The Toolkit of the Last Hunter-Gatherer Mesolithic Communities in Coastal Areas of the Eastern Iberian Peninsula and the North of Morocco

Abstract

Studies on the function of the lithic tools of the last hunter-gatherer communities in the Western Mediterranean are very scarce. However, in recent decades, research carried out by both archaeologists and traceologists has partially filled this gap with new excavations and new analysis of both Early and Late Mesolithic assemblages. Today, we can talk of the existence of a real "Mesolithic toolkit", formed by a series of formal tools that were used in a more or less common way all over the Western Mediterranean; some of the most typical implements are microlithic trapezes and notched blades and flakes. This chapter analyses differences and similitudes, on a functional and technological level, between assemblages from the eastern Iberian Península and North of Morocco.