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| 372 | T he research that resulted in the work presented here was focused on Levels 1–10 in the Cabin and the equivalent levels from the Mid-Vestibule Trench, 300–303.3. These levels have been 14 C-dated, allowing their assignment to chronological phases. Thus, the chronology for the material discussed here can be established as follows: • Neolithic: 5690 BP (Level 10) to 4680 BP (Level 8.1) • Chalcolithic: 3740 BP (Level 7) to 3820 BP (Level 5) • Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age: 3700 BP (Level 3) • Early Bronze Age: Levels above 3 The nature of the material determined the course of the research, since the collection is so limited and fragmented that it was impossible to carry out a traditional morphotypological study because complete vessels or sherds allowing the reconstruction were quite rare. Instead, a broader study of the assemblage was adopted, beginning with locating clay sources and continuing through the recovery of the sherds in excavation and their subsequent treatment. Thus the investigation was organized along three axes: 1. Abandonment: First, a methodology was adopted that dealt with the recovery of ceramic material in the cave through the last treatments of the pieces. Later, the distribution of ceramic remains in the various excavation units of the cave, along with post-depositional transformations, will be discussed. 2. Morphology: Before beginning the morphological description of the Mirón ceramic assemblage, other known ceramic assemblages from the region were examined. As noted previously, the high degree of fragmentation made it impossible to reconstruct, physically or graphically, the vessel form of most of the sherds. However, the numerous 14 C dates allow the assemblages to be placed in stratigraphic and regional context. ChAPter nineteen The Ceramics of el mirón Cave Production, morphology, and discard Cristina Vega Maeso Translated by Lawrence Guy Straus and Elizabeth A. Stone Ceramics of El Mirón Cave | 373 | vestibule are cut through by many man-made holes, which in turn are often cut into by other, more recent holes. during the course of the archaeological excavations these pits were labeled as features, and generally their infillings were considered to be separate stratigraphic units. The pit fills often contained abundant ceramic sherds. The stratigraphic complexity, as well as the fact that some of the pits were archaeologically dug duringdifferentexcavationcampaigns,makesitdifficult to define the precise relationship among the features. In addition, after abandonment the ceramics underwent a series of surface alterations whose analysis can provide information on the nature of the contexts under which the vessels were discarded. Indeed, one of the objectives of this study is to identify the principal natural and anthropic processes that affected the spatial distribution and state of preservation of these artifacts. For the study of the distributions of sherds among the various Holocene levels at the top of the El Mirón stratigraphic sequence, the excavation techniques used, the treatments applied in dealing with the ceramics in the field laboratory, and the post-depositional processes will all be the objects of study in this chapter to help understand the nature of the ceramic assemblages now curated in the Museo de Arqueología y Prehistoria de Cantabria. The study of the distribution of sherds among the uppermost levels of the stratigraphic sequence, excavation methods, laboratory processing, and post-depositional processes are the subjects of the following section. methodology Excavation Methods The ceramic-bearing levels in El Mirón were initially documented during the first excavation campaign, which was conducted mainly to determine whether the cave contained intact archaeological deposits. Given their stratigraphic position at the top of the sequence, it was during this campaign (1996) that many of the most important Holocene levels were found. Although the areas in which the post-Paleolithic occupations would eventually be excavated were expanded both in the Cabin area and (for the Neolithic) in the western half of the Mid-Vestibule Trench in subsequent years, many of the richest ceramic assemblages and most 3. Manufacture: Beginning with macroscopic study of all of the sherds, followed by a mineralogical analysis of samples by x-ray diffraction (XRF), a series of hypotheses were tested by experimentation and a component study of clays collected in the local area in order to determine the origin of the raw materials used in the ceramics along with the processing of the clays and the ceramic manufacture sequence. The goals of this research are: 1. determinethevalidityofthemethodologyemployed 2. Characterize the El Mirón ceramic assemblage 2.2. Identify the degree of taphonomic alteration 2.3...

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