Abstract
The Miño River is one of the main Atlantic basins of Iberia and preserves extensive Pleistocene deposits. However, there is presently limited information concerning the first human occupation history of this region. Existing research undertaken across the region has identified a significant number of Large Flake Acheulean (LFA) sites with African affinities. These sites are associated with former fluvial environments and are now preserved as a sequence of fluvial terraces along the Miño River, located between relative elevations of + 40 m and + 20 m, and dated to between Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 9 and 6. The chronological range and observed technological patterns are similar to those recognised in other areas of South western Europe, particularly the central Iberian Peninsula and Aquitanian region (France) during the second half of the Middle Pleistocene.
Highlights
The Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula has been a region of limited research regarding early human occupation dynamics
Recent and ongoing research being carried out in the Miño River basin has shown that the area has great potential for the study of cultural processes during the second half of the Middle Pleistocene
This is an unexpected revelation, considering that the prevailing opinion of the 20th century focused on the area having a scarce and problematic archaeological record and in the absence of fossil remains
Summary
The Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula has been a region of limited research regarding early human occupation dynamics. This situation has changed, with the discovery of numerous Lower Palaeolithic sites in stratigraphic position, the establishment of reliable dating frameworks, and more detailed examination of typical tool assemblages (Cunha Ribeiro et al 2017; Vaquero et al 2017; Méndez-Quintas et al 2018a; Méndez-Quintas et al 2019) In this context, the largest volume of new archaeological data comes from the main regional river basin (Miño River), which preserves numerous Large Flake Acheulean (LFA) (Sharon 2006) assemblages. In cases where stratigraphic relationships have been established, the tools are generally associated with the coarse facies (massive levels of gravel and cobbles with poor sorting) that fill these small valleys These sites preserve extensive collections of LFA tools, made mostly on quartzite that has been imported from the Miño basin (for sites such as Chan do Cereixo, the quartzites have been transported over relatively long distances of c.12 km) or on local raw materials such as quartz. Flake tools are of non-standardised types and include some regular shaped LCTs (mainly handaxes and flake cleavers), usually finalised with the use of soft hammers (Méndez Quintas et al 2018c, 2019) (Fig. 9B-E)
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