TY - JOUR
T1 - Trampling experiments at Cova Gran de Santa Linya, Pre-Pyrenees, Spain: Their relevance for archaeological fabrics of the Upper-Middle Paleolithic assemblages
AU - Benito-Calvo, Alfonso
AU - Martínez-Moreno, Jorge
AU - Mora, Rafael
AU - Roy, Miquel
AU - Roda, Xavier
PY - 2011/1/1
Y1 - 2011/1/1
N2 - The study of fabrics, that is, the analysis of the orientation and slope of archaeological and sedimentary materials associated with the Middle Palaeolithic/Upper Palaeolithic (MP/UP) transition at Cova Gran shows substantial differences. Archaeological assemblages are characterised by greater isotropy in the fabrics than the sedimentary levels within which they are located, indicating that these differences may be generated by anthropic processes. One of the anthropogenic processes associated with horizontal and vertical displacement of archaeological artefacts is trampling and circulation caused by later occupations. In order to evaluate the effect of movement on materials, we undertook experiments simulating geological and archaeological conditions at Cova Gran. The results show that human trampling does not cause major isotropy in fabrics, but arranges archaeological assemblages towards planar or linear materials according to surface geometry. We were not able to replicate the fabric pattern of materials from the archaeological levels of Cova Gran, suggesting that they must be associated with the activities of human occupation at each level. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
AB - The study of fabrics, that is, the analysis of the orientation and slope of archaeological and sedimentary materials associated with the Middle Palaeolithic/Upper Palaeolithic (MP/UP) transition at Cova Gran shows substantial differences. Archaeological assemblages are characterised by greater isotropy in the fabrics than the sedimentary levels within which they are located, indicating that these differences may be generated by anthropic processes. One of the anthropogenic processes associated with horizontal and vertical displacement of archaeological artefacts is trampling and circulation caused by later occupations. In order to evaluate the effect of movement on materials, we undertook experiments simulating geological and archaeological conditions at Cova Gran. The results show that human trampling does not cause major isotropy in fabrics, but arranges archaeological assemblages towards planar or linear materials according to surface geometry. We were not able to replicate the fabric pattern of materials from the archaeological levels of Cova Gran, suggesting that they must be associated with the activities of human occupation at each level. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
KW - Archaeological fabrics
KW - Cova Gran
KW - Experimentation
KW - Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic
KW - Site formation processes
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.036
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.036
M3 - Article
VL - 38
SP - 3652
EP - 3661
JO - Journal of Archaeological Science
JF - Journal of Archaeological Science
SN - 0305-4403
ER -