Lithic Adaptive Strategies of Early Modern Humans in Southwestern Iberia: New Data from Vale Boi’s Layer 7 and 8

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The arrival of modern humans in Iberia is a continuously debated topic, especially when it comes to its southernmost regions due to the evidence of late Neanderthal occupations. In Southwestern Iberia, there is evidence for the presence of both groups in the late Pleistocene. Although the exact moment of replacement is still unclear due to the lack of absolute dating in most sites. In order to better understand this replacement it is imperative to understand the adaptive strategies of both groups just prior and after the arrival of modern humans. For this poster we present new data on the lithic reduction strategies from the recently excavated layers 7 and 8 from the Upper Paleolithic site of Vale Boi. This occupation currently comprises the earliest modern human occupation in the region. Our results show that modern humans at the site were strategically exploring local raw materials through a mix of free-hand and bipolar reduction. In addition, scaled pieces were used as wedges for working hard organic materials. This combination of techniques provided a safe adaptive strategy for maximizing the resources available to these groups.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33602