El sílex de tipo “Urbasa”. Caracterización petrológica y geoquímica de un marcador litológico en yacimientos arqueológicos del Suroeste europeo durante el Pleistoceno superior y Holoceno inicial

Abstract

The “Urbasa” flint, which occurs intercalated within shallow-water limestones of Thanetian (upper Paleocene) age was one of the best and most used flint sources during the Prehistoric times in the Basque-Cantabrian area. Two of the main outcrops/quarries where the “Urbasa” flint was exploited are located in the Urbasa ridge (W Navarra). The analysis of the compositional texture, mineralogy and geochemical features has revealed that the “Urbasa” flint is highly pure and of fine-grained texture, but with high contents of moganite, traces of organic matter and, less frequently, carbonates and clay.