Munibe Antropologia-Arkeologia (Dec 2021)
Los objetos elaborados con fibras vegetales del Neolítico Antiguo de Coves del Fem, Ulldemolins (Tarragona)
Abstract
Los objetos manufacturados con materias orgánicas raramente se conservan excepto bajo condiciones ambientales específicas, ya sea en medios de sequedad constante, en contextos anaeróbicos sumergidos, bajo congelación o por carbonización. Por ello, las técnicas de cestería y cordelería, así como las materias primas utilizadas están escasamente documentadas en el registro arqueológico del Neolítico peninsular. Se aporta aquí nueva información acerca de las técnicas cesteras y de cordelería, así como de las materias primas utilizadas en Coves del Fem (Ulldemolins, Tarragona). Estos restos fueron recuperados en una fosa adscribible al Neolítico antiguo. La cestería estudiada se encuentra manufacturada a través de la técnica de espiral cosida, mientras que en el caso de la cordelería se trata de un único fragmento torsionado. Se discute su funcionalidad en un contexto de hábitat en cueva, así como su tecnología y materias primas usadas, contextualizándolos con otros ejemplos de cestería de espiral cosida de la península ibérica. ABSTRACT: Plant-based artefacts are considered one of the first technologies used by human populations playing an important role in the daily life of all societies. Even though, they are made of perishable material which usually disappears in archaeological contexts except for some specific environmental conditions that permit their conservation as arid, anaerobic, waterlogged atmospheres or carbonization. Some examples of the first implements produced by organic materials are baskets and cords which are documented since the very beginning of human populations. Nevertheless, these fibre-based materials have been excluded from archaeological studies. The lack of knowledge in this vegetal technology is a consequence of the difficulty of organic material preservation and the non-suitable analysis and identification methodologies. Even they represent a living material culture as history and ethnography demonstrate, vegetal fibres were probably used for producing indispensable everyday objects and artefacts in the past. The aim of this paper is to provide new information about vegetal technology as basketry and cordage techniques, as well as the raw materials used in Neolithic chronologies in the North-East of the Iberian Peninsula. The materials analyzed in this study were recovered at the site of Coves del Fem (Ulldemolins, Tarragona) which is a rock shelter preserved thanks to the fallen rock blocks. Basketry and cordage fragments came from the archaeological fieldwork of 2019 and were recovered inside a pit in levels of the final Early Neolithic. They were preserved thanks to the carbonization and dehydration they were submitted to. Both basketry and cordage examples from Coves del Fem, were deeply described considering their morphology and technology, as well as the raw materials they were made of. The methodology consisted of describing the technique used and taking measures of the different fragments aiming to obtain information about the way the basket and the cord were made. The identification of raw materials was performed by observing cross, peridermal and longitudinal sections of samples using a transmitted optical microscope. Descriptions were based on microanatomical observation by comparing with reference modern material and specialized technical literature. The results showed the basketry assemblage was produced using the coiling technique and all the fragments belong to a single object. In the case of the cordage fragment, it was made by twisting the fibres which had been previously mechanically processed. The identification of raw materials revealed at least the use of sedges for basketry and non-identified herbaceous plants for making cordage. The functionality of the objects is discussed, and they are also contextualized with other Neolithic fibre productions examples from the Iberian Peninsula and the Middle East, both technologically and the chosen raw materials. In summary, fibre-based productions from Coves del Fem, along with the assemblage from the lake dwelling site of La Draga, fill the gap of this archaeological record from the Iberian Peninsula to Europe, demonstrating the long history of the technical skills related to plant exploitation.
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