•The analysis of the lithic industry from Cova del Vidre defines its evolutionary changes between 10.800-5.000 cal. BC.•A new C14 date is presented in the Sauveterrian phase allowing it to model and ...fix its lithics to the chronological sequence.•The lithic production for each phase is in line with the traits of Western Mediterranean except for Late Mesolithic.
Cova del Vidre (Roquetes, Tarragona, Spain), strategically located in El Port massif, a high-altitude mountain range contrasting with the lower course of the Ebro River, has an interrupted sequence of occupations from the beginning of the Holocene until the establishment of the first Neolithic groups (c. 10,800–5000 cal. BC). It is currently the site with the most complete sequence detected in the lower Ebro valley.
The comprehensive analysis of the knapped lithic industry from the four phases identified during excavations in the 1950s–1960s and 1992 (Microlaminar Epipaleolithic, Sauveterrian, Late Mesolithic, and Early Cardial Neolithic) reveals significant evolution in the management and exploitation of chipped stone raw materials, their technology, and the formalization of tools in the four occupation phases. Furthermore, the chronological determination of the Sauveterrian phase by radiocarbon dating (14C) allows us to integrate the largest assemblage in the sequence within the regional productive dynamics. It also enables us to establish the temporal sequence of the detected occupations together with the previously published radiocarbon dates.
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