Los sitios paleolíticos en su paisaje: la Cueva de el Horno en el contexto de la cuenca del río Asón (Cantabria)

Abstract

Research on Palaeolithic groups has been based essentially on the study of the archaeological deposits resulting from the groups’ everyday activities. The present paper stresses the importance of information related to the location and characteristics of sites containing these Palaeolithic deposits. If an understanding of a site involves knowing its local and regional context, as the mobile nature of Palaeolithic societies seems to require, it is obviously necessary to obtain precise knowledge about the places where archaeological deposits have been preserved. In turn, this will strengthen our hypotheses about the role played by the different sites within their social context. A specific example is given, El Horno Cave (Ramales, Cantabria) in order to show the type of observations that can be made through the application of a particular methodology, and their importance within a regional setting, such as the one proposed for societies in the Asón river basin at the end of the Palaeolithic.