La dieta de los grupos humanos magdalenienses del Mediterráneo peninsular. Nuevos datos de la Cova de les Cendres (Teulada-Moraira, Alicante)

Resumen

Cova de les Cendres in a relevance site in the Upper Palaeolithic from de Iberian Peninsula, with a wide chronological sequence and a long research career. Since the last century, knowledge of Palaeolithic human subsistence in the Mediterranean area began to be develop, and Cendres has been providing data in this regard. However, today we still have information to find out about the economy of these hunter-gatherer groups. In this sense, this paper presents the results of the archaeozoological and taphonomic study of the fauna remains from three levels (XIIA, XI and IX) of Cova de les Cendres, corresponding to the Middle, Upper and Final Upper Magdalenian. Rabbits are the best represented species in number of remains, with processing and consuming patterns that seems to vary depending on the occupations. Among the ungulates, the red deer stands out as the main prey, although there is also consumption of other medium and large-sized species to a lesser extent. Relevant quantities of carnivores, especially lynx, have also been recorded, which are used not only by the skin, but also for consumption. The set of bones is well preserved, so it has been possible to carry out a good study of fractures and modifications, which point to an anthropic origin of the accumulations.

These modifications show a complete processing, in which the bones are systematically fractured, and all available resources are used (meat, fat, bone marrow, fur, bones). Secondly, based on the archaeozoological and taphonomic data existing in the literature, and together with the latest results of the analysis of bone remains applied to the three Magdalenian sets of Cendres, the general characteristics of the economic model of the Mediterranean Magdalenian are reviewed and expanded.