined to caves and rockshelters formed in the Neocreta- ceous limestones incised by the Ebro and the Rudron. Survey of the paramos yielded only torcas, narrow, chimney-like solution cavities which contained no archaeological material and which could not have been utilized as living spaces. Although perhaps as many as 75 shelters were visited, only 9 contained sediments. All of these were situated in the cliff faces formed by the Rio Rudron along the 2 km course between San Felices and Covanera (Fig. 1). Here the river base level is about 700 m; shelter elevations are bimodally distributed. They cluster between 710/720 and 780/800 m, and were formed during two periods at which the river stabilized at levels respectively 20 and 90 m higher than that of the present day. Five of the shelters were tested, and in two cases more extensive excavations were conducted. The tests produced evidence of prehistoric occupation in two cases; one site contained Medieval plainwares (Uribarri, 1972 pers. comm.), and the remains of a temporary camp associated with pastoral activities. The prehistoric sites were attributed on ceramic grounds to the Celtiberique Bronze and Iron Ages (ca 1,000-500 BC). A sparse lithic industry indicates a poorly known flake/blade technology; ethnographically identifiable trillium stones indicate processing of cereal grasses in the site vicinity. Faunal remains were sparse and could not be identified (Altuna, 1973 pers. comm.); pollen and sediment samples are still undergoing analysis. The low number of sediment bearing shelters might indicate that they are of comparatively recent formation. The deep and extensive talus deposits and the present condition of the valley walls, marked by exfoliation, lend support to this suggestion.

Orbaneja del Castillo. - The medieval town of Orbaneja lies some 8.7 km due north of San Felices; it is located in the Ebro valley below the apex of a narrow spur mesa called El Castillo, formed by the river as it doubles back upon its course. The Castillo erosional remnant stands some 200 m above the narrow valley floor; the crests of the castellated ridge are in accord with the elevation of the surrounding paramos, at about 900 m. Solution cavities occur at the 780/800 m level, again presumably in response to an ancient period of stabilization of the water table. A few caves also occur at or near the level of the present Ebro floodplain (ca 700 m).

Approximately 20 rockshelters and caves were inspected on El Castillo and on the adjacent valley walls; 12 contained sediments and 4 were tested by small scale excavation. Although surficial deposits

indicate contemporary usage of 5 shelters as pastoral campsites, only one locus produced archaeological remains. These consisted of surface finds of ceramics and human bones pertaining to a late Bronze Age sepulchral cave, La Cueva del Jabali. Inspection of the surrounding plateaux yielded two torcas; neither contained any cultural material. As was the case with the Covanera cluster, no evidence of human occupation predating the first millenium BC was recovered.

Inspection of the Castillo cliff face produced the remnants of caves truncated in the past by erosion. Flowstones, stalactites, stalagmitic deposits and forma- tions of crystalline travertine were exposed in the open air at several loci at the 780 m level. These deposits, now inactive, are commonly found in cave interiors. This observation, coupled with the fact that exfoliation is widespread and intensive and rockslides common, leads us to suspect that rather extensive and probably recent erosion has occurred, removing much of the entrances to the caves of which these formations were once a part. It is suggested that the El Castillo caves, if not all caves in the region at this elevation, have been extensively eroded, that the shelters associated with them are recent phenomena, and that any prehistoric remains which might have been present formerly in the cave entrances have long since disappeared.

Cueva/Cornejo. - The karstic system called Ojo Guarena, among the largest in the world, is located in the vicinity of the hamlet of Cueva, some 32 km northeast of San Felices (Fig. 1). The karstified areas extend over about 25 square kilometers; more than 150 km of galleries have been discovered to date (Almagro, 1963; Uribarri, 1972 pers. comm.). Although prehistoric remains have been reported in the area since the early part of this century, brief published accounts (Almagro, 1960, 1963; Obermaier, 1925) pertain only to discoveries in the entrances to the giant caverns around Cueva (Las Delicias, La Palomera, Kaite). The survey recorded a total of 11 possible sites in the Merindades of Sotoscueva and Valdeporres; 4 contained cultural remains. There are extensive Bronze and Iron Age deposits in the Cueva site cluster; Kaite and La Palomera contain at least 5 m of Bronze and Iron Age ceramic bearing levels, pertaining mostly to Hallstatt Iron Age/Urnfield occupations (ca 750 BC). Paleolithic levels may underlie the Bronze Age strata, but have so far never been tested. Recent and unpublished explora- tion of the Ojo Guarena system has yielded extensive evidence of cave art; literally miles of galleries contain engravings and paintings in a number of styles attributed to several periods (Uribarri, 1972 pers. comm.). Although much of the art is of Post-Pleistocene age, stylistic criteria and the portrayal of extinct animals indicate Upper Paleolithic utilization as well. If Upper Paleolithic occupation can be demonstrated conclusively, it will be the first convincing evidence of man's presence in northern Burgos during the waning phases of the Wiirm glaciation.

Ona/Frias. - The fourth site cluster is found north of Ona, some 31 km east of San Felices on the Rio Oca. Here the river has dissected the paramo to an elevation

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February 1975 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY ON THE MESETA DEL NORTE 5

of about 580 m, but solution cavities are confined to the 700/760 m level. Because of the work of a local enthu- siast, Father Jose Maria Ibero, a number of caves reported to have contained paleolithic material are known from the literature (Carballo, 1910, 1921; Obermaier, 1925; Osaba, 1963). The survey sought to test these and other sites in the Ona region and in the vicinity of Frias, some 10 km to the northeast. Altogether the survey located, or relocated, 12 potential sites; 8 contained cultural material.

The cave sites of La Blanca, Caballon, La Miel and La Collada allegedly contain industries assigned to various Middle and Upper Paleolithic assemblages, a conclusion based on material excavated between 1914 and 1917 by Ibero and others (Almagro, 1963; Obermaier, 1925; Pericot, 1954). Inspection of unpub- lished notes, lithic and faunal collections from these sites failed to produce industrial remains in sufficient quantities to permit assignment to any industrial complex. Extensive tests at La Blanca (1972) reached bedrock but yielded only a few nondescript flint and quartzite flakes. La Blanca, Miel and Caballon have, however, produced quantities of identifiable faunal material which shed some light upon the nature of the supposed "cultural" accumulations in these caves.

Analysis of faunal remains from the old excavations indicates a predominance of carnivores and their prey. The former include 2, possibly 3 felids (Felis lynx, Felis pardina, Felis pardus); 2 ursids (Ursus arctos, Ursus spelaeus); at least 1, possibly 2 canids (Canis lupus, Cuon alpinus europaeus), a fox (Vulpes vulpes), a marten (Martes sp.) and the bones of raptorial birds, including those of eagle (Aquila sp.) (Straus, 1973 pers. comm.). Our tests at La Blanca suggest that the

principle prey elements were rabbit {Oryctolagus cuniculus) and ibex (Capra ibex); hare (Lepus sp.), red and roe deer (Cervus elaphus, Capreolus capreolus), beaver (Castor fiber) and equid iHquus sp.) remains also occur, along with those of passeriform birds (Altuna, 1973 pers. comm.). The presence of extinct ursids, felids and canids indicates a Late Pleistocene date; the fauna is one which suggests a Wiirm-age environment, with woodland adapted forms in the minority and probably confined to the valleys below the sites.

It is concluded that the faunal accumulations present in these sites are in the main the results of non-human

predation, and that the sites themselves represent the lairs of carnivores. Although man's presence during the Late Pleistocene is documented by sparse but unques- tionable artifactual material, and by skeletal fragments attributed to Homo sapiens from Caballon, there is nothing in these sites to indicate that he was as yet anything more than a comparatively insignificant element in the predation cycle of that region. Engravings of caprids at the nearby cave of Penches (Barcina) may also attest to Upper Paleolithic occupation of the region; however, excavation in the vestibule at that site reached bedrock yet failed to

produce paleolithic artifactual material (Hernandez- Pacheco, 1917).

If the valley north of Ona produced evidence pertaining to the earlier time ranges, the caves in the Frias region document Bronze and Iron Age, Roman and Medieval occupations. Of interest here was a sepulchral cave dated on ceramic grounds to the earliest Iron Age (ca 600 BC), the meseta equivalent of the Urnfield/Hallstatt complex in Catalonia (Almagro, 1963; Savory, 1968). The contemporary settlement at Miraveche (Fig. 1), located a scant 13 km to the south- east, has produced similar pottery, and was probably the regional center for the Sierra de Ona throughout the local equivalent of the Hallstatt Iron Age.

Ibeas de Juarros. - The final site cluster occurred in the region of Ibeas de Juarros, on the Rio Arlanzon, some 14 km due east of the capital in central Burgos. This area was investigated because Carballo (1910, 1921; Breuil and Obermaier, 1913; Obermaier, 1925) had reported Upper Paleolithic artwork at the cave site of Atapuerca, and subsequent tests, never published, pointed to Bronze and Iron Age occupations. Five sites were recorded; 4 were determined to contain cultural material. Two of the latter were open sites.

A deep sounding was made at the entrance to Atapuerca, situated at the base of a sinkhole and in association with an Iron Age open site. The test exposed a series of Bronze and Iron Age levels, most of which pertain to Iron Age I (550-450 BC); the hard, thin, wheel-turned, black-on-orange ceramic characteristic of Iron Age II was uniformly absent (Almagro, 1963). The earliest levels pertain to the end of the Bronze Age (ca 750 BC in this area), an assignment made on ceramic grounds. Flooding prevented excavation below a depth of 2.6 m; no paleolithic strata were uncovered. A paleolithic occupation is implied by paintings and engravings attributed to that period by Carballo (1921); however, the argument lacks conviction because it is predicated on stylistic grounds alone. Tests by Carballo (1910, 1921) also failed to produce evidence of Pleistocene occupation or use.

Copious faunal remains from the Iron Age sequence have been analyzed by Fuentes (1973 pers. comm.); pollen and sediment samples are presently being evaluated. The faunal analysis indicates dependence upon domesticated ovicaprines, for the most part goat (Capra sp.), and cattle (Bos taurus). Of secondary importance both numerically and in terms of caloric yield were domesticated pigs (Sus scropha) and rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), the latter identified on size criteria as pertaining to the domesticated form. Sparse remains of a domestic dog (Canis familiaris) are also present. That hunting was still practiced is indicated by a few remains of red deer (Cervus elaphus); the horse (JEquus caballus) is also regarded as a game animal (Fuentes, 1973 pers. comm.). Bones of lynx (Lynx pardellus - Felis pardellus) and wildcat (Felis silvestris) occur in low frequency; by nature cave dwellers, their presence at the site can be regarded as fortuitous. In almost every case, the age at death of the domesticated species is low; neonatal individuals are represented and juveniles predominate. Almost no adult specimens are present, in contrast with the scarce remains of game

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6 JOURNAL OF THE ARIZONA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE Vol. 10

animals. The predominance of domestic species and the evidence for systematic culling of young caprids and bovids suggest that Atapuerca was used as a stable, and very likely a slaughterhouse, during the period of Iron Age occupation. It is not regarded as a habitation site; the community responsible for the accumulation of faunal material presumably lived in the contemporary open settlement located on the slopes adjacent to and east of the sinkhole in which the cave is situated.

The open site was determined to cover an area of about 6,100 m2. A sample approximating 8% of surface scatter was collected using seven lm wide transects divided into 2m long quadrats. Transect angles and locations were randomized (Arkin and Colton, 1967) so that the samples collected could be used for statistical manipulation. Some 2,500 artifacts were recovered; preliminary analysis has delimited possible living areas.

CONCLUSIONS. - It was concluded from the survey that solution cavities in valley margins on primary and secondary watercourses were most likely to contain evidence of prehistoric utilization; evidence for occupation sites sensu stricto, however, was not forthcoming. During the earlier time ranges, what sparse evidence is available suggests that valleys were selected as preferred living areas; the earliest evidence for human use/occupation of the paramos dates from Iron Age times.

Evidence for Pleistocene occupation of the region is ephemeral and confined to cave art, scarce and non-diagnostic industrial remains, and rolled quartzite flakes found in terrace deposits in the vicinity of Basconcillos del Tozo (Obermaier, 1916). Cave sites in the Ofia region reported to contain Middle and Upper Paleolithic industries and fauna were demonstrated to be carnivore lairs. They yield only scant evidence of human utilization.

Evidence for sites of Early Holocene date is nonexistent. The alleged Azilian at La Blanca is predicated on some painted pebbles never described and now lost (Straus, 1973 pers. comm.). Hunting and

gathering societies pertaining to the Preboreal, Boreal and Atlantic phases (ca 8,000-3,000 BC) are similarly not documented.

The local equivalent of the early Neolithic is represented by isolated finds of ground stone axes and ceramics which cannot be accommodated in the Bronze Age ceramic sequence (Osaba, 1963; Savory, 1968). Although evidence for societies dependent upon agriculture (emmer and einkorn wheat, barley) and animal husbandry (ox, ovicaprines, pig) is forthcoming from Cardial sites in the Spanish Levant by about 4,500 BC (e.g. Cueva de la Sarsa and Coveta de l'Or, both in Valencia) (Savory, 1968), there are no sites with analogous "early Neolithic" levels in northern Burgos.

Subsequent to about 1,000 BC, evidence for man's presence in northern Burgos becomes comparatively abundant, and may suggest an increase in local population density tied to the expansion of a mixed herding/agricultural economy into the Ebro headwaters as a consequence of population movements to the south and east (Savory, 1968).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. - Grants from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (No. 2880), the Arizona State University (No. 7805-806- 15-8), and the Ford Foundation supported the research project reported here. Acknowledgment is also due Dr. Martin Almagro, former Jefe de la Comisana de Ex- cavaciones Arqueologicas Nacionales, for granting the survey permit; Dr. Basilio Osaba, Director of the Museo Arqueologico Provincial (Burgos), for providing labora- tory and storage space; the Rev. Father Carlos Conde Diaz, Rector, Colegio de la Merced y San Luis Gonzaga, Burgos, for making the Ibero collections available for study, and Dr. Jesus Altuna, Museo de San Telmo, San Sebastian, Guipuzcoa, for identifying the faunal remains from La Blanca. This note is an expanded version of a paper presented at the 39th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2-4 May, 1974, Washington, D.C.

LITERATURE CITED

ALMAGRO, M., I960. Manual de Historia Universal. Madrid: Espasa- Calpe, S.A.

, 1963. "El paleolitico espanol," In Historia de Espana: Espana prehistorica, Tomo I, Vol. I, 3a edicion. Edited by R. Menendez Pidal, pp. 245-488. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, S.A.

ANONYMOUS, 1966 Mapa Forestal de Espana. Madrid: Ministerio de Agricultura.

ANONYMOUS, 1966. Mapa Geologico de Espana: Peninsula Iberica, Baleares y Canarias. Madrid: Instituto Geologico y Minero de Espana.

ARKIN, H., and R. COLTON, 1967. Tables for Statisticians. New York: Barnes and Noble.

BREUIL, H., and H. OBERMAIER, 1913. Les premiers tra- vaux de lTnstitut de paleontolgie humaine. l'Anthropolo- gie 24: 1-16.

CARBALLO, J., 1910. De espeleologia. Boletin de la Real Sociedad Espanola de Historia Natural 10:468-482.

, 1921. Las Cuevas de Atapuerca y San Garcia (Burgos). Boletin de la Real Sociedad Espanola de His- toria Natural 21:138-141.

HERNANDEZ-PACHECO, E., 1917. Los grabados de la cueva de Penches. Comision de Investigaciones Paleontologicas y Prehistoricas, Mem. Num. 17. Madrid: Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales.

MELENDEZ, B., et ah, 1958. Mapa Geologico de Espana y Portugal. Madrid: Instituto Geologico y Minero de Espana.

OBERMAIER, H., 1916. El hombre fosll. Comision de Investi- gaciones Paleontologicas y Prehistoricas, Mem. Num. 9. Madrid: Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. (First Spanish Edition)

, 1925. El hombre fosll. Comision de Investiga- ciones Paleontol6gicas y Prehistoricas, Mem. Num. 9. Madrid: Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. (Second Spanish Edition, revised and enlarged)

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February 1975 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY ON THE MESETA DEL NORTE 7

OS ABA, B., 1963. Catalogo Arqueol&gico de la Provinca de Burgos, pp. 227-233. Burgos: Excma. Diputacion Provin- cial.

PERICOT, L., 1954. El Paleolitoco y Epipaleolltico en Espafia. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas.

SAVORY, H., 1968. Spain and Portugal: the Prehistory of the Iberian peninsula. New York: Praeger.

SCHLOSSER, M., 1923. Neuere Funde von fossilen Wirbel- tieren in Spanien. Centralblatt fur Minerologie, Geologie und Paleontologie (1923):657-662.

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