Taste for Color in Basque Land during the Paleolithic: New Approach for Description of Social Organization during the Gravettian

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Gravettian is a slice of human history that takes place during prehistory from 32 to 22 ka BP in Europe (from the Urals to the south of the Iberian Peninsula). This long period of our history was mostly built on lithic industries models with limited consideration for evidence of other technical and cultural practices, like coloring materials. Based on the selection of raw coloring materials during the Gravettian, we attempted to identify technical choice in graphic production as social distinction criteria for Gravettian human groups in Northern Spain (Basque Land). By using multiproxy methodology applied to raw coloring materials (earth pigments) found in four caves of the Lea Valley in the Basque Land, we identified specific selection (taste) in the diversity of materials available in the environment. These observations of specific taste for raw materials are not yet enough to propose a new view of social organization during the Gravettian, but it opens a new perspective in this field of research disconnected from the symbolic paradigm.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36692.0