Programmes > Par auteur > Clop García Xavier

Archaeological evidences from the second half of VIth millennium cal BC in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in common with the rest of Europe, show the development of new economic practices (e.g. agriculture and livestock breeding), as well new social and ideological structures. In addition, mountain sites are usually seen as sites connected to pastoral or transhumant activities but the increase in the number of archaeological site investigated in the highlands allow us to rethink the evolution of human exploitation in these areas.

A multi-analysis approach of the study of the clay vessels founded in these high mountain archaeological sites will provide clues about the possible uses. Thus, the specific study of the pottery use based on the residue analysis preserved in the vessel will help to shed some light on the possible various uses of the vessels (cooking, storage, processing of different types of substances, etc.). Moreover, the identification of these residues can help to increase the knowledge of different aspects of the groups of people who used them, such as their environment, their consumption patterns, etc.

In this communication, we report on organic residue analysis of pottery sherds from different archaeological sites in the western Pyrenees, which date to the Neolithic (ca. 5600-4000 BC). The analysis by GC-MS and GC-C-IRMS techniques on a set of samples of ceramic vessels from high mountains settlements let explain the subsistence practices developed by these groups and it also allows significantly extend the findings to better describe certain characteristics of their socio-economic organization and particular aspects of the use of these sites.