Santander, February 19th-22nd 2008 - Aranzadi

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F. IGOR GUTIÉRREZ & MANUEL GONZÁLEZ
1980). The excavation took place between 1976
and 1983, and focused on two areas named
Sector 1 (shell-midden in the exterior shelter) and
Sector 3 (shell deposit in the first interior hall). The
archaeological works exposed four main levels in
Sector 1 and two in Sector 3, chronologically comprising
the entire Mesolithic, but with no clear evidence
of previous occupational periods.
However, the works in Sector 3 allowed the identification
of levels dated to the Neolithic, which
completed the sequence (González 1995: 68).
Several preliminary publications on the site
have presented information regarding the
Asturian shell-midden and its composition
(González et al. 1980:56). The scarce information
available, obtained from Sector 1, shows that the
primary species being exploited were Patella vulgata,
Patella intermedia and Osilinus lineatus.
Other species were present in the shell-midden,
but we did not have quantitative data that indicate
their importance in the collection strategies,
because only presence-absence data are presented
in the existing reports (Llera and Ortea,
unpublished report). However, according to the
authors of this report, such species were especially
scarce.
4. ARCHAEOMALACOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF
MAZACULOS II
The identification of the material has been
carried out using comparative collections
(Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales de
Madrid and Museum National de Histoire
Naturelle de París), specialized guides (Poppe
and Gotto 1993a, 1993b, Hayward et al. 1998,
Kerney and Cameron, 1999) and observations in
the present coast. Nomenclature used for
molluscs is based on the CLEMAM systematic
(http://www.somali.asso.fr/clemam/index.clemam.html).
About quantification methodology, material was
separated in different categories of fragmentation
for MNI calculation (Gutiérrez 2008, Moreno
1994), the index used as the base for the determination
of relative frequencies.
Next we will present the data corresponding
to the malacological fauna recovered during the
excavation in Sector 3. Two main units were
identified in this Sector, named A3 (Mesolithic)
and A2 (Neolithic). Level A2 was divided into
three sub-levels (from top to the bottom: A2 +
A2base, A2 base and A2bottom) (see: Table 1).
Due to formation processes in this portion of the
site, including the steep ramp over the excavated
area, stratigraphic contact among sub-levels
were irregular in cases, this affecting mainly the
precise cultural attribution of A2bottom, still
depending on the evaluation of its complete
record.
Level A3 (NISP: 2558) is made up of 20 taxa,
four of which are bivalves, nine are marine gastropods,
four are land gastropods, two are crustaceans
and one is an echinoderm, with an MNI
of 1116 and a weight of 1384 grams. Thus, in
this Mesolithic level the genus Patella represents
80% of the shell-midden, followed by
Osilinus lineatus, representing 11%. The rest of
the assemblage is composed of marginal species
that appear in small quantities. It is worth
noting the relative abundance of the barnacle
Pollicipes pollicipes (3.1%) and the scarcity of
bivalves (1.5%). Amongst the gastropods, apart
from those already mentioned, Gibbula sp.,
Littorina littorea, and Littorina obtusata are also
present.
Level A2 (NISP: 21722) is composed of
three sublevels, which encompass 32 taxa, six
of which are bivalves, sixteen are marine gastropods,
six are land gastropods, four are crustaceans,
and one is an equinoderm. The main
characteristic of level A2 is the similarity in composition
of the three sub-levels, which combined
present an MNI of 7035 individuals and weigh
8509 grams. In all of them there is a predominance
of the genus Patella, which represents up
to 75-80% of the MNI, whilst Osilinus lineatus
represents 13%. It is relatively surprising that, as
is the case during the Mesolithic, the next most
represented taxon is the barnacle Pollicipes
pollicipes (5-7%). In terms of the marginal species,
the collection of bivalves (Mytilus galloprovincialis,
Ostrea edulis, Ruditapes decussatus,
Scrobicularia plana) is similar in the entire
sequence except in the upper level
A2+A2base, where species diversity is notably
less (probable due to the small sample size).
Meanwhile, amongst the marine gastropods we
find Gibbula sp., Littorina littorea, Littorea obtusata,
Littorina saxatilis, Melarhaphe neritoides,
Nassarius reticulatus, Nassarius incrassatus,
Hydrobia ulvae, Charonia lampas or Nucella
lapillus. The same happens with the crabs
Brachyura sp. and the echinoid Paracentrotus
lividus identified at the site, which appear marginally.
Finally, in the malacological groups studied,
taxa of subsistence, ornamental, intrusivenature
types and of a potentially modifiable
nature have been identified. (Gutiérrez 2008).
MUNIBE Suplemento - Gehigarria 31, 2010
S.C. Aranzadi. Z.E. Donostia/San Sebastián