Systematization of butchery processes during the last Glacial Maximum in the Cantabrian region, a view from La Lluera cave (Asturias, Spain)

Identifier:  imarina:9247331

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9247331

Authors:  Clara Mielgo, Pablo López-Cisneros, José Yravedra, José Manuel Barrera-Logares, José Adolfo Rodríguez Asensio

Abstract:
Taphonomic studies explain the processes of formation and accumulation of bone assemblages, with special emphasis on anthropic activity. During the last decades, the number of these studies has increased notably in the sites of the north of the Iberian Peninsula. It is known that Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherer groups had a prominent role in bone accumulations documented at archaeological sites. However, the manner these com- munities processed animal resources has gone unnoticed. In this work, with the aim of determining whether there were specific behavioral trends in terms of disarticulation and bone defleshing, it is analyzed how the groups that occupied La Lluera (Asturias, northern Spain) during the Solutrean and Magdalenian periods took advantage of the hunted resources. Finally, we show that Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherer communities at La Lluera show a notable degree of systematization of animal processing.