O Paleolítico Médio no território português (original) (raw)

In this paper we present a brief synthesis of the Middle Paleolithic in Portugal, focusing both the lithic and faunal assemblages, along with the settlement patterns. Despite the number of sites being small, it seems clear that the Portuguese territory might have been that where the last Neanderthals have lived. At the same time, it also seems that since ~240ka these communities presented a spectrum of particular behavioral features that allow us to distinct them from those located at East of the Pyrenees. In fact, while these were specialized in hunting and exploitation of reindeer with flint tools, those located in Portugal were specialized in the exploitation of a wider diversity of available resources. Such difference might be related with strong differences on environment and landscape, once this territory did not present evidence of strong impact in the most rigorous phases of the glacial periods. This diverse exploitation might have been the base of the survival of Neanderthal populations in the southwesternmost part of Iberia.