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Image Credit: Dr.T.Dell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Stone Tools Reveal Mobility in the Upper Paleolithic Pyrenees
A new archaeological study has traced how prehistoric communities adapted their use of stone resources across thousands of years in the southern Pyrenees, revealing changing mobility patterns and technological choices during the Upper Paleolithic. The research focuses on Cova Gran de Santa Linya, one of the region’s most important prehistoric rock shelters.
Researchers analyzed more than 3,100 stone artefacts, including cores and retouched tools, recovered from archaeological levels spanning different cultural phases over roughly the last 40,000 years. The study concentrated on identifying the geological origins of chert — a fine-grained siliceous stone widely used for tool production during the Upper Paleolithic.
The results identified two dominant raw material groups. One originated from evaporitic environments and remained the most frequently used material across much of the sequence, while a second group came from lacustrine environments and became increasingly important in later periods. Researchers also identified rare marine-origin cherts transported from more distant regions on both sides of the Pyrenees.
According to the study, a major shift occurred after the Last Glacial Maximum. Earlier occupations strongly favored evaporitic cherts suitable for producing larger tools, whereas later communities increasingly selected lacustrine varieties that offered better knapping qualities and supported changing technological needs.
The appearance of long-distance stone sources suggests that prehistoric groups maintained broad territorial connections even during periods of climatic stress. Rather than simply responding to local resource availability, toolmakers appear to have adjusted procurement strategies according to technological goals and changing patterns of mobility.
The findings provide new insight into how human groups in the southern Pyrenees reorganized their activities and adapted to environmental and cultural change during the final stages of the Ice Age.
Published on: 21-05-2026
Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie
Source: Quaternary International
