La Peña de Santana (Segovia, España): cazadores-recolectores magdalenienses en el interior de la península ibérica

La investigación del Paleolítico superior en el interior peninsular se ha ido intensificando en los últimos años, aunque es un proceso lento. A los yacimientos ya conocidos, como Estebanvela, Buendía o Verdelpino se han ido uniendo nuevos descubrimientos, contribuyendo a apartar definitivamente el panorama de un aparente despoblamiento, algo que ya no es posible mantener al menos a partir del UMG. En este trabajo presentamos el reciente hallazgo y excavación de un yacimiento magdaleniense en Segovia, en el pie de monte sur del Sistema Central. Se trata de un hallazgo de relevancia, que contribuye a plantear nuevas vías de investigación sobre el poblamiento a finales del Paleolítico superior en las zonas interiores de la península, y sus relaciones con el Cantábrico y la zona levantina. ABSTRACT: Upper Palaeolithic research in the interior of Iberia is being intensifying in recent years, although it is a slow process. New discoveries were added to the already known sites such as Estebanvela, Buendía o Verdelpino. This definitively contributed to removing the apparent depopulation panorama of this area at least from the LGM. This paper is focused on the recent discovery and excavation of a Magdalenian site in Segovia, in the southern foothills of the Central System. This is a relevant finding, which contributes to considering new research paths on settlement areas in interior areas of the Peninsula at the end of the Upper Palaeolithic, and its relationships with the Cantabrian and Levantine areas. Peña de Santana archaeological site was discovered in 2014 and only one excavation campaign was carried out to date, in 2020. The site is located on the right bank of the Eresma River, as it passes through the city of Segovia. From a geomorphological point of view, the site is located in a flat area at eh base of a Cretaceous dolomite escarpment of the fluviokarstic canyon formed by the vertical embedding and lateral movement of the Eresma River throughout the Quaternary as it crosses the Mesozoic fringe of the northern foothills of the Central Sierra de Guadarrama. The technotypological characterization and datings in the Peña de Santana lead us to an unquestionably Magdalenian context, located in the middle phase of this chronostratigraphic period, which is located in the final stages of the LGM, specifically between the end of the GS-2.1b and the beginning of the GS-2.1a. Both this site and the Peña de Estebanvela show enough evidence to link these occupations with the Cantabrian-Pyrenean area, much more likely than with the Mediterranean area. Data presented corresponds mainly to level 3, where the fauna shows a very high degree of fragmentation, as a result of the high anthropization of the collection. Faunal remains are dominated by horses, followed by small bovids and red deer. Lithic industry of this level is dominated by lamellar schemes, both for obtaining blades and small blades. There are also many scrapers (small blade end scrapers), burins (mostly dihedral), and backed bladelets.