A comparative study of the lithic technology, subsistence and bioclimatic settlement patterns of neanderthals in the Iberian peninsula (Cantabrian and Betic regions)

This thesis investigates Neanderthal lithic technical, subsistence practices and bioclimatic settlement patterns behaviour comparison between two different bioclimatology and biogeografically regions of the Iberian Peninsula - the Cantabrian region to the north, and the Betic region to the south-, during the late Pleistocene Period. The principal aim is to test whether or not hominid groups of the same species (Homo neanderthalensis) behave, exploit and occupy their territory in similar or different ways under different environmental conditions. Three different approaches were undertaken to test the proposition. The first was a technological study of eight lithic assemblages from the latest Mousterian levels in the Cantabrian region: Axlor, Esquilleu, Morin, El Castillo; and the Betic region: Abrigo 3, Carihuela, Zafarraya, Gorham´s Cave, in order to establish whether any distinctive patterns emerge in both areas of study. Subsistence practices, through a study of faunal remains, was the second dataset for this comparative study. A faunal database was constructed from the literature pertaining to Middle Palaeolithic sites in both regions focusing on large and small game, cannibalism practices and evidence for the consumption of plants. The aim is to establish the variability in Neanderthal subsistence behaviour. The third approach was an analysis of settlement patterns through bioclimatic mapping, created by temperature and rainfall climate data from weather stations in both regions. The aim of this work was to explore whether or not Neanderthals inhabited both Cantabrian and Betic regions in different or similar ways. The result of this thesis suggests that Neanderthals reacted to changes in local ecology and climate in similar ways in both study regions, highlighting their great adaptive ability and commonality in their behavioural response