Prehistoric Investigations in Cantabrian Spain

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Prehistoric Investigations in Cantabrian SpainAuthor(s): Lawrence Guy Straus and Geoffrey A. ClarkSource: Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Autumn, 1978), pp. 289-317Published by: Boston UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/529734 .Accessed: 17/06/2011 17:10

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Lawrence Guy Straus University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico

Geoffrey A. Clark

Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona

The rich Paleolithic recordfrom Cantabrian Spain has long been interpreted in light of the phylogenetic, chronological scheme developed largely in the Perigord region of swFrance, despite important differences lin industries, environments, and faunas. This paper outlines the development of prehistoric research in Cantabria from its beginnings a century ago to the present, from the early work of establishing a regional chronology to the on-going attempts to understand and explain the changing regional adaptations of Pleistocene and early Post-Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. Cantabria is usually treated only in passing in syntheses of the prehistory of Western Europe, and its extensive literature is far less widely known than that of swFrance. We hope in part to remedy the situation by providing a concise regional overview and an extensive bibliography of classic and modern references.

Preliminary conclusions from archaeological investigations and allied paleoenvironmental research by members of the La Riera Paleoecological Project are also discussed. The La Riera Project is an example of a modern, problem- oriented regional approach to the study of prehistoric human adaptation. It was designed to generate and test hypotheses about Late and Post-Pleistocene ecosystems in Cantabrian Spain. These hypotheses examine the relationships among habitat selection, site location, and climatic change, test for periodicity in prehistoric occupation, and examine patterns of covariance in artifact andfaunal debris categories with the objective of isolating changes in adaptation recoverable from the 12,000 year record at the La Riera cave, and at other sites of com- parable antiquity in the Cantabrian zone. Preliminary results define patterns of site-functional variation at La Riera related to prehistoric activity sets. These patterns appear to cut across the culture/stratigraphic units upon which much Upper Paleolithic research in western Europe is based.

Lntroduction Paleoanthropological research and interpretations of

prehistoric evidence in sw France and NW Spain have The following abbrev always been closely related. It is, however, the Paleo- lithic record from the former area that has been given L'Anthro: L'Anthropo paramount importance in culture/historical syntheses sIDEA soletindeltnl and in studies of paleoenvironmental stability and CA: Current Anthropc change. Though these areas bordering the Bay of Biscay CIPP: Comision de In are usually referred to jointly as the Franco-Cantabrian EAE Excavaciones Ar

region, historical factors have resulted in over- generalization of patterns observed in the French

eiations are used in this article in addition to lines for Contributors," JFA 4 (1977) 267-73.

zlogie. stituto de Estudios Asturianos. Ology. vestigaciones Paleontologicas y Prehistoricas. rqueologicias en Espana. storia.

Prehistoric Investigations in Cantabrian Spain

290 Prehistoric Investigations in Cantabrian Spain/Straus and Clark

Paleolithic sequence. The record from the part of this region lying to the south of the modern political boundary has often been viewed as a related set of phenomena of secondary importance, despite the large number of Paleolithic sites known in Cantabria. While there are indeed many general similarities between Paleolithic artifacts and art styles in sw France and Cantabrian Spain, there are also many signiElcant differences, as well as distinctions of environmental character, which preclude regarding Pleistocene Can- tabria simply as an appendage of the Aquitaine. It is the purpose of this essay to present an introduction to the early study of Cantabrian Paleolithic prehistory and to review the current state of research in the region as a whole. A prospectus of Cantabria's potential as a laboratory for the study of changing environments and human adaptations is provided in the context of recent work by members of the La Riera Paleoecological Proj- ect. Project orientation, aims, and preliminary results are discussed.

Although sw France is a large and topographically varied region, emphasis in prehistoric research and synthesis has tended to focus attention on the basin of the Dordogne River and such major tributaries as the Isle and Vezere. Neighboring districts with similarly dense Paleolithic occupation residues, such as the drainages of the Charente and Garonne Rivers, and the northern slopes of the Western Pyrenees (including the French Basque Country), have tended to be relegated to posi- tions of secondary importance. Because the Perigord is an area where the density of excavated sites is extremely high, and where the tempo and quality of research remains high as well, it will continue to provide important evidence for the study and explanation of Paleolithic adaptations under particular sets of regional environmental conditions. Since the 1860s, however, the Perigord has been a principal source area for data supporting the general chronological schemes of Lartet, de Mortillet, Breuil, Peyrony, M. and Mme.: Bordes, Movius, and others. l Given the phylogenetic or

1. See for example, H. Breuil, "Les subdivisions du Paleolithique supe'rieur et leur signiE1cation," Compte Rendu de la XIVe Session, Congres International d'Anthropologie et d'Archeologie prehistorique 1 (1913) 165-238; D. Peyrony, "Le Perigordien et l'Aurignacien (Nouvelles observations)," BSPF 33 (1936) 616-19; "Le Perigordien, l'Aurignacien et le Solutreen en Eurasie, d'apres les dernieres fouilles," BSPF43 (1948) 305-328; F. Bordes, "Essai de classiE1cation des industries 'mousteriennes'," BSPF 50 (1953) 457-66; "Evolution in the Paleolithic Cultures," The Evolution of Man, ed., S. Tax (Chicago 1960) 99-110; The Old Stone Age, trans. (New York 1968); D. de Sonneville-Bordes, "L'evolution du Pale'olithique superieur en Europe occidentale et sa signiE1cation," BSPF 63 (1966) 3-34; La Pre'histoire Moderne (Perigueux 1967); H. L. Movius, "Old World Prehistory: Paleolithic," Anthropology Today, ed., A. L. Kroeber (Chicago 1953) 163-92; "Radiocarbon Dates and Upper Paleolithic

"evolutionary" biases characteristic of the study of Paleolithic artifact assemblages, there has been a tendency on the part of many French and Spanish prehistorians to interpret evidence from other areas of the Franco-Cantabrian zone by forcing it into the culture/historical scheme established in the Perigord. Given the nonexplanatory character of the phylogenetic model, this unintentionally "heliocentric" approach to the Paleolithic prehistory of sw Europe presents a biased impression of the range of variability in environments, industries, resources, and activities, as well as chronological sequences found in "peripheral" areas.

Cantabria For the purposes of this discussion, the term "Can-

tabria" will be used in its widest sense to include the Spanish coastal Basque Provinces. From East to West, Cantabria comprises the modern provinces of Guipuz- coa, Vizcaya, Santander, and Asturias (Oviedo), and is essentially a long, narrow rectangle (ca. 400 km. x 45 km.), whose long axis runs along 43°15' north latitude (FIG. 1). Paleolithic occupation residues have not yet been found in the non-calcareous western half of Asturias, so that area is excluded from further discussion.

Separated from France and from the rest of the Iberian Peninsula by mountains, Cantabria is a topographically well-deElned and distinctive coastal strip, bounded on the north by the Cantabrian Sea (Bay of Biscay), on the south by the Cantabrian Cordillera, and on the east by the Western Pyrenees. The Nalon River, which cuts across central Asturias just west of the city of Oviedo, serves as an effective topographical boundary between the karstic limestone country to the east and the largely granitic bedrock of western Asturias and the Galician shield area.

In terms of relief Cantabria is notably different from most of sw France. The coastal plain is typically very narrow and is dominated by foothill ranges with elevations as high as 1300 m. within 7 km. of the present abrupt shoreline. Behind the coastal ranges are large, E- W trending intermontane valleys which parallel the coast. These valleys are dominated by the Cantabrian Cordillera, which extends from the Pyrenees to Galicia, though much lower in elevation in the eastern (Basque) sector. Summits along the crest of the Cordillera generally reach altitudes between 1200 m. and 2000 m.

Archaeology in Central and Western Europe," CA 1 (1960) 355-91; but see also H. Breuil, "The'ories et faits cantabriques relatifs au Paleolithique superieur et a son art des cavernes," Munibe 14 (1962) 353-58.

Journal of Field A rchaeology/ Vol. 5, 1978 291

CANTABRIAN SEA

FRANCE _ ,

Sb;sn

^_ VIZCAYA { :

2COA

l N I

r _ 100 KlLOMETERS :==

GALICIA LA RIERA

ASTURIAS _S _

_t _ t

CANTABRIAN CORDILLERA

Figure 1. Map of Cantabria with provinces, capital cities, major topographic features, and the location of the La Riera cave indicated.

at distances of 35-40 km. from the shore. The greatest elevations, however, are in the Picos de Europa massif, located between the Cordillera per se and the coast on the Santander-Asturias border. Several summits in the Picos de Europa exceed 2500 m. in elevation, yet are located less than 30 km. from the sea. Drainage throughout Cantabria is provided by a fairly regular lattice of short, swift, N-S trending rivers which descend from the Cordillera, and which intersect E-W trending affluents within the intermontane valleys.

Climate is equable; signiElcant snowfall is confined to elevations above 1500 m. Average yearly rainfall along the coast reaches or exceeds 120 cm.; in most areas it rains on an average one day out of every two. There is no dry season. Present vegetation is dominated by lux- uriant artiElcial grasslands and by stands of eucalyptus and Monterrey pine, imported for their economic value. Climax vegetation would theoretically consist of dense, variegated forests of pines and deciduous trees, especially oaks and beech.2 Vegetation during WUrm stadials was apparently quite different from present theoretical climax vegetation, but during interstadials a

2. See H. Lautensach, Iberische Halbinsel (Munich 1964); G. A. Clark, El Asturiense Cantabrico (Biblioteca Prehistorica Hispana XIII [Madrid 1976] 27-32; J. M. Houston, The Western Mediterranean World: An Introduction to its Regional Landscapes (New York 1967); E. Guinea Lopez, Geografia Botanica de Santander (Santander 1953); M. Ferrer Regales, La Region Costera del Oriente Asturiano (Oviedo 1960); K. O. Kopp, "Limite de la nieve perpetua y clima de la ewpoca glaciar wUrmiense en la Sierra de Aralar," Munibe 17 (1965) 3-20; M. Mayor and T. Diaz, La Flora Asturiana (Oviedo 1977).

wide variety of trees including some thermophilous genera would reappear.3

While there are no glaciers in Holocene Cantabria, there is abundant evidence of Wurm glaciation not only in the Picos de Europa, but also in several other centers along the Cordillera, and at low elevations relatively near the coast.4 Given the known depth of the sea bot- tom directly offshore, and assuming recent tectonic stability, the coast would have been displaced only a very few kilometers northward during Wurm glacial maxima, in contrast to the much more substantial shoreline advancement in the shallower continental shelf area off the Aquitaine.5

3. Arlette Leroi-Gourhan, "Reosultat de l'analyse pollinique de la grotte d'Isturitz," BSPF 56 (1959) 619-24; "AnaRlisis polinico de la Cueva del Otero," Cueva del Otero, eds., J. Gonzalez Echegaray et al. EAE 53 (Madrid 1966) 83-85; "Analisis polinico de Cueva Morin," Cueva Morin: Excavaciones 1966-1968, eds., J. Gonzalez Echegaray, L. G. Freeman et al. (Santander 1971) 359-65; "La fin du Tar- diglaciaire et les industries prehistoriques (Pyrenees-Cantabres)," Munibe 23 (1971) 249-254; A. Leroi-Gourhan and J. Renault- Miskovsky, "La palynologie appliquee a l'arche'ologie," Approche Ecologique de l'Homme Fossile, eds., H. Laville and J. Renault- Miskovsky (Paris 1977) 35-49.

4. F. Lotze, "Pleistozane Vergletscherungen im Ostteil des Kan- tabrishen Gebirges," Abhandl. A kad. Wiss. Liter. (Mainz), math.- naturw.kl. 2 (1962) 151-69; Kopp, op. cit. (in note 2); K. W. Butzer, "Notas sobre la geomorfologia regional de la parte occidental de la Provincia de Santander y la estratigrafia de Cueva Morin," Cueva Morin: Excavaciones 1969, eds., J. Gonzalez Echegaray, L. G. Freeman et al. (Santander 1973) 269-76.

5. Instituto HidrograElco de la Marina, "Mapa No. 94 (Lugo a San


While Cantabria lacks the broad plains and plateaux typical of large areas of sw France, and thus was not characterized by broad expanses of steppe-tundra grasslands during Wurm stadial periods, it nevertheless contains a wide variety of habitats located in close proximity to one another because of great but zonally compressed altitudinal variation, differences in ex- posure, and local water sources. Such an environment was and is typiE1ed by numerous easily exploitable ecotones. Unlike sw France, Late Pleistocene Cantabria had little in the way of arctic steppe fauna, very few reindeer, and no saiga antelopes. Some mammoths were evidently present, but apparently were not exploited by Paleolithic hunters (despite at least two cave paintings of this beast in El Castillo and E1 Pindal). Depending on site location, red deer is usually the predominant species found in Cantabrian sites, but is replaced by ibex in Upper Paleolithic levels at specialized high mountain hunting stations (e.g., Bolinkoba, Rascano, Collubil). Small numbers of horses and large bovines (bison, aurochs) are consistently represented in most levels, together with roe deer, boar, and chamois. Numerous other faunal resources were also available, including E1sh and marine molluscs, which are still fairly abundant in Cantabria's rivers, estuaries, and bays. Aquatic resources, together with small burrowing car- nivores were most intensively exploited during the latter part of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic.6 Palyno- logical analyses suggest that Cantabria was characterized by vegetational mosaics (despite severe restrictions in the quantity and distribution of trees during cold maxima), permitting the existence in close geographical proximity of large game species with differing habitat preferences and behavioral characteristics.7 This topographical and ecological variability provided secure, yet variegated resource bases for Paleolithic hunters in Cantabria which were often quite distinct from those of the Aquitaine.

History of Investigation Pioneers

A detailed history of investigation of the Paleolithic in Cantabria has recently been published by Madariaga;

Sebastia'n)" (Cadiz 1960); K. W. Butzer, Environment and Archeology (2nd ed., Chicago 1971) 276, Elg. 51.

6. J. Altuna, "Fauna de mamiferos de los yacimientos prehistoricos de Guipuzcoa, con catalogo de los mamiferos cuaternarios del Can- ta'brico y Pireneo occidental," Munibe 24 (1972) 1-464; L. G. Freeman, "The SigniElcance of Mammalian Faunas from Paleolithic Occupations in (Cantabrian Spain," AmAnt 38 (1973) 3-44; L. G. Straus, "Of Deerslayers and Mountain Men: Paleolithic Faunal Ex- ploitation in Cantabrian Spain," Theory Building in Archaeology, ed., L. R. Binford (New York 1977) 41-76.

7. Leroi-Gourhan, op. cit. (in note 3).

only a brief resume will be presented here, drawn in part from his syntheses.8 The century of prehistoric research in Cantabria can be divided into several phases, beginning with the pioneering work of M. Sainz de Sautuola, who excavated in several Santander caves, including Altamira, which he discovered in the 1870s.9 Other early prehistorians, such as E. de Pedreja and the Conde de Lersundi, were actively involved in field research prior to the turn of the century.l° With the dis- coyery of Paleolithic rupestral art in France, the emi- nent French prehistorian E. Cartailhac, accompanied by the young Henri Breuil, visited Altamira in 1902, and was finally convinced of the authenticity of its paintings.ll Thus began a long tradition of foreigner- directed field research in Cantabria, dominated especially by the French schoolv

The Golden Age The decade prior to World War I was one of fruitful,

intensive exploration mostly conducted by local prehistorians such as H. Alcalde del Rio and L. Sierra, but with the collaboration of Breuil, H. Obermaier, E. Harle, L. Mengaud, and P. Wernert.l2 Dozens of caves with rupestral art and/or Paleolithic sites were discovered throughout the region, and were published in the E1rst major synthesis of Cantabrian prehistory, Les Cavernes de la Region Cantabrique, and in a companion volume on the cave of La Pasiega.l3 It was during this period that major international excavations were first carried out under the auspices of Prince Albert I of Monaco and his Paris-based Institut de Paleontologie

8. B. Madariaga, Hermilio Alcalde del Rio: Una Escuela de Prehistoria en Santander (Santander 1972); "Historia de los descubrimientos prehistoricos," La Prehistoria en la Cornisa Can- tabrica, ed., M. A. Garcia Guinea (Santander 1975) 13-32.

9. M. Sainz de Sautuola, "Breves Apuntes sobre algunos objetos prehistoricos de la Provincia de Santander," reprinted in Descubrimiento de la Cueva y Pintura de Altamira por D. Marcelino S. de Sautuola, ed., J. Carballo (Santander 1950) 3-32; J. Vilanova y Piera, "Conferencia," reprinted in ibid., cxxii-cxl.

10. J. M. de Barandiaran, "Excavaciones en Aitzbitarte IV," Munibe 8 (1961) 183-285; H. Obermaier, El Hombre Fosil CIPP, Memoria No. 9 (Madrid 1916).

11. E. Cartailhac and H. Breuil, La Caverne d'Altamira, a Santillane, pres Santander (Monaco 1906).

12. L. Sierra, "Notas para el mapa paletnograElco de la Provincia de Santander," Actas y Memorias del Primer Congreso de Naturalistas espanoles 1 (1908) 103-117; H. Alcalde del Rio, Las Pinturas y Grabados de las Cavernas Prehistoricas de la Provincia de Santander (Santander 1906).

13. H. Alcalde del Rio, H. Breuil and L. Sierra, Les Cavernes de la Region Cantabrique (Monaco 1912); H. Breuil, H. Obermaier and H. Alcalde del Rio, La Pasiega a Puente Viesgo (Santander) (Monaco 1913).


Humaine. Long-term investigations were conducted in the vast, deeply stratiE1ed cave site of E1 Castillo (San- tander), tested earlier by Alcalde del Rio, as well as in the nearby caves of Hornos de la Pena and E1 Valle. Besides promoting collaboration among foreign prehistorians such as Breuil, Obermaier, Wernert, J. Bouyssonie, P. Teilhard de Chardin, M. Burkitt, and others, the work of the I.P.H. in Cantabria fostered scientiE1c relationships between such notable Spaniards as the Conde de la Vega del Sella and the German Hugo Obermaier, and the Basque prehistorian- ethnographer J. M. de Barandiaran and Henri Breuil.l4 Although never fully studied, and only summarily published, the artifact assemblages from E1 Castillo (a complete series from Acheulean through Bronze Age) were explicitly attributed to culture-stratigraphic units established by Breuil's systematization of the French Paleolithic. The sequence from this site remained the key sequence for the Paleolithic of Cantabria until very recently. l 5

1914-1936

World War I resulted in the dispersal of the I.P.H. excavation teams. Excavations in other Cantabrian sites, however, flourished during the European conflict in which Spain remained neutral. T. de Aranzadi, J. M. de Barandiaran and E. de Eguren dug in the great cavern of Santimamine near Guernica (Vizcaya), and their explorations of sites in the Basque Country (including Lumentxa, Ermittia, Urtiaga and Bolinkoba) continued steadily until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. '6 In Santander, J. Carballo ex-

14. H. Obermaier, El Hombre Fosil, CIPP Mem. No. 9 (2nd ed., Madrid 1925) 175, 180-90; M. C. Marquez, "Trabajos de campo realizados por el Conde de la Vega del Sella," BIDEA 83 (1974) 811- 35; "Las excavaciones del Conde de la Vega del Sella en la Cueva del Conde (Tunon, Asturias)," BIDEA 90-91 (1977) 431-46; J. M. Baran- diaran, personal communication, Dec. 2, 1973.

15. Obermaier, op. cit. (in notes 10 and 14); Fossil Man in Spain, trans. (New Haven 1924); "Castillo-H4hle," Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte, ed., M. Ebert (Berlin 1925) 290-92; H. Obermaier and H. Breuil, "Fouilles de la Grotte du Castillo (Espagne)," Compte Ren- du de la XIVe Session du Congres International d'Anthropologie et d 'ArcheRologie prehistoriques 1 (1913) 361-62; H. Breuil and H. Ober- maier, "Les premiers travaux de l'Institut de Paleontologie Humaine," L'Anthro 23 (1912) 1-27; "Institut de Paleontologie Humaine: Travaux executes en 1912," L'Anthro 24 (1913) 1-16; "Institut de Paleontologie Humaine: Travaux de l'Annee 1913: II- Travaux en Espagne," L'Anthro 25 (1914) 233-53.

16. T. de Aranzadi and J. M. de Barandiaran, Exploraciones en la Caverna de Santimamine: 3a Memoria- Yacimientos Azilienses y Paleoliticos. Exploraciones en la Caverna de Lumentxa (Bilbao 1935); Exploraciones Prehistoricas en Guipuzooa los anos 1924 a 1927 (San Sebastian 1928); J. M. de Barandiaran, El Hombre Prehistorico en el Pais Vasco (Buenos Aires 1953); "Bolinkoba y otros yacimientos paleoliticos en la Sierra de Amboto (Vizcaya)," Cuadernos de Historia Primitiva 5 (1950) 73-112.

cavated in numerous important stratiE1ed cave sites, including Cueva Morin and E1 Pendo.l7 Obermaier, who spent part of the war years in the Nueva (Asturias) home of the Conde de la Vega del Sella, collaborated with his host in investigations chiefly in Asturias, but also in Cueva Morin, which he (Obermaier) and Wernert had discovered earlier.l8 In the years following the war, Obermaier excavated in the site of Rascano in Mirones (Santander), which had been tested previously by Carballo and by Sierra.l9 In 1924, with funding from the Duke of Alba, Obermaier conducted major excavations in the vestibule of Altamira, scene of earlier digs by Sautuola, Alcalde del Rio, Harle, and others.20

The first edition of Obermaier's landmark volume El Hombre Fosil was published in 1916 as a memoir of the recently formed Comision de Investigaciones Paleon- tologicas y Prehistoricas.2l In this and subsequent Spanish and foreign language editions, Obermaier provided summaries of the f1ndings from excavations in Cantabria and the rest of Spain which are still useful today. He also established a chronological scheme for the Paleolithic and Mesolithic of Iberia following the lines of the accepted chronology for France.

Prehistoric research in Asturias was dominated during World War I and the 1920s by E. Hernandez- Pacheco, who worked in the Nalon basin of central Asturias and in the Ribadesella area, and by the Conde de la Vega del Sella.22 The latter conducted meticulous excavations principally in eastern Asturias, though he worked in other parts of Cantabria and Spain as well.

17. J. Carballo, Excavaciones en la Cueva del Rey, en Villanueva (San- tander), (Memoria de la Junta Superior de Excavaciones y An- tiguedades 53 [Madrid 19231); Prehistoria Universal y Especial de Espana (Madrid 1924); "Excavaciones en la caverna de 'El Pendo'," Investigaciones Prehistoricas 2, ed., J. Carballo (Santander 1960) 17- 108.

18. Obermaier, op. cit. (in note 14) 180-90; Conde de la Vega del Sel l a, El Paleolitico de Cueva Morin (San tander) y Notas para la Climatologfa cuaternaria, CIPP Mem. No. 29 (Madrid 1921).

19. Obermaier, op. cit. (in note 14) 173; "Escultura cuaternaria de la Cueva del Rascano (Santander)," Butlleti de l'Associacio Catalana d 'Antropologia, Etnologia i Prehistoria 1 (1923) 7- 14.

20. H. Breuil and H. Obermaier, The Cave of Altamira at Santillana del Mar, Spain, trans. (Madrid 1935).

21. Obermaier, op. cit. (in note 10).

22. Obermaier, op. cit. (in note 14) 184-91; E. Hernandez-Pacheco, La Cueva de la Pena de Candamo (Asturias), CIPP Mem. No. 24 (Madrid 1919); La Vida de Nuestros Antecesores Paleoliticos, Segun los Resultados de las Excavaciones en la Caverna de la Paloma (Asturias), CIPP Mem. No. 31 (Madrid 1923); Prehistoria del Solar Hispano (Madrid 1959); M. C. Marquez, op. cit. (in note 14); Conde de la Vega del Sella, "Avance al estudio del Paleolltico superior en la region asturiana," Asociacion Espanola para el Progreso de las Cien- cias 4 (1915) 139-60.


Among the Conde's many important published con- tributions were the deE1nition of an early Post-Pleisto- cene coastal industry with shell middens (the "Asturian"), and the long stratigraphic sequences at the neighboring sites of Cueto de la Mina and La Riera.23

The Post- War Period It was not until the mid-1950s that Paleolithic

research began again in earnest in Cantabria, after a long hiatus which had started in 1936 with the beginning of the Civil War. Carballo's two decades of sporadic work in the huge cave of E1 Pendo (Santander) continued under the direction of J. Martinez Santa- Olalla, with the collaboration of numerous Spanish and foreign prehistorians, including A. Cheynier and M. and Mme. Leroi-Gourhan.24 This site, with a sequence nearly as long and complete as that of E1 Castillo, was to suffer the same fate as unpublished Castillo, although present work by J. Gonzalez Echegaray, L. G. Freeman, and I. Barandiaran is designed to salvage and publish as much information from the old collections and excavation documents as possible. Joint Hispano- Belgian excavations were also undertaken in the mid- 1950s in the neighboring site of E1 Juyo, and at the La Chora and E1 Otero caves. Increasing emphasis was placed in these uniformly published excavations on the systematic collection and study of faunal remains, as well as - at Otero-on environmental reconstruction through pollen analysis. Discoveries of additional important cave-art localities on Monte Castillo (Las Monedas and Las Chimeneas) were made in the early 1950s by A. Garcia Lorenzo, while small excavations were made in La Pasiega, Castillo, and La Flecha.25

The late 1950s/early 1960s also saw a spate of re- newed activity in Asturias, with excavations at La Lloseta, Cova Rosa and E1 Cierro directed by F. Jorda, who proposed various syntheses of the Upper Paleolithic prehistory of Cantabria, and schemes relating its supposed evolutionary stages with those of

23. Conde de la Vega del Sella, La Cueva del Penicial (Asturias), CIPP Mem. No. 4 (Madrid 1914); El Asturiense: Nueva Industria Preneolftica, CIPP Mem. No. 32 (Madrid 1923); Paleolftico de Cueto de la Mina, CIPP Mem. No. 13 (Madrid 1916); Las Cuevas de la Riera y Balmori (Asturias), CIPP Mem. No. 38 (Madrid 1930).

24. See I . Barandiaran, A rte Mueble del Paleolftico Cantabrico (Zaragoza 1973) 175-76; J. Gonza'lez Echegaray et al., La Cueva del Pendo (Madrid, in press).

25. P. Janssens and J. Gonza'lez Echegaray, Memoria de las Ex- cavaciones de la Cueva del Juyo (Santander 1958); J . Gonzalez Echegaray, "Excavaciones en la Cueva del Castillo," Altamira (1951) 160-63, 336-41; Cueva de las Chimeneas, (EAE 21 [Madrid]); J. G. Echegaray and E. Ripoll, "Hallazgos en la cueva de la Pasiega," Am- purias 15-16 (1953-4) 43-66; L. Freeman and J. G. Echegaray, "La industria musteriense de la cueva de la Flecha," Zephyrus 18 (1968) 43- 61.

France.26 In 1960 and 1961, D. de Sonneville-Bordes examined Cantabrian collections in light of the framework she had erected for the Upper Paleolithic of the Perigord.27

The Modern Period The present phase of scientifi1c investigation of Can-

tabrian Pleistocene environments and adaptations can be said to have begun in 1968-69, with the excavations conducted in Cueva Morin by Gonzalez Echegaray and Freeman. This large-scale, interdisciplinary project, published to date in two comprehensive volumes, involved the horizontal excavation of over 20 strati- graphically well-defined levels pertaining to the Mousterian, most major Upper Paleolithic subdivisions, and the Azilian. Together with studies of the rich artifact assemblages, extensive analyses of the sediments, pollen, mammalian faunal remains, and molluscs were undertaken.28 Interpretations of the Morin artifact collections continued to include very explicit comparisons with French type assemblages, and the chronological sequence was closely modelled after the current French "evolutionary" scheme, although important differences of detail were noted.

Cueva Morin also served as a training ground for numerous foreign and Spanish students, and provided an impetus of interest in comparative studies of Can- tabrian data. Cantabrian artifact collections had earlier been the subjects of investigation by Freeman on the Mousterian (as well as the Aurignacian of the Cueva del Conde, Asturias), and subsequently by McCullough on the Perigordian, Moure and Bernaldo de Quiros on the Aurignacian, Corchon and Straus on the Solutrean, Gonzalez Echegaray, Utrilla and Straus on the Lower Magdalenian, Moure on the Upper Magdalenian, Clark on the Asturian, and, at present, Fernandez-Tresguerres

26. F. Jorda', El Solutrense en Espana y sus Problemas (Oviedo 1955); Avance al Estudio de la Cueva de la Lloseta (Ardines, Ribadesella, Asturias) (Oviedo 1958); Pre'histoire de la Region Cantabrique (Oviedo 1957); "E1 complejo cultural Solutrense-Magdaleniense en la Region canta'brica," Primer Symposium de Prehistoria de la Peninsula Ibe'rica (Pamplona 1960) 1-22; "E1 Paleolitico superior cantabrico y sus industrias," Saitabi 8 (1963) 3-32; Servicio Nacional de Excavaciones Arqueolo'gicas: Informe de la Delegacion de Zona de Salamanca," Noticiario Arqueologico Hispa'nico 10-11 (1966-1968) 287-89; "La Cueva de Bricia (Asturias)," BIDEA 22 (1954) 169-95; Guia de las Cuevas Prehistoricas Asturianas (Gijon 1977).

27. D. de Sonneville-Bordes, "Le Pale'olithique supe'rieur en Espagne cantabrique," L'Anthro 66 (1962) 637-39; J. M. de Barandiaran and D. de Sonneville-Bordes, "Magdale'nien final et Azilien d'Urtiaga (Guipuzcoa): Etude statistique," Miscelanea en Homenaje al Abate Henri Breuil 1, ed., E. Ripoll (Barcelona 1965) 163-7 1 .

28. J. Gonza'lez Echegaray, L. G. Freeman et al., Cueva Morin: Ex- cavaciones 1966-1968 (Santander 1971); ibid., Cueva Morin: Ex- cavaciones 1969 (Santander 1973).


on the Azilian.29 Comprehensive studies of mobile art (especially worked bone and antler) have been undertaken by I. Barandiaran, M. Cano, M. S. Corchon and M. C. Fritz, and detailed analyses of materials from many old excavations are now available or in press.30

29. L. G. Freeman, "Mousterian Developments in Cantabrian Spain," Ph.D. dissertation (University of Chicago, 1964); "The Nature of Mousterian Facies in Cantabrian Spain," AmAnth 68 (2) 2 (1966) 230-37; "E1 Musteriense cantabrico: Nuevas perspectivas," Ampurias 31-32 (1969-1970) 55-69; "Contribucion al estudio de niveles paleoliticos en la Cueva del Conde (Oviedo)," BIDEA 90-91 (1977) 447-88; M. C. McCullough, "Perigordian Facies in the Upper Paleolithic of Cantabria," Ph.D. dissertation (University of Penn- sylvania, 1971); F. Bernaldo de Q., "E1 Aurinaciense en Santander," XL Aniversario del Centro de Estudios Montaneses (Santander 1977); J. A. Moure, "Industrias aurinacienses y preaurinacienses en la region cantabrica espanola," Ampurias 31-32 (1969-1970) 71-90; M. S. Corchon, El Solutrense en Santander (Santander 1971); L. G. Straus, "A Study of the Solutrean in Vasco-Cantabrian Spain," Ph.D. dissertation (University of Chicago, 1975); "A New Interpretation of the Cantabrian Solutrean," CA 17 (1976) 342-43; "Notas preliminares sobre el Solutrense en Asturias," BIDEA 82 (1974) 483-504; "Le Solutreen du Pays Basque espagnol: une esquisse des donnees," A{unibe 26 (1974) 173-181; J. Gonzalez Echegaray, "E1 Magdaleniense III de la Costa cantabrica," Boletfn del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueologia de la Universidad de Valladolid 26 (1960) 1-32; "Apreciaciones cuantitativas sobre el Magdaleniense III de la costa cantabrica," Munibe 23 (1971) 323-327; P. Utrilla, "Reflexiones en torno a la industria litica del Magdaleniense inicial cantabrico," Munibe 26 (1974) 183-192; Las Industrias del Magdaleniense inferiory medio en la Costa Cantabrica (Zaragoza 1976); L. G. Straus, "Solutrense o Magdaleniense inferior cantabrico? Significado de las 'diferencias'," BIDEA 86 (1975) 781-90; J. A. Moure, "Problemas generales del Magdaleniense superior cantabrico," Boletin del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueologia de la Universidad de Valladolid 35-36 (1970) 352-82; "Magdaleniense superior y Aziliense en la Region Cantabrica Espanola," doctoral dissertation (University of Madrid, 1974); M. Cano and J. A. Moure, "Aportaciones es- tatisticas al estudio del Magdaleniense superior cantabrico," Zephyrus 21-22 (1971) 23-34; G. A. Clark, op. cit. (in note 2); "The Asturian of Cantabria: Subsistence Base and Evidence for Post- Pleistocene Climatic Shifts," AmAnth 73 (1971) 1244-57.

30. I. Barandiaran, op. cit. (in note 24); El Paleomesolitico del Pireneo occidental (Zaragoza 1967); M. S. Corchon, Notas en Torno al Arte Mueble Asturiano (Salamanca 1971); M. C. Fritz, "The Evolution of Style; Some Thoughts on the Cantabrian Upper Paleolithic" (Paper read at the American Anthropological Association, Annual Meetings, Mexico City 1974); "Context, Structure and EfElcacy in Paleolithic Art and Design" (Paper read at Burg Wartenstein Symposium No. 74 (Fundamentals of Symbolism) (Burg Wartenstein 1977); J. M. de Barandiaran and D. de Sonneville-Bordes, op. cit. (in note 27); A. Cheynier and J. Gonzalez Echegaray, "Le Grotte de Valle," Miscelanea en Homenaje al Abate Henrz Breutl 1, ed. E. Ripoll (Barcelona 1965) 327-46; J. A. Moure, "La Cueva de Cobalejos en Puente Arce, Santander, y su industria paleolitica," Ampurias 30 (1968) 181-93; J. A. Moure and M. Cano, "La Cueva del Rio de Ar- dines (Ribadesella, Asturias)," BIDEA 87 (1976) 259-71; M. I. Martinez Navarrete, "La Cueva de La Riera (Posada de Llanes, Asturias)," BIDEA 87 (1976) 231-57; T. Chapa, "Magdaleniense Medio y Superior de Cueto de la Mina (Asturias)," BIDEA 86 (1975) 755-80; M. S. Corchon and M. Hoyos, "La Cueva de Sofoxo (Las Regueras, Asturias)," Zephyrus 23-24 (1972-1973) 39-100; F. Jorda,

The 1960s saw a renewal of archeological activity in the Spanish Basque Provinces, with investigations being conducted by J. M. de Barandiaran and his disciples (Altuna, Apellaniz, I. Barandiaran, et al.) in several cave sites including Aitzbitarte and Lezetxiki. The period also witnessed the discovery and description of rupestral art in Ekain, Altxerri and Arenaza.3' Most signiElcant, however, has been the intensive study of Cantabrian Quaternary faunas and the creation of a paleontological laboratory with comparative collections in San Sebastian by J. Altuna.32

Since the early 1960s B. Madariaga, working in San- tander, has published ecological studies of faunal remains, especially those of marine molluscs, recovered from various sites there and in Asturias.33 At the end of

"La Cueva de Tres Calabres y el Solutrense en Asturias," BIDEA 18 (1953) 46-58; L. G. Freeman and J. Gonzalez Echegaray, "La industria Musteriense de la Cueva de la Flecha (Puente Viesgo, San- tander)," Zephyrus 18 (1967)43-61; M. R. Gonzalez Morales, "La Cueva de Collubil (Amieva, Asturias)" (tesis de licenciatura, Univer- sidad de Oviedo, 1974); "E1 colgante decorado paleolitico de la Cueva de Collubil (Amieva, Asturias)," BIDEA 83 (1974) 837-42; L. G. Straus, op. cit. (in note 29); "Posible atribucion al Solutrense del yacimiento de La Pasiega (Puente Viesgo, Santander)," Ampurias 36 (1977) 217-23; "E1 Solutrense de las Cuevas del Castillo y Hornos de la Pena (Santander)," TP 32 (1975) 9-19; "The Upper Paleolithic cave site of Altamira (Santander, Spain)," Quaternaria 19 (1977) 270-83; J. Altuna and L. Straus, "The Solutrean of Altamira: the Artifactual and Faunal Evidence," Zephyrus 26 (1976) 175-82; I. Barandiaran, "La Cueva de la Paloma (Asturias)," Munibe 23 (1971) 255-83.

31. See for example, E. Nolte y Aramburu, Algunos de los Nuevos Yacimientos Prehistoricos Descubiertos en Cuevas de la Provincia de Vizeaya (Bilbao 1963); "Nuevos yacimientos prehistoricos en cuevas vizcainas," Anuario de Eusko-Folklore 21 (1966) 189-216; J. M. de Barandiaran, Excavaciones en Atxeta (Bilbao 1960); op. cit. (in note 10); "Excavaciones en la caverna de Aitzbitarte IV," Munibe 15 (1963) 23-42; "Excavaciones en Aitzbitarte IV," Munibe 15 (1963) 69- 86; "Exploracion en la caverna de Aitzbitarte IV," Munibe 16 (1964) 12-23; "Exploracion de la cueva de Lezetxiki en Mondragon," Munibe 16 (1964) 56-59; "Excavaciones en Aitzbitarte IV," Munibe 17 (1965) 38-51; J. M. de Barandiaran and J. Altuna, "Exploracion de la cueva de Lezetxiki, Mondragon," Munibe 17 (1965) 52-64; "La cueva de Ekain y sus figuras rupestres," Munibe 21 (1969) 331-86; J. Altuna and J. M. Apellaniz, "Las figuras rupestres paleoliticas de la Cueva de Altxerri (Guipuzcoa)," Munibe 28 (1976) 1-242; M. Grande, "Las pinturas prehistoricas de la Cueva de Arenaza (Galdames)," Vizeaya 34 (1972).

32. See for example, J. Altuna, op. cit. (in note 6).

33. B. Madariaga, "Analisis paleontologico de la fauna terrestre y marina de la Cueva de la Chora," Cueva de la Chora (EAE 26), eds., J. Gonzalez Echegaray et al. (Madrid 1963) 51-74; "Analisis paleontologico de la fauna terrestre y marina de la Cueva del Otero," Cueva del Otero (EAE 53), eds., J. Gonzalez Echegaray et al. (Madrid 1966) 61-80; "La fauna marina de la Cueva de Morin," Cueva Morin: Ex- cavaciones 1966-1968, eds., J. Gonzalez Echegaray and L. G. Freeman (Santander 1971) 401-415; "Representacion malacologica de la Cueva de Tito Bustillo o de 'E1 Ramu' (Oviedo)," Primeros Sondeos Estratigraficos en la Cueva de Tito Bustillo (Ribadesella, Asturias), ed., M. A. Garcia Guinea (Santander 1975) 71-74; "Estudio de la fauna


Table 1. Cantabrian excavations (1950-1976); radiocarbon chronology.

SITE LOCATION CULTURAL SEQUENCE

RECENT EXCAVATORS

YEARS STRATIGRAPHIC

UNIT PROVINCE OF GUIPUZCOA: Aitzbitarte/ Urtiaga* . . .|.

. , (alnT

Lezetxiki* PROVINCE OF VIZCAYA: Atxeta Arenaza Axlor

PROVINCE OF SANTANDER: Otero

Chora

Pieolago Rascano Pasiega Liencres Morin*

Juyo*

Pendo

Chufin* PROVINCE OF ASTU RIAS: Franca* Riera*

Balmori Coberizas* Penicial* Buxu Azules l* Lloseta* Tito Bustillo*

Cierro* Cova Rosa Caldas

Oscura (Ania) Oscura (Perlora) Conde

hills-gorgeside hills near coast hills near estuary interior mt. side

plain near estuary interior valley mountain valley

interior valley

interior valley

hills-gorgeside hills-gorgeside mountain valleyside shore coastal plain edge

coastal plain

coastal plain ridge

hills-gorgeside

shore coastal plain

coastal plain coastal plain coastal plain interior mt. side interior mt. side coastal plain ridge hill near estuary

coastal plain ridge coastal plain peak interior valley

interior valley coastal plain interior valley

Au, S, Ma, Az Ma, Az Ma, Az M, Au, G, Ma

S, Ma, Az Ma, Az M

M, Au, Ma, Az

Ma

Az Ma S

As M, C, Au, G, S, Ma, Az Ma

M, Au, G, (S), Ma, Az S

J.M. Barandiaran J.M. Barandiaran J. Altuna J.M. Barandiaran

J.M. Barandiaran J.M. Apellaniz J.M. Barandiaran

7,000

8,650

9,300

Post-Asturian

Asturian

Azilian and Asturian

Azilian

Upper Magdalenian

J. Echegaray, M. Garcia-G. J. Echegaray, 10,000 M. Garcia-G. M.A. Garcia Guinea J. Echegaray G.Lorenzo,J.Carballo 15,000 G.A. Clark J. Echegaray, L. Freeman

J. Echegaray, P. Janssens M. Santa-Olalla et al.

17,000 Lower Magdalenian

V. Cabrera, F. Bernaldo Q.

21,000 As M.G. Morales, M.C. Marquez Au?, S, Ma, G.A. Clark, L.G. Straus

Solutrean

Gravettian

and

Au rig n acian

Chatelperronian

Mousterian

Az, As S, Ma, Az, As S, Ma, As As S

Az Ma Ma

Au, S, Ma S, Ma S, Ma

Az S, Az M, Au

G.A. Clark G.A. Clark G.A. Clark E. Olavarri ca. 30,000(?) J. Fernandez-Tresguerres F. Jorda, G.A. Clark M. Garcia-G., ca. 35,000(?) J.A. Moure F. Jorda, G.A. Clark F. Jorda A. Alvarez, >40,000 M.S. Corchon J. Gomez-T., M. Perez A. Alvarez, M. Mallo V. L. Freeman

*14C dates available G = Gravettian As = Asturian

M = Mousterian S = Solutrean

C = Chatelperronian Ma= Magdalenian

Au = Aurignacian Az = Azilian

Journal of Field Archaeology/Vol. 5, 1978 297

the decade a systematic surface collection followed by test excavation was undertaken at Liencres (Ciriego), an open-air Asturian site near the city of Santander.34 Paleolithic paintings were discovered in Cueva Chufin in 1972.35 Discoveries of cave art have been very numerous in Asturias in recent years, and new examples include Llonin, Coimbre, Cueva Oscura, and Tito Bustillo, the latter found in 1968 by spelunkers.36 Clark has reported extensively on the results of a 1969 testing program at several middens in eastern Asturias dated to the "Asturian" period, with emphasis on radiocarbon chronology and faunal studies.37 A list of important excavations done in the period between 1950 and the present is given in Table 1.

Despite the considerable sophisticaton of recent data recovery and analytical procedures, interpretation often continues to emphasize the phylogenetic approach. Attempts continue to be made to fit the Cantabrian data into the French cultural/chronological framework, or to explain away any obvious differences, while elaborating peculiarities of the Cantabrian artifactual record assumed to have regional chronological signifi-

marina de la Cueva de Tito Bustillo (Oviedo)," Excavaciones en la Cueva de Tito Bustillo (Asturias), ed. J. A. Moure (Oviedo 1975) 89- 106.

34. G. A. Clark, Liencres: Una Estacion al Aire Libre de Estilo Asturiense cerca deSantander(Bilbao 1975) 1-84; G. A. Clark, R. EMand and J. Johnstone, "Quantitative Spatial Analysis: Computer Applications of Nearest Neighbor and Related Approaches to the Analysis of Objects Distributed across Two-Dimensional Space," Computer Applications in Archaeology, ed., S. Laflin (Birmingham 1977) 27-44.

35. M. Almagro Basch, Las Pinturas y Grabados Rupestres de la Cueva de Chufi'n. Riclones, Santander (Madrid 1973).

36. See for example, J. A. Moure and G. Gil Alvarez, "Noticia preliminar sobre los nuevos yacimientos de arte rupestre descubiertos en Penamellera Alta (Asturias)," TP 29 (1972) 245-54; "La Cueva de Coimbre, en Penamellera Alta (Asturias)," BlDEA 82 (1974) 505-528; M. Berenguer, "La Pintura prehistorica de la cueva de Tito Bustillo, en Ardines (Ribadesella)," Boletfn de la Real Academia de la Historia 164 (1969) 139-52.

37. G. A. Clark, op. cit. (in note 2); "La ocupacion Asturiense en la Cueva de La Riera (Asturias, Espana)," TP 31 (1974) 9-38; ''Ex- cavations in the Late Pleistocene Cave Site of Balmori, Asturias, Spain," Quaterna, a 18 (1974) 383-426; G. A. Clark and V. J. Clark, "La Cueva de Balmori (Asturias, Espana): Nuevas aportaciones," TP 32 (1975) 35-77; G. A. Clark and T. Cartledge, "Excavaciones en la Cueva de Coberizas, Asturias," Noticiario Arqueologico Hispanico (Serie Prehistorica 2 (1973) 10-37; "Recent Excavations in the Cave of Coberizas (Province of Asturias, Spain)," Quaternaria 17 (1973) 387- 411; G. A. Clark and L. Richards, "Late and Post-Pleistocene In- dustries and Fauna from the Cave Site of La Riera," Views of the Past, ed., L. G. Freeman (The Hague, in press).

cance.38 Several recent papers; however, have attacked the traditional approach to the interpretation of Can- tabrian artifact assemblages by arguing that variation in artifact assemblages reflects in great part differing suites of activities, rather than exclusively representing tem- poral and/or cultural differences. The fallacy of seeking to "chronologically" subdivide particular Upper Paleolithic culture-stratigraphic units to fit the French framework is being exposed, and doubts are being rais- ed about the applicability of the "facies" subdivision of the Mousterian to the Cantabrian data.39 Other works have attempted to deal with the faunal evidence from the region on a comparative level, and suggestions have been made that it is through the quantitative analysis of faunal remains that we are most likely to be able to explain much of the variability among artifact assemblages.4"

The La Riera Project It is in the spirit of this explanatory framework that

new excavations have been initiated at the La Riera cave (Posada de Llanes, Asturias).4' Research at La Riera is part of a broader attempt to understand the past regional ecosystems in which the prehistoric in- habitants of Cantabria once participated. Papers by Freeman, Clark, Altuna, Straus, and Bailey describe patterns of selection in hunting and gathering strategies adopted by the prehistoric Cantabrians from 45,000+ to ca. 5,000 s p.42 These models are usually expressed in

38. See for example, I. Barandiaran, op. cit. (in note 24) 308-319; M. Corchon, op. cit. (in note 29); J. Gonzalez Echegaray and L. G. Freeman, "Cronologia del yacimiento," Cueva Morfn: Excavaciones 1969, eds., J. Gonzalez Echegaray and L. G. Freeman (Santander 1973) 295-297; J. Gonzalez Echegaray, "Nuevas aportaciones al estudio del Paleolitico superior de Cueva Morin," ibid. 171-209.

39. J. Gonzalez Echegaray, "The Concept of 'Facies' as Applied to the Upper Paleolithic" (Paper read at the Society for American Archaeology, Annual Meetings, St. Louis, 1976); L. G. Freeman, op. cit. (in note 6); "Mousterian Occupations at the Cueva del Pendo," La Cueva del Pendo, eds., J. G. Echegaray et al. (in press); L. G. Straus, op. cit. (in note 29).

40. L. G. Freeman, op. cit. (in note 6); L. G. Straus, op. cit. (in note 6); "Ana'lisis arqueologico de fauna paleolitica del Norte de Espana," Munibe 28 (1976) 277-85; G. N. Bailey, "Concheros del Norte de Espana: una hipotesis preliminar," Actas del XIl Congreso Nacional de A rqueologfa (Zaragoza 1973) 73-84.

41. G. A. Clark and L. G. Straus, "Cueva de La Riera: objetivo del 'Proyecto Paleoecologico' e informe preRiminar de la campana de 1976," BlDEA 90-91 (1977) 489-505; "La Riera Paleoecological Pro- ject: Preliminary Report, 1976 excavations," CA 18 (1977) 354-55; "La Riera Paleological Project: Preliminary Report, 1977 excavations," CA 19 ( 1978) 455-56.

42. L. G. Freeman, op. cit. (in note 6); J. Altuna, op. cit. (in note 6); L. G. Straus, op. cit. (in notes 6, 29); G. A. Clark, op. cit. (in notes 2,


terms of a typology of habitats; shifts in the relative intensity of habitat exploitation are noted through time and are argued to reflect prehistoric behavioral changes. Evidence independent of faunal data details macroclimatic change over this period corresponding to Late/Post-Wurm temperature and moisture fluctuations.43 Paleoenvironmental and subsistence data are being integrated to generate paleoecological models based upon quantiE1ed measures of plant and animal species exploited, and upon analyses of lithic and bone/antler artifact assemblages. Primary variables recognized by the Project are 1) climate, 2) vegetation, 3) fauna, and 4) human activity at the La Riera cave and at other Paleolithic sites in eastern Asturias. Time is regarded as a reference variable against which to measure change, and is controlled by radiometric dating and by stratigraphy.

Research Objectives Research objectives specific to the site are expressed

by four hypotheses, which are nested or hierarchical in the sense that Nos. 1-3 must be conE1rmed or discon- firmed before No. 4 can be evaluated. The E1rst proposes to examine the relationship between habitat selection and macroclimatic change, and will constitute an empirical test of the generality of the models for prehistoric subsistence practices cited above. Briefly, we propose here that there is some direct relationship between Late W{irm climatic oscillations and the extent to which hunting strategies were modified by the prehistoric Cantabrians to adjust to changing climatic conditions. Such a direct relationship is expected to be manifest in the macrofaunal content of the various levels in La Riera, and is in fact suggested by the

29) "El Hombre y su ambiente a comienzos del Holoceno en la region Cantabrica: los cazadores-recolectores Asturienses," BIDEA 84-85 (1975) 363-87; "L'Asturien des Cantabres: Etat de la Recherche actuelle," Actes de la XXe Congres Prehistorique de France, ed. M. Escalon de Fonton, (Provence 1976) 84-101; G. N. Bailey, "Shell Middens as Indicators of Postglacial Economies: a Territorial Perspective," The Mesolithic of Northwest Europe: Social and Economic Perspectives, ed., P. A. Mellars (London, in press).

43. K. W. Butzer, op. cit. (in note 4); "Comunicacion preliminar sobre la geologia de Cueva Morin," Cueva Morin: Excavaciones 1966- 1968, eds., J. Gonzalez Echegaray and L. G. Freeman (Santander 1971) 345-56; A. Leroi-Gourhan, op. cit. (in note 3); K. W. Butzer and D. Bowman, "Algunos sedimentos de niveles arqueologicos Asturienses de yacimientos de la Espana Cantabrica," Biblioteca Prehistorica Hispana 13 (Madrid 1976) 349-56; G. A. Clark and J. Menendez Amor, "Muestras de polen de Liencres: Niveles 1 y 2," Cuadernos de Arqueologia 3 (Bilbao 1975) 67-70; A. Boyer-Klein, "Analisis polinico de la cueva de Tito Bustillo," Excavaciones en la cueva de Tito Bustillo, eds., J. Moure and M. Cano (Oviedo 1976).

Freeman and Clark reconstructions.44 Its existence would be confirmed if fluctuations in habitat preference could be positively correlated with fluctuations in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene paleoclimates. For example, one might expect the relative frequency of forested habitats to increase during warm/humid oscillations, and that of open country and alpine habitats to increase during cooler/dryer phases. It seems reasonable to suggest, if climatic factors are of paramount importance, that the relative frequency with which forest- dwelling forms were exploited should decrease during cold/dry oscillations. Assessments of the relative con- tributions of game from the three habitats will be made in terms of kg./meat by habitat and caloric es- timates/individual.

The second hypothesis was formulated in an attempt to determine whether occupation/use of the site was seasonal or perennial during any given "cultural" unit represented in the sequence. Although the ethnographic literature abounds in descriptions of seasonal movement by segments of hunting and gathering societies, archaeological documentation of seasonal activity by prehistoric man is limited to only a few cases.45 Documentation of supposed perennial occupation of a single site over long periods of time is rarer still.46 The probability of seasonal transhumance among Pleis- tocene/Early Holocene hunters in Cantabria is high, given evidence of striking contemporary climatic zonation, and of transhumant herding practised by various social groups known from the ethnographic present in Asturias and Santander. The narrow Cantabrian region is characterized by marked altitudinal and climatic

44. L. G. Freeman, op. cit. (in note 6); G.A. Clark, op. cit. (in notes 29, 42).

45. See for example I. Davidson, "Seasonality in Spain," Zephyrus 26 (1976) 167-73 for Spanish paleolithic hunters; H. de Lumley, "Une cabane acheuleene dans la grotte du Lazaret," Societe Prehistorique Franfaise, Memoir No. 7 (Paris 1969) in regard to Acheulean groups in France; J. G. D. Clark, Prehistoric Europe: the Economic Basis (London 1952) 62, 63; Excavations at Star Carr, an Early Mesolithic Site at Seamer, near Scarsborough, Yorkshire (Cambridge 1954); "Star Carr: a Case Study in Bioarchaeology," McCaleb Module in Anthropology, No. 10 (New York 1972) 1-42 for Mesolithic hunter/gatherers in southern England; F. Hole, K. Flannery and J. Neely, "Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Deh Luran Plain; an Early Village Sequence from Khuzistan, Iran," MMichMusAnth 1 (Ann Arbor 1969) for seasonally transhumant herder/hunter/- gatherers at Tepe Ali Kosh.

46. See for example F. Bordes, The Old Stone Age (New York 1968) 141-44; A Tale of Two Caves (New York 1972); F. Bordes and D. de Sonneville-Bordes, "The significance of Variability in Paleolithic Assemblages," WA 2 (1970) 61-73 in regard to Acheulean, Mousterian hunter/gatherers at the Dordogne cave sites of Combe Grenal, Pech de l'Aze.


zonation. The former would have been nearly identical, despite sea level changes, during the prehistoric occupation of La Riera, but the latter would have been especially accentuated, particularly in winter, during Last Glacial stadial oscillations. While distances are short (20-30 km.), the prehistoric sites of interest here are clearly located in different topographic/climatic zones: 1) the coastal plain, 2) the intermontane valleys beyond the Cordilleran foothills (e.g., Sierra de Cuera), and 3) the flanks of the Cordillera itself. Most of the major game species exploited by prehistoric hunters probably responded to cold winters with snow-covered uplands by shifting to lowland coastal pastures, ascending again in the spring to the mountain slopes and intermontane valleys, depending upon the habitat preferences of each particular species.47 Human groups no doubt would also have responded to these same seasonal influences, both for their own comfort (the coast would always have enjoyed the moderating effect of the sea), to re- main close by their ungulate food sources and to be in a position to make some use of marine shellfish. A number of speculations about the possibility of seasonal movement have appeared in the recent literature deal- ing with the Upper Paleolithic in Cantabria. Generally these involve a dichotomy between 1) inland, montane sites, supposedly occupied during the summer months with the objective of hunting alpine caprids, and 2) coastal lowland sites, supposedly vestiges of winter/ spring campsites which stressed cervid hunting and shellElsh gathering. Straus and Clark allude to faunal evidence suggestive of seasonal occupation in regard to Solutrean and Asturian sites respectively, and Bailey posits a general economic model which juxtaposes perennially occupied sites with "closed littoral economies" with seasonal transhumance along the major water courses which transect the coastal plain. As yet, however, no one has attempted to put these speculations into testable form.48

The question of seasonality can be resolved con- clusively by the faunal evidence if accurate ageing and sexing of cervid remains can be attained, and if oxygen isotope analysis of shell can be undertaken. Red deer

47. A. Cabrera, Fauna Iberica: Mamiferos (Madrid 1914); G. B. Corbet, The Terrestrial Mammals of Western Europe (London 1966); M. J. Couturier, Le Bouquetin des Alpes (Grenoble 1962); F. F. Dar- ling, A Herd of Red Deer: A Study in Animal Behaviour (Oxford 1963); R. Hainard, Les Mammiferes Sauvages d'Europe, Vols. 1, 2 (Neuchatel 1948-1949); F. H. van den Brink, A Field Guide to the Mammals of Britain and Europe (London 1967).

48. L. G. Straus, op. cit. (in notes 6, 29); G. N. Bailey, op. cit. (in notes 40,42); G. A. Clark, op. cit. (in notes 2, 29, 37); J. G. D. Clark, op. cit. (in note 45).

(Cervus elaphus) are a common faunal element in nearly all Cantabrian Paleolithic sites, and are prevalent at La Riera. Because mating is a seasonal activity, and because herd composition varies by age and sex with the seasons of the year, knowledge of age and sex characteristics of red deer remains in archaeological contexts should provide evidence for seasonality. Data from red deer antlers and dentitions can also lend sup- port to or help to refute the hypothesis of seasonality. With respect to molluscs, given large enough samples, analysis of oxygen isotope ratios can detect the subtle cyclical changes in ambient water temperature which coincide with the seasons of the year.49 Shell is also a common component of the Upper and Post-Paleolithic levels at La Riera, and samples large enough to hold possible species variation constant have been obtained. If it can be demonstrated, for example, that all of the limpets (PatelZa vulgata) in a given level were collected during the fall and winter months, then a suggestion of winter occupation is strongly supported. Annular rings can also be studied on sectioned shells for some species. The issue of seasonality is an important one. Solid, stratified data from La Riera will supplement data from other recent excavations in Cantabria to provide, for the Elrst time, control of the range of variation in resource exploitation in different seasons, in different localities, and with different suites of tool kits.

The third hypothesis is concerned with the relationship between site functions, artifactual inventories, and faunal debris. It has been formulated in an attempt to determine whether or not a covariant relationship ex- ists among artifact and faunal debris categories. Such knowledge should help to define the suites of activities that are characteristic of sets of occupation levels in the site. Sites in Cantabria, as elsewhere, are often loosely and impressionistically characterized as "base camps" and "special purpose campsites" ("functionly-specific sites,' "limited activity sites"). This dichotomy implies a number of things about human behaviour in the technological and economic spheres which are seldom made explicit. We would like to try to determine whether base camps can be distinguished from special purpose campsites in the La Riera sequence, and assess what activities were conducted at each, if in fact the dichotomy can be maintained. In order to do this, we must Elrst attempt to define what is meant by a "base camp" and by a "special purpose site."

A base camp seems to imply 1) some degree of per- manence of occupation or 2) cyclical reoccupation,

49. N. J. Shackletons "Oxygen Isotope Analysis and Pleistocene Temperatures Reassessed, Nature 215 ( 1967) 15-17; "Oxygen Isotope Analysis As a Means of Determining Season of Occupation of Prehistoric Midden Sitess' Archaeometry 15 (1973) 133-43.


ponents analysis.53 These broad functional relationships may be valid regardless of the particular culture/ stratigraphic units to which assemblages have been assigned.

The fourth hypothesis has been formulated in an ef- fort to isolate adaptive shifts in the 12,000 year record at La Riera, and to determine whether or not those shifts can be correlated with the classic culture/ stratigraphic units, as deE1ned by prehistorians. A number of Cantabrian prehistorians have drawn attention to marked similarities in the kinds and frequencies of retouched tools characteristic of assemblages as different (if the traditional literature is to be believed) as Magdelenian III and Solutrean. Moreover, when the ever-increasing number of radiocarbon determinations from Cantabria is taken into account, it it evident that the chronological placement of the Spanish Upper Paleolithic subdivisions is not in accord with that of the Aquitaine. If the classic "cultural" entities cannot always be ordered in time according to some uni- or bi- lineal development scheme, as Straus has suggested, and if in fact allegedly distinctive assemblages (e.g., Solutrean, Magdalenian III) may at times be closely similar both in kind and quantity of tools, then it becomes of interest to ask what the classic culture/stratigraphic units might really mean. In the discussion of Hypothesis No. 3, mention was made of the possibility that covarying sets of artifacts and food debris might behave independently of culture/stratigraphic units. One implication of this is that the distinctions among the classic culture/stratigraphic units might be correlated with major, and perhaps cyclical, adaptive shifts. It might, for example, be the case that the Lower Magdalenian and the Solutrean levels represent similar adaptations, given marked similarities in the kinds and frequencies of artifacts recorded in these levels at El Juyo, Altamira, and Balmori.s4

We would like to be able to cast this suggestion into the form of a hypothesis. Before we can test that hypothesis, however, we will need to control for 1) the possibility of a direct correlation between climate and fauna (Hypothesis No. 1), 2) we will have to determine, in the case of each occupation, whether La Pliera was seasonally or perennially occupied (Hypothesis No. 2), and, 3) we will have to control, at least in a crude way, for site functional differences through time (i.e.,

53. L. G. Straus, op. cit. (in note 29).

54. J. Gonzalez Echegaray, op. cit. (in note 29); "Consideraciones climaticas y ecologicas sobre el Magdaleniense III en el norte de Espana," Zephyrus 23-24 (1972-1973) 167-87; G. A. Clark and V. J. Clark, op. cit. (in note 37); L. G. Straus, op. cit. (in note 29).

perhaps on a seasonal basis. Furthermore, it is the site of 3) activities related to resource procurement and processing, and group maintenance, conducted by 4) a social unit that is comprised of members of both sexes and all age categories. A special purpose site, on the other hand, implies 1) short-term occupation or use, perhaps on the order of a few days at most; 2) a limited spectrum of activities, perhaps conE1ned to a single "behavioural chain" related to resource procurement and processing, and 3) conducted by a social unit that is a subset or segment, bounded by age and sex criteria, of the social unit present at the base camp.50

Examples of both types of sites can be found in the recent literature on the Cantabrian Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. Clark has argued that Asturian conchero sites in general are probably the remnants of base camps (e.g., La Riera, Balmori, Penicial, La Franca), primarily because no contemporaneous inland montane sites have been discovered that could represent seasonally utilized hunting and gathering stations. Differences in faunal inventory do not highlight distinctions amongst Asturian sites, as they do in the case of sites dating to the Solutrean and Magdalenian periods. On the other hand, the Asturian open site of Liencres, which is located on the coast in Santander, is thought to be an ephemeral special purpose campsite which owed its existence to the exploitation of scarce chert sources, debris from which reflected primary and secondary tool manufacturing.5 l Straus has also been able to distinguish probable Solutrean base camps (e.g., Altamira, Cueto de la Mina, Aitzbitarte) from inland, montane sites in cliffs and gorges which played a role in the procurement of alBpine caprids (e.g., Bolinkoba, Ermit- tia), and from coastal sites which yield evidence of intensive exploitation of cervids (e.g., E1 Cierro).52 In the Solutrean case, faunal remains played a key role in making these distinctions. More important, however, was the fact that Straus was able to demonstrate that differences in faunal inventories could be correlated with equally distinctive "tool kits" using principal com-

50. M. B. Schiffer, "Archaeological Context and Systemic Context," AmAnt 37 (1972) 156-65; "Factors and Toolkits: Evaluating Multivariate Analyses in Archaeology," PAnt 20 (1975) 61-70; "Behavorial Chain Analysis: Activities, Organization and the Use of Space," Fieldiana: Anthropology 65 (1975) 103-119; Behavioural Archaeology (New York 1976).

51. G. A. Clark, op. cit. (in notes 2, 29, 37); G. A. Clark, R. EfRand and J. Johnstone, op. cit. (in note 34); G. A. Clark and L. Richards, op. cit. (in note 37).

52. L. G. Straus, op. cit. (in notes 6, 29); "El Solutrense Cantabrico," XL Aniversario del Centro de Estuzlios Montaneses, Tomo III (San- tander 1976) 308-319.


whether any given level consisted of the remains of a base camp or a special purpose site: Hypothesis No. 3). Having deternlined the importance of climate and the existence of changes in site "type" through time, and having assessed the role of seasonal differences among the occupations, we can go on to test the relationship between the artifacts and the faunal remains. Our concept of adaptation is embodied in this relationship; by adaptation, we mean the repertoire of social responses (behaviours) related to the procurement and processing of plant and animal resources. One major kind of adaptive shift that we might expect to find would entail evidence of a qualitative change in the macrofaunal spectrum exploited, holding climate and seasonality constant. A change in adaptation might also involve an expansion or contraction of the resource base which cannot be explained directly by climatic change. Are new species being added to the diet, or are existing species being deleted through time? Given confirmation of Hypothesis No. 2, is there evidence for change in the seasonal round over time? It might be the case that the same species are exploited in approximately the same frequencies in two adjacent levels, but there are in- dications (e.g., age, sex criteria) that the game is being taken at different times of the year. It is clear that confirmation of this hypothesis is largely dependent upon fairly clear-cut confirmation/disconfirmation of Hy- potheses 1-3. Whatever the significance of the stylistic variations that distinguish the classic western European culture/stratigraphic subdivisions, it would be most in- teresting to be able to demonstrate that covarying sets of artifacts and food remains persist through time, and in fact behave independently of those culture/ stratigraphic units.

The Site

La Riera (01 °09'59"W. Long. [Madrid]; 43°25'47" N. Lat.) is a small solution cavity formed in the southern flank of an east/west trending limestone plateau called the Llera. The cave and associated rock shelter both face west, and are found within 40 m. of a small stream, the Rio Calabres. The site is located at the eastern end of a sheltered valley, about 1.5 km. from the sea, at an elevation of 50-60 m. above present mean sea level (Alicante datum). Discovered and excavated by the Conde de la Vega del Sella in 1916/18, the site was subsequently tested by Clark in 1969 and by Perez in 1972.55 All three excavations produced faunal and in-

55. Conde de la Vega del Sella, op. cit. (in note 23); J. M. Gomez Tabanera, "Revision estratigrafica de la Cueva de La Riera," BlDEA 88-89 (1976) 855-910; G. A. Clark and L. G. Straus, "Algunas obser- vaciones sobre 'Revision estratigrafica de la Cueva de La Riera," BIDEA 90-91 (1977) 507, 508.

dustrial evidence for Upper and Post-Paleolithic use/occupation. Upper Solutrean, Upper and possibly Lower Magdalenian, Azilian and Asturian assemblages were documented in a geological situation where secure forehand knowledge of the gross stratigraphic succes- sion was assured and where enough remained of the archaeological site to permit controlled data collection using modern methods.

The 1976 season began with the drafting of a detailed plan of the cave. A metric grid system and an arbitrary datum plane were established to provide horizontal and vertical controls (FIG. 2). Because 60 years had elapsed since the excavations of the Conde, the unprotected site required considerable cleaning to ascertain the location and extent of intact archaeological deposits. Quantities of loose fill containing modern artifacts were removed from a linear depression running parallel to the cave mouth and corresponding to the approximate location of the Conde's trench. The degraded stratigraphic profile exposed at the rear scarp of the old excavation (E/F5-9, FIG. 3) was cleaned, drawn, photographed and used as a guide for excavation of intact sediments along a strip 4 m. long by 1 m. wide (E5-8, FIG. 2). The latter excavation provided a second, more complete stratigraphic profile (FIG. 4), as well as sediment, pollen, and radiocarbon samples. In 1977, the excavation was expanded on the right (south) side of the cave, where intact sediments were preserved to the greatest depth, and where stratigraphic continuity with the radiocarbon- dated Asturian conchero was assured (E9, F/G 10). A major lateral section some 3 m. long was defined, and a stratigraphic column 2.6 m. deep was exposed in a sondage in G10. The D/E face was also extended 1 m. to the south by the excavation of E9, which had been left standing as a witness section at the end of the 1976 season. Squares Gll, F11, E10 and F7 were dug in 1978. Additional radiocarbon and sediment samples were collected. The excavation was conducted throughout by natural levels, 36 of which were defined and exposed in the course of the three field seasons. All sediments were water screened using a 2.5 mm. mesh. As a result, very large quantities of fine debitage and small retouched pieces were recovered, together with rodent and fish bones. A number of obvious living floors were encountered, mapped, and photographed, and 3-dimensional coordinates were recorded for artifacts and identifiable bone fragments.

Preliminary A nalysis Data from all field seasons are now beginning to be

analyzed. Bone and shell fragments and stone debris were inventoried and weighed in the field to give some indication of interlevel variation in shell/bone/artifact


Figure 2. La Riera: Plan of the Cave with intact depositss disturbance, location, and extent of prior excavation indicated. The diagonal lines identify areas excavated in 1976 and 1977; including sondages in F6 and G10.

-

-

EXCAVA VEGA DEL SELLA (1916/8)

DISTURBED

METERS

N _2 MAG.

w { -x

/ I ?

\x ! (1972) _e

_o.--o


Figure 3. La Riera. Degraded stratigraphic section at the E/F interface in Squares 5-9. This profile corresponds to the

back wall of the 1916/18 excavation of the Conde de la Vega del Sella. The arbitrary datum plane is shown at the top with

the vertical extent of lenses, levels indicated by the scale at the right.

Figure 4. La Riera. Stratigraphic section at the D/E interface in Squares 5/9. The arbitrary datum plane is indicated with

vertical extent of strata shown on the right.

lo

.20

.30

.40

.50

.60

.70

.80

.90

1.00

1.10

I .20

I .30

I .40

1.50

1.60

I .70

1.80

10 endscraper, thumbnail 1 4 3 3 9 1 3 2 1 11 endscraper, carinateorkeel-shaped I I I I 12 endscraper, carinate atypical 2 1 1 13 endscraper, nosed and thick I 1 2 14 endscraper, nosed and flat(or shouldered) I

15 endscraper, nucleiform 8 4 6 11 2 12 5 16 rabot I 17 endscraper/burin I I I 19 burin on a truncated blade I 20 perforator/truncated bl;ade I

23 perforator 2 1 1 24 perforator, atypical(bec) 2 1 2 7 3 1 1 1 27 burin, straight dihedral I I 28 burin, canted dihedral 2 2 2 29 burin, dihedral angle I I

l

30 burin, angle on a break 2 7 1 4 4 5 13 1 5 4 31 burin, multiple dihedral 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 32 burin, busked(burin busque) 2 1 34 burin, on a straight retouched truncation I I 35 burin, on an oblique retouched truncation I I I I

36 burin, on a concave retouched truncation 2 37 burin, on a convex retouched truncation I 38 transverse burin on a lateral truncation 2 39 transverse burin on a notch 41 burin, multiple and mixed 2

43 burin, nucleiform 44 burin, flat (burin plan) I 46 Chatelperron point or backed knife I 48 La Gravette point or backed knife I 51 microgravette 3 3 4

52 Font-Yvespoint I I I 53 backed gibbous piece 2 58 blade, backedcomplete 1 3 1 1 2 2 59 blade, backedpartial 1 6 2 1 60 piecewith a straight truncation 1 2 1 1

61 piece with an oblique truncation 3 1 1 1 62 piece with a concave truncation I 64 piece with a double truncation 65 piece with continuous retouch, one edge I I 1 5 14 6 11 12 3 7 5 66 piece with continuous retouch, two edges 1 2 2 1 2 1

70 point, laurel leaf 71 point, willow leaf I 72 point, shouldered 74 notched piece 1 5 3 5 6 12 3 9 5 75 denticulated piece 2 4 4 6 6 7 6 11 3 10 8

76 piece esquille'e 1 4 2 5 1 3 1 1 5 1 77 sidescraper 4 1 5 1 1 1 2 78 raclette I 84 bladelet, truncated I I 85 bladelet, backed 16 23 8 9 92 10 123 132 53 156 107

86 bladelet, truncated and backed 2 87 bladelet, denticulated and backed 3 1 1 1 88 bladelet, denticulated I 1 4 89 bladelet, notched 2 2 2 90 bladelet, du four I I 1 2 1 1

91 point, Azilian 3 10 3 8 2 2 3 92 various retouched pieces 1 2 2 2 3 1 2 1

TOTAL BY LEVEL 32 75 29 54 202 61 201 218 77 225 151


Table 2. La Riera: 1976/8. Retouched pieces.

1 2.1 3 3 low 4.1 4 LEVELS 1 1 3 up. 3.1 4.2

5 10 1 1 10/11 12 13 6 7

NO. TYPE NAME

I endscraper, simple 2 endscraper, atypical 5 endscraper, on a retouched Rake or blade 8 endscraper, on a flake 9 endscraper, circular

2 2

2 1 10 2 3 4 2 l l

I I l 2 ..... . 32 ..... . 4 1 4 1 1 ..... . 11 4 1 1 ..... . 10 5 1 2 1 ..... . 10 5 2 2 1 1 4 1 4 3 1 . 72 I ..... . 4 l l l l ..... . 9 4 1 8 1 2 2 3 4 2 1 1 ..... . 47 3 2 4 2 3 1 2 1 1 ..... . 21 l l l ..... . 9 1 3 3 1 1 ..... . 11 12 1 13 2 1 2 3 9 3 10 1 1 2 ..... . 1 15 2 1 8 1 1 1 2 3 5 2 ..... . 38 I ..... . 4 I I I ..... . 5 I I ..... . 6 I I ..... . 4 ..... . I l ..... . l l l l ..... . S I I ..... . 2 2 1 4 1 1 3 1 ..... . 14 ..... . I I ..... . 2 I ..... . 11 * I ..... . 4 5 1 1 2 ..... . 19 1 2 1 ..... . 14 I I 1 2 1 ..... . 11 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 ..... . 16 1 2 ..... . 4 I I ..... . 2 14 7 30 3 5 5 10 13 16 30 5 13 ..... . 217 2 2 1 3 2 2 3 2 1 ..... . 27 1 3 4 4 14 31 1 ..... . 58 I ..... . 2 1 2 14 31 1 ..... . 50

19 6 52 10 3 12 6 17 13 19 13 7 6 ..... 231 20 1 1 70 20 4 20 17 34 28 19 20 5 8 ..... 343

21 10 5 1 4 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 ..... 75 6 6 33 4 4 7 8 5 7 3 ..... 98 1 5 3 1 1 1 ..... 13 2 ..... 4

42 8 9 2 2 5 7 22 ..... 826

1 2 ..... 9 1 2 1 1 1 3 5 ..... 20

1 2 l ..... 10 6 5 8 1 1 2 3 2 ..... 35

..... 31 1 2 1 1 1 2 ..... 22

180 75 314 52 13 65 71 107 1 16 149 212 34 44 ..... 2757

4 15 16 17.1 18.1 20 21 22 23 23.

18.2

2S 26 TOTAL BY

TYPE

2 1 1 1 3 1 12 1 1 3 2 2 3 3 I 1 2 2 1 1 3 11 2 1 7 7 13 10 4

15

36 12

93

2

3

3 5 3



Table 3. La Riera: 1976/8. Cores, debitage, manuports.

1 2 3 310w 3.1 4.1 4 5 10 11 10/ LEVELS 1.1 2.1 3up 4.2 6 11

12 13 14 15 14.1

TYPES

nucleus, flake nucleus, mixed nucleus, bladelet chunk flake, plain

2 4 1

2 1 96 1 215

27

1

ll

9 3

114 114 241

1 7 9 3 6

5 2 54 108

10 297 829

2

4

34 146

13 10

166 400

21

17 10

193 464

4

186 251

ll

5 27

173 978 462

7

12

19 12 12

300 69 1334

8

3 1

71 695

flake, primary decortication flake, secondary decortication flake, edge renewal flake, platform renewal flake, trimming

shatter flake with invasive retouch burin spall blade bladelet

415

20 31 38 5 18 60 5 143 236 182 18 234 278

3 1 5 4 21

1 145 244 172 11 372 907

56 9

28 25 156 191

7 12 1

1 474 1056

21 54 101 356

9 9 2

557 1592

30

192 13 3

672

64 441

19 3

1292

12 235

9 1

1046

823 2 8

12 67

81

3 161 248 230 2 259 560 62 475 394 485 1072 486 1317 2 1

10 8 3 6 10 16 23 46 18 19 18 31 9 33 12 2 14 50 10 22 22 7 23 22 18

40 37 28 1 23 232 69 67 436 185 343 240 202

pebble/nodule cobble/cobble fragment hammerstone other utilized manuport ochre fragments

2

13 3

6 2 ll

2 1

7

2

2 3

2 2

2 6 1 26 16 4

ll

1

8

7

64 7 28 8 14 35 5 17 10 8 18 7

TOTAL KNAPPING DEBRIS/LEVEL

TOTAL MANUPORTS OCHR E/ LEY EL

13 849 1398 1048

5 13 11

52 1291 3072 497 1847 2887 1834 4664 2233 5065 2993

15 4 7 8 6 2 28 18 16 15

ratios. Retouched pieces were also classified according to the widely-used de Sonneville Bordes/Perrot typology to provide comparability with preliminary descriptions of other recently excavated Upper Paleolithic assemblages in Western Europe (TABLE 2).56 A typology for debitage developed by the authors was designed to isolate various stages in lithic manufacturing processes (TABLE 3). These preliminary statistics are the basis for much of the following discussion. Retouched stone tools and debitage are presently being examined through cluster analysis and distance statistics are being computed in order to provide more reliable and objective measures of overall level differences and similarities. The resultant level clusters

56. D. de Sonneville-Bordes and J. Perrot, "Essai d'adaptation des methodes statistiques au Paleolithique superieur: Premiers resultats," BSPF 50 (1953) 323-33; "Lexique typologique du Paleolithique superieur I, II," BSPF 51 (1954) 327-35; "Lexique typologique du Paleolithique superieur III," BSPF 52 (1955) 76-78; "Lexique typologique du Paleolithique superieur IV," BSPF53 (1956) 547-59.

will be tested for group integrity using discriminant analysis.

The large and important mammalian faunal collections are being studied by Dr. Jesus Altuna (Museo de San Telmo, San Sebastian). Although only the 1976/7 samples have been identified to date, and analyses of body part distributions, age and sex data are still in the initial stages, it is evident that red deer (Cervus elaphus) and to a lesser extent ibex (Capra pyrenaica) dominate throughout the sequence, with the exception of the lowest strata (Levels 25, 26) which show a high incidence of bovine (Bos/Bison, spp. indet.) and equid (Equus caballus) bones and teeth. Among the remains found in 1976/7, Altuna has identified isolated fragments of seal (Phoca and Halichoerus) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), both rare in Cantabrian Upper Paleolithic sites.

In 1976, some 36 pollen samples were collected in the Eleld by Mme. Arlette Leroi-Gourhan (Musee de l'Homme, Paris), whose laboratory is responsible for


19 20 21 22 23 23.1 23.2 23.3

24 25

2 2

33 72

26 TOTAL BY

TYPE

8 227 135 114

47 2656 145 1 1868

16 17 18 17.1 18.1

18.2

25 14 9

289 1520

60 509

15 1

1762

1207 4

64 20

299

4 42

2 1

38

31

203

8 53

3 2

274

151

9 11

21

7

7

17 102

25

8 5 2 2

2 29 78

234 432

15 4 4

154 547

13 10

4 147 648

22 200

8 4

739

7

8 3

82 467

19 127

7 3

920

513 1

11

19 114

3

1

68 760

32 197 29

2 1771

702 3

27 75

280

13 90

5 1

343

10 20 139 166

8 1 4

919 613

4 2 610 36 79 4446 2 1 200

29 104 95 16267

46 69 1 1714 15

5 13 401 7 10 438

38 42 3019

105

87 333

710 1

18 6

45

32 1

664 655 1

6 27 11 15 73 84

5

1

23

4

7 30

1 6 3 1 69 4 17 16 2 234

1 14 8

64 16 27 3 3 427

1 3 10

8

4

12 2 2 1

25 9

5798 772 376 1099 2375 2282 2577 2301 3953 351 511 52139

49 7 1 14 35 20 5 24 19 3 325

extraction, analysis, and interpretation; these samples were supplemented by an additional 15 gathered by the authors in 1977/8. To date, samples from the upper part of the sequence have been identified and arranged into a provisional chronological series. Levels 5-12 show relatively high frequencies in the non-arboreal fraction, with grasses (Gramineae) and Compositae present in combined frequencies ranging from 50 to 85%. After the deposition of Level 4.2, but especially in Level 1 (the stalagmitic crust), the incidence of arboreal species (pine [Pinus], birch [Betula], finally and especially hazel [Corylus]), and ferns (Filicales) appears to increase substantially, perhaps indicating a warmer and wetter trend, or a series of warmer/wetter climatic fluctuations. Grasses and Compositae continue to oscillate between 35 and 50%. Other isolated preliminary in- dications point to rigorous, practically treeless conditions with an ericaceous heath during the formation of Level 21 around 20,000 B.P. Mme. Leroi-Gourhan's palynological studies have been complemented by ad-

ditional analyses of macrobotanical materials recovered in 1977 by Ms. K. C. Volman (Texas A & M Univer- sity).

Sediment samples from 36 strata are being studied by Dr. Henri Laville (Institut du (Juaternaire, Universite de Bordeaux) to provide an assessment of the geo- morphological processes responsible for deposition of the sedimentary matrix at La Riera. In 1977, Dr. Laville visited the cave and took additional columnar samples, which, on the basis of initial lab work and first hand observation, should provide significant evidence of the climatic changes that occurred during the 12,000 year period (Wurm Upper Pleniglacial, Tardiglacial and Preboreal) represented by the La Riera stratigraphy. A technical description of the La Riera sediments has been prepared by Dr. Roger Slatt (Department of Geology, Arizona State University) and is summarized in Table 4. These sedimentological studies, together with the pollen analyses of Mme. Leroi-Gourhan and the macrofloral studies of Ms. Volman, will make La

Asturian conchero: silty dayey sand sandy loam 10 YR 3/2 (very dark greyish brown) 7.95

The Wentworth and U.S.D.A. textural classifications are derived from the fraction < 2.00 mm. (no gravel). Level 1 is the travertine crust, which could not be classed by texture. Sorting is uniformly poor in all samples analyzed. Dominant color overlies disseminated color in bicolored samples from Levels 23.1 (where the latter probably consists of ash flecks) and 26. Color variation is due principally to variation in the nature and intensity of human use/occupation in a series of essentially cultural deposits. pH is consistently in the weakly alkaline range. Gravel, sand, silt, and clay fractions are variable. Levels 2-4.1 are tentatively assigned to the Azilian. Levels 4.2-12 are considered Magdalenian, and Levels 13-25 pertain to Upper Solutrean occupations.


Table 4. Description of the sedimentary matrix: texture, color and pH.

WENTWORTH TEXTURAL

LEVEL CLASSIFICATION

1

2 clayey sandy silt 3 sandy clayey silt 4 sandy silty clay 4.1 clayey silty sand 4.2 silty clayey sand 5 sandy silty clay 6 sandy silty clay 7 sandy silty clay

10 silty sandy clay 11 clayey silty sand 12 sandy silty clay 13 sandy clayey silt 14 sandy silty clay 15 sandy silty clay 16 (E8) sandy silty clay 16 (E7) clayey silty sand 17 clayey silty sand 18 sandy silty clay 18.1 silty sandy clay 19 top sandy silty clay 19 E1ll clayey silty sand 20 sandy clayey silt 21 clayey silty sand 22 sandy silty clay 23 sandy silty clay 23.1 clayey silty sand

23.2 sandy clayey silt 23.3 sandy silty clay 24 sondage clayey silty sand 25 sondage clayey silty sand 26 sondage clayey silty sand

U.S.D.A. TEXTURAL CLASSIFICATION

silt loam loam clay loam sandy clay loam loam clay clay clay clay loam clay loam clay silt loam clay loam clay clay clay loam sandy clay loam clay clay clay clay loam clay loam clay loam clay loam clay loam clay loam

clay loam clay clay loam clay loam clay loam

MUNSELL COLOR CLASSIFICATION (DRY) (DOMINANT/DISSEMINATED COLOR)

pH

7.65 8.25 8.45 8.30 7.70 7.90 8.15 7.95 8.30 8.00 8.30 7.90 7.80 7.83 8.50 8.20 7.40 8.13 7.95 8.20 8.10 8.20 8.10 8.50 8.07 8.80 8.05

8.30 7.73 8.07 8.30 7.33

7.5YR 7.5YR lOYR 7.5YR 7.5YR 7.5YR lOYR lOYR lOYR lOYR 7.5YR 7.5YR 7.5YR lOYR SYR 2.5Y SYR SYR SYR SYR SYR SYR 7.5YR 7.5YR lOYR 7.5YR lOYR 2.5Y lOYR SYR lOYR lOYR 2.5Y 2.5Y

8/2 5/2 4/2 4/2

N2.5/0 3/2 4/3 3/3 4/2 4/2 3/2

N2.5/0 N2.5/0

3/2 2.5/1

N2.5/0 3/1 3/3

2.5/1 3/1 3/2

2.5/2 N2.5/0

3/2 2.5/1

3/2 2.5/1

8/2 3/2

2.5/1 3/3 3/2 4/4 8/4

(pinkish white) (brown) (dark greyish brown) (dark brown) (black) (dark brown) (dark brown) (dark brown) (dark greyish brown) (dark greyish brown) (dark brown) (black) (black) (very dark greyish brown) (black) (black) (very dark grey) (dark reddish brown) (black) (very dark grey) (dark reddish brown) (dark reddish brown) (black) (dark brown) (black) (dark brown) (black) (white) (very dark greyish brown) (black) (dark brown) (very dark greyish brown) (olive brown) (pale yellow)

Riera, along with Cueva Morin, the key sequence for the reconstruction of Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Paleoenvironments in Cantabrian Spain.

Marine shell is prevalent in the site and consists almost exclusively of Pleistocene and Recent limpet species (Patella spp.). The uppermost levels (2, 2.1, 3 upper, 3 lower) and the remnant Asturian conchero

cemented to the cave roof are true midden deposits. The lower part of the midden contains large Pleistocene limpet varieties (Patella vulgata sautuola) and winkles (Littorina littorea) whereas the upper zone consists mainly of smaller and distinctive Holocene limpets and topshells (Trochocochlea crassa). The relationship between these midden contents and industries at-


Table 5. La Riera: 1976/7. Radiocarbon determinations.

CULTURE/STRATI- G RAPHIC

LEVEL UNIT

conchero Asturian

SAM PLE NUMBER

GaK 2909 GaK 6982 Ly1646 GaK 6980 GaK 6448 GaK 6445 GaK 6444 GaK 6983 GaK 6449 GaK 6446 GaK 6447 GaK 6981 GaK 6984

AGE IN YEARS (B.P.) RANGE (LIBBY HALF LIFE) + ONE SIGMA

B.C. DATE

6,700

8,940

8,390

15,210

14,470

14,950

15,120

16,250

13,560

15,260

17,870

18,740

19,020

8,650 + 300 10,890 + 430 10,340 + 560 17,160 + 440 16,420 + 430 16,900 + 200 17,070 + 230 18,200 + 610 15,600 + 570 17,210 + 350 19,820 + 390 20,690 + 810 20,970 + 620

8,350 - 8,950 10,460 - 11,320 9,780- 10,900

16,720 - 17,600 15,990- 16,850 16,700- 17,100 16,840 - 17,300 17,590- 18,810 15,030- 16,170 16,860- 17,560 19,430 - 20,210 19,880- 21,500 20,350- 21,590

4.2 * 5 *10

11

13 13 14

*15 *18 20 22 23.3

Upper Magdalenian Upper Magdalenian Magdalenian Magdalenian Upper Solutrean Upper Solutrean Upper Solutrean Upper Solutrean Upper Solutrean Upper Solutrean Upper Solutrean Upper Solutrean

Calculation of ages based on Libby's C-14 half-life (5,570 years); possible error expressed in radiocarbon years corresponding to the mean beta ray count + one standard deviation. The asterisk (*) indicates a determination not in accord with the stratigraphic position of the sample, and one which falls outside the range determined by 11 + a.

tributable to the Pleistocene/H olocene boundary Azilian and/or Asturian is of considerable interest; changes in mollusc size and species frequency will be among the- subjects of study by Dr. J. A. Ortea, a malacologist with the University of Oviedo. Samples of intact limpets from all major levels have also been sub- mitted to Dr. N. J. Shackleton (Paleotemperature Laboratory, University of Cambridge) for oxygen isotope analysis. These investigations should provide both a marine paleotemperature curve for the period of occupation, and level-specific determinations of seasonal patterning in mollusc collection. The fish remains (salmonid vertebrae) are being studied by Dr. M. de la Hoz (Oviedo).

The growing corpus of paleoenvironmental data now can be placed in a secure chronological context by 13 radiocarbon determinations from 12 levels (TABLE 5). All determinations were made on samples of wood charcoal by Dr. K. Kigoshi (Radiocarbon Laboratory, Gakushuin University). Of particular significance is the long series of dates from the Solutrean levels-perhaps the best controlled chronological sequence from any Solutrean site. These determinations fix the Cantabrian Upper Solutrean firmly in time between 21,000 and 17,- 000 B.P., and suggest that the uppermost Solutrean in the region is considerably later than had previously been supposed.57 Additional bone collagen dates from

57. L. G. Straus, F. Bernaldo de Quiros, V. Cabrera and G. A. Clark, "Solutrean Chronology and Lithic Variability in Vasco-Cantabrian Spain," Zephyrus 28 (t978) 109-12; L. G. Straus and G. A. Clark, "Four Millenia: The Solutrean of Cantabrian Spain," Antiqui- ty (in press, 1978).

charcoal-poor Levels 5/7, 10 and 26 have been solicited from Dr. J. Evin (Universite de Lyon) and should com- plement determinations from bracketing levels, fill in major hiati in the site chronology, and date the thick and paleoclimatically significant yellow clay strata (Levels 5/7, 24/26) found throughout the site.

Bone and stone artifacts were recovered from 33 natural stratigraphic units. Although interassemblage comparisons using standard indices and graphs are still in the initial stages, there is striking variability among the assemblages even on the basis of the preliminary statistics compiled so far, some of which are presented in this article. A total of 54,896 lithic artifacts were recovered during the 1976/8 excavations, of which 2,757 (5.0%) are retouched pieces (TABLES 2, 3). In addition, there are 263 pieces of worked bone and antler, most of them fragments of bone/antler SSpoints" (TABLE 6). The 325 manuports (unmodified natural objects brought into the cave) consist principally of quartzite pebbles and cobbles, and include a number of utilized specimens. There are also 35 perforated teeth, 14 pierced shells, and quantities of ochre (TABLE 3). On the basis of supposedly characteristicfossiles directeurs, Azilian, Upper and Lower Magdalenian, and Upper Solutrean culture/stratigraphic units are defined.

In the partly disturbed upper zone of the excavated area, artifacts of all kinds are scarce, since the volume of sediments excavated was relatively small (TABLE 3, 4, 6). Level 1, a flowstone deposit, sealed in the site prior to discovery in 1916. It represents the last depositional episode in the geological sequence and is almost entirely devoid of cultural remains. Level 2, with a high in-


Table 6. La Riera: 1976/7. Bone, antler and shell artifacts.

1.1

2 3 3 low. 2.1 3.1

3 up.

4

4.1 4.2

6:

10 11 10/11 12 13 14 14.1

1 2 3

15 16

4

LEVELS

TYPES

bone/antler points: basal configuration: unibevelled double bevelled round/ovoid and tapered

1 3 3 1 3 3

1 1

5

4 1

3

1

cross section: circular oval plan o-con vex quadrangular triangular indeterminate

2

2

3

3

2 6 2 1

2 7

5 2 1

4

2 1

1

2

6 3

4 4

1 1

bone/antler needle bone/antler awl bone/antler harpoon, Azilian

bone/antler harpoon, Magdalenian bone/antler with cutting marks bone/antler with miscellaneous evidence of working

2 1 1 4 2 3 1 2

1

2 1 1 1 1 1 1

7 1 1

antler tyne flaker 1 1 1 3

bone (flatbone), engraved bone, perforated bone, tube bone, anvilR

4 6 2 3 1 1 1

l 1

tooth, perforated shell, perforated

TOTAL BY LEVEL

1 3 1

2 2 3 1 1

6 2

1 2 - 1 38 14 14 29 13 32 8 32 14 23

cidence of shell but little bone, could be considered a conchero; below it a typical and nearly complete Azilian harpoon was recovered from Level 2.1. Level 3 is also a conchero, and is divided into upper and lower units in F10 and G10 on the basis of shell content. The period of deposition represented by the accumulation of Level 3 appears to record the gradual replacement of the Pleistocene limpet/winkle configuration by modern limpet species, topshells, and contemporary winkle variants, a transition also noted at the nearby cave site of Balmori.58 The latter molluscan spectrum is present

in the Asturian conchero suspended from the ceiling above the excavation and dated at 8,650 B.P. Only 158 retouched pieces (4.057O of all artifacts) were recovered from combined Levels 3, 3.1, 3 upper, 3 lower, and 4. 1. They include, however, 3 microgravettes, 13 Azilian points, no less than 48 backed bladelets (Types 85-87; together 40.5% of the combined tool total) and a relatively large number of small endscraper types. Although retouched pieces are scarce, Levels 3 and 4.1 are tentatively considered Azilian because of the high incidence of backed bladelets, Azilian points, microgravettes, and small endscrapers made on flake and core remnants.

Levels 4.2 and 5-12 are classified as Magdalenian; 58. G. A. Clark, op. cit. (in note 37); G. A. Clark and V. J. Clark, op. cit. (in note 37).

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 23.1 24 25 TOTAL BY 17.1 18.1 23.2 26 TYPE

1 8.2 23.3

4 7 2 11 40 2 1 11

1 1 ' 7

1 2 1 6 1 35 1 1 3 8 4 5 4 58 1 2 1 24

1 20 4

1 7

1 1 1 2 5 2 28 1 2

1 1 10

1 1 11

1 1 2 10

1 1 1 4 3 28 1 1

3 1 5 5 2 1 1 1 35 3 2 14

9 - 3 18 22 16 36 21 - 4 350


two fragments from a single, typical Magdalenian antler harpoon were recovered in 4.2 in association with a number of spectacular engraved items. In 4.2 retouched pieces are comparatively common (202) and make up 6.2% of the lithic inventory, which continues to be dominated by endscraper (17%) and backed bladelet (54.0%) types. The incidence of the burin group (Types 27-44:6.9%) also agrees well with that of combined 3 and 4.1, suggesting that while the uppermost levels are considered Azilian, differences between them and Level 4.2 do not seem to be great. This in turn implies considerable technological continuity between these two supposedly distinct culture/stratigraphic units. The Level 4.2 radiocarbon determination ( 10,890 + 430 B.P.)

closely matches the date from the Upper Magdalenian Level D at the site of Urtiaga in Guipuzcoa (10,280 +

B.P.).59

Levels 5, 6 and 7 consist of dense, homogeneous yellow/brown clays which may represent deposition in standing water.60 I)espite considerable thickness (FIG.

4), these levels are poor in cultural remains of any kind. The combined lithic inventory numbers only 558 pieces, and is somewhat anomalous vis a vis other levels in the Magdalenian series, as retouched pieces in general are

59. J. Altuna, op. cit. (in note 6).

60. H. Laville, personal communication, July 12 1977.

Dentic- Backed Solu- ulates/ Blade- trean N U M BER

Notches Side- lets Auri- Peri- Group OF LEVEL End- (Types scrapers (Types 51, gnacian gordian (Types 69- scrapers Burins 74+75) (Type 77) 85-87, 91) Group Group 72) TOOLS

3 + 4.1 15.4 5.8 12.8 3.2 41.0 1.9 35.3 156 4.2 17.3 6.9 3.0 2.5 54.0 5.9 54.5 - 202 5 + 6 + 7 18.0 19*7 19.7 - 16.4 11.5 19.7 61 10 6.5 6.0 6.0 0.5 65.7 4.0 64.2 - 201 11 7.3 7.8 10.5 0.5 61.5 6.0 63.8 218 10/11 6.5 1.3 7.8 1.3 74.0 3.9 72.7 - 77 12 6.7 4.4 8.4 - 69.3 6.2 71.1 - 225 13 6.0 4.6 8.6 1.3 70.9 3.3 70.9 0.7 151 14 7.2 12.8 21.7 3.3 23.9 2.8 26.1 - 180 15 12.0 6.7 22.7 8.0 10.7 4.0 10.7 1.3 75 16 13.4 11.1 38.9 10.5 2.9 4.8 6.1 1.0 314 17+ 18 9.2 10.8 56.9 6.2 3.1 1.5 4.6 - 65 19 9.2 12.3 49.2 6.2 - 4.6 4.6 - 65 20 25.4 7.0 32.4 - - 7.0 2.8 7.0 71 21 9.3 14.9 47.7 7.5 - - 0.9 107 22 17.2 7.8 35.4 4.3 4.3 1.7 7.8 5.2 116 23 13.4 9.4 25.5 4.7 5.4 4.7 8.7 18.8 149 23.1 +23.2 4.7 8.5 19.8 - 9.4 0.9 10.4 32.1 106 23.3 6.0 15.5 14.3 1.2 16.7 - 21.4 26.2 84 26 13.6 13.6 31.8 - - 4.5 - - 44


Table 7. La Riera: 1976/78. Lithic tool group percentages for major types.

proportionately more common (61 pieces, l O.9go of lithic total). Within the retouched tool category, backed bladelets decline sharply to 16.4go of total, while burins are relatively more abundant (19.7go). There is comparatively little debitage in these levels, and almost no cores, suggesting a relative de-emphasis on manufacturing, but it should be kept in mind that lithic debris in general is sparse. The top of Level 5 has been dated by Evin to 10,340 i 560 B.P.

In Levels 10-12, cultural material once again becomes abundant. The combined Levels 10, 1 1, and 10/1 1 contain 7,064 pieces, 496 (7.0%) of which are retouched. Levels 10 and 11 are strikingly similar to one another both in terms of the relative frequencies of the major type groups (TABLE 7) and with respect to debitage. Backed bladelets are overwhelmingly dominant in both (65.7go,61.5% respectively), and both are characterized by nearly equivalent endscraper (6.5go,7.3go) and burin (6.0%, 7.8%) frequencies. Table 3 indicates a high incidence (436) of unretouched bladelets in Level 11. Like 4.2, the worked bone and antler component is important; 28 point fragments are represented, together with antler tyne "flakers", engraved and incised flatbone fragments and perforated red deer canines. In Level 12, backed bladelets account for 69.3go of 225 retouched tools (4.6go). The rest of the pieces are nearly equally

divided among burins, endscrapers and denticulate/ notches, all in small numbers compared to the backed bladelet group, giving Level 12, together with Levels 11 and 13, one of the most ';specialized" assemblages in the series. Debitage is more important here than in Levels 10 and 11; secondary manufacturing debris ac- counts for most of the debitage fraction, and tiny trimming and shatter flakes are especially common. Unretouched bladelets (343) continue to be represented in significant numbers, and antler points (13) and other worked bone and antler objects are numerous.

Levels 13-25 are assigned to the Upper Solutrean; Levels 13, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 23.1, 23.2, 23.3, 24, and 25 have yielded fragments of the characteristic foliate and shouldered points; Levels 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 22, 23, 23.2, and 23.3 contain invasively retouched flakes. The Level 13 assemblage includes a classic Solutrean willow leaf point, but is in other respects quite similar to Level 12. Backed bladelets are again dominant, and in fact at- tain their highest proportional representation in the site (70.9% of the 151 retouched pieces). Endscrapers, burins, and denticulates are present in frequencies closely similar to those of Level 12 (see TABLE 7), supporting the suggestion of functional isc)mc)rphism in the activity sets responsible for the production and accumulation of these residues. The retouched pieces ac-


resembles Levels 10 and 11, which also have high bone point frequencies and large faunal components. The 1 16 retouched pieces from Level 22 make up 4.4go of the assemblage. The large debitage fraction includes many pieces of shatter and trimming flakes, suggesting that secondary retouching was a comparatively important activity. Level 23 iS another splendid living floor, characterized by a very large amount of shell and bone. The 149 retouched pieces (6.1'Yo) are divided among a number of morphological types, but Solutrean points account for 18.8% and the denticulate/notch group almost 26% of the retouched tool total. Primary knapping does not seem to have been particularly important, as cores and primary decortication flakes are relatively scarce. Secondary knapping is indicated in the debitage residues, with trimming and shatter flake frequencies accounting for well over half the debitage fraction. The relatively high incidence of retouched pieces, together with bone points and needle fragments, points to a wide range of processing/maintenance activities. The combined hearth lenses 23.1, 23.2, and 23.3 are among the most distinctive of the levels excavated. The 212 retouched tools make up a comparatively low 5.1% of the total. There is a correspondingly large amount of debitage, but almost 60% of it consists of shatter and tiny, thin trimming flakes. While there is ample evidence for secondary retouching, there are practically no cores and relatively little evidence for primary knapping. The retouched tool component is also unique in that 29.2% of the pieces are (mostly basal) portions of Solutrean points. The remaining tools consist of continuously retouched pieces ( 15.6%), the denticulate/notch group ( 15.7%), and the burin group ( 1 1 .3%), suggesting that the activity spectrum in this horizon was rather limited and centered on the manufacture (from imported preforms?) and/or resharpening of points in what might have been a series of ephemeral hunting camps. Anatomical part analysis of the faunal remains may help to clarify the nature of the activities which took place during these occupations. Unlike all the others, these levels are dominated by ibex remains.

Little can be said of the cultural remains from sondages in F6, F7 and G10, all excavated below the base of the Conde's trench (Levels 24-26) (FIG. 2). Levels 24 and 25 include single Solutrean points; in Level 26, Upper Paleolithic blades are present in some frequency. The Pre-Solutrean Upper Paleolithic materials might tentatively be assigned to the Aurigna- cian, as there are examples of fairly typical scalar retouch on large quartzite flake/blades. Few artifacts were recovered overall, and almost no shell. Bones are comparatively abundant, however, and are primarily those of large animals (bovines and horse), rather than those of the medium-sized ungulates (deer and goat)

count for 6.3% of the assemblage. The incidence of debitage is high, though cores are relatively few. Levels 14 and 14.1 are characterized by a dramatic decline in the proportion of backed bladelets, which here make up only 23.9% of 180 retouched pieces. Denticulates and notches show a corresponding increase (21.7%), perhaps suggesting a relative increase in the importance of a different suite of activities. Retouched pieces account for only 3.4% of the assemblage. The debitage fraction is consequently very important here, and the incidence of cores increases sharply vis a vis Level 13. Level 15 contains few retouched pieces (75, 2.4% of total), but there is much debitage, implying that knapping was the principal activity represented in this thin occupation. Level 16 is a particularly dense living floor, and one of the richest strata tested, both in artifacts and faunal remains. The 314 retouched pieces (5.1%) are divided among endscrapers (13.4%), burins (11.1%), sidescrap- ers (10.5%) and continuously retouched pieces (10.2%), but the denticulate/notch group is the single most important category (38.9%). Although debitage and cores are very common, shatter and trimming flakes are slightly under-represented, and plain and secondary decortication flakes are over-represented. This cir- cumstance may indicate that secondary retouching was of relatively lesser importance, while primary knapping was particularly frequent, along with the variety of processing and/or maintenance activities suggested by the retouched tool inventory. The activity spectrum seems to have been more restricted in Level 17 (+17.1). There are only 52 retouched pieces (6.3%), but the incidence of denticulates and notches is again unusually high (57%). The occupation of Level 18 seems to have been nearly exclusively restricted to knapping. Only 13 retouched tools (3.5%) were recovered from these thin fire lenses; the remainder of the lithic component consists of debitage and cores. Level 19 is reminiscent of Level 13 in that it contains a fair amount of debitage of all types, but relatively few cores. Half the 65 retouched pieces (5.6%) are denticulates and notches; no other types are significantly represented. Level 19 has comparatively abundant mammalian remains but little shell, whereas Level 13 has relatively little fauna overall. Only 71 retouched pieces (2.9%) were recovered from Level 20; denticulates and notches again account for 32.4% of them. Endscrapers are also overrepresented (25.4%). While Level 21 includes abundant faunal remains, it has few retouched tools (107, 4.5%), there is little primary debitage, and only a moderate number of cores. Den- ticulates dominate the inventory of retouched pieces (47.7%); the activity set in this occupation appears to have been restricted to certain kinds of plant and animal processing (?). Level 21 has yielded 11 bone/antler point fragments, and in this respect


which predominate in the overlying levels. It is evident from these preliminary considerations,

even taking probable sampling error into account, that there is wide variation in the composition of both lithic and bone/antler artifact components, and in the incidence of fauna. Some levels have relatively little evidence of knapping of any kind, but relatively many retouched tools (Levels 4.2, 5/7, 10, 11), suggesting that these were used but not made here. Others have a high proportion of debris relative to finished tools (Levels 3 lower, 14, 15, 18, 20) - evidence of proportionally in- tense in situ knapping activity. Some assemblages include relatively more evidence of secondary retouching (shatter, trimming flakes) than of primary knapping (cores, chunks, plain, decortication, and renewal flakes, blades) (Levels 12, 15, 19, 20, 23, 23.1, 23.2) and vice versa (Levels 3, 5/7, 24-26). Several have relatively many cores but little debitage per se (Levels 3, 10/11, 24-26) and vice versa (Levels 15, 19, 20, 23.1-23.3), suggesting that the full manufacturing process was not conducted in the excavated area of the cave. Whether retouched pieces are abundant or not, the tool assemblages are either highly specialized (a few types predominantly represented to the near exclusion of others: Levels 10, 11, 12, 13) or more generalized (types approximately evenly distributed across major type groups: Levels 5/7, 15, 20, 22, 24-26), with the rest fall- ing somewhere in between. Several are dominated ( > 40%) by either the denticulate/notch or backed bladelet group. At La Riera, these two groups are inversely related throughout the sequence (i.e., levels rich in backed bladelets tend to be poor in denticulates/notches) and possibly reflect two very different primary activity sets. Assemblages with many denticulates have large numbers of other types as well, but this is not the case with backed bladelet-dominated assemblages. A generalized configuration is not necessarily associated with evidence of really intensive knapping (high ratio of debris to tools), as demonstrated by the contrast between Levels 14, 15 and 20 versus Levels 22 and 23.3. A major, fauna-rich living floor need not also be very rich in lithic debris or even retouched tools, as shown by Level 21 in contrast with Level 16.

Although most of the levels can be assigned to the Solutrean "culture/stratigraphic" unit, there is the noted similarity between the uppermost Solutrean point-bearing assemblage (Level 13) and those of Levels 10-12 above it. All these levels are overwhelmingly dominated by backed bladelets, but levels 10-12 are classified as Magdalenian on the basis of negative evidence a lack of Solutrean points. If levels 13 and 14 are to be attributed to the Magdalenian, then a reasonable explanation must be presented for the classic

willow leaf point fragment in the former level, and for invasively retouched flakes in both. Other levels (17, 18, 19, 21), securely bracketed by point-bearing strata, themselves contain no points or only one, further demonstrating the proportional variability of such supposedly diagnostic types. It is also difficult to distinguish between the classic Upper Magdalenian and Azilian at La Riera, since the lithic assemblage from Level 4.2 (which contains a Magdalenian harpoon) is similar in many respects (thumbnail scrapers, microgravettes, Azilian points, regular backed bladelets) to the overlying Levels 2.1, 3 and 4.1. Further control of the nature of functional variability among the La Riera occupations regardless of fossil-director based "cultural" affiliations will be forthcoming when paleontological analyses are complete, and when environmental and seasonal parameters relevant to each occupation are determined. Interestingly, the full Solutrean sequence (21-17,000 B.P.) can be labelled "Upper Solutrean" in the traditional sense, since shouldered and concave base points abound in the lowermost levels. Laurel leaf points are found, ironically, in the upper

levels of the sequence in place of the supposed Upper Solutrean marker types.

Because La Riera is a stratified site with multiple living floors extending in time from the Aurignacian through the Asturian, it permits the study of change in a number of variables at a single location over a period of at least 12,000 years. Most significantly, occupation of this site spanned the Wurm Upper Pleniglacial period of maximum cold, the climatic oscillations of the Tardiglacial, and the early Post-Pleistocene warm period (Pre-Boreal). The cave is likely to provide a fairly continuous record of climatic and vegetational change for this critical range of time, once analysis of paleoenvironmental data are complete. It is also expected that there will be considerable anatomical part variability among the assemblages of mammalian faunal remains represented, reflecting different hunting, butchering, and processing activities, as well as some species variability reflecting environmental change, differences of season, and/or alternative procurement strategies. Finally, there is clear evidence (e.g., shell- to bone-weight ratios) of increasing dependence upon marine resources through time, culminating in the formation of a genuine shell midden in the Asturian.

Regional Analysis Although preliminary results from excavations at a

single site are stressed here, it is important to emphasize the regional perspective of the La Riera project in general. La Riera was never used or occupied in isola- tion. The cave is but one of a cluster of Paleolithic sites


located in a sheltered, south-facing escarpment on the coastal plain, about midway between the shore (1.5 km. distant) and a steep range of foothills (Sierra de Cuera) which are traversable opposite La Riera via a low pass leading to the intermontane valley. There, another series of Paleolithic sites is located in the shadow of the Picos de Europa. Recent excavations here and elsewhere in Cantabria are providing samples of sites partly contemporaneous with La Riera but found at different elevations and in a variety of distinct topographical circumstances. When fully published, these studies will provide a foundation for a detailed regional chronology, permit realistic assessments of the ranges of variation in Late Pleistocene habitats, industries and fauna, which will in turn allow period-speciElc in- ferences about site function and seasonality. More important, they should ultimately allow for the construc- tion and testing of fairly sophisticated models for over 40 millenia of changing Paleolithic adaptation. Ultimately, of course, it is not a single isolated site nor even a group of related sites in which interest lies, but rather in the deElnition of the integrated settlement/subsistence system for a region as a whole.6l Some elements of these models are discernible in this essay, and a brief resume' of some of the implications for regional analysis from other recent investigations follows. The potential for the study of Pleistocene/Ear- ly Holocene environmental and adaptational change in Cantabria is clearly very great.

The long sequence at Cueva Morin (Santander) has provided considerable information on environmental change through time derived from the sedimentological and palynological analyses of Butzer and Leroi- Gourhan.62 Control for differences in local vegetation at different periods during the Upper Pleniglacial, Tar- diglacial, and Post-Glacial can in part be established from Leroi-Gourhan's work at Otero, Pendo, Tito Bustillo, Rascano, Chufin, Los Azules, Oscura, Riera, as well as at Isturitz in the hills of the French Basque Country near the frontier.63 Faunal remains from the numerous modern excavations are being collected, iden- tiEled, and studied in detail, chiefly by Altuna. Radio- carbon dates are available from sites in all areas, and provide the basis for the detailed absolute chronology for the Cantabrian Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic presented in Table 1. As a result, assemblages can be compared from levels which are demonstrably either

61. S. Struever, "Woodland Subsistence-Settlement Systems in the Lower Illinois Valley," New Perspectives in Archeology, eds., S. Bin- ford and L. Binford (Chicago 1968) 285-312.

62. A. Leroi-Gourhan, op. cit. (in note 3); K. Butzer, op. cit. (in notes 4,43).

63. A. Leroi-Gourhan, op. cit. (in note 3).

contemporaneous (or nearly so) or of different absolute ages. Moreover, these comparisons are no longer grounded on supposed temporally diagnostic artifacts or "typical" distributions of artifact types, but rather on objective, independent measures of age.

In the Basque Country, Magdalenian and Azilian levels have recently been uncovered in Ekain cave near the mouth of the Rio Deva (Guipuzcoa), and at Arenaza in hills inland of Bilbao.64 A series of Middle and Upper Magdalenian levels are represented in the Santander mountain gorge-side site of Rascano, and Azilian ones in the neighboring cave of Pieiago.65 Ar- tifactual, faunal, and palynological data have very recently become available from the vast, well-sheltered coastal plain site of E1 Pendo, which contains strata pertaining to the Mousterian, most Upper Paleolithic periods, and to the Azilian.66 Cueva Morin is located on the edge of this same broad plain, due south of the city of Santander Excavations in nearby E1 Juyo have just begun. Cueva Chufin, a single-occupation Solutrean site, is located above the confluence of two mountain rivers in the foothills of Pena Sagra (2042 m.) in western Santander.67 Currently being dug is La Franca, a cave with an open-air Asturian midden and associated living floor, located only a few score meters from an inlet in eastern Asturias, and dated by radiocarbon analysis at 9,290 B.P. The cave also contains paintings in an Upper Paleolithic style similar to representations found in the nearby sites of Chufin, Pindal, and La Riera. Tito Bustillo cave, in Ribadesella, contains a rich single- occupation Magdalenian site and is situated near the Rio Sella estuary about 10 km. west of La Riera. Ex- cavations are still in progress, but already the site has been the subject of several publications, which include palynological and faunal analyses, as well as studies of the artifacts.68 Cova Rosa, a multi-level Solutrean and 64. J. M. Barandiaran and J. Altuna, 'Excavaciones en Ekain,' Munibe 29 (1977) 3-58.

65. M. A. Garcia-Guinea, "E1 Mesolitico en Cantabria," La Prehistoria de la Cornisa Cantabrica, ed., M. A. Garcia Guinea (San- tander 1975) 177-97.

66. J. Carballo, op. cit. (in note 17); J. G. Echegaray et al., op. cit. (in note 24). 67. V. Cabrera, "La ocupacion Solutrense de Cueva Chufin," Actas del XIII Congreso Nacional de Arqueologia (Zaragoza, in press); V. Cabrera and F. Bernaldo de Quiros, "The Solutrean site of Cueva Chufin," CA 18 (1977) 780-81. 68. J. A. Moure, Excavaciones en la Cueva de Tito Bustillo (Oviedo 1975); "Baston de mando descubierto en el Magdaleniense superior de la Cueva de Tito Bustillo," BIDEA 83 (1974) 843-53; "Datacion arqueologica de las pinturas de Tito Bustillo," TP 32 (1975) 176-81; J. A. Moure and M. Cano, Excavaciones en la Cueva de Tito Bustillo (Oviedo 1976); M. A. Garcia Guinea, Primeros sondeos estratigraf cos en la Cueva de Tito Bustillo (Santander 1975); M. Gonzalez M. and M. Marquez, "The Asturian Shellmidden of Cueva de Mazaculos II (La Franca)," CA 19 (1978) 614-5.


gatherer exploitation of topographically bounded areas like river valleys, under particular regional climatic conditions. Topographic zonation throughout the region is similar enough to permit the assumption of behavioral regularity in response to changes in zonal seasonal conditions. Although few modern excavations sample series of sites distributed from the coast to the Cordillera along any single valley system, comparisons can reasonably be made among contemporary levels at coastal, intermontane, and mountain sites from neighboring valley systems. In this way it should be possible to reconstruct and explain changes in patterns of adaptation from season to season, and among climatic phases monitored regionwide.

The potential site sample is by no means limited to those excavated in the past or now being investigated. Many as yet untested sites are known, and many more could be found by systematic survey and testing of caves and rockshelters along all major valleys. Emphasis for the present should be placed on the search for high mountain sites, of which relatively few are known to exist, in contrast to the large number documented on the coastal plain, closer to population centers and easy of access. In addition, an intensive ef- fort should be made in the future to locate open-air sites, which are at present almost unknown in Can- tabria.

We are of the opinion that paleoanthropological research in Cantabria stands an excellent chance of being transformed into a legitimate study of past human adaptations. This will come about as investigators in- creasingly turn away from explication of the evidence in terms of the French record, and as the theoretical con- struction of relative chronological schemes based on presumed directional changes in artifact morphologies and/or relative frequencies is de-emphasized. Because Cantabria is topographically well-defined and regularly zonated, and because the density of well-excavated sites is extremely high, the contemporaneous activities of human groups in different settings can be studied and compared. Changes in patterns of adaptation throughout the important Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene time range can be isolated and related to changes in the physical environment, resource base, and human demography.7 '

71. We wish to thank Spanish friends and colleagues, especially R. P. J. Gonzalez Echegaray (Rascano), J. A. Moure (Tito Bustillo), F. Bernaldo de Quiros and V. Cabrera (Chufin), M. Gonzalez Morales and M. C. Marquez (La Franca), and R. P. J. Fernandez-Tresguerres (Los Azules) for advice, information, and in the Elrst three cases, for affording Straus the opportunity to participate in their excavations. We are also grateful to Richard G. Klein for helpful comments and criticism of the survey portions of this article.

Acknowledgment is due Dr. Antonio Blanco F., Inspector Tecnico

Magdalenian site in a vast rockshelter, is located in the side of an isolated peak on the coastal plain near Tito Bustillo. The multi-level Azilian site of Los Azules is located upstream along the Sella, dominating its confluence with the Rio GUena in the intermontanne valley just north of the Picos de Europa. Excavations being conducted here by J. Fernandez-Tresguerres have already uncovered a very rich series of lithic and bone industries, and a rare burial complete with grave offerings and bracketing 14C dates.69

Las Caldas is another Solutrean and Magdalenian site, but is located far from the coast in a steep-sided cul-de-sac valley dominating the broad floodplain of the Rio Nalon just below a strategic mountain gorge. Cueva Oscura (Ania), to date known to be an Azilian site, is located in the rolling central region of Asturias, downstream of Las Caldas on a tributary of the Nalon.70 In almost every case, these sites, which are being or have recently been excavated, are located near other sites which have been dug in the past, and from which there are often some preserved artifact and faunal collections, useful for comparative purposes although recovered under less than ideal conditions.

Conclusions With detailed paleoenvironmental control, linked to

a Elne-grain radiocarbon chronology, and with concrete biological evidence of the seasonality of site occupations, it should be possible to reconstruct patterns of human adaptation in the Cantabrian setting during given ranges of time (i.e., stadial/interstadial phases, at least). With this degree of control, and through collection and analysis of artifacts and faunal remains, one can reasonably expect that observed differences in assemblages, gross site numbers and locations could be explained, perhaps in terms of environmental factors related to climatic changes, availability of specific categories of natural resources, or in terms of apparent changes in population density. Ideally occupations which took place in a variety of topographical/altitudinal circumstances could be studied conjunc- tively to delineate activity and/or seasonal poses of settlement subsistence systems characteristic of hunter-

69. J. Fernandez-Tresguerres, "Enterramiento Aziliense en la Cueva de Los Azules I," BIDEA 87 (1976) 273-88; "Azilian burial from Los Azules I, Asturias, Spain," CA 17 (1976) 769-70; "E1 Aziliense de la Cueva de Los Azules I,55 La Fin des Temps glaciaires en Europe (Bordeaux, in press).

70. E. Aguirre et al., '*Donnees recentes sur le milieu et l'occupation humaine au Wurm," Approche Ecologique de l'IIomme Fossile, ed., H. Laville and J. Renault-Miskovsky (Paris 1977) 117-19; J. Gomez Tabanera et al., "Premiere prospection de Cueva Oscura de Ania," Bulletin de la Socie'te' pre'historique de l'Ariege 30 (1975) 59-69.


de Excavaciones Arqueologicas, Direccion General del Patrimonio Artistico y Cultural, for concession of the La Riera excavation permits in 1976 and 1977. The assistance in the Eleld of Manuel R. Gon- zalez Morales, project co-director (Universidad de Oviedo), Barbara Stafford (Arizona State University), Steven Rosen (University of Chicago), Maria del Carmen Rapado de Straus (Universidad de Madrid), Joelle Hawes and Cathy Cameron (University of New Mex- ico), Jose-Luis Izquieta Etulain (Universidad de Valladolid), Maria del Carmen Marquez Uria (Universidad de Oviedo), and Shelly Davis-King (Cambridge University) is most gratefully acknowledged. Data supporting conclusions reached in this paper are deposited with the Museo Arqueologico Provincial (Oviedo).

This paper is Contribution No. 11 of the La Riera Paleoecological Project, directed by the authors and supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. BNS76-08382). Previous research by Clark and Straus in Cantabria has been funded in great part by National Science Foundation Fellowships and Doctoral Dissertation Grants, which are acknowledged with thanks.

Lawrence Guy Straus, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, has done archaeologicalfieldwork in the United States, France, and Spain. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1975, and is the author of numerous articles related to Upper Paleolithic adaptations in Cantabrian Spain.

Geoffrey A. Clark, an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology, A rizona State University, received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1971. He has also published extensively on Late/Post- Pleistocene Cantabrian paleoecology, and on applications of statistical techniques to archaeological research. Clark and Straus are at present co-directors of the La Riera Paleoecological Project, located in the province of Asturias, Spain (1976/8). The project is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

Prehistoric Investigations in Cantabrian Spain

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