@article{10902/35180,
year = {2024},
month = {4},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10902/35180},
abstract = {Recent research on human exploitation of molluscs, echinoderms and crustaceans during the Mesolithic in the Cantabrian region (northern Iberia) has shown signifcant variability in the intensity of the use of coastal resources by the last hunterfsher-gatherers throughout the ~ 4000-year expanse of the Mesolithic (10,700- 6,700 cal BP). Previous studies have proposed hypotheses related to demographic changes to explain intensifcation events. In this paper we aim to unravel whether climatic and environmental changes, or other social factors, such as demography, were involved in the increase in the use of marine resources at certain times. We employed species representation, quantifcation and biometric analysis of the shell assemblages from the El Toral III archaeological site (Asturias, northern Iberia) to identify patterns in shell exploitation throughout the stratigraphic sequence. To establish the chronology and distinguish occupation phases of the site, we
employed Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon measurements. Faunal results show that marine gastropods such as limpets of the Patella genus and topshells Phorcus lineatus (da Costa, 1778) were the most exploited species, while bivalves, echinoids and crustaceans were present in smaller quantities. The comparison of the results for El Toral III with other Mesolithic sites in the region reveals signifcant temporal diferences in the intensity of collection of marine shell species. Results showed that intensifcation processes are not clearly related to climate change but to other social factors, such as demography, suggesting that intensifcation and relaxation in shell collection events were strategies adopted depending on the needs of the human groups at diferent times.},
organization = {This research was supported by the projects HAR2016-75605-R and PID2021-124059NB-I00, both funded by the
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. RAM was supported by a predoctoral grant "Concepción Arenal" (grant number: 2019-8461). AGE during the development of this research was funded by the Catalonia Postdoctoral Programme through a Beatriu de Pinós fellowship (grant number 2020_BP_00240) and he is currently working in the framework of a Marie Sklodowska Curie – Postdoctoral Fellowship (grant reference: HEU-101064225-NEARCOAST), funded by the European Union. This work contributes to the ICTA-UAB “María de
Maeztu” Programme for Units of Excellence of the Spanish Ministry of Science an Innovation (Ref.: CEX2019-00940-M). We thank Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria (IIIPC) for providing technical support. We are also grateful to the scientifc colleagues Jara Pascual-Revilla (IIIPC), Carlos García-Noriega (IIIPC), Mónica Fernández-García (Universitat de València) and Marco VidalCordasco (Universidad de Cantabria) for their help during the graphic design process. Finally, the authors would like to thank María NovalFonseca and Orlando Morán for their help during fieldwork.},
publisher = {Springer Verlag},
publisher = {Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2024, 16(5), 79},
title = {Living in the shore: changes in coastal resource intensification during the Mesolithic in northern Iberia},
author = {Arniz Mateos, Rosa María and García Escárzaga, Asier and Fernandes, Ricardo and González Morales, Manuel R. and Gutiérrez Zugasti, Fernando Igor},
}