Ground stone tools and spatial organization at the Mesolithic site of font del Ros (southeastern Pre-Pyrenees, Spain)

Abstract

Used cobbles (ground stone tools) help identify a range of tasks related to basic domestic activities associated with subsistence. Here, we combine techno-morphological analysis and the study of use-wear patterns with intra-site spatial analysis of tool distribution at the Font del Ros SG unit (southeastern Pre-Pyrenees, Spain). Successive occupations during the Boreal climatic phase characterize this site. We have identified areas that may correlate with specific activities that could represent internal diachronic events on surfaces with little vertical dispersion. In this approach, ground stone tools are key artifacts that define domestic activities usually considered as having little archeological visibility, and help identify activities undertaken across different parts of the site. Intra-site spatial patterns help us define the domestic aspect of Mesolithic hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula.