Conociendo la función del utillaje lítico tallado: veinticinco años de análisis traceológicos aplicados a contextos neolíticos del noreste de la Península Ibérica

This paper deals with the functionality of the flaked stone assemblages from several Neolithic sites of the NE of the Iberian Peninsula. The chronological framework ranges from the mid-6th to the mid-4th millennium cal. BCE, which corresponds to the Early and Middle Neolithic. This long period ranges from the arrival of the first farming communities in the Iberian Peninsula, around 5600-5500 cal. BCE, to 3600-3500 cal. BCE, two millennia later, when Neolithic communities had stably occupied most of the available territory, from the mountainous areas of the Pyrenees to the coastal areas of the Mediterranean. In this context, the NE of the Iberian Peninsula is one of the areas where a major number of use-wear analyses have been carried out, especially for what concerns the Neolithic period. This is mainly due to the interest shown by the directors of the excavations and by the Spanish use-wear specialists as well; both participated and cooperated in order to enlarge the number of contexts studied, making the NE of the Iberian Peninsula one of the areas of Europe with the largest number of ‘functional studies’. As a result, today we have a reliable picture of the type of lithic tools used by the first farming groups, how they were used, and which needs they were satisfying. The methodology employed for this type of analysis is today broadly shared by most use-wear specialists. A stereoscopic microscope is used together with a reflected-light microscope for the analysis of the archaeological specimens. Afterwards, the observed use-wear traces are compared with the traces from experimental tools. This study primarily made use of the tools preserved at the ‘Traceoteque’ of the Institución Milà y Fontanals of the CSIC of Barcelona. This paper presents the results obtained for the different types of analysed sites and the relative lithic assemblages. In this way, tools from different contexts are compared: open-air sites, caves and rock-shelters, pit-sites, burials, and mining sites. Such a diversity of contexts allowed for the exploration of the existence of recurrences and differences in the functionality of the lithic tools from one site to another. The results obtained have also provided information on some aspects related to the economic processes carried out at the different sites, caves, rock-shelters and open-air contexts. It has been possible to gain fresh data on the types of tasks carried out and their relative importance for each site, their relation with the geographical and environmental context and the natural resources available there. In addition, analysing tools recovered from burials – mainly individual inhumations – provided information on the relationships between the buried individuals and the working tools, in particular exploring the relationships between sex and age patterns and the types of tools deposited as goods. In conclusion, use-wear analysis allowed for the exploration of a variety of issues; from technical aspects related to the production and management of the lithic resources to social aspects related to the subsistence activities and the individuals that carried them out.