Evidence of a neanderthal-made quartz-based technology at Navalmaíllo Rockshelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid region, Spain)

Abstract

The present work describes a preliminary study of a primarily quartz-based Mousterian lithic assemblage deposited about 75,000 years ago by Neanderthals in Navalmaíllo rockshelter (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid, Spain). Although archaeological assemblages dominated by quartz are not common in the central Iberian Peninsula, they are more common in peripheral areas such as Catalonia and Galicia. As documented in other European sites, the abundance of quartz led to its becoming the main raw material used in tool-making in the area, even though it seems to be more diffi cult to knap than other, more homogeneous types of rock that fracture conchoidally. Moreover, the cores found at the Navalmaíllo site appear to have been intentionally worked to a very small size, a fi nding also reported for other European assemblages of similar age. The other raw materials found at the site include chert, quartzite, porphyry, rock crystal, and sandstone, all of which appear to have been worked in the same manner as the quartz. The scarcity or quality of raw materials is not the reason for this behavior.