Using ichnofossils to characterize chert tools: A preliminary study from Southern Iberia

Abstract

Abstract Characterizing raw material of stone tools used by Late Neolithic and Copper Age communities is important for interpreting access to available sources and establishing regional routes of distribution. Ichnological analysis may be used to help characterize lithic material and determine the source of artifacts. Here we report for the first time the existence of trace fossils in artifacts from the Late Neolithic and Copper Age of southern Spain. Ichnological analysis indicates a trace fossil assemblage consisting of relatively scarce small‐sized Chondrites and abundant Phycosiphon. A regional survey of natural outcrops and chert quarries indicates the presence of discrete trace fossils only in the samples from geological formations that are part of the Campo de Gibraltar Complex. Ichnological composition in these samples is similar to that discerned in the artifacts and suggests that this was the probable source of the chert used in tool manufacture. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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