The reinterpretation of the Cova Negra archaeological and stratigraphical sequence and its implications in the understanding of the Middle Palaeolithic Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

This paper presents new data from the reinterpretation of the Cova Negra sequence from a chronological and stratigraphic perspective. The primary aim is to reorder the lithic industry from the excavations of the 1950s in light of the stratigraphic sequence, paying particular attention to raw materials, knapping methods and tools. The reconstruction, carried out from a taphonomic perspective, is specified in sectors B, C and F, and the archaeological levels and the included material are adjusted to the stratigraphic levels. Although the number of remains involved in the proposed chronology is reduced in relation to previous work, it is an arrangement that relies on a more precise chronostratigraphic framework. With these data, it is possible to discuss the techno-typological evolution of the site, initiated around the MIS 9 and which extends during a considerable portion of the Upper Pleistocene. In this sense, the data provided by Cova Negra offer the opportunity to examine the emergence of new technical strategies during a crucial period—the transition from the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic—and the development of the Middle Palaeolithic in the important geographical area of the Iberian Peninsula.