Isturitz and Oxocelhaya caves

The Isturitz and Oxocelhaya caves (French: Grottes d'Isturitz et d'Oxocelhaya) are an important Paleolithic site where a Neanderthal mandible was found, as well as later modern human finds associated with the Aurignacian, Solutrean and Magdalenian. They also include cave paintings and bone flutes.[1] The caves are located in the Gazetelu hill in the Arberoue Valley in the foothills of Pyrenees, in Lower Navarre, a traditional region of the department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, southwestern France, part of the French Basque Country.[2]

Isturitz and Oxocelhaya caves
Assegai points now in the Muséum de Toulouse.
LocationLower Navarre, Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Coordinates
Discovery1929

The French government has classified the site as a Monument historique since 1953.[3] Occupation by Neanderthal and Homo sapiens communities extends over a period from 80,000–10,000 years BP, and continued to be use (perhaps only for burials) until Roman times.[4] The site is discussed within the context of Franco-Cantabrian prehistory, as among the easternmost decorated caves that extended along the Pyrenees and Cantabrian Mountains.[4]

Topography

Gaztelu hill, cut away to show the three caves.

The caves are within the territories of the communes of Isturits et de Saint-Martin-d'Arberoue, in the vicinity of Hasparren. They form part of a system of three caves carved into the limestone Gaztelu hill in succession by the Arbéroue stream, which flows into the Lihoury, a tributary of the Bidouze. The hill itself is surmounted by the Rocafort castle.

  • Isturitz Cave: the high cave in the hill, with openings on both sides of the hill.
  • Oxocelhaya Cave: 20 meters below Isturitz, notable for its calcite concretions.
  • Erberua Cave: where the Arbéroue stream runs today, with a siphon at each end; not explored until 1973.

Isturitz cave

Entrance of the Isturitz Cave.
Feline with heads of a bear and bison.

The Isturitz cave is divided into two parts: the Hall of Saint-Martin (or South Hall) and the Main Hall or Hall of Isturitz (or North Hall). At the beginning of the Mesolithic, the opening that faces the town of Saint-Martin-d’Arberoue is estimated to have been 15 and 20 m wide and about 10 m high, making it visible to humans a distance.[4]

Human remains

The most common human remains from Isturitz are cranial vaults, which have been cut-marked and modified to create drinking cups ("coupelles"), dating from the Magdalenian (∼15 to 12,000 years BP).[5][6]

Source

This article incorporates material from the corresponding article in French wikipedia.

References

  1. (in French) Dominique Buisson, Les flûtes paléolithiques d'Isturitz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française (1990), 420-433
  2. Name given by the IGN-France.
  3. Base Mérimée: Classement par les monuments historiques, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  4. Garate, Diego; Labarge, Aude; Rivero, Olivia; Normand, Christian; Darricau, Joëlle (2013). "The Cave of Isturitz (West Pyrenees, France): One Century of Research in Paleolithic Parietal Art". Arts. 2 (4): 253–272. doi:10.3390/arts2040253. ISSN 2076-0752.
  5. Petraglia, Michael; Bello, Silvia M.; Parfitt, Simon A.; Stringer, Chris B. (2011). "Earliest Directly-Dated Human Skull-Cups". PLoS ONE. 6 (2): e17026. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017026. ISSN 1932-6203.. The main focus of this article is on the Upper Palaeolithic site of Gough's Cave (Somerset, England).
  6. Buisson, Dominique; Gambier, Dominique (1991). "Façonnage et gravures sur des os humains d'Isturitz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques)". Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française. 88: 172–177.
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