Fig 1.
a. Location of the Vale da Pedra Furada (VPF) site. Map showing the spatial relation between VPF and other Pleistocene sites excavated by the FBMP. b. View of the excavation facing northeast. The site is located on the immediate periphery of collapsed blocks from the dismantling of the local cliff carved in the Cabeças (upper Devonian) Formation. In dotted line, the area recently excavated. c. Implantation of VPF site at the empty spaces left by blocks of sandstone that fell from the cliff.
Fig 2.
Vale da Pedra Furada, stratigraphic profile and synthetic stratigraphic interpretation.
The red star marks the exact position of artefact here analysed within C7γa layer. (*) OSL date corresponding to C10 in a different sector than the rest of the stratigraphic profile. Artefacts are out of scale.
Fig 3.
Detail of the granulometric and archaeological criteria taken into account to construct the chronostratigraphy of Vale da Pedra Furada.
Fig 4.
Archaeological context of the piece.
Layer C7γ-a with artefact n° 255660 found in situ.
Fig 5.
General artefacts of the C7γ-a layer.
(a) bec-type cutting-edge on split flake from quartz pebble, (b) bifacial symmetrical convergence type cutting-edge on quartz pebble, (c) end scraper-type cutting-edge on unipolar quartz flake, (d, h) simple bevel-type cutting-edge on quartz pebble, (e) side scraper with inverse retouch on quartz pebble flake, (f) bec-type cutting-edge on quartz pebble flake, (g) unifacial asymmetric convergence type cutting-edge on quartz pebble.
Fig 6.
Bifacial asymmetric convergence cutting-edge type on quartz pebble from C7γ-a layer: (a) FUMDHAM code: 257350; (b) FUMDHAM code: 257213. From top to bottom: Photographs, conventional drawings, diacritical analysis, and techno-functional analysis.
Fig 7.
Bifacial symmetric convergence cutting-edge type on quartz pebble from C7γ-a layer. FUMDHAM code: 255690. (a) Photograph of the six standard views, (b) conventional drawing, (c) diacritical analysis, (d) techno-functional analysis.
Fig 8.
VPF shaped silty sandstone plate (artefact N° 255660).
See S3 Fig in S1 File for a 3D scan of this artefact.
Fig 9.
Cutting edges geometry and artefact’s sections.
The techno-functional study determined the presence of three types of cutting edge wear: fresh, partial and fully blunt.
Fig 10.
Macro-trace analysis of the artefact n° 255660.
Fig 11.
Structural flat of the cliff, located 100 m from VPF site and more than 30 m over the valley floor.
In the zoomed image the sandstone plates that may have served as tool blanks.
Fig 12.
Technological analysis of the artefact n° 255660.
Fig 13.
Traceological analysis of the artefact n° 255660.