Acheulian flint quarries in the Madrid Tertiary basin, central Iberian Peninsula: First data obtained from geoarchaeological studies
Introduction
Since 2005, research has been conducted in the interfluvial platform that separates the valleys of the Manzanares and Jarama rivers, fueled by the boom in infrastructure construction and urban development within the growth belt of the city of Madrid. The research has been aimed at the geo-archaeological study of the extensive open-air Paleolithic sites found on this platform, all relating to the collection and use of flint. The stratigraphic series of the Intermediate unit of the mid-Miocene period of the Madrid Tertiary basin, which covers much of the surface of the platform, is composed of clays, dolomites and flint. The erosive processes have acted differentially on this surface, generating erosion of the soft layers of clay and dolomites and causing large amounts flint outcrops.
The geoarchaeological study presented was conducted in the context of previous preventive archeological work in relation to several large-scale urban developments which cover an area of more than 1500 ha. This has allowed for the development a specific methodology aimed at the localization and characterization of Pleistocene deposits and Paleolithic sites related to the collection of flint. Said methodology has consisted of realizing long trenches of geoarchaeological control to establish the spatial distribution and geometry of the Quaternary surface formations to define the geomorphological and sedimentological evolution of Los Ahijones depression. The highly detailed maps presented (Fig. 1, Fig. 2) are the result of this work. Outside this area, the study of outcrops in roads and photo interpretation have been used to complete the map data.
This paper makes special reference to the Acheulean sites documented, relating them to the broader context of the Paleolithic period in the interior Iberian Peninsula, and with the close paleogeographic context of the Manzanares and Jarama valleys, where important deposits in the Lower Paleolithic attributed to fluvial terraces are located (Pérez de Barradas, 1924, Pérez de Barradas, 1929, Santonja et al., 1980, Rus and Vega, 1984, VV.AA, 2002, Baena et al., 2010).
Section snippets
The Manzanares-Jarama Interfluvial Platform
The Manzanares-Jarama Interfluvial Platform (hereinafter MJIP) is in the Madrid Tertiary basin, in the southeast of the city of Madrid (Fig. 1). The sedimentary sequence of the Madrid basin shows a continental depositional environment, and the age of the deposits range from the Paleogene to the Pliocene (Alonso-Zarza et al., 2004).
Overall, the MJIP has an erosive-structural origin, although karstic processes developed during the Pleistocene, by dissolving the gypsum of Miocene Lower unit, have
Geoarchaeological context of open-air sites in the center of the Iberian Peninsula
The Acheulean in the center of the Iberian Peninsula has been mostly studied and chronologically related through sequences of fluvial terraces of the Duero and Tajo rivers basins.
In the Duero river basin the most recent signs of Acheulean techno-complexes are documented on the +20 m terrace of the Tera river and that of +22 m of the Tormes (Santonja and Pérez-González, 2001). Santonja et al., (2016) correlate these terraces, sensu lato with the terrace of +12–17 of the Arlanzón river in Burgos,
The Manzanares and Jarama river valleys
Jarama river and Manzanares river belong to the major basin of the Tajo river. In the Manzanares river valley 12 levels of stepped alluvial terraces have been described and 19 in the Jarama river valley. The fluvial terrace of the lower Manzanares valley, located at +66 m in the profile of Calamuecos and Rivas Vaciamadrid, would have a lower Pleistocene age, from correlations established with the terraces of the Tajo river valley (Bárez and Pérez-González, 2006). In this case, the polarity
Los Ahijones depression
This large depression has an area of about 500 ha and is situated at the head of Los Migueles stream in the center–north of the MJIP. It has a slightly elliptical shape with lobed edges and an axis with a maximum length of 3.5 km in a NE–SW direction. The depression is drained by the streams of Los Berrocales (West), Los Migueles (North) and El Canaveral (Northeast). The three converge at the point where the gypsum substrate surfaces (Fig. 2).
The west axis formed by the bottom of Los Migueles
The Acheulean archaeological sites of Los Ahijones
In the PC-1, PC-3, PC-4 and PC-5 units 5 archaeological sites have been found (Fig. 2) that reflect activities of quarrying and collection of flint in the primary position, with complete operational chains demonstrating specialized quarrying activities and with an excellent preservation of the archaeological record. These are the sites of Charco Hondo I and Charco Hondo II, in the PC-1 unit, Vereda in PC-3 unit, Cerro de San Pedro, in the PC-4 and Calabazas II unit in the PC-5. The PC-5 unit
Discussion and conclusions
The new archaeological sites discovered in Los Ahijones depression place a new acheulean scenario for the center of the Iberian Peninsula. The abundance of flint on the entire surface of the MJIP from the Miocene Intermediate unit, together with the sedimentary controls of the subjacent karst activity during the Middle Pleistocene, have offered very favorable conditions for the formation and preservation of the archaeological record.
The Paleostreams sequence documented in this area provides an
Acknowledgments
This work was carried out as part of the Research Project reference HAR2013-48784-C3-3-P Cómo quíen y dónde. Variabilidad de comportamientos en la captación y transformación de los recursos líticos dentro de grupos neandertales financed by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. We would also like to thank the help and support of the Dirección General de Patrimonio of the Community of Madrid, the Ahijones archaeological team, the Compensation Board of Ahijones (Vicálvaro-Madrid), and ARGEA
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