[Arrizabalaga Valbuena, Alvaro|PublicAdministrativeSpace:Arrizabalaga Valbuena, Alvaro] [Iriarte, María J.|PublicAdministrativeSpace:Iriarte, María J.]
Title:
EL PALEOLÍTICO ANTIGUO EN EL MEDIO PIRENAICO OCCIDENTAL
Journal:
GEOARQUEOLOGÍA Y CONSERVACIÓN DEL PATRIMONIO
Number:
Volume:
2004
Year:
2004
Pages:
20-26
Keywords:
Acheulean, Terrace, Rasa, Industry, Hand Axe, Pleistocene, Cantabrian area
ISBN:
ISSN:
URL:
Abstract:
As opposed to what has been observed during the last decades in Galicia, Cantabria or Asturias (especially this last one) the knowledge about the Lower or Old Palaeolithic has hardly increased in the Basque Country. Only a few deposits were known, generally with a low density and derived position, their chronology appeared- according to typological appreciations- relatively recent. Approximately since 1990 new discoveries have been gradually accumulating on both sides of the Pyrenees, which gives us an opportunity to have a broader perspective about this matter. For the first time we have a settlement in a primary position, which is being excavated (Irikaitz, in Cestona/Zestoa), the new deposits discovered show a better average density of materials and it seems easier now to accept the existence of a datable horizon at least in the Middle Acheulean. Despite these circumstances, we can still observe deep deficiencies in the articulation of the research, due, among other factors, to the fact that the administration is not understanding, the inexistence of specific research lines relative to this period, the spread of clichés relative to these settlements or the lack of integration between the different teams which are working on the sectorial study of the Quaternary. In this publication we will present an updated description of this matter and we will propose ways of working for the future.
