Can the study of Middle Palaeolithic Lithic assemblages of Cardina- Salto do Boi site (Côa Valley) help to understand site formation processes?

The archaeological site of Cardina-Salto do Boi (Guarda, Portugal) is one of the few studied sites with Middle Palaeolithic occupations in the Côa Valley. These span MIS 6 to MIS 3, which constitutes a favourable circumstance for studying dwelling dynamics diachronically. Most of the information regarding Neanderthal occupation of the site refers to the assemblages belonging to a 6 m2 area (H’/I’-17/19), where the excavation reached the bedrock, and the deposits were subject to absolute dating. In this study, we tried to understand how the lithic assemblages of two other test areas N/O-15/17 and Z/A’-6/8 could relate to the findings of area H’/I’-17/19. The assemblages of all areas were revised and subject to raw material and technological analysis. These are mostly composed of quartz knapping remains, but a shift in the type of quartz preferred between 51-39 ka and 80-51 ka could be identified. The vertical distribution of raw materials and the technological traits of the assemblages allowed the differentiation of five groups and indicate that the most recent phase of Neanderthal occupation of the site being possibly present at the base of the known stratigraphic sequences in the areas N/O-15/17 and Z/A’-6/8.