The Selection of Lithic Raw Materials in the Lower and Middle Pleistocene Levels TD6 and TD10A of Gran Dolina (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2978985
AutoresCarolina Mallol (0000-0001-5143-4253, autor de correspondencia)
Año1999
Volumen55
Número3
Páginas385-407
Fecha de publicación1999-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Anthropological Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0091-7710 • E-ISSN: 2153-3806
EditorialUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/jar.55.3.3631392
OpenAlexW2312688292
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14

The study of hominid behavior as reflected in the selection, procurement, and management of lithic raw materials provides a reliable framework in which to study some of the traditions of particular Paleolithic communities. The raw materials composing the technological assemblages of levels TD6 (Late Lower Pleistocene) and TD10A (Late Middle Pleistocene) from the site of Gran Dolina (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos) were analyzed within this framework. The abundance and diversity of readily available raw materials in the immediate surroundings of the Sierra de Atapuerca sites have allowed the correspondence between technology and raw materials to be highlighted in both assemblages analyzed. Accordingly, the results obtained suggest that the hominids who occupied these two levels practiced different selection, procurement, and management behaviors with respect to the raw materials used for tool production. These differences are consistent with the technical systems identified in each level: TD6, containing a pre-Acheulean industry, exhibits a pattern of poorly standardized raw material selection, while TD10A, represented by a Middle Paleolithic industry, shows a highly standardized pattern of raw material selection and optimization. This study produced two main conclusions: (1) a correspondence between economic behavior and certain aspects of the technological tradition is documented at Gran Dolina and (2) cultural and biological factors may explain the diachronic technical changes documented at the Sierra de Atapuerca sites

Acheulean · Archaeology · Biology · Early Pleistocene · Geography · Lithic technology · Middle Paleolithic · Pleistocene · Procurement · Raw material · Selection (genetic algorithm · Upper Paleolithic · Archaeological and Geological Studies · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Computer Science · Ecology · Geology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology