El análisis tecno-funcional y la gestión de la industria lítica del nivel IIIb2 de Atxoste (Álava, Epaña)

Abstract

In this work we present a comprehensive study on the lithic industries as a means of approaching to the socio-economic systems of the last hunter-gatherers groups from the VIII-VII millennia BP on Atxoste settlement. Complementing the data coming from raw material, technological and use-wear analysis, we have recognized the main patterns of production and management of flint industries. The results show a strong interrelationship between manufacture and use strategies of the lithic tools and permit us to throw some light on the sense of occupations and also on the understanding the role of the settlement in the human groups subsistence. While it is true that Atxoste may act as a strategic enclave, the new data coming from our researches reveal that the occupations would have been longer than expected for a rock-shelter, making us reconsider the strategies of land occupation of these Mesolithic communities.