La Cuevona de Avín (Avín, Asturias, North Spain): A new Late Pleistocene site in the lower valley of the River Güeña. (October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Álvarez-Fernández, Esteban; Martín-Jarque, Sergio; Portero, Rodrigo; Vadillo Conesa, Margarita; Martínez-Villa, Alberto; Teresa Aparicio, Mª; Armenteros, Ildefonso; Cerezo-Fernández, Rosana; Domingo, Rafael; García-Ibaibarriaga, Naroa; Javier González, F.; Llorente, Laura; Rufà, Anna; Tarriño, Antonio; Uzquiano, Paloma; Pinto-Llona, Ana C.
• Is Part Of: Journal of archaeological science. Volume 45(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-10
• Subjects: Raw material -- Technology and use-wear analysis -- Subsistence strategies -- Late Pleistocene -- Cantabrian Spain; Archaeology -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Research -- Periodicals; 930.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103591
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2352-409X

Abstract

Highlights: Integral research about archaeological remains dated during the final Pleistocene. Final Magdalenian and Azilian occupations in a valley near the Picos de Europa. Subsistence strategies based fundamentally on hunting (above all, on red deer) Raw materials to make lithic tools with local and distant origin. Abstract: The archaeological investigations carried out in the last twenty years in the Lower Valley of the River Güeña (Asturias, central part of northern Spain) have documented different prehistoric sites, particularly with Middle and Upper Palaeolithic occupations. This paper presents the results of the archaeological excavation carried out in the cave of La Cuevona de Avín. From the systematic study of the biotic and abiotic remains, a total of three occupation phases (Phases 1 to 3) have been determined, dated in the Late Pleistocene. The lithic studies indicate the use of local raw materials (mainly quartzite), but also regional ones (different types of flint) in the whole sequence. Retouched implements are typologically representative only during the Upper Magdalenian (Phase II) and use-wear analysis indicates the manufacture and use of artefacts in situ during this phase. Archaeozoological studies reveal continuity in subsistence strategies throughout the sequence, noting specialization in red deer hunting during the Azilian (Phase I), and more diversified prey in the older phases.