Abric Romani

The role of limestone into the Middle Palaeolithic lithic assemblages was considered “minor” and its use normally associated to percussion activities as hammerstones. In this paper we present the data obtained from the studies of: (1) procurement areas, (2) lithic technology and (3) refitting and spatial patterning analysis of the limestone assemblage from level O of the Abric Romaní site. The results obtained have been compared with the rest of archaeological remains of the archaeological level from an interdisciplinary point of view. So, these studies allow to corroborate that limestone role was very important and similar to chert (the mainly raw material used), but not only in the organization of the technological behaviours, but also in the other subsistence activities developed by the Neanderthal groups that occupied the site around 55 ka BP.

The most common prey of humans during the European Middle Palaeolithic was large and medium-sized
ungulates. In contrast, evidence of human processing of small animals and carnivores is very scarce in
this chronology. In Level O of the Abric Romaní site, dated to 55 ka, various evidence of human activity
has been identified in Cervus elaphus, Bos primigenius and Equus ferus, but also in Felis silvestris. The
present paper focuses on the specific case of this felid. The main aim is to explain the anthropogenic use
of the wildcat, taking into account actualistic and archaeological studies. An analysis is undertaken of
skeletal part representation, surface modifications (cutmarks), bone breakage pattern (one or both
epiphyses missing from certain limb bones) and the spatial dispersion of the remains (clustered and
unevenly distributed). The results indicate that all the remains belong to a nearly complete individual
that was processed and consumed by Neanderthals inside the rock shelter. This case is compared with
the other taxa identified in Level O, with other carnivores recovered from the Abric Romaní site and with
other sites with a similar chronology. It is suggested that Neanderthals had a more diverse diet and more
variable subsistence strategies than previously thought.

Several recent works have suggested that Neanderthal spatial behaviour may have been more complex
than previously thought. One of the archaeological sites that has contributed the most data on this issue
is the Abric Romaní (Capellades, Barcelona, Spain). This paper focuses on the study of Neanderthal activities
related to animal resources that took place in Level O of Abric Romaní, dated to around 55 ka. For
this study, all of the faunal remains recovered from the level (including fragments smaller than 2 cm)
have been analysed, with special attention paid to their distribution over the surface. Our study has two
main goals: firstly, to identify activity areas related to Neanderthal activities and, secondly, to evaluate
the information that small bone fragments, which are generally ignored, can provide. Among other results,
the methods applied during the course of the study have led to the identification of an accumulation
of calcined bones, possibly related to the complementary use of bones as fuel and/or the presence
of a systematic toss zone within a hearth. In addition, this work stresses the importance of examining the
small faunal remains recovered in archaeological sites, particularly when identifying human activity
areas or when assessing the intensity of human activities.

The reconstruction of human behavior is the main goal of Paleolithic
archaeology. To interpret archaeological assemblages and the activities associated
with them, a homogeneous and high resolution corpus of information is needed,
especially to place these assemblages and activities in time and space. The way to
achieve this is to use a variety of precise analytical methods in an interdisciplinary
approach. The objective of this chapter is to reconstruct Neanderthal subsistence
behaviors from a spatio-temporal perspective. The work focuses on obtaining more
detailed and precise data that allow us to study differentiated individual events of
activities (ethnographic time scale) performed at domestic activity areas. For this
purpose we propose combining the following: zooarchaeology, taphonomy, lithic
technology, raw material units, faunal and lithic refits, archaeostratigraphy, intra-site
spatial patterning and, for the first time, tooth wear analysis.
The selected archaeological sample comes from level O of the Abric Romaní site
(Barcelona, Spain) dated to around 55 ka. The fauna and lithic remains belong to the
domestic activity area O10. This area was identified through archeostratigraphic and
spatial analyses. The results allowed us to document the functionality of this domestic
area and to distinguish the temporal formation of the archaeological assemblage
and the subsistence activities performed there. Two micro-levels, separated by a thin
sterile layer, were identified in the central zone. Some data suggest synchronicity
between most of the remains inside this activity area, and also between some
remains from this area and other activity areas of level O. However, other aspects
show diachronic moments of activity. Our results permit us (1) to distinguish specific
moments of the occupation in a clearly defined area and (2) to improve the interpretation
of the palimpsests.

Practically all archeological assemblages are palimpsests.
In spite of the high temporal resolution of Abric
Romaní site, level O, dated to around 55 ka, is not an exception.Thispaperfocusesonazooarcheologicalandtaphonomicanalysisofthislevel,payingspecialattentiontospatialand
temporalapproaches.Themaingoalistounravelthepalimpsestatthefinestpossiblelevelbyusingdifferentmethodsand
techniques, such as archeostratigraphy, anatomical and taxonomical
identification, taphonomic analysis, faunal refits and
tooth wear analysis. The results obtained are compared to
ethnoarcheological data so as to interpret site structure. In
addition,activitiescarriedoutoverdifferenttimespans(from
individual episodes to long-term behaviors) are detected, and
their spatial extent is explored, allowing to do inferences on
settlementdynamics.Thisleadsustodiscussthetemporaland
spatial scales over which Neanderthals carried out different
activitieswithinthesite,andhowtheycanbestudiedthrough
the archeological record.

RÉSUMÉ

L’Abric Romaní est l’un des sites archéologiques les plus importants du début du Pléistocène supérieur de la Péninsule Ibérique, avec des niveaux archéologiques appartenant au Paléolithique moyen et un des niveaux Aurignaciens le plus ancien de l’Europe occidentale. Les lignes de recherche ont été centrées sur l’interprétation des schémas de gestion et de consommation des ressources naturelles et de la répartition spatiale des activités réalisées à l’intérieur du site. Pour ce faire, il est apparu nécessaire de réaliser des fouilles systématiques sur toute la surface de chaque niveau archéologique. Les résultats de presque vingt cinq ans de fouilles modernes ont permis de conclure que les groupes de Néandertaliens ont organisé leurs occupations dans le site sous la forme de zones domestiques autour de foyers. En fonction de l’intensité de l’occupation mise en relation avec la durée des occupations et avec le nombre d’individus que les formaient, ces zones domestiques de base ont évolué, ce qui représente la marge de variabilité des impacts spatiaux des occupations néandertaliennes dans le site. De la même manière, la gestion des ressources lithiques et faunistique permet d’appréhender sa variabilité en rapport avec l’intensité des occupations à partir des modèles techniques très clairs de la production lithique et de la capture, introduction et traitement des gibiers. Cette variabilité reposant sur des comportements humains bien établis s’interprète comme les moyens d’adaptation nécessaires des ces groupes humains aux situations historiques et paléoenvironnementales changeants.

Mots-clès : Abric Romaní, néandertaliens, comportements humains, industrie lithique, faune, remontages, tracéologie, répartition spatiale.

ABSTRACT

The Abric Romaní is one of the most important Upper Pleistocene sequence of the Iberian Peninsula, with archaeological levels belonging to the Middle Paleolithic and with one of the earliest Aurignacian samples from Western Europe. Research has been focused on the interpretation of patterns of manage and consume of natural resources and the spatial organization of the activities inside the site, and for that reason, the fieldwork strategy is lead to excavate the whole surface of the site. The results of more than 25 years of research on the Abric Romani conclude that Neanderthal communities settled in the site forming domestic groups around hearths. Depending on the intensity of occupation, related to the length of occupation and with the number of people of these groups, this spatial domestic structure evolves forming the variability spectrum of settlement impacts in the site. In the same way, the manage of lithic and faunal resources increases its variability following the intensity of occupation, using clears technical patterns of lithic production and for catching and processing faunal preys. This variability from behaviors well established is interpreted like the way for adapting new historical and environmental situations.

Key words : Abric Romaní, Neanderthals, human behaviours, lithic industry, faunal remains, refitting, micro-wear analysis, spatial organization.

Because its stratigraphic sequence covers more than 30,000 years of human occupation, the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abric Romaní (Capellades, Spain) provides crucial information to reconstruct Neanderthal behaviours in southern Europe.
In this paper we present evidence of the technological behaviours of the Neanderthals groups that settled at level M and O, dated between 51 and 55 ka BP (Bischoff et al. 1988; Vallverdú et al. 2012). The study focuses on reconstructing knapping processes through the results of core reduction sequences and chert procurement and management strategies. These lithic assemblages were chosen because they belong to two of the richest archaeological levels in the sequence. The predominant use of chert was identified in both levels, although significant variations in procurement patterns and the use of different knapping strategies were documented.
The results provide insight into the variability of Middle Palaeolithic lithic assemblages, the possible reasons for that variability and its connection with chert procurement strategies and territorial management.