Site and Assemblage Integrity for Middle and Upper Paleolithic Levels at Lapa do Picareiro, Portugal

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Central Portugal is a critical area of study for addressing the replacement of Neanderthals by Anatomically Modern Humans in Iberia. This paper presents new data on lithic refitting and assemblage integrity from Lapa do Picareiro, a cave in central Portugal containing punctuated levels of occupation within a continuous sequence of deposition spanning the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. These levels contain lithic and faunal remains recovered using high resolution spatial recording methods. The lithic assemblages from Levels JJ, FF, DD, and W, each contain a numbers of refits, allowing us to demonstrate their intact stratigraphic position and to conduct spatial analyses of lithic reduction and activity areas in the Early Upper and Late Middle Paleolithic. Using lithic refits as a measure of site and assemblage integrity, this paper highlights the importance of Lapa do Picareiro as a key site for the study of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in southern Iberia.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26232