Organización económica de las sociedades neandertales: el caso del nivel VII de Amalda (Zestoa, Gipuzkoa)

Abstract

This article proposes a materialistic approach for a better understanding of Neanderthal economical organization and society. The basis of this approach is the integral lithic analysis, including raw material, technology and use wear analyses. We present here the application of this approach to the Mousterian lithic assemblage of the level VII of Amalda Cave (Basque Country, Spain). The results of this study show a combined strategy of lithic provisioning, which includes the importation of already made flint tools, the in situ production of flint micro flakes and the collection of local raw materials to obtain broad tools. This strategy is devoted to provide a complete toolkit for an occupation in which domestic and logistic activities are carried out. This strategy and its correlates in subsistence and territory management implicates the integration of different solutions, extensive landscape use and long term planning, suggesting that Neanderthal societies displayed a quite complex behavior.