Abstract
To palliate the current scarcity of information about lithic raw materials in the Western Pyrenees during the Gravettian, the study of ten assemblages has explored the flint procurement patterns and economic organisation of the territory. The study was based on the macro- and microscopic analysis of the different lithic remains. A wide range of flint varieties were used, including some excellent rocks for knapping and others of poorer quality. This diversified catchment pattern was defined by the criteria of quality and suitability for reduction. Although procurement took place mostly at the primary outcrops, there is some evidence of limited acquisition in secondary deposits. Within the economic territory of the Western Pyrenees, divergences in the connections between the outcrops on one side of the mountains and the archaeological sites on the other may indicate different territorial or economic roles for each side. In general terms, the northern side may have been more residential with more stable habitation, while the southern side was linked with logistic tasks and more seasonal occupation. The economic connections between this territory and surrounding areas revealed by the lithic resources are the reflection of inter-group contacts and an economic mosaic imbricated with a cultural or symbolic one.
Highlights
The study of raw materials is currently the best window affording a glimpse of Palaeolithic economy and geography
In the Western Pyrenees, research on lithic raw materials has concentrated on flint, the main resource in the whole of the Upper Palaeolithic in this region
At all the sites flint was clearly the most In level VI (Fig. 6 and Online Resource 3), Flysch flint is by far the abundant lithic resource (Table 3)
Summary
The study of raw materials is currently the best window affording a glimpse of Palaeolithic economy and geography. The gradual progress in the characterisation of lithic resources during the last four decades has enabled studies that until could not have been addressed, such as procurement patterns (e.g. Tarriño 2000; Aubry et al 2004; Sauer 2016; Sánchez et al 2016; Gómez de Soler et al 2020) or the mobility and territoriality of Palaeolithic populations This research continued during the following decade and was complemented by the first petrographic, palaeontological and geochemical characterisation of siliceous rocks, in some cases as part of the studies determining the provenance of flint types in Palaeolithic sites (SéronieVivien 1994; Bon et al 1996; Tarriño and Aguirre 1997; Tarriño et al 1998; Normand 2002; Tarriño 2006). At the start of the present century, provenance studies became more widespread and systematic, as the necessary knowledge
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