Abstract
Abstract The excavations at “Cova del Randero” (Pedreguer, Alicante, Spain) began in 2007 within the programme of archaeological interventions of the Archaeological Museum of Alicante. The cavity, located in one of the valleys that connect the coast with the inland mountains, presents a wide sequence of occupations that begins in the Upper Palaeolithic and continues throughout the different phases of the Neolithic. The results of a multidisciplinary study, carried out in an archaeological context associated with the first Neolithic presence of the cavity, are presented here. This occupation is defined by a unique combustion structure to which a set of artefacts and biofacts are linked. This archaeological context, probably of a specific nature, is related to the first agro-pastoral communities settled in the area. The fireplace is well defined stratigraphically and sedimentologically because of its reddish soil, which corresponds to hunter-gatherer occupation levels of the cavity, and under the greyish sediments that characterise the use of the cave as a fold during the Middle Neolithic. This occupation event was dated both by the associated materials, among which a fragment of cardial ceramic was found, and by radiocarbon dating of a metacarpus of Ovis aries around 5075–4910 cal BC (epicardial Early Neolithic). This data allows us to link the occupation of the cavity at this time with pastoral activity in a medium mountain environment. However, it also allows us to infer the environmental characteristics in which the first farming communities of the mountains of Alicante were developed.
Highlights
The archaeological studies in the Cova del Randero began in 2007 and continue to this day
Consuelo Roca de Togores, Olga Gómez, and Elisa Domènech. This cave is exceptional in terms of understanding the Middle Neolithic when it was used as a cattle fold cave as it shows the combustion stains characteristic of livestock herding
It is possible to estimate the existence of an epicardial ascription, on the one hand, due to the radiocarbon dating that places this occupation between the sixth and fifth millennium BC and, on the other hand, due to the material remains, ceramics with decorations of impressed and incised tools and some small impressed cardial fragments
Summary
The archaeological studies in the Cova del Randero began in 2007 and continue to this day. Consuelo Roca de Togores, Olga Gómez, and Elisa Domènech This cave is exceptional in terms of understanding the Middle Neolithic when it was used as a cattle fold cave as it shows the combustion stains characteristic of livestock herding. In terms of material culture, the pottery with combed and sgraffito decoration stands out, which is characteristic of the second half of the fifth millennium BC Prior to this use, the cave shows occasional occupation dated to the Neolithic Epicardial defined by a combustion structure and the materials associated with it. It is possible to estimate the existence of an epicardial ascription, on the one hand, due to the radiocarbon dating that places this occupation between the sixth and fifth millennium BC and, on the other hand, due to the material remains, ceramics with decorations of impressed and incised tools and some small impressed cardial fragments This evidence allows us to speak of a possibly punctual occupation due to the small number of materials and associated structures
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