The coexistence of cultural identities and their interaction is a fundamental topic of social sciences that is not easily addressed in prehistory. Differences in mortuary treatment can help approach this issue. Here, we present a multi-isotope study to track both diet and mobility through the life histories of 32 broadly coeval Late Neolithic individuals interred in caves and in megalithic graves of a restricted region of northern Iberia. The results show significant differences in infant- and child-rearing practices, in subsistence strategies, and in landscape use between burial locations. From this, we posit that the presence of communities with distinct lifestyles and cultural backgrounds is a primary reason for Late Neolithic variability in burial location in Western Europe and provides evidence of an early “them and us” scenario. We argue that this differentiation could have played a role in the building of lasting structures of socioeconomic inequality and, occasionally, violent conflict.

Studies on lithic resource management-mainly flint-by prehistoric groups south of the western Pyrenees have significantly increased during the past decades. These studies usually focus on identifying outcrops and characterising the different varieties found at archaeological sites. However, the understanding of mobility and territorial management patterns based on raw materials is still very limited and has only been tackled in terms of lineal distance. This paper proposes a methodological approach for the territorial analysis of flint distribution with the three following aims: 1) to determine the expansion ranges of each variety of flint from its outcrop; 2) to spatially relate these outcrops with archaeological sites; and 3) to improve our knowledge on the catchment strategies of Upper Palaeolithic groups. The methodological tool chosen to fulfil these objectives is the Geographic Information System (GIS), because it allows to relate spatially the flint outcrops and flint varieties identified at archaeological sites based on: 1) isocost maps showing the cost of expansion for each variety of flint across the territory built on topography; 2) the quantification of the cost of expansion using Cost Units (CU); and 3) the relationship between the percentage of each variety of flint at each archaeological site and the cost of accessing its outcrop. In order to demonstrate that cost is a powerful way to relate spatially raw material distribution and archaeological sites with outcrops, we contrasted its results with the ones obtained by more classic means (Euclidean distance and distance across the most optimal route). It was therefore shown that cost is better at explaining the spatial relationship between flint outcrops and archaeological sites, which, in turn, provides new data on catchment strategies, mobility patterns and territorial management of Upper Palaeolithic groups.

It is proposed that San Juan ante Portam Latinam was used as burial place for the mainly adolescent and adult male dead of a particular or multiple violent engagements (e.g., battles), while previously or subsequently seeing use for attritional burial by other members of one or more surrounding communities dead over the course of a few generations. The overall bias towards males, particularly to the extent that many may represent conflict mortality, has implications for the structure of the surviving community, the members of which may have experienced increased vulnerability in the face of neighboring aggressors.

RESUMENLos estudios referentes a la gestión de los recursos líticos -especialmente el sílex-por parte de los grupos prehistóricos en las dos vertientes del Pirineo occidental han aumentado de manera considerable en las últimas décadas. En este trabajo, pretendemos realizar una aproximación a la movilidad de los grupos superopaleolíticos, mediante los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG). Estos nos permiten relacionar espacialmente los afloramientos de sílex y los restos líticos encontrados en los yacimientos arqueológicos. Para ello, hemos construido, a través de los Cost Distance Analysis, una serie de mapas que permiten detectar las dinámicas de expansión de cada uno de afloramientos, así como los patrones de aprovisionamiento de cada yacimiento. Adicionalmente, hemos relacionado los valores numéricos obtenidos del análisis espacial con la cantidad de sílex encontrado en cada nivel arqueológico a partir de estadística descriptiva y la aplicación de la lógica difusa. De esta forma hemos podido revisar los conceptos de autoctonía y aloctonía, así como plantear modelos generales de aprovisionamiento y distribución de sílex en la región. LABURPENAMendebaldeko Pirinioen bi isurialdeetan historiaurreko taldeek baliabide litikoen -batez ere silexa-inguruan eginiko kudeaketari buruzko azterlanak asko ugaritu dira azken hamarkadetan. Lan honetan, hurbiltze bat egin nahi diogu talde superopaleolitikoen mugikortasunari, Informazio Geografikoko Sistemen (GIS) bidez. Hala, espazioa kontuan hartuta lotu ditzakegu aztarnategi arkeologikoetan aurkitutako silexaren eta hondakin litikoen azaleratzeak. Horretarako, Cost Distance Analysis direlakoen bidez, zenbait mapa eraiki ditugu eta horiei esker, azaleratze bakoitzaren hedatze-dinamikak detektatu ditugu. Aztarnategi bakoitzaren hornitze-ereduak ere eraiki ditugu. Horrez gain, azterketa espazialaren emaitza gisa eskuratu ditugun zenbakizko balioak maila arkeologiko bakoitzean aurkitutako silex kantitatearekin lotu ditugu deskribapenezko estatistikatik abiatuta eta logika lausoa aplikatuta. Hala, autoktonia eta aloktonia kontzeptuak berraztertu ahal izan ditugu eta aipatutako eremuko hornitze-eredu orokorrak eta silexaren banaketa planteatu ditugu.

Multi-isotope analyses on diverse body tissues can offer valuable information on individual life-histories at different temporal resolutions. Here, we reconstruct the diet and mobility of a Late Mesolithic (ca. 5500 cal. BC) young woman buried in Aizpea rockshelter (Navarre, north-central Iberia). To this end, we combine δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotope analyses of bone collagen, together with sequential δ 13 C and δ 15 N isotope analyses of tooth dentine and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr analysis of tooth enamel from the permanent maxillary right second molar. We also present results of bone collagen measurements for a wide range of coeval faunal remains, including terrestrial ungulates, freshwater fish and birds, and plant remains (i.e. carbonized pome fruits and hazelnut shells) to characterize baseline isotopic signatures. Results suggest a broadspectrum diet with a relatively high and stable protein intake during early childhood and significant changes in diet during late childhood, including two marked dips in δ 15 N at 8.5 and 11.5 years old, and a progressive decrease in δ 13 C and δ 15 N from adolescence onwards. The dips may relate to metabolic processes related to growth or, more probably, to age-related subsistence practices, particularly supplementation by children of the parentally provisioned diet, while the sustained drop in isotope values may be associated with a progressively higher dietary contribution from plants that extends into adulthood. Strontium isotope data supports relatively restricted mobility from age 2.5 to 8 (i.e. the approximate time-span covered by enamel formation in the permanent maxillary second molar), consistent with the high degree of territoriality attributed to the last hunters-gatherers in northern Iberia.