Cristina Gameiro

O faseamento do Magdalenense definido no Sudoeste francês, estabelecido com base na tipologia da indústria em osso, tem vindo a ser adotado em Portugal (Zilhão 1997, Bicho 1997, Gameiro 2012). Relativamente à transição do Pleistoceno para o Holoceno, tem-se considerado que, apesar da existência de pontas azilenses, a ausência de indústria óssea em território nacional, bem como a inicialmente defendida continuidade tecnológica entre o Magdalenense e o Azilense franco-cantábricos, torna impossível a caracterização de um período azilense (Zilhão 1997). O estudo das indústrias líticas de sítios do Baixo Côa (Fariseu, Cardina, Quinta da Barca Sul) e a continuação dos estudos em França e no norte da Península Ibérica conduziram ao abandono da perspectiva de continuidade tipo-tecnológica entre o Magdalenense e o Azilense. As mudanças tecnológicas das indústrias do Vale do Côa, bem como as convenções morfotécnicas e temáticas das representações artísticas a elas associados, aproximam-se do faseamento identificado na região franco-cantábrica entre o fim do Tardiglaciar e o início do Holoceno.

We present the results of the study of lithic raw materials used in Upper Palaeolithic occupations preserved in caves, rockshelters and open-air sites from two different geological environments in Portugal. For the sites located in the Lusitanian Basin, flint or silcrete sources are easily available in close vicinity. The Côa Valley sites, located in the Iberian Massif, are within a geological environment where restricted fine-grained vein quartz and siliceous metamorphic rocks are available, but no flint or silcrete, even though both are present in the archaeological assemblages. Data from the two clusters of sites are compared with a third newly located site in the Lower Vouga valley, at the limit of the Iberian Massif with the Lusitanian Basin, where quartz vein raw material types are locally available and flint is about 40 kilometres distant. This study reveals prehistoric adaptations to these different geological contexts, with shorter networks for the Lusitanian basin sites contrasting with the long distance ones for the Côa Valley, and the Vouga site at an intermediary position. Finally, we propose that lithic raw material supply networks, defined by a GIS least-cost algorithm, could be used as a proxy not only for territoriality in the case of local and regional lithic raw material sources, but also to infer long-distance social networks between different Palaeolithic human groups, created and maintained to promote the access to asymmetrically distributed resources.

The site of Cardina (Salto do Boi) was the first archaeological site with Paleolithic occupation identified in the Coa Valley. The identification showed that, unlike the generalized theory, the hinterland of the Iberian Peninsula was occupied during the Upper Paleolithic. The archaeological excavations carried out between 1996 and 2001 have come to attest a Paleolithic occupation sequence, with different phases between the Gravettian and the Azilian and identify a set of structures.
After 13 years, the site was again the subject of excavation work in two campaigns between May and October this year, under the Archaeological Multiannual Research Project “Chronology and paleoenvironments of Paleolithic occupation of the Coa Valley”. Its objectives were to extend the area of intervention in the site platform, complete the chronostratigraphic sequence of their occupation and better understanding of their spatial organization over time.
In this paper we present the preliminary results of the 2014 campaigns, especially the identification of new Gravettian and Magdalenian structures and remains of Middle Paleolithic occupations.

The Gruta da Oliveira is a Middle Paleolithic site discovered in 1989 in the framework of the speleo‑archeological exploration of the karstic system associated with the spring of the Almonda River. Removal of the thick brecciated rubble that sealed its collapsed entrance allowed excavation, between 1992 and 2012, of the underlying, ~9 m‑thick archeological stratification. Besides lithic assemblages in flint, quartz and quartzite totaling >25,000 objects, Neandertal skeletal remains, and hearth features, the deposit also yielded abundant microfaunal, faunal and wood charcoal remains. Dated to the ~35‑105 ka interval by Radiocarbon, Uranium‑Thorium and Thermoluminescence, the Gruta da Oliveira is a reference succession for the paleoenvironmental and paleoanthropological study of the Upper Pleistocene of Iberia.

The Gruta da Oliveira is a Middle Paleolithic site discovered in 1989 in the framework of the speleo-archaeological exploration of the karstic system associated with the spring of the Almonda River. Removal of the thick brecciated rubble that sealed its collapsed entrance allowed excavation, between 1992 and 2012, of the underlying, ~9m-thick archeological stratification. Besides lithic assemblages in flint, quartz and quartzite totaling >25,000 objects, Neandertal skeletal remains, and hearth features, the deposit also yielded abundant microfaunal, faunal and wood charcoal remains. Dated to the -35-105 ka interval by Radiocarbon, Uranium-Thorium and Thermoluminescence, the Gruta da Oliveira is a reference succession for the paleoenvironmental and paleoanthropological study of the Upper Pleistocene of Iberia.

Abstract
Archaeological excavations undertaken between 1997 and 2010 at Lapa dos Coelhos – a small cavity in the Almonda River karst system near Torres Novas, Portugal, indicated intermittent occupation by humans during the Upper Pleistocene. During the Magdalenian the site served as a specialized temporary camp, probably related to hunting and fishing activities. A ‘laurel leaf’ fragment suggests human occupation during the Solutrean. The Mousterian artefacts identified in the lowest layers may correspond to runoff from other galleries of the same karstic system. Interpretation of the faunal remains shows that during the earlier periods the site also served as a hyaena den. We also note an important increase of small animals, especially rabbits, during the Tardiglacial period which probably reflects the ‘Mesolithic Crisis’. The Capra was considerably larger than modern ibex from Andalucia and modern domestic goats. A difference that may reflect climate change at the end of the Pleistocene.

Resumo
Os trabalhos arqueológicos, empreendidos entre 1997 e 2010, nesta pequena cavidade do sistema cársico do rio Almonda (Torres Novas, Portugal), permitiram identificar a ocupação humana intermitente da cavidade durante o pleistocénico superior. Durante o Magdalenense o local terá funcionado como acampamento temporário especializado, provavelmente relacionado com apoio a actividades cinegéticas. A recolha de um fragmento de folha de loureiro documenta a ocupação humana do local durante o Solutrense. Os materiais líticos atribuíveis
ao Moustierense, podem corresponder a escorrências provenientes de outras galerias, do mesmo sistema cársico. O estudo da fauna permitiu concluir que durante os períodos mais antigos o sítio serviu, igualmente,
como covil de hiena e constatar o aumento de consumo de animais de pequeno porte, sobretudo coelho, durante o Tardiglaciar.