The role of shellfish in hunter-gatherer societies during the Early Upper Palaeolithic: A view from El Cuco rockshelter, northern Spain

The role of coastal resources in the subsistence strategies of Palaeolithic human populations has only recently become an important topic in Old World archaeology. Information on the exploitation of these resources, both as foodstuffs and symbolic elements, can be used to infer the emergence of modern human behaviour as well as to track the diversification and intensification of human diet over time. The excavations carried out at El Cuco rockshelter, located in northern Spain have provided evidence for the exploitation of marine resources during the Early Upper Palaeolithic. The accumulation of Patella shells at El Cuco provides the largest accumulation and the first clear evidence of collection and consumption of molluscs during the Aurignacian on the Atlantic Façade of Europe. A deposit of ornamental shells appeared in a very homogeneous context dated to the Gravettian, suggesting that the shells belonged to the same item. The analysis of this evidence has allowed us to conclude that marine resources were systematically used at least from the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic in the region. However, a comparison with the Mesolithic shows that intensive shellfish gathering did not occur until the end of the Upper Palaeolithic. Regarding the ornaments, it is interpreted that the identified shell beads were used as social or personal status markers.