THE PETROGRAPHIC CHARACTERIZATION OF CHERT ARTIFACTS FROM SOURCE TO SITE: RECONSTRUCTING LATE PLEISTOCENE-EARLY HOLOCENE HUNTER-GATHERER CULTURAL NETWORKS IN NORTHERN SPAIN

The currently accepted hypothesis regarding the cultural interaction of Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene hunter-gatherer groups in Northern Spain posits that because of high topography relief and the abundance of locally available subsistence resources pan-regional group interaction was at most an infrequent annual or seasonal event. While faunal evidence has helped to reinforce this hypothesis, very little research has been conducted to examine if the geographic location of utilized lithic resources also supports the view of limited cultural interaction. This paper will present the results of on going research into how the sourcing and characterization, petrographic and otherwise, of chert artifacts from four Magdalenian (17,000-11,000 BP) sites located in the Asón Valley of eastern Cantabria, Spain are being used to identify discrete or regional hunter-gatherer territories in order to test the hypothesis within and around Northern Spain.

A pilot study involving the geologic survey of the Asón Valley and surrounding eastern Cantabrian region was undertaken by the author, with assistance from Spanish geologists, to identify both primary outcrops and secondary deposits of chert raw materials. Samples from 18 identified chert sources were then compared using macroscopic techniques to a random sample of chert artifacts from one of the four examined Magdalenian sites (El Mirón). According to the preliminary macroscopic results, chert raw materials from sources located outside the Asón Valley have been consistently identified within the Magdalenian levels at El Mirón. These results, while still preliminary, indicate the possibility of frequent and not occasional cultural interaction and exchange between groups living in the Asón Valley and others from more distant geographic regions. Petrographic analysis will help to refine these conclusions through the further characterization and comparison of chert raw materials.