La gestión de los recursos faunísticos durante el neolítico en la sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos): Los niveles 19 y 20 de la Cueva del Mirador

Abstract

The archaeozoological and taphonomical analyses of the faunal remains from levels 19 and 20 in the Mirador cave (Sierra of Atapuerca, Burgos) are presented. The main aim of this work is threefold: to study how faunal resources were managed, to characterize the occupation of the cave and to understand how the environmental resources were exploited at the end of the sixth millennium and the beginning of the fifth millennium cal. BC. Results show the development of human communities with a complex organization and a great environmental adaptation. Shepherds used the cavity as a sheepfold and as a domestic space during almost all the year. Sheep and goat husbandry comprised the economic basis; these taxa were exploited mainly for their meat and milk. Breeding of cattle and hunting would have been complementary activities.