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This article discusses the objectives of the Stone Age Man in Caves of the Tatra Mountains project, which aims to explain the mysterious absence of evidence for the Palaeolithic in the Tatra Mountains of Eastern Europe. We present preliminary work from Hučivá Cave, which demonstrates clear traces of Magdalenian settlement within this region.

The endokarst landscape is the result of long erosion and sedimentation processes that have modelled an environment in which capricious forms abound. Despite being a hostile environment for human life, these caves must have attracted the attention of human groups from as early as the Palaeolithic. It is striking that many examples of rock art appear to be closely symbiotic with their natural support; nevertheless, it is difficult to confirm any relationship in the distribution of the decorated spaces, based on their morphology. Moreover, if we start from the hypothesis?widely accepted, but not demonstrated?that Palaeolithic cave art is a system of visual communication, the visibility of the art or the number of people who could be accommodated in the decorated sectors should be determining factors. In order to avoid making subjective appraisals when analysing these factors, we have designed a Python script with a workflow to work directly with 3D models of caverns using GISs, which can be easily replicated and edited by other researchers. Application of this script in the Magdalenian caves of Atxurra, Santimamine and Altxerri (Northern Spain) has allowed us to compare them accurately based on their visibility features. This has shown that in some cases, there may have been prior planning to enhance the visibility of some figures. In all cases, the groups of figures are located in deep and hidden parts of the caves, usually in sectors with limited capacity to accommodate people, which would be consistent with a system of restricted communication. Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This research was made within the project PID2019-107262GB-100 “Before art: social investment in symbolic expressions during the Upper Palaeolithic in the Iberian Peninsula” (PI Diego Garate) funded by MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033 (Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities); the four-year multidisciplinary study project (2016–2020) “Study of rock art in Atxurra cave” led by Dr Diego Garate and funded by the Cultural Heritage Service of the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia; the two-year research project 021-KOI-2020 “Kobabes: kobazuloen dinamika eta labar artearen babesa” (PI Diego Garate), funded by Department of Culture and Linguist Politics of the Basque Government and the project “Ilunpetako sekretuak argiztatzen” (PI Iñaki Intxaurbe) funded with the grant “Barandiaran 2022” by the Jose Miguel de Barandiaran Foundation. I. Intxaurbe’s PhD research is funded by the grant PIF 19/196 (2019) at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). M.A. Medina-Alcaide has a Fyssen Foundation postdoctoral fellowship.

El Juyo is one of the Cantabrian sites of Iberia known from long ago for its important Lower Magdalenian sequence. The present study reports the results of the zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the avian remains recovered at the site, which complements the archaeological and palaeoecological data already avail-able. The remains recovered are limited, but they seem to indicate that humans were the main accumulating agent in the site, with sporadic presence of owls' activity. Additionally, humans could have used birds for other purposes than as a dietary resource, as suggested by cut marks observed on two wing bones. PID2019-103987 GB-C31 PID2020-114462 GB-I00 PID2019-104949 GB-I00 RYC2019-026386-I CLT009/18/00054 CLT009/18/00053 CLT009/18/00055 2017SGR836 CEX2019-000945M info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Interpretations of the European Upper Paleolithic archaeological record have long relied on concepts of past populations. In particular, cultural taxonomic units-which are used as a framework for describing the archaeological record-are commonly equated with past populations. However, our cultural taxonomy is highly historically contingent, and does not necessarily accurately reflect variation in the archaeological record. Furthermore, we lack a secure theoretical basis for the inference of populations from taxonomic units. In order to move past these problems and satisfactorily address questions of Upper Paleolithic populations, we need to entirely revise our approach to chronocultural framework building.Here, I outline a specific way of describing the archaeological record that deliberately avoids the use of cultural taxonomic units and instead concentrates on individual features of material culture. This approach may provide a more appropriate basis for the archaeological study of Upper Paleolithic populations and for comparison with genetic data.

El Mirón is an important archaeological cave site in Cantabria (Spain) with a stratigraphy covering the late Middle Paleolithic to the Modern Period. The Magdalenian levels are especially rich in artifacts, faunal remains, and features, and included the burial of an adult female (“the Red Lady”), as well as other scattered human remains, while the Neolithic levels contained the oldest combined evidence of ceramics, domesticated grain and livestock in the region. However, in the absence of diagnostic artifacts in many levels that would always provide a traditional cultural chronology, radiocarbon dating has been essential in understanding the temporal framework for human activity at the site. Over the duration of more than two decades, the El Mirón Project has therefore obtained 93 radiocarbon dates, which cover the entire stratigraphic record as found in several different excavation areas. In light of the considerable methodological advances that radiocarbon dating has seen since 1996 we aim to evaluate the reliability of the published 14C record for El Mirón Cave, and to improve the accuracy of the radiocarbon based chronostratigraphy through Bayesian modeling. The results shed light on which dates may be used for future research and where dating discrepancies reflect taphonomic processes, thereby advancing intra-site and regional archaeological comparisons.

espanolLa cavidad de Aizkoltxo se encuentra junto a la orilla del rio Deba, proxima a otras cavidades con ocupaciones del Magdaleniense Superior-Final (Agarre, Ermittia, Praileaitz I y Urtiaga). A consecuencia de la actividad de furtivos se decidio realizar un sondeo para evaluar la estratigrafia del yacimiento y contextualizar los restos recuperados. En el curso de dichos trabajos se identifico un nivel atribuible al Magdaleniense Superior-Final, cuyo proceso de formacion es poco habitual. En el, ademas de una abundante industria litica y osea datada en 14864-14160 cal BP se localizo el baston que describimos, que conserva al menos cuatro perforaciones y que esta profusamente decorado con motivos figurativos (un ciervo en vision frontal, y dos astas de ciervo ademas de dos equidos o, quizas, leporidos) y signos (trazos simples, ahusados, Vs embutidas, Vs paralelas, etc.). Este excepcional objeto, junto a otros frecuentemente senalados, corrobora la estrecha relacion de los yacimientos de la Cornisa Cantabrica con los del Golfo de Bizkaia, Pirineo Occidental y Central. EnglishThe cave of Aizkoltxo is located beside the river Deba, close to other caves with Upper-Late Magdalenian occupation (Agarre, Ermittia, Praileaitz I and Urtiaga). Due to the activities of looters, an archaeological survey was carried out to evaluate the site’s stratigraphy and to contextualise the recovered materials. During these works, a level that had an uncommon formation process and could be attributed to Upper-Late Magdalenian was identified. In this level, along abundant lithics and osseous artefacts dated between 14864-14160 cal BP, a baton perce was recovered. It has at least four perforations and it is profusely decorated with figurative motifs (a frontal view red deer, two red deer antlers, two equids or, perhaps, leporids) and signs (simple marks, converging lines, multiple embedded and parallel chevrons, etc.). This exceptional object, along with other similar ones, corroborates the tight relation of the sites of the Cantabrian region with sites of the Bay of Biscay and the Central and Occidental Pyrenees.

Résumé. Découvert en 1894, « l’Homme des Hoteaux » est l’une des rares sépultures du Paléolithique supérieur connues depuis la fin du xixe siècle. Dès sa découverte, elle suscita débats et polémiques entre chercheurs et ne cessa d’agiter le spectre des ambiguïtés quant à son exhumation et son attribution à l’« âge du Renne ». Tombé dans l’oubli et victime d’une histoire mouvementée, le crâne et la mandibule ayant disparu lors d’une exposition, ce document fait l’objet d’un réexamen de l’état de conservation du squelette, de l’âge au décès et du type de sépulture ainsi que d’une réévaluation de l’attribution chronoculturelle à travers l’analyse des composantes archéologiques entourant le squelette, et d’une datation 14Cen SMA obtenue récemment sur un fragment de côte humaine. Cette datation (12410 ± 50 BP/OxA-31474) exclut l’association classiquement admise du défunt avec un bâton percé en bois de renne daté en 2000 (12830 ± 75 BP/LYON-1132). Elle interroge de ce fait une stricte attribution au Magdalénien supérieur d’autant plus que la révision chronologique et typo-technologique de l’industrie lithique et osseuse soulève l’hypothèse d’une appartenance à l’Azilien ancien. Abstract. The sepulture of Les Hoteaux, discovered in 1894 is one of the first examples of Upper Palaeolithic burials. It has always provoked debate and polemic between researchers as to its exhumation and the chronocultural attribution to the “reindeer age”. Victim of a turbulent history, the skull and the mandible disappeared during an exhibition, this document emerges today from a lengthy hiatus. This fossil is the subject of a re-examination of the state of preservation of the skeleton, the age at death and the type of burial as well as a re-evaluation of the chronocultural attribution through the analysis of the archaeological components surrounding the skeleton and a recent 14C AMS dating on a fragment of a human rib. It is a primary grave of an adolescent. It is dating (12410 ± 50 BP/OxA-31474) excludes the classically accepted association of the skeleton with a perforated baton dated in 2000 (12830 ± 75 BP/LYON-1132). Also, a strict attribution to the upper Magdalenian is questioned because the chronological and typo-technological revision of the lithic and bone industry highlight the hypothesis of an affiliation to the early Azilian.

Résumé. Découvert en 1894, « l’Homme des Hoteaux » est l’une des rares sépultures du Paléolithique supérieur connues depuis la fin du xixe siècle. Dès sa découverte, elle suscita débats et polémiques entre chercheurs et ne cessa d’agiter le spectre des ambiguïtés quant à son exhumation et son attribution à l’« âge du Renne ». Tombé dans l’oubli et victime d’une histoire mouvementée, le crâne et la mandibule ayant disparu lors d’une exposition, ce document fait l’objet d’un réexamen de l’état de conservation du squelette, de l’âge au décès et du type de sépulture ainsi que d’une réévaluation de l’attribution chronoculturelle à travers l’analyse des composantes archéologiques entourant le squelette, et d’une datation 14Cen SMA obtenue récemment sur un fragment de côte humaine. Cette datation (12410 ± 50 BP/OxA-31474) exclut l’association classiquement admise du défunt avec un bâton percé en bois de renne daté en 2000 (12830 ± 75 BP/LYON-1132). Elle interroge de ce fait une stricte attribution au Magdalénien supérieur d’autant plus que la révision chronologique et typo-technologique de l’industrie lithique et osseuse soulève l’hypothèse d’une appartenance à l’Azilien ancien. Abstract. The sepulture of Les Hoteaux, discovered in 1894 is one of the first examples of Upper Palaeolithic burials. It has always provoked debate and polemic between researchers as to its exhumation and the chronocultural attribution to the “reindeer age”. Victim of a turbulent history, the skull and the mandible disappeared during an exhibition, this document emerges today from a lengthy hiatus. This fossil is the subject of a re-examination of the state of preservation of the skeleton, the age at death and the type of burial as well as a re-evaluation of the chronocultural attribution through the analysis of the archaeological components surrounding the skeleton and a recent 14C AMS dating on a fragment of a human rib. It is a primary grave of an adolescent. It is dating (12410 ± 50 BP/OxA-31474) excludes the classically accepted association of the skeleton with a perforated baton dated in 2000 (12830 ± 75 BP/LYON-1132). Also, a strict attribution to the upper Magdalenian is questioned because the chronological and typo-technological revision of the lithic and bone industry highlight the hypothesis of an affiliation to the early Azilian.

The lithic assemblage studied here comes from the space known as the ' Area de Estancia in Tito Bustillo Cave (Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain), a representative Magdalenian site. The remains were found in Sub-level 1c2 in the Lower Complex (1LC), which was excavated by J.A. Moure Romanillo from 1981 to 1983 and is associated with abundant evidence of osseous industry, fauna, portable art, etc. The present study is especially innovative because it introduces a holistic approach to the understanding of the management of lithic resources by hunter -gatherer groups in the late Pleistocene. It establishes the two main groups of raw materials in the assemblage (flint and quartzite) and the different types through a petrographic description, and the different procurement strategies that were employed. Some preliminary results about the functionality of these tools are also offered. The occupants of this cave during the Greenland Stadial 2 traced a diversified and complex dynamic of exploitation of lithic resources that combined both the most immediate, easily available and in greater volume (for example, quartzite and Pilon similar to a flint), and the most distant, of good knapping quality (Flysch flint, funda-mentally). This circulation of raw materials is parallel to the patterns detected in other deposits in the region with a similar chronology. Significant differences are observed in the knapping schemes between raw materials based on the production of blanks for the manufacture of tools, whose typological classification and analysis of use-wear makes us propose a specialized and little diversified functionality, which is usually related to that of temporary occupations. This research was undertaken in the context of Ph.D. scholarship Junta de Castilla y León and Fondo Social Europeo (S. Martín-Jarque), and of the Spanish projects PID2020-114462 GB-100 and PID2020-118359 GB-I00 both funded by the Programa Estatal de Fomento de Generación de Conocimiento y Fortalecimiento Científico y Tecnológico, of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. A. Prieto is a postdoctoral researcher supported by the UPV/EHU and the Spanish Ministry of Science with UE-Next-Generation funds (María Zambrano Fellowship). His research was also supported by the PID2021-126937NB-I00 and the HAR2017-82493-C3-1-P Spanish Ministry of Science projects.

El ocre es un material colorante utilizado desde épocas antiguas por los cazadores-recolectores de todo el planeta. Estudiamos 34 objetos recuperados en los niveles magdalenienses de la cueva de Lumentxa durante las intervenciones de los años veinte del siglo pasado. En 14 ejemplares hemos reconocido huellas de modificación antropogénica. Las características de las huellas indican que éstas se produjeron por un desgaste ocasionado por tres acciones diferentes: la molienda sobre superficies abrasivas, el rayado con instrumentos afilados y el frotado de materias blandas. Molienda y rayado son procedimientos para la obtención de polvo de ocre destinado a actividades domésticas o simbólicas. Las marcas de frotado evidencian, entre otros usos, la aplicación directa del colorante con finalidades funcionales u ornamentales. ABSTRACT: Ochre is a colouring material used since ancient times by hunter-gatherers all over the planet. We studied the collection of 34 artefacts retrieved from the Magdalenian levels of the Lumentxa cave during the interventions carried out in the 1920’s. Slightly more than 50% are siderite - lutite nodules or fragments of such nodules, which may have been collected from Cretaceous outcrops near the settlement. The rest are soft, reddish materials with an earthy-clayey mould. By means of macroscopic and microscopic observation, we have identified traces of anthropogenic modification on 14 specimens. The characteristics of the traces indicate that they were produced by surface wear and tear caused by three different actions: grinding on abrasive surfaces, scratching with sharp instruments, and the rubbing of soft materials. The most common traces are those caused by rubbing. They have been identified as the only trace in nine specimens and in another two cases they have been found in association with other traces. Grinding was the activity that generated the modelling of the two pieces defined as crayon. The incisions and grooves that can be seen on three slab pieces were caused by scratching. Grinding and scratching are processes used to obtain fine ochre powder for different domestic or symbolic activities. The traces of rubbing bear witness to the direct application of the dye. We may associate the use of dyes in the Lumentxa cave with a wide range of domestic and symbolic activities. It is clearly linked to graphic expression. This can be seen in the choice of a slab that had served as a natural block on which to obtain ochre powder as a support material for the representation of engraved horse figures or in the use of red pigments for the pictorial representations on the walls of the cavity. In the light of similar replicative experiences, we can assume that it was used in leather work, in the composition of adhesive mixtures for attaching lithic artefacts to hafts, in body painting or on other surfaces.

The Mas d'Azil cave is a major site for the study of European prehistory, and the evolution of the discipline itself, especially regarding our understanding of the late Upper Paleolithic. In particular, its mobiliary art is one of the richest and the most beautiful known in a Magdalenian context. Lesser known however, is its rock art. Few publications are devoted to these works of prehistoric art, and despite several field work campaigns we still lack a general synthesized study of them at the scale of the entire cave system. A survey of the Mas d’Azil cave system is currently underway, and the aim of this project is to map the archaeological and geoarchaeological organization of the site. Obtaining a reliable topography of the cave, an endeavor begun in the 1980s but never finished, is essential to resituating the archaeological deposits relative to the various natural processes and formations having affected and conditioned their deposition and conservation, as well as the different historical phases of exploitation of the cave. Using this survey approach, we already have a clearer picture of the repartition of Magdalenian areas and circulation spaces of the right bank. Thus, if the residential areas are located on the upper parts of the cave (La Rotonde, Galerie Des Silex), that benefit from more stable and mild temperatures, the lower parts (Salle Piette, Galerie Rouzaud) do not appear to have been residential areas. Our approach also shows that the current entrance of the “Galerie Breuil”, which is located at the end of one of the lower rooms and is the main decorated part of the cave, was likely unknown to the Magdalenians. They could only have entered the Galerie Breuil via a smaller hidden corridor that was blocked after the Magdalenian occupation, as the growth of the speleothem obstructing this passage dates to 13 000 y BP. The clear difficulty encountered by Magdalenian occupants as they attempted to access this gallery may have contributed to a symbolic separation between residential and symbolic, and therefore decorated, spaces, where access to the latter may have been actively limited and/or controlled. In this paper, we propose to describe the palaeotopography of the cave during the Magdalenian period, supported by the analysis of the stratigraphy, new dates, as well as the historical archives from early excavations. By crossing these different lines of evidence we will investigate the question of accessibility and visibility of prehistoric rock art in a cave that have sometimes been considered a Magdalenian “aggregation site”.

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International audience; The aim of this article is to better understand the social structure of a small Magdalenian community through the palethnographic analysis of an occupation level of Étiolles, level U5-P15. This level was excavated over a surface of 700 m2 and is interpreted as part of the camp, consisting of two dwellings, U5 and P15, each of which housed a family unit, associated with four adjacent hearths. The spatial analysis shows the organisation of activities in the dwelling and the flint refits show a significant circulation of knapped products between the units, mainly cores and blades. This circulation shows that individuals were mobile in the camp area and also throughout time. Numerous exchanges between the dwellings reveal a complex social reality with mutual aid and sharing and a certain form of hierarchy between families. In addition, the disparate temporality of the two dwellings raises the question of a possible recomposition of the Magdalenian group during their stay at Étiolles.; L’ambition de cet article est d’appréhender la structure sociale d’une petite communauté de Magdaléniens à travers l’analyse palethnographique d’un niveau d’occupation d’Étiolles, le niveau U5-P15. Fouillé sur 700 m2, ce niveau est interprété comme une partie de campement, composée de deux habitations, U5 et P15, abritant chacune une unité familiale, et associées à quatre foyers annexes. L’analyse spatiale met en évidence l’organisation des activités dans l’habitat et les remontages de silex attestent une circulation importante des produits de la taille entre les unités, essentiellement des nucléus et des lames. Cette circulation traduit la mobilité des individus dans l’espace du campement et aussi dans le temps du séjour. De nombreux échanges entre les habitations révèlent une réalité sociale complexe qui se manifeste par des comportements d’entraide et de partage, et une certaine forme de hiérarchie entre les deux familles. En outre, une temporalité inégale des deux habitations pose la question d’une recomposition du groupe magdalénien durant son séjour à Étiolles.

The aim of this article is to better understand the social structure of a small Magdalenian community through the palethnographic analysis of an occupation level of Etiolles, level U5-P15. This level was excavated over a surface of 700 m2 and is interpreted as part of the camp, consisting of two dwellings, U5 and P15, each of which housed a family unit, associated with four adjacent hearths. The spatial analysis shows the organisation of activities in the dwelling and the flint refits show a significant circulation of knapped products between the units, mainly cores and blades. This circulation shows that individuals were mobile in the camp area and also throughout time. Numerous exchanges between the dwellings reveal a complex social reality with mutual aid and sharing and a certain form of hierarchy between families. In addition, the disparate temporality of the two dwellings raises the question of a possible recomposition of the Magdalenian group during their stay at Etiolles.

The presence of lamellae (or bands) often promises an interesting sedimentary archive related to the occupation or abandonment history of a site. How exactly might such types of bands be interpreted, and how do their presence change the original primary features preserved within the archaeological structure? For this review, two archaeological sites are introduced, both distinct in many aspects, located in di erent climatic regions, but with the presence of bands preserved inside of the in ll, as well as in the locality’s background. One site is related to the Magdalenian/Epigravettian occupation in south-western Poland, and the second related to the Neolithic occupation in central Bohemia. What connect these two localities are their permeable sandy background, presence of human occupation, and the development of the above-described textural features. Sedimentological observations supported by micromorphology and geochemistry, as well as by magnetic susceptibility, revealed that, in both localities, the presence of dark brown bands was the result of repeated illuviation due to a kind of podsolization process not necessarily related to human presence. The illuvial lamellae/bands at the Kly site probably originated during the Subboreal due to the increased humidity connected with the presence of the disturbed background of the in ll in the ditch. The Sowin site displays, at the very least, two phases of origin. One of the phases is pre-dated by glacial conditions, and the second is of late glacial or Holocene origin. The origin of these features in both study sites is due to precipitated water and the movement of clay down the section, but under their di erent conditions.

To provide an image of the Magdalenians who came to hunt reindeers on the banks of the Seine River 13,000 years ago, we largely, but not only, relied on flint refitting that is just one of the many analytical tools. This reconstruction of a Paleolithic camp shows habitations and workshops extending over an area of nearly 5.000 m2. The refitted debitage sequences enabled us to identify individuals from their performances. There are young apprentices knapping for un-useful production, only to acquire a skill. Productive knappers can be experienced or only competent. By applying a frame of reference to the refitting done in each habitation, we have identified knappers whose skills we have assessed and that we can count. Their numbers vary according to the different habitations, and we can propose an evaluation of the size of the group and show that the organization of the camp and of each of the habitations obeyed rules. The connections highlighted for each category of remains do not always have the same intensity nor the same meanings. By analyzing the relationships between the units indicated by the flint, but also stones and fauna refittings, we have outlined, probably in a very fragmentary way, some aspects of the social organization of those Magdalenian families, suggesting that certain relationships of dependency existed between them: three families accept a particular status of the master of the fourth residence whose social unit appears different from the others, and with whom the community of the camp maintained relationships of allegiance.

Perforated batons, usually made from a segment of antler and formed of a sub-cylindrical shaft and at least one perforation, have been documented across Europe from sites throughout the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. The function of perforated batons is still debated. We present here three Magdalenian perforated batons from the site of Gough’s Cave (Somerset, UK); these are unique to Britain and represent an important northern example of this artifact type. Our technological analysis revealed that the Gough’s Cave perforated batons did not have a purely symbolic purpose, but were clearly used as tools as demonstrated by extensive use-wear on the perforations’ edges and ancient fractures across both the distal parts and the shafts. The reconstruction of the chaine operatoire suggests that the engraving of the deep curved lines within the perforation of each baton was a functional re-adjustment following the significant distortion of the perforation by use. Additionally, oblique bands of incisions were engraved on two of the batons’ shafts possibly to provide grip on the smooth antler surface. Altogether, the modifications of the perforations and shafts of the three batons support the hypothesis that the Gough’s Cave batons were used in a task associated with ropes and subjected to considerable forces. Their extensive use may be due to the rarity of the raw material (reindeer antler) in the Cheddar Gorge area during the Magdalenian. Extensive usage aside, the Gough’s Cave batons fit typologically and share a number of features with other Magdalenian perforated batons. They can, therefore, add significant insight to the debate about the use of perforated batons.

Six Magdalenian artefacts from Balcarka Cave (Czech Republic) were selected on the basis of their colour or the presence of lustre and analysed for heat-treatment. A combination of methods was used on the basis of past research. Isothermal remanent magnetism (IRM) proved itself to be the most useful method to distinguish potentially heat-treated artefacts from untreated ones. Four analysed Magdalenian artefacts were most likely not to have been heat-treated due to the absence of other magnetic phases than magnetite. One further sample was probably burned; heat-treatment of the last artefact is ambiguous. The possible absence of heat-treatment in Moravian caves and in the Magdalenian in general may be due to the absence of pressure flaking in this culture.

The open-air rock art collection of Arroyo de las Almas, located next to the confluence of the Águeda and Duero rivers, has at least 600 engraved motifs with a long temporal sequence that runs from the Upper Palaeolithic to the present. We present for the first time the 21 recorded Palaeolithic motifs, all engraved by incision, and belonging to the Magdalenian period., El conjunto rupestre al aire libre del Arroyo de las Almas (La Fregeneda, Salamanca), situado junto al encuentro de los ríos Águeda y Duero, tiene, al menos, 600 motivos grabados con una amplia secuencia temporal que transcurre desde el Paleolítico Superior hasta nuestros días. Mostramos aquí, por primera vez, los 21 motivos paleolíticos, grabados todos ellos por incisión, e integrables en el Magdaleniense.

Four excavations have been performed at the archaeological site of Cova Rosa (Asturias, Cantabrian Spain): three of them in the second half of last century and the other in this decade. Although little of the archaeological material found in those excavations has been published, here we attempt the stratigraphic correlation of sections revealed by the different excavations and we present 22 new radiocarbon dates for bones and marine shells, built in a Bayesian statistical model. This has enabled the documentation of occupations that mainly took place during the Last Glacial period, in the Solutrean (middle and upper phases) and Magdalenian (archaic, lower, and upper phases), and also in the early Holocene (Mesolithic). These occupations are compared with the record at other sites in Cantabrian Spain in general and in Asturias, in particular. This research was undertaken in Programa Estatal de Fomento de la Investigación Científica y Técnica de Excelencia, of the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness the context of the Spanish project HAR2017-82557-P. We wish to thank the University of Salamanca, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia and IIIPC-University of Cantabria for their support of the project. We are equally indebted to all collaborating scientists who have worked diligently on this project. The authors would like to thank Peter Smith for the English translation of the manuscript and the anonymous reviewers and main editor whose contributions have improved this work.

Archaeological research conducted in the western part of the Lublin Upland (eastern Poland) has yielded new data on hunter-gatherer settlement in Central Europe in the Late Palaeolithic, and has redefined the eastern boundary of Late Magdalenian and Federmesser Culture settlement.

A prehistoric conch shell converted into a musical instrument makes its first sounds in 18,000 years., Anthropologists and ethnomusicologists assert that there is no society without song, and more specifically, there is no ritual or celebration without accompanying sound. The production of sounds in social contexts is very ancient. Here, we report on the study of a seashell from the decorated cave of Marsoulas and demonstrate that the Magdalenian occupants of this site transformed this shell into a wind instrument. It is one of the very rare examples, if not the only one for the Paleolithic period, of a musical instrument fashioned from a large shell, and the first conch shell of this use thus far discovered. We already know that prehistoric people transformed many shells into portable ornaments and that they thus attributed substantial corporal symbolism to them. This seashell horn, with its unique sonority, both deep and strong with an enduring reverberation, sheds light on a musical dimension until now unknown in the context of Upper Paleolithic societies.

Paleolithic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) played an important role for human populations in western and central Europe during much of the Paleolithic period. In southwestern France and in particular during the Magdalenian, reindeer frequently figures among the privileged prey of hunter-gatherer groups. However, and despite numerous attempts to reconstruct the migratory behavior of Paleolithic reindeer, there is no agreement on the degree of mobility of this prey. Modern ethological data indicate that reindeer herds adopt different mobility strategies depending on the type of habitat and the topography of the environment. Thus, our project (Emorph) aims to explore morphometric criteria (through metapodial bones and phalanges) in combination with cutting-edge methodologies like Machine Learning to identify the extent of reindeer migrations. Based initially on the study of modern caribou populations with distinct migratory behaviors, the results obtained could be applied to several Magdalenian assemblages from southwestern France in the future, with the goal of reconstructing the mobility of these tardiglacial reindeer.

During the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation, the Iberian Peninsula served as a faunal and human population refugium. Human foodways have always played a pivotal role in understanding social and cultural practices in prehistory. Nonetheless, the limited number of archaeological sites and human remains in this region hinders the complete understanding of these critical communities’ diet. To increase our knowledge about human consumption patterns, we selected three Magdalenian levels from the site of El Pirulejo (Southern Iberia Peninsula, Spain). These levels are characterized by a high abundance of rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) remains (76–97% MNI), initially suggesting that rabbits were the primary source of protein for site inhabitants. Stable isotope analysis was conducted on two human teeth in tandem with stable isotope analysis of the rabbit teeth. Contrary to the expectations derived from the zooarchaeological analysis, rabbits were not a significant source of dietary protein. Carbon and nitrogen bulk isotopic values are the most enriched found in sampled human remains for this area and context. Our data supports aquatic food resource inclusion and increased resource diversity among Iberian hunter-gatherers during the Magdalenian. This study is consistent with previous studies that suggested a socio-economic network among human groups between inland and coastal regions in the terminal Pleistocene Southern Iberia.

Coastal adaptations of Palaeolithic foragers along the north Atlantic seaboard have received renewed attention in the last decade and include growing evidence for exploitation of whale bone by Late Glacial Magdalenian groups to the north of the Pyrenees. Here we present a systematic revision of Magdalenian osseous industries from the Cantabrian region designed to explore whether this phenomenon was more widely shared by hunter-gatherer groups along the Atlantic coast of the northern Iberian Peninsula. Fifty-four whale bone objects were identified from 12 of the 64 sampled sites. Essentially represented by large, finished weapon elements (projectile points), these objects are primarily associated with the middle phase of the Cantabrian Magdalenian, and overlap slightly with the beginning its upper and probably the end of its lower phases. More broadly, the circulation of these objects evinces regular, long-distance (ca. 600 km) communication networks operating on both sides of the current French and Spanish Basque Country between 17.8 and 15 cal ka BP. The structure of this network poses interesting questions concerning potential social and/or economic interactions between Magdalenian groups from the Pyrenees and neighbouring Cantabrian region. We suggest that the use of whale bone by these particularly mobile hunter-gatherer groups for the production of hunting weapons was connected to the longer use-life afforded by the large size of this particular raw material. This choice potentially reflects attempts to offset raw material transport costs by privileging their regular maintenance rather than the replacement of hunting weaponry. This growing body of evidence for the exploitation of marine resources during the Magdalenian further reinforces the Bay of Biscay being the backdrop to the emergence of the first regular, diversified and organized coastal economies at the end of the Last Glaciation.

This study aims to provide anthracological data on forest transformations on the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula during the transition from the last glacial GS-2a to the last isotopic event of interstadial GI-1. We present a complete anthracological sequence from Moli del Salt (Vimbodi i Poblet, Tarragona, NE Iberian Peninsula), a site assigned to the Late Upper Palaeolithic. Our results suggest a continuous forest cover transformation throughout the inter-GI-1. Forest opening was determined by the retreat of Pinus sylvestris type, which was dominant during the Late Pleistocene, in relation to the continuous expansion of Juniperus sp. Likewise, our results suggest a progressive increase in the diversity of cold- and drought-resistant mesophilic taxa, which would have begun with the more temperate climatic conditions occasioned by the positive isotopic oscillations of GI-1. A comparison with other paleoecological data from the Iberian Peninsula suggests the presence of different biogeographic regions, as evidenced by different frequencies of certain montane and meso-thermophilic taxa. Our research also made use of a new methodology based on the spatial distribution of the charcoal remains recovered from Late Magdalenian layer A of Moli del Salt. The results have provided data with which to evaluate the taphonomic alterations identified in the charcoal fragments, such as hyperfragmentation and the occurrence of postdepositional processes. This analysis has increased the temporal resolution of the archaeological fieldwork, allowing us to identify unique events of human activity in a context of cumulative palimpsests. Finally, the Kernel distributions according to the standard deviation of the tree taxa, projected both in plan (X-Y) and in section (X-Z1), indicate human strategies in fuel selection that differentiated between Pinus sylvestris type, Juniperus sp. and Prunus sp.

Kůlna Cave is the only site in Moravia, Czech Republic, from which large assemblages of both Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian archaeological materials have been excavated from relatively secure stratified deposits. The site therefore offers the unrivalled opportunity to explore the relationship between these two archaeological phases. In this study, we undertake radiocarbon, stable isotope (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur), and ZooMS analysis of the archaeological faunal assemblage to explore the chronological and environmental context of the Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian deposits. Our results show that the Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian deposits can be understood as discrete units from one another, dating to the Late Glacial between c. 15,630 cal. BP and 14,610 cal. BP, and c. 14,140 cal. BP and 12,680 cal. BP, respectively. Stable isotope results (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) indicate that Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian activity at Kůlna Cave occurred in very different environmental settings. Magdalenian occupation took place within a nutrient-poor landscape that was experiencing rapid changes to environmental moisture, potentially linked to permafrost thaw. In contrast, Epimagdalenian occupation occurred in a relatively stable, temperate environment composed of a mosaic of woodland and grassland habitats. The potential chronological gap between the two phases, and their associations with very different environmental conditions, calls into question whether the Epimagdalenian should be seen as a local, gradual development of the Magdalenian. It also raises the question of whether the gap in occupation at Kůlna Cave could represent a change in settlement dynamics and/or behavioural adaptations to changing environmental conditions. Introduction Background Material and methods - Sample selection - Sample preparation - Radiocarbon analysis - Stable isotope analysis - ZooMS analysis Results - Radiocarbon dating - Isotope and ZooMS results Discussion - Chronology and stratigraphic relationship between the Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian - Late Glacial palaeoenvironments in the Moravian Karst Conclusion

Los resultados de las excavaciones realizadas entre 1968 y 1984 en la Cova de Hort de Cortés- Volcán del Faro quedaron limitados a identificar materiales solutrenses, magdalenienses y neolíticos-calcolíticos. Una lectura crítica de la Memoria de excavaciones, publicada en 2003, permitió plantear la posibilidad de la presencia de ocupaciones anteriores, posiblemente gravetienses. En 2018 se iniciaron nuevos trabajos en el yacimiento, dentro de un proyecto que pretende recuperar información a partir de los cortes de las antiguas excavaciones. Los datos obtenidos en el área más externa (corte frontal posterior, cuadrícula O4) han permitido retomar la discusión sobre la existencia de los niveles presolutrenses. Los primeros resultados, sobre los trabajos realizados en el perímetro del sector A de las antiguas excavaciones, así como los datos geoaqueológicos, radiocarbónicos e industriales plantean una serie de alternativas sobre la formación y conservación del depósito que supone un punto de partida para la comprensión de un yacimiento complejo. _______________________________________________________________________________ The excavation of the Volcán del Faro site (Cullera, Valencia) did not live up to the expectations created after the discovery of the perforated staff. The prospect of a new Palaeolithic sequence, close to that of Parpalló (Gandia, Valencia), brought with it the possibility of obtaining new palaeoenvironmental, chronostratigraphic and archaeological data. However, the results of excavations carried out between 1968 and 1984 only identified Solutrean, Magdalenian and Neolithic - Chalcolithic materials. No chronostratigraphic data were obtained and the description of lithic and osseous industries was based on subjective considerations. Therefore, the repeated mention of Solutrean morphotypes, which were of Magdalenian chronology according to their excavator, could not be compared with any other site. Likewise, it was not possible to obtain any radiocarbon dates, largely due to poor collagen conservation, or lithostratigraphic data or a description of lithic and osseous industries that could be compared at a regional level. The only palaeoenvironmental and palaeoeconomic data were incorporated into the study of mammalian fauna carried out by I. Davidson, a reference work in studies of the Palaeolithic economy in the Spanish Mediterranean region. Solutrean, Badegoulian and Magdalenian materials were identified from a critical reading of the excavation report, which was published in 2003, suggesting the possibility of earlier, possibly Gravettian occupations. However, this hypothesis was not based on lithostratigraphic or radiocarbon data. In 2018, further work was undertaken at the site as part of a project seeking to gain information from the stratigraphic sections of the old excavations. The data obtained from the outermost area (posterior frontal cross-section, O4 square) provide some initial points for discussion regarding the existence of pre-Solutrean levels at HC-VF, but this time based on geoarchaeological, chronological and archaeological data. At the same time, the topographic position of the data obtained in relation to the old excavations presents a number of alternatives regarding the formation and preservation of the remains, representing a starting point for understanding this complex site.

Magdalenian communities exploited mostly local and regional good-quality lithic raw materials. In south-eastern Poland, being the easternmost fringe of the Magdalenian range, Turonian grey flint had a particular importance. Outcrops of this raw material occur both at the west and at the east sides the Vistula River Gorge. The varieties from the eastern area (called here “eastern Turonian flint” or ETF) are common among inventories of the Magdalenian sites situated to west of the Vistula river. This fact points toward the frequent penetration of the ETF outcrop area by those societies. However, no Magdalenian sites were known directly from the ETF deposit area, and this gap in knowledge restricted further understanding of the character and diversity of Magdalenian activity there. Therefore, in this paper, we present the results of searching for Magdalenian sites within the ETF outcrop zone. Applied methodology included study of the archive archaeological materials, followed by detail survey and excavation of the selected site—Stare Baraki 1. This site documents a short stay or multiple stays of Magdalenian people, who were focused on Turonian flint knapping. Lithic inventory records collecting of several local flint varieties at the distance up to around 20 km from the site, followed by almost all stages of flint working. The material from Stare Baraki is the first known and currently the only trace of the Magdalenian people inside the zone of Turonian flint deposits on the right bank of the Vistula river. The study in Stare Baraki delivered new data for the reconstruction of territory exploitation strategies used in the easternmost Magdalenian.

The Malalmuerzo cave (Moclín, Granada, Spain) has been known since the 1980s for its archaeological remains and rock art, dated to the Neolithic and the Solutrean periods respectively. However, following thirty years of neglect, our team carried out a brief archaeological intervention after looters destroyed parts of the sediment fill of the cave. The refreshing of disturbed surfaces and the examination of a small undisturbed profile produced many archaeological remains attributed to several Magdalenian levels. The levels partially covered the depiction of a red horse, which probably dates to the Solutrean period. _____________________________________________ RESUMEN La cueva de Malalmuerzo (Moclín, Granada, España) es conocida desde los años 80, del siglo pasado, por albergar restos arqueológicos del Neolítico y arte rupestre Solutrense. Sin embargo, tras treinta años de abandono, nuestro equipo llevó a cabo una intervención de urgencia después de la destrucción a manos de expoliadores de parte del sedimento arqueológico. La regularización y limpieza del perfil aportó gran cantidad de restos adscritos al Magdaleniense. Además se documentó la figura de un équido en rojo solutrense, cuya parte inferior estuvo parcialmente cubierta por el sedimento arqueológico objeto de nuestro estudio.

The Swabian Jura of southwestern Germany is famous for its Paleolithic sites which have been studied since the 1860s. While there is a rich tradition of research on the Magdalenian, many of the best-known sites were not excavated using modern methods, and recently, few discoveries of new sites have been made. Thus, much of the information on this period comes from sites lacking data collected using modern standards. This has left open questions regarding the recolonization of the Swabian Jura and hunter-gatherer subsistence and settlement during the Magdalenian in the region. Langmahdhalde is a recently discovered rock shelter in the Lone Valley of the Swabian Jura that has intact, well-stratified horizons dating to the Magdalenian with associated lithic artifacts, faunal remains, and combustion features. In this paper, we present a study of the faunal materials from this new site. We use the macrofaunal remains to discuss human subsistence and a taphonomic analysis of the microfaunal remains to determine the spatial scale of our previously published paleoenvironmental interpretations. Our results on human subsistence support previous interpretations from other Magdalenian assemblages in Central Europe. Further, our taphonomic study of the microfauna suggests that our paleoenvironmental analyses are relatively local, within a maximum of 70 km2from the rock shelter. We place these results within the larger context of human paleoecology in the region and suggest that the successful resettlement of the Swabian Jura by Magdalenian peoples during the Late Glacial was probably facilitated by the presence of a higher diversity of resources on the landscape compared to regions to the west.

In this study, we examine the role of foxes in Palaeolithic economies, focusing on sites of the Middle Palaeolithic, Aurignacian, Gravettian and Magdalenian of the Swabian Jura. For this purpose, we used published faunal data from 26 assemblages from the region, including new information from the Magdalenian layers of Langmahdhalde. We explore how the abundance of foxes changes over time, how they were used by humans, and how they were deposited at the sites, with a special focus on fox hunting methods. To evaluate these hunting methods, we use the prey choice model of optimal foraging theory (OFT) and simulate possible hunting scenarios, which we test based on the published faunal assemblages. Our research indicates that foxes were hunted since the early Upper Palaeolithic for their meat, fur and teeth, possibly with traps. We find that the abundance of fox remains in the archaeological record of the region increased continuously starting in the Aurignacian, which cannot be explained by taphonomic factors. The trend of foxes to adapt to human-influenced environments with commensal behavior may also have contributed to them being hunted more often.

Se han estudiado tres pulidores de piedra pómez con ranuras de características formales y huellas de uso muy similares. Dos han sido hallados en el nivel III del yacimiento de la cueva de Santa Catalina (Lekeitio, Bizkaia); este nivel ha proporcionado un abundante y variado conjunto tecnoindustrial del Magdaleniense superior, datado en el Tardiglaciar. El tercero procede de un nivel Magdaleniense de la cueva de Aitzbitarte IV (Errenteria, Gipuzkoa). La función de estos objetos está relacionada con los procesos de fabricación de agujas o apuntados en hueso, asta u otras materias como la madera. Pulidores semejantes del mismo período cultural, también en piedra pómez, se han localizado en un territorio relativamente limitado, en el suroeste de Francia, junto a la Cordillera pirenaica. El área de localización de todos estos útiles era cercana a la costa, ecosistema en el que sería recogida la piedra pómez arrastrada por las corrientes marinas hasta el litoral del Golfo de Bizkaia, del que se difundiría hacia zonas interiores. ____________________________________________ ABSTRACT Three fragments of pumice stone have been recovered at two sites near the southern coast of the Bay of Biscay, with extensive grooves and traces of wear caused by their use as polishers. Two come from level III of the Santa Catalina cave, dating from between 12900 and 15000 Cal BP, and one from level IV of Aitzbitarte IV, with no radiocarbon dating. All three were found in Magdalenian cultural contexts. The most plausible hypothesis concerning their acquisition is that they were picked up on the beaches near the settlements. The Santa Catalina cave, now open on a cliff, was about 5 km from the coast at that time. The archaeological record from level III of Santa Catalina attests to the fact that its occupants fished extensively and collected marine resources during the final phases of the Late Glacial. The Aitzbitarte IV cave was not far from the sea either. A small number of similar tools were found on the northern slope of the Pyrenees, which have also been attributed to the same cultural period. With the exception of one found in a cave in the central Pyrenees, they all lie in a small area of south-western France, in settlements close to each other. These pumice stones must have had a similar origin to the specimens found in the cavities along the Cantabrian coast: volcanic areas in the Arctic or the Caribbean, from where they would have floated, carried by the sea currents. It is very possible that it was obtained by being collected on the Atlantic paleo-coast, although it cannot be ruled out that, in some cases, it was due to exchanges between neighbouring communities. These types of tools have been linked to working with hard animal materials, in particular with making needles or other pointed objects, although we should not rule out other possible uses.

There is a widespread belief that the abrupt warming at 14.7 ka had a profound impact on the environment. However, the direct correlation between the global climatic event and changes in local environments is not obvious. We examined faunal succession in an intra-mountain basin of the Western Carpathians to assess the potential influence of the climatic change between Greenland Stadial-2a and Greenland Interstadial-1e on the local environment. We investigated three vertebrate assemblages (total number of identified specimens = 18,745; minimum number of individuals = 7515; 138 taxa) from Obłazowa Cave (western entrance) and a Rock overhang in Cisowa Rock, radiocarbon dated to the period before and after the global warming, between ca. 17.0 and 14.0 ka. Our data revealed that the major abrupt warming that occurred 14.7 ka had little impact on the local environment, which could suggest that ecosystems in Central Europe were resilient to the abrupt global climate changes. The increase in fauna population sizes and species diversities in local biotopes was gradual and began long before the temperature increase. This was supported by the analysis of ancient DNA of Microtus arvalis, which showed a gradual increase in effective population size after 19.0 ka. The results of palaeoclimatic reconstruction pointed out that the compared sites were characterized by similar climatic conditions. According to our calculations, the differences in the annual mean temperatures did not exceed 0.5 °C and mean annual thermal amplitude changed from 22.9 to 22.4 °C. The environmental changes before 14.7 ka had no impact on the activity of Final Palaeolithic hunters in the studied area.

This paper details the fieldwork and multi-disciplinary studies carried out at the site Balma de la Vall (Montblanc, Tarragona). The first interventions, dating from the early 80’s, identified different occupational levels related to Final Upper Palaeolithic. From 2011 to 2013 research recommenced to re-define the archaeo-stratigraphic succession, obtain absolute dates, and characterize the occupational patterns generating the archaeological assemblages. The revised sequence comprises three archaeological levels, dated to the 15th millenium calibrated BP, and therefore associated to the Final Upper Magdalenian. The raw materials exploited, the assemblage composition and reduction sequences, define the occupational pattern as short duration or low intensity one. Balma de la Vall represents one of the first examples of human occupation of the Catalan Prelittoral Range., Este artículo presenta los trabajos realizados en el yacimiento de la Balma de la Vall (Montblanc, Tarragona). Las primeras excavaciones, a inicios de los 1980, identificaron distintos niveles de ocupación humana relacionados con el Paleolítico superior final. Entre los años 2011-2013 la excavación se reemprendió con los objetivos de definir la sucesión arqueo-estratigráfica, obtener dataciones absolutas, y caracterizar el tipo de ocupaciones que generaron los conjuntos arqueológicos. De esta forma, hemos identificado una secuencia que comprende tres niveles arqueológicos, con dataciones que los asocian al XV milenio cal BP, y por tanto al Magdaleniense superior final. Los análisis de las materias primas líticas empleadas, la composición de los conjuntos y las secuencias de reducción permiten definir las ocupaciones como cortas o de baja intensidad. La Balma de la Vall constituye así una de las primeras evidencias de ocupación humana de la Cordillera Prelitoral Catalana.

The territorial characteristics and environmental factors involved in the selection of a specific site for establishing a settlement are key features in the analysis of hunter-gatherers' knowledge of (and dominance over) their surroundings and in the attempts to understand the survival strategies that they deployed. This paper presents a macrospatial analysis using GIS tools, which provides an objective comparison of territorial variables at several Magdalenian archaeological sites located in the south-eastern Pyrenees (NE Iberia). To establish the settlement patterns, we analyse territorial values: orientation, elevation, slope, sites aspect (caves, rock shelters or open air) and distance from rivers. With the data obtained, we create solar radiation models, construct groups of sites according to visibility, and calculate the displacement costs of mobility. The results suggest a series of different settlement patterns during the Magdalenian. The visibility of rivers from the archaeological sites and potential sunlight are characteristic features throughout the period, but the distance between rivers and settlements decreases diachronically. Comparison of the climate models indicates that settlements in the vicinity of the river were more frequent at times with evidence of low rainfall. Likewise, the costs of displacement from the surrounding territory to the archaeological sites increase; access to the Lower Magdalenian sites is easier, and access to the Upper Magdalenian sites much more difficult.

Research on Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherer societies has traditionally been based on the analysis of archaeological remains resulting from daily activities. However, the selection of a site and its functionality expresses a set of social paradigms from these human groups. The development of specific methodologies and especially a theoretical framework have enabled research on the locations of sites understood as an important dimension of archaeological research. The aim of this paper is to examine the location variables that characterize the settlement of Middle Pas Basin. Las Monedas cave contains an important Paleolithic graphic ensemble dating from the Recent Magdalenian. The lack of a stratigraphic sequence leads us to believe that its occupation could be related with Recent Magdalenian levels from El Castillo cave. By means of settlement pattern analysis we explain the relations between these sites and the others from Monte Castillo.

Paleolithic archaeologists have a longstanding interest in temporal change in prehistoric human behavior, and have often identified changes between archaeological periods based on sampling limitations. This analysis focuses on the Cantabrian Lower Magdalenian period in El Miron cave, where archaeologists have been able to subdivide the ~ 33 cm thick Level 17 palimpsest into 13 comparable units that provide insight into human behavioral change within an archaeological period. The authors focus on lithic raw material provisioning as a window into changing human-landscape relationships. The Level 17 sublevel lithic assemblages testify that hunter-gatherers decreased their use of presumably local (based on El Miron project surveys) mudstones and quartzites in favor of regional flint resources. Additionally, portions of exotic flints from southern France and the Ebro Basin increase over the course of the Lower Magdalenian, possibly indicating gradually intensifying social contacts. Microstratigraphic units provide insight into dynamic “Magdalenian” landscapes and how lithic provisioning related to hunter-gatherers' territories, site catchments, regional mobility, and social relationships.

Technological advances are enabling the discovery of new caves with rock art and of new graphic units in already known and studied caves. In this framework, a discovery was made in an unexplored gallery in Ekain (Deba, Gipuzkoa), a small passage named La Fontana. Figurative representations (horses) and non-figurative marks (simple strokes) were traced on both walls using digital engraving on decalcified clay. This discovery prompted the re-study of depictions executed with the same technique in the final part of Azkenzaldei gallery, where a new ensemble of representations, mostly non-figurative, was also found. Since it is impossible to date these representations directly, we apply a stylistic analysis to establish their chronology. The comparison with other depictions in the same cave might point towards their execution during advanced phases of the Magdalenian., Los avances tecnológicos están permitiendo descubrimientos de cavidades con arte rupestre y de grafías en cuevas ya estudiadas. En este marco se produjo el descubrimiento de una nueva galería en la cueva de Ekain, un conducto de reducidas dimensiones denominado La Fontana. En ambas paredes se documentan caballos y trazos simples ejecutados en trazo digital sobre arcilla. Este descubrimiento motivó el reestudio de figuras ejecutadas con la misma técnica en la galería de Azkenzaldei, donde se localizó un nuevo conjunto de representaciones. En cuanto a la cronología, la imposibilidad de datar directamente las representaciones llevó a aplicar el análisis estilístico. La comparación con figuras de la misma cavidad apunta a que se tratan de grabados ejecutados en fases avanzadas del Magdaleniense.

This sixth date list for the prehistoric site of El Mirón Cave (Cantabria, Spain) reports on new age determinations for the earliest and last Solutrean occupations (20.4 and 18.0 14C kyr BP) and for a Lower/Initial Magdalenian level with a possible rock wall (16.75 14C kyr BP). The site has now been dated by 92 radiocarbon (14C) assays. In addition, to help resolve inconsistencies in the 14C chronology of La Riera Cave (Asturias)—the first Paleolithic site in Spain to be extensively 14C-dated back in the 1970s—two AMS assays were done on bones from the Lower and Upper Magdalenian collections (15.1 and 13.5 14C kyr BP).

The occupation of the Iberian Peninsula during the Upper Palaeolithic is mainly known from archaeological sites located in the Cantabrian and Mediterranean regions. Numerous sites have been excavated in these two regions when few sites are found in the interior of the peninsula. Several authors explain this scarcity of sites, in the inner region during the Upper Palaeolithic, by a decrease of human population resulting from a low capacity of human groups to adapt to the cold conditions of the Marine Isotopic Stage 2 (MIS 2), i.e. the effect of cold climate on human populations might have been stronger in the interior of the peninsula than in coastal areas. Recent studies underline the evidence of prehistoric occupation during this period in that region. It has been suggested that these occupations are isolated events limited to the warmest phases of the end of the MIS 2. The present study focuses on zooarchaeological and taphonomic aspects of the Magdalenian site of La Peña de Estebanvela (Segovia, Spain). Our results show that this site was recurrently occupied during the Magdalenian period, including warm and cold phases, which provide a new evidence of sustainable presence of human populations in the interior of the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the Upper Palaeolithic.We further propose hypotheses on the subsistence strategies (e.g. availability of hunting resources) developed at La Peña de Estebanvela and in a larger context including other Magdalenian sites of the inner region of the Peninsula.

Since the middle of the 1980s, a lot of research has focused on the end of the Upper Palaeolithic in France. This article presents an overview of these thirty years of research, organized around four main geographic units which structure our knowledge of these societies. However, this overview aims to bring to light the main dynamics driving the composition of the technical, economic, symbolic and probably socio-cultural systems in France as a whole. Between the end of the Magdalenian and the first stages of the Mesolithic, the history of the hunter-gatherers on this territory underwent three major changes. The rhythms of these changes are still unclear and understanding the forces driving these changes is still difficult, although scenarios based on the very unstable climatic and environmental context are often advanced. This Lateglacial is no longer merely considered to be the antechamber of the Mesolithic –an “EpiPalaeolithic”, as it was called– studied in particular to contextualize the emergence of complex societies, wrongly solely attributed to the Neolithic. These last Pleistocene periods, with their abundant cultural changes and complex evolutionary techno-complexes and traditions, comprise their own research issues and constitute a subject in their own right.

Tamar Hat rockshelter (Bejaia, northeastern Algeria) has yielded a lithic assemblage showing general characteristics of an Iberomaurusian Early Late Stone Age nature. Specific “becs,” which we shall call “becs of Tamar Hat,” appear as an important component of the assemblage in the upper occupations, which occurred at the end of Late Glacial Maximum. These becs, from a technological point of view and especially by their shaping processes, constitute a reliable reference collection, though showing morphological variability resulting in part to the reduction process. The use-wear analysis conducted, based on a microscopic examination validated by experimentation, testifies the becs would have functioned for engraving hard bone, such as those of deer. Other scars observed on the sharp edge and lower face near the active portion of the tool are caused by hafting. Hence, the results of the technological and functional analyses of the becs from Tamar Hat reveal the presence of specialized activities in the upper occupations, related to the animal bone processing. These results are supported by the archaeozoological study, which confirms that the site functioned as a seasonal habitat, where Megacerin deer was exploited in the upper occupations for utilitarian, non-food purposes. The emergence of the use of the becs of Tamar Hat is synchronous with the end of the Upper Paleolithic, prior to the expansion of bec use in the Upper Magdalenian of Europe, where technical and stylistic convergences were observed. This raises the question of the emergence of these lithic implements in North Africa and the possible spread of similar industries elsewhere.

Summary Children, no doubt, were a significant component of Upper Palaeolithic societies. Despite this fact, however, serious identification and consideration of material culture which may have belonged to children – at least at one time during their use-life – have not been undertaken. This situation extends to the best represented and most intensively studied of the European Palaeolithic techno-complexes, the Magdalenian (c.21,000–14,000 cal BP), and consequently, we know very little about the children of this enigmatic people. As play, including object play, is a ‘true cultural universal’, we can be certain that Magdalenian children integrated objects into their games, with these playthings later incorporated into the archaeological record. Through examining ethnographic accounts of recent hunter-gatherer children and reconsidering archaeological assemblages in light of these data, this paper suggests that Magdalenian playthings probably included full-sized adult weapon tips and – more significantly – pieces of what archaeologists term ‘art mobilier’.

The fish remains sampled from archaeological sites are generally the result of human food refuse; therefore, the study of retrieved fish scales may provide reliable information on the season of capture and on paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental changes. Among Western European freshwater fishes, the grayling, Thymallus thymallus¸ has the most easily recognizable scales and is a commonly recovered species from Paleolithic contexts. This study, therefore, is based on the growth pattern analysis of modern and archaeological scales from grayling specimens. The modern specimens were collected monthly in France (n = 22), Switzerland (n = 16), Finland (n = 20) and Sweden (n = 10). Scale growth patterns were measured using numerical analysis to a high accuracy. The results showed that the archaeological population of grayling is closer to the present Finnish population. Furthermore, the comparison of seasonal growth patterns between current and archaeological European populations, demonstrated that graylings were normally captured during the spring at Le Taillis des Coteaux Magdalenian site. This type of approach can be used to understand environmental conditions at a low spatial scale, and also to help identify fishing seasons during archaeological periods.

The use and consumption of plant resources by Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer societies has traditionally been overlooked by researchers. Nevertheless, recent studies have started to point out the significant role of these resources in hunter-gatherer economies. This paper presents the results of the plant macrofossil (carpological) analysis of two levels dated to the Middle and Upper Magdalenian at Cova de les Cendres, Teulada-Moraira, Alicante, Spain. The results have been combined with the charcoal (anthracological) analysis, in order to improve the interpretation of the assemblage. Thirty-seven different taxa, which provide information of plant food, basketry, wood and fuel, etc., have been identified among the plant remains. Moreover, the identified taxa allow us to complete the landscape reconstruction based on the charcoal remains. Some fruits and charcoals have been dated to 13,980 ± 50–14,590 ± 50 bp.

At Cova Eirós, we discovered 13 panels with paintings and engravings that stylistically point to the final moments of the Upper Paleolithic. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy were used to identify charcoal as black pigment. Although contamination from medieval fires inside the cave complicates the dating of these pictographs, analyses of unpainted rock backgrounds allowed calculation corrections for contaminated samples. We used plasma oxidation and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to directly radiocarbon (14C) date two charcoal paintings—confirming that the images are more than 9000 yr old. As these paintings superimpose engravings, these14C dates also provide a minimum age for an engraving at Cova Eirós that is stylistically Final Magdalenian/Epipaleolithic. This is the first known evidence of Paleolithic cave art in Galicia of NW Iberia.