Explotaciones del sílex tipo «Turón» (Málaga, España): localización y caracterización petrológica y geoquímica

Abstract

The exploitations of the «Turón» type flint are located within the Lower Miocene Numidoide Tm. of the Campo de Gibraltar Complex, which widely crops out along the Internal-External Zone boundary of the Betic Cordillera, and also backthrusts on the Internal Zones in the Malaga province (S Spain). This formation is mainly made of sheared brown clay and quatzarenites with typical features of a tectonosedimentary «mélange», and includes tectonic slices derived from the Tronta! Units of the Internal Zones as well as conglomerates of several ages containing Mesozoic and Tertiary clasts of the same provenance. The «Turón» type flint blocks studied here are located within these Meso-Cenozoic conglomerate bodies. The flint mining of the «valle del Turón» started during the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic, with a final important reactivation in the nineteenth century, when it was used as flintlock for rifles. The petrological and geochemical ana/ys/s of the «Turón» type flint reveals certain characteristics such as a notable homogeneity and very fine grain, which together with a very low alteration grade make these rocks optimum for knapping. Moreover, this flint has been also exploited by the contemporaries forgunflint production