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Where are the ‘Asturian’ dwellings? An integrated survey programme on the Mesolithic of northern Spain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2015

Pablo Arias ,
Miriam Cubas ,
Miguel Ángel Fano ,
Jesús F. Jordá Pardo ,
Christoph Salzmann ,
Felix Teichner  and
Luis C. Teira
Pablo Arias
Affiliation:
Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Avenida los Castros, 52, 39005 Santander, Cantabria, Spain (Email: pablo.arias@unican.es)
Miriam Cubas
Affiliation:
Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Avenida los Castros, 52, 39005 Santander, Cantabria, Spain (Email: pablo.arias@unican.es)
Miguel Ángel Fano
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Humanas, Universidad de La Rioja, c/Luis de Ulloa, 2, E-26004 Logroño, Spain
Jesús F. Jordá Pardo
Affiliation:
Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Paseo Senda del Rey, 7, 28040 Madrid, Spain
Christoph Salzmann
Affiliation:
Zentrum für Altertumswissenschaften, Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Marstallhof 4, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
Felix Teichner
Affiliation:
Fachbereich Geschichte und Kulturwissenschaften, Vorgeschichtliches Seminar, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Biegenstraße 11, 35037 Marburg, Germany
Luis C. Teira
Affiliation:
Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Avenida los Castros, 52, 39005 Santander, Cantabria, Spain (Email: pablo.arias@unican.es)
Corresponding
E-mail address:
pablo.arias@unican.es
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Abstract

Mesolithic hunter-gatherer settlements generally leave ephemeral archaeological traces and are notoriously difficult to detect. Nowhere is this more so than on the northern coast of Spain, despite a long tradition of Mesolithic research. In this project, evidence of Mesolithic activity together with the geomorphological and topographical suitability of particular locations were used to select areas for large-scale geophysical survey. The results demonstrate the potential of the new methodology: magnetometry survey at El Alloru revealed the very first Asturian open-air settlement site to be discovered.

Keywords

Spain Mesolithic Asturian shell midden geophysical survey
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 89 , Issue 346 , August 2015 , pp. 783 - 799
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2015 

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