Time and space in the formation of lithic assemblages: The example of Abric Romaní Level J

Behavioral strategies are a primary focus in the study of Middle Paleolithic assemblages. Since the emergence of the processual paradigma, this research has been partly based on the use of interpretive frameworks derived from ethnoarcheological sources. However, this approach is flawed by the lack of correspondence between the time scale of the ethnographic information and the time scale of the archeological record. This paper presents the lithic assemblage from level J (ca. 50 ka BP), one of the Middle Paleolithic layers excavated in the Abric Romaní (Capellades, Spain). The study of this assemblage has been carried out from a spatio-temporal perspective, trying to discern two different time scales involved in the formation of the archeological record: the geological time scale of the assemblage-as-a-whole and the ethnographic time scale of the individual events. The results suggest that several domains of lithic variability, like raw material provisioning, artifact transport and spatial patterns, are time-dependent and should be approached taking into account the temporal depth of the archeological assemblages.