Cultural continuities and discontinuities at the Neolithic transition in Eastern Iberia: an analysis of the morphometry of geometric microliths

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to explore possible cultural continuities and discontinuities at the Neolithic transition in Eastern Iberia. To address this issue we introduce a twofold methodology, consisting of Geometric Morphometrics and the use of the self-developed Geomeasure system, to examine evolutionary patterns in geometric microliths. These are a specific type of arrowhead shared by both the last huntergatherers and the first farmers from two reference sites in the region: Cueva de la Cocina and Cova de l'Or (Eastern Iberia). Although advances in research have contributed to a better comprehension of this process, there are still unanswered questions, especially when the study is approached from a regional perspective.Such is the case for the Neolithisation of the Eastern Iberian Peninsula, and the way in which the previous Mesolithic population interacted-if they interacted at all-with the first farmers. In this case, some sites present archaeological contexts that have been catalogued as acculturation contexts. This has traditionally been the case for phase C of Cueva de la Cocina (Spain), although recent research points to the possibility that the content of this specific deposit is to the result of post-depositional processes. Here we try first to understand the cultural evolutionary patterns and relations between the different geometric microlith technocomplexes and, second, to address the specific problem of the interpretation of taphonomic disturbances in the archaeological record. We use the the Cueva de l'Or and the Cueva de la Cocina for comparison, and our conclusions raise serious doubts about the existence of an acculturation phase at the latter.

The spread of agriculture in Iberia through Approximate Bayesian Computation and Neolithic projectile tools

“…The potential of stylistic traits for similarity and culture transmission analysis has been noted by several authors [ 49 – 51 ]. Although from the beginning of the Neolithic, some of the most significant studies focus on the variability of pottery (decoration patterns and/or shapes) and ornaments [ 17 , 52 – 54 ], the literature concerning stylistic lithic variation approaches, from an evolutionary perspective, also displays some promising works [ 15 , 48 , 55 – 57 ]. In our case we put the focus on geometric projectiles belonging to the first Neolithic, also able to reflect cultural variability.…”

“…Consequently, to look over evolutionary processes behind cultural variability at the times of the Neolithic expansion becomes a challenge for exploring patterns and processes in cultural change. In this paper we turn to geometric tools considering the potential exhibited by stylistic traits in order to account for cultural change [ 15 , 48 ].…”

New Methods for Old Questions: The Use of Elliptic Fourier Analysis for the Formal Study of Palaeolithic Art

“…With regard to material culture such as lithic, bone, metallurgical or ceramic industries, GMM provides information such as the chronology or functional character of the site where these artefacts are found (Martínez-Carrillo et al, 2010). This method has been incorporated in recent studies to compare lithic or ceramic assemblages from the same site (Hashemi et al, 2021;Wang & Marwick, 2020), examine taxonomic variability (Matzig et al, 2021;Méndez-Quintas, 2022;Serwatka, 2015;Vestergaard & Hoggard, 2019), analyse the diachronic evolution of artefacts (Cortell-Nicolau et al, 2020;Hoggard et al, 2019;Loftus, 2022) or better understand the manufacturing design, level of standardisation, degree of specialisation and possible uses for which they were employed (Birch & Martinón-Torres, 2019;Chacón et al, 2016;Timbrell et al, 2022).…”

Analysis of stratigraphical sequences at Cocina Cave (Spain) using rare earth elements geochemistry

“…Since then, Cocina Cave has been a key site to understand the evolutionary history of the last hunter-gatherers in Mediterranean Iberia, and the appearance and development of farming and pastoral practices. Archaeological studies consisted of Pericot's excavation (1941Pericot's excavation ( -1945 (Pericot 1945), Fortea's investigation (1974-1981 (Fortea et al 1987), and the recent campaigns (2015)(2016)(2017)(2018) by Garcı ´a-Puchol, McClure and Juan Cabanilles (Garcı ´a-Puchol et al 2015;2018b;Diez-Castillo et al 2017;Pardo-Gord ó et al 2018;Cortell-Nicolau et al 2020).…”