Subsistence strategies of Gravettian hunter–gatherers in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula: the case of level E of Arbreda Cave (Serinyà)

Abstract

The Gravettian covers a long period characterised by widely fluctuating climatic conditions that led to a diversity of subsistence strategies, which extended from the Iberian Atlantic coast to Siberia. Within this vast area, the northeast of Iberia acted as a transitional territory, between steppe–tundra in the northern regions and Iberian wooded steppe to the south. Owing to the small number of studies, subsistence during the Gravettian period in this region is not as yet well known. The Arbreda Cave site (Serinya) preserves the largest and most detailed Palaeolithic stratigraphy of the Reclau Cave complex, providing the most accurate information about the changes that occurred from the Early Upper Pleistocene to the Holocene in the northeast Iberian Peninsula. Presented here is a detailed archaeozoological and taphonomic study of Iberian Middle Gravettian level E (c. 26–25 kyr 14C BP). Allowing for the possibility that density-mediated biases and post-burial bone attrition may have influenced the study, it appears to confirm that the rich faunal assemblage recovered at this level was primarily due to anthropogenic activities. On the contrary, the slight evidence of carnivore activity mainly consists of small prey. The archaeozoological analysis suggests selective hunting focused almost entirely on familial groups of horses and red deer among ungulates and rabbits among small prey. The taphonomic study points to extensive animal exploitation-butchery activities, marrow extraction and use of bone as fuel and raw material to make “less-elaborated” tools. Hunter–gatherer communities made seasonal use of the cave as a temporary residential camp site, preferably between spring and autumn. Upper Palaeolithic horse-dominated macrofaunal assemblages are rare in the Iberian Peninsula, being found only in the Cantabrian and Catalonia regions. In contrast to what is observed in southern Mediterranean areas, the higher percentage of horses in relation to red deer in Arbreda Cave may indicate colder conditions for this area located close to the expanse of the steppe–tundra biome.