In the Kingdom of Ibex:

Continuities and Discontinuities in Late Glacial
Hunter-gatherer Lifeways at Guilanyà (South-Eastern Pyrenees)

Jorge MARTÍNEZ-MORENO, Rafael MORA TORCAL

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Abstract

Hunting camps play an essential role for investigating changing hunter-gatherer behavior during the Late Glacial. In the south-eastern Pyrenees, sites located in mountainous contexts, often interpreted as hunting camps, represent adaptations to demanding environments.

These sites form part of emergent strategies associated with specialized systems and are characterized by the presence of a hunting toolkit, monospecific faunal assemblages and the seasonal exploitation of mountain ecosystems. Taken together, these various aspects suggest profound transformations in subsistence practices and social organization.

Here we test the validity of such a scenario for the site of Balma Guilanyà in the western Catalonian Pyrenees. Comparisons of techno-typological trends and faunal assemblages are placed within their chrono-environmental context allowing the question of possible changes in systems developed by the Late Glacial hunter-gatherers who occupied the southern slopes of the Pyrenees to be addressed.

To cite this article

Martínez-Moreno J., Mora Torcal R., 2011 – In the Kingdom of Ibex: Continuities and Discontinuities in Late Glacial Hunter-gatherer Lifeways at Guilanyà (South-Eastern Pyrenees), in Bon F., Costamagno S., Valdeyron N. (eds.), Hunting Camps in Prehistory. Current Archaeological Approaches, Proceedings of the International Symposium, May 13-15 2009, University Toulouse II – Le Mirail, P@lethnology, 3, 211-227.