Axlor

Axlor is a prehistoric archeological site in the village of Dima, Vizcaya, Spain, in the Basque Country. It dates from the Middle Paleolithic or Mousterian period.

The site is a rock shelter, in a mountain area filled with "karstic" systems and caves. Actually, Axlor is the mouth of an old cave, thus has been filled up with clay from the "Indusi karst". J. M. de Barandiarán discovered the site, and he directed the excavation from 1967 until 1974. The results of those works were published 1n 1980 (J. M. de Barandiarán: "Obras Completas, T. XVIII"). This Basque scholar studied the stratigraphy or sequence from the site. That is, the different "layers" or "levels" and their cronological relations and ovelaying. Barandiarán noted the existence of 9 different "levels". 5 of those levels contained Mousterian lithic artifacts. J. Basabe studied 5 teeth from a young Neandertal man, found in the site. J. Altuna made the classification of the faunal remains from Axlor. Some years later, A. Baldeón studied the lithic tools from the site. A later series began in 2000 (the excavations are going on as of 2007; they'll end about 2009). J. González Urquijo y J. Ibañez Estévez are the directors of this new project. The team comes from multiple branches of science. They are studying the lithic assemblages and faunal (and human) remains, as the earlier researchers had done. However, other focuses are incorporated into the analysis: micro-faunal fossil remains (essentially, rodents), the geological context of the "Indusi karst", the geological formation of different layers of rock, palynology (the study of pollen) and carpology (the study of other plant remains), among other disciplines.

Axlor has a sequence of Middle Paleolithic levels. The recent ones are dated around 42,000 years before present (using C14 radiocarbon analysis). The researchers are not able to date older layers using C14, because it only works for 50,000 BP or younger materials. The archeological layers are rich in animal remains and lithic tools. The studies being carried show a better and more complete image of the Neanderthal world.

The Neanderthals from Axlor had long-range strategies to deal with their environment, which they changed over time - thus allowing a sort of "history" to be pieced together by archaeologists. Those investigations are changing the idea of Neanderthal being a "brute" or an "archaic hominid".

The Neanderthals of Axlor made stone tools using flint from distant places (between 30 and 60 kilometers from the site). Also, each different stone-class was worked with different techniques, using those systems more appropriated to its size, density, grain and hardness. The producing techniques are quite complicated (Levallois, micro-Levallois, Quina, etc). Those strategies of flint-working and stone-working are not repeated along the time sequence. They change between layers, probably adapted to different ethnic traditions and to the needs of the Neandertals and the environmental constraints.

Some spear-tips found in Axlor have traces of use, and they were probably used as projectiles. The Neanderthals from Axlor were really good hunters, and they killed adult bovids and other dangerous animals. Their long-range strategies extended to the management of hunting resources, butchery, and use of animal resources.

References

* [http://www.harpea.org/PDF/Axlor%20neandertales%202003.pdf Rios, J.; González, J. E. e Ibañez, J. J. (2003): La excavación en Axlor. Las formas de vida de los últimos neandertales. BOLETÍN Nº5 SEDECK. Pg. 62-83]

* González Urquijo, J. ; Ibáñez Estévez, J. J.; Rios Garaizar, J. Bourguignon, L.; Castaños Ugarte, P. et Tarriño Vinagre, A. (2005): Excavaciones recientes en Axlor. Movilidad y planificación de actividades en grupos de neandertales. En: Montes, R. y Lasheras, J. A.: Actas de la Reunión científica: Neandertales Cantábricos. Estado de la cuestión. Monografías del Museo Nacional y Centro de Investigación de Altamira nº 20., pg. 527-539.