Unai Perales Barrón

Castillejos de Montefrío (Granada) is an openair
site located on the South of the Iberian Peninsula. This
settlement is one of the most important sites to understand the
neolithization process and the development of first farming
societies for several millennia. In this paper we present the
results of the use-wear analyses made on a selection of the
flint blades (most of them without retouch) from the Early
Neolithic levels. Our purpose, through the Traceology, is to
recognize some activities developed in the settlement and
provide some information about the site function. The results
obtained show the importance of this kind of tools and reveal
some economical aspects of the first farmers communities
settled down in this region

In this work we present a study of a Neolithic mill from Atxoste (Álava, Basque Country). The settlement is a rock-shelter with long stratigraphy (about six meters): in the base we have identified a Magdalenian level, followed by several Mesolithic occupations and, finally, the Neolithic one.
Atxoste represents the most common type of settlement documented along the Ebro Valley in the early stages of the Holocene, revealing the general patterns of land occupation pursued by human communities in the North of the Iberian Peninsula.
The mill has been analyzed from a multidisciplinary perspective that includes morphological and cultural criteria. First of all, we are dealing with the morphological aspects; the large size and weight of the stone and his curved aspect indicate that it would be used as a mill for grinding vegetables (possibly cereals). According to the geological studies, the artefact was made on an exogenous sandstone coming from 20 Km away.
These data suggest a full control and exploitation of the land resources by the Neolithic communities and also, the need to incorporate these grinding tools into their production systems; probably because of the importance that domestic cereals have acquired in their diets.
Phytolith analyses (the first for the Neolithic of the Basque Country) support the processing of plants that are compatible with cereals (Graminiae). We have observed that both the grain and the straw of the cereals were brought to the settlement, (the straw probably for consumption for animals and/or preparation of the habitat). Furthermore, through the use-wear analysis we have recognised some macro and microscopic traces along the active surface of the mill, such as, striations, grain rounding and polishing and surface flattening. All these traces fit well with intense grinding activities.
Attending to the cultural aspects, we have revised the presence of this kind of instruments in the Mesolithic and Neolithic contexts along the Iberian Peninsula. Our research concludes that there is an evolution both in the morphology and size of these artefacts: while in the Mesolithic we find shorter mills related to the processing of wild plants, in the Neolithic we document larger stones normally used for grinding domestic cereals.

To conclude, we can assume that in the Mesolithic levels of Atxoste the diet of the human groups was based in the consumption of wild (animal and vegetal) resources. Nevertheless, in the Early Neolithic stages (dated on the last third of the sixth millennia BC) these communities introduced new resources in their economic base. Apart from the mill, in this level we have documented the presence of domestic animals (correspond to sheep/goat) and sickle blades for harvesting cereals. All these data indicate that agriculture and livestock were present in the Early Neolithic levels of Atxoste (and also in other contemporary sites), offering a more complex picture of the first Neolithic societies in this area.

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados de veinte años de análisis funcionales efectuados sobre materiales líticos tallados del Neolítico, procedentes de diversos yacimientos andaluces. Los datos se ofrecen con una perspectiva diacrónica, individualizando dos periodos: Neolítico Antiguo y Reciente. Con independencia de su situación geográfica y de la naturaleza específica de cada asentamiento, destaca la relativa homogeneidad de las actividades que se documentan en el periodo más antiguo, centradas fundamentalmente en la explotación de los recursos de origen animal, quizá por la importancia de las prácticas ganaderas. En la siguiente etapa se observa una mayor diversificación de los procesos de trabajo representados en las huellas de uso, así como la especialización de algunos sitios en ciertas actividades.

In this paper we present the results of twenty years of functional analysis carried out on lithic industries from Neolithic Andalusian sites. Data are presented from a diachronical perspective, individualizing two periods: Ancient and Recent Neolithic. Independently of their geographical situation and the specific nature of each settlement, we must stress the relative homogeneity of the activities documented in the ancient period. They are especially oriented to the exploitation of animal resources, perhaps because of the importance of livestock practices. In the following period the use-wear analysis shows a wider diversification of the working processes, together with the specialization of some sites in certain activities.