Neandertal Lithic Industries at La Quina

7. A Matter of Time

This chapter and the next present a study of the variation in the basic components of the lithic industries discussed in Chapter 6 through the stratigraphic sequence sampled by the excavation. The temporal study is divided into two sections; the first, in this chapter, is a diachronic summary of changes through time in the major industrial components , and the second, in Chapter 8, is a synchronic interpretive treatment of the lithic assemblage of each stratigraphic unit and its setting in the full sequence of change. Throughout this review of changes through time, it is important to consider the nature of the evidence in its geological contexts. The stratigraphic levels used to isolate the cultural industries at La Quina represent clearly separated periods of time of indefinite and probably unequal length. The artifacts contained in these levels are the residue of human activities that was abandoned, gradually modified through exposure, and ultimately covered by the intermittent deposition of natural sediments . The prolonged intervals of deposition of each level mean that the artifacts are the result of an indefinite number of independent events that reflect successive visits by the Neandertals to the portion of the site sampled by the excavation. The circumstances that brought the Neandertals to this part of the site are likely to have varied through time as the topographic and environmental nature of the surface changed with continuing accumulation, occasional erosion , and the growth and decay of vegetation. There can be little doubt that these changing circumstances influenced the kinds of activities that were carried out by the Neandertals at any particular time. Because of this, it can be expected that the nature of activities and the resulting residue of those activities are likely to reflect similar events within each occupational layer and also between occupational levels that accumulated under similar conditions . It is against this background of assumptions that the following interpretations have been formulated. Implications of the Geological and Habitat Sequence for Neandertal Activities The environmental evidence from faunal and palynological evidence analyzed and reported on to date is summarized in Debénath and Jelinek (1999) and described in more detail in Chapter 4. It is particularly unfortunate that the fauna from the lower levels of the site have not yet been analyzed and that the palynological samples from that section are obviously anomalous with respect to the elements of the fauna. The presence of reindeer through all of the analyzed portion of the site and their obvious presence through the lower levels indicate a periglacial climate during the deposition of all of the occupation levels. The varying presence of bison and horse probably reflects the effects of differences in temperature and moisture on a mosaic environment, with bison favoring mixed vegetation and horse a more arid grassland environment . It is my impression from my experience excavating in the lower levels that there is a gradual increase in abundance of horse relative to bison through that sequence , but in the absence of an objective analysis, this remains just an impression. What is not in doubt is that the remains of reindeer are abundant through the entire lower sequence, and they increase in abundance relative to bison and horse through that period. The overall environmental and depositional evidence discussed in Chapter 4 implies the following succession of occupational surfaces and habitats in the portion of the site exposed by our excavation. (1) The earliest cultural evidence is a thin scattering of artifacts in the stream sands of Beds P and O that overlie the bedrock. It is likely that most of this material was transported by water from where it was produced and that it does not necessarily represent activity in that part of the stream. (2) Bed N is a sandy greenish gray clay layer that, through its unoxidized appearance and similarity to thin clay lenses in the underlying Beds O and P, probably formed on the bottom of a pond or impounded bend in the Voultron stream. It contains a relatively dense concentration of animal bone and lithic artifacts. A significant portion of the animal bone is from elements that had little nutritional value for the Neandertals, for example, many reindeer antler pieces, both shed and unshed, and bison horn cores. It is possible that the activities of the Neandertals that employed the lithic artifacts were conducted in the shallow pond, which from root casts was probably seasonally heavily vegetated, or that they are an accumu7 A Matter of Time 162 Neandertal Lithic Industries at La...