Interim report on a geoarchaeological project in the karstic region of the Serranía de Cuenca (central Spain)

The Serranía de Cuenca (Iberian Chain, Central Spain) is dominated by calcareous plateaus and canyons with abundant karstic landforms, such as caves and rock-shelters. These features contribute to giving the Serranía de Cuenca great potential as a locality for research into the Palaeolithic. In 2008...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Benito-Calvo, Alfonso, Torre Sainz, Ignacio de la
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2010
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/376137
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/376137
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Karst
Palaeolithic research
Geoarchaeological surveys
Serranía de Cuenca
Spain
Palaeogeography
Descripción
Sumario:The Serranía de Cuenca (Iberian Chain, Central Spain) is dominated by calcareous plateaus and canyons with abundant karstic landforms, such as caves and rock-shelters. These features contribute to giving the Serranía de Cuenca great potential as a locality for research into the Palaeolithic. In 2008 we started a geoarchaeological project in this region, in order to investigate aspects of human settlement in Central Iberia during the Pleistocene. The first stages of the project sought to determine the karstic locations most likely to include archaeological sites, by making use of indexes and GIS map analysis. This approach produced digital maps and databases of potential locations that are now being used as a basis for follow-up field surveys. The combination of laboratory and field surveys has yielded interesting preliminary results, leading to the recognition of large rock-shelters with thick Pleistocene deposits, whose archaeological potential will be tested in the next stage of the project.