An approach to lithic raw material procurement at the middle Palaeolithic site Abrigo de la Quebrada (Chelva, Valencia)

We offer a preliminary characterisation of the lithic raw-materials found in levels I-III of the Middle Paleolithic site of Abrigo de la Quebrada. The artifacts were excavated in the field seasons of 2004 and 2007, have already been the object of a preliminary technological assessment (Villaverde et al. 2008), and their analysis has been preceded by a survey of local procurement sources, carried out in 2008. We present, in a regional context, the different raw-material categories recognized (by means of a macroscopic study), and variants thereof, and we describe the different outcrops identified. Based on these data, we attempt a preliminary assessment of the resource catchments and mobility patterns of the human groups that used the shelter at this time.