The geometric microliths of cueva de la cocina and their significance in the mesolithic of Eastern Iberia: A morphometric study

Abstract

This work presents the analysis of the geometric microliths of Cueva de la Cocina (València, Spain). It does so considering the hypothesis that, given the size of the cave's assemblage and its distinctive cultural markers, it could have acted as an aggregation site for the Late Mesolithic in the Mediterranean Iberia. The work presented here uses the cultural similarity of the geometric microliths of different sites to test this hypothesis, relying on several methodological techniques such as tactical simulation and geometric morphometrics, while offering proposals for the correction of data imbalance in archaeological data. As a conclusion, our data points to the fact that, for the last phase of the Late Mesolithic (phase B in the regional sequence) the site could have indeed acted as an aggregation site, but we require caution on the results of our analysis fundamentally on two grounds: (1) whether the cultural variation of the geometric microliths offers enough resolution for microscale analysis and (2) the necessity to combine this proxy with other types of archaeological artefacts which could give (or rest) strength to our hypothesis.