L’étude des conditions d’habitabilité des établissements préhistoriques : à propos des amas coquilliers mésolithiques de la région cantabrique occidentale (Nord de l’Espagne)

We show the methodology we followed in order to reliably estimate a factor that, to our judgement, is fundamental for the assessment of the characteristics of a prehistoric settlement: the conditions of exposure to the sun. This methodology is applied to the study of Mesolithic shell middens in the North of Spain, with the aim to introduce a new kind of information in the debate about the meaning of shell middens. Throughout this century, different ways to understand the behaviour these remains conceal have been proposed. Our thesis with regard to it, presented in this paper, is based on the observation of a series of variables, among which we can find the exposure to the sun the settlements undergo. We therefore show in the last part of the paper, how to join the information from the proposed analysis with the other data subsequent from the study of other variables such as the environmental conditions prevailing during the period of formation of the sites; the situation of the settlements; the location of the remains in the caves; the entity of the occupations; and the energy spent on the transportation of the aquatic resources from the coast towards the places where their rests are found nowadays. In short, we propound a methodology for the study of one of the variables that falls upon the habitability of a prehistoric settlement and we point out the contribution that the incorporation of an analysis of this kind means for the research of Mesolithic shell middens in the North of Spain.