EL “SÍLEX” EN LA MESETA NORTE: SECTORES CENTRAL Y NOROCCIDENTAL

Abstract

In this work, a review of the available data on the different types of flint (flint, chert and radiolarites) and of some slates sensu lato utilized for knapping during the Prehistory is carried out in the Northwest quadrant of the Iberian North Plateau, understood as the territory that covers all the hydrographic basin of the river Duero. We have begun with an evaluation of the geological base, by means of field works and analysis of the bibliographical references on these types of rocks and of the geological forma- tions of the ones that can proceed. These have been divided into four source areas: 1) Cantabrian Zone, constituted of sedimentary rocks; 2) “Centroibérica” Zone, formed by metamorphic and igneous rocks; 3) Paleogene and neogene materials that fill the basin of the Duero; and 4) The quaternary river terraces of the Basin of the Duero, whose materials come from the erosion, transportation and sedimentation of diverse rocks from the source area 3 and, in smaller measure, from the source area 1. The fol- lowing section value the data on those raw materials found on archaeological contexts throughout different prehistoric periods. Available studies focus on the following rocks: black chert (laminated and not laminated), radiolarite, “slates”, and the so-called “Mucientes Flint”. Finally, the data obtained in the two previous sections are crossed to outline an image of the management of these lithic resources along the Prehistory, its strategies of exploitation as well as a sketch of its circulation by this region.