- Dr. Jesús F. Jordá Pardo
Laboratorio de Estudios Paleolíticos (L.E.P.)
Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología
Facultad de Geografía e Historia
Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia
Ciudad Universitaria
Paseo de la Senda del Rey, 7, planta 5ª, despacho 5.32
E - 28040 Madrid - Telephone: 91 398 8950
The cave of Coímbre contains an important archaeological deposit divided into two different zones, of which most of the excavations carried out to date have taken place in Zone B. Coímbre B displays a full and very interesting Magdalenian... more
The cave of Coímbre contains an important archaeological deposit divided into two different zones, of
which most of the excavations carried out to date have taken place in Zone B. Coímbre B displays a full
and very interesting Magdalenian sequence (with Lower, Middle and Upper Magdalenian levels), in
addition to a Gravettian layer. The excavations were performed from 2008 to 2012. The hunteregatherers
who lived in Coímbre in the Upper Palaeolithic made use of several adaptation strategies allowing them
to exploit all the abiotic and animal resources the environment afforded them. In this way, the faunal
assemblage includes remains of ibex and chamois, associated with the mountains and crags in the immediate
surroundings of the site, and also red deer, roe deer, aurochs and horses, indicating the
exploitation of the animal resources living in the Besnes valley, at the foot of Sierra del Cuera.
When the faunal remains in the Magdalenian levels, and those in the Gravettian layer, are analysed in
greater detail, significant differences indicate a differential use of the terrain. Thus, in the Gravettian, the
preferential hunting of aurochs and red deer suggests the valleys in the vicinity were exploited while
steeper and more mountainous areas were visited less. In contrast, in the Magdalenian, the most
common faunal remains belong to ibex, which was the most hunted species. Together with ibex, chamois
is also very common, whereas bovids are found in very small numbers in the Magdalenian levels. These
patterns reflect a change in the hunting behaviour of the occupants of the cave, in which the hunting of
valley resources was transformed into a more intensive use of animals in more rugged areas, such as ibex
and chamois. This paper presents the preliminary results of the study of Magdalenian occupations in
Coímbre, following the excavations in Zone B, one of the most important places of Magdalenian human
activities in Western Cantabria (northern Iberia).
which most of the excavations carried out to date have taken place in Zone B. Coímbre B displays a full
and very interesting Magdalenian sequence (with Lower, Middle and Upper Magdalenian levels), in
addition to a Gravettian layer. The excavations were performed from 2008 to 2012. The hunteregatherers
who lived in Coímbre in the Upper Palaeolithic made use of several adaptation strategies allowing them
to exploit all the abiotic and animal resources the environment afforded them. In this way, the faunal
assemblage includes remains of ibex and chamois, associated with the mountains and crags in the immediate
surroundings of the site, and also red deer, roe deer, aurochs and horses, indicating the
exploitation of the animal resources living in the Besnes valley, at the foot of Sierra del Cuera.
When the faunal remains in the Magdalenian levels, and those in the Gravettian layer, are analysed in
greater detail, significant differences indicate a differential use of the terrain. Thus, in the Gravettian, the
preferential hunting of aurochs and red deer suggests the valleys in the vicinity were exploited while
steeper and more mountainous areas were visited less. In contrast, in the Magdalenian, the most
common faunal remains belong to ibex, which was the most hunted species. Together with ibex, chamois
is also very common, whereas bovids are found in very small numbers in the Magdalenian levels. These
patterns reflect a change in the hunting behaviour of the occupants of the cave, in which the hunting of
valley resources was transformed into a more intensive use of animals in more rugged areas, such as ibex
and chamois. This paper presents the preliminary results of the study of Magdalenian occupations in
Coímbre, following the excavations in Zone B, one of the most important places of Magdalenian human
activities in Western Cantabria (northern Iberia).
