Gathering in the dunes. Seeds and fruits from the Gravettian levels of Cova de les Cendres (Teulada-Moraira, Alicante, Spain)

Abstract

Plants were key elements of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer subsistence. However, because of methodological and preservation issues, little attention has been devoted to studying them. Nevertheless, new information has recently come to light on this topic. The Palaeolithic site of Cova de les Cendres (Teulada-Moraira, Alicante, Spain) has provided new archaeobotanical data about plant gathering during the Upper Palaeolithic, when different biotopes could have been exploited to obtain mineral, animal and plant raw materials and food. During the time of the Gravettian culture, the configuration of the environment was extremely different from the present environment. Based on the ecology of some of the documented taxa, we know that dune systems and ponds were developed near the coast, which may have been systematically visited by human groups. There, they could harvest fleshy fruits from Corema album, which could be used as food, Alkanna tinctoria, whose roots could provide dye, and leaves from Eleocharis sp., which could be used as raw material. The richness of the environment of Cova de les Cendres could explain the recurrent and intense occupations of the site.