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Background Heat-altered stones (HAS) are commonly reported in prehistoric sites across several continents, yet they continue to be generally overlooked and systematic studies on them are scarce. Methods We performed a systematic literature review which consisted of searching journal articles, book chapters and books published in English, in Scopus and Web of Science. We collected information on their geographic distribution, chronology, composition, technological aspects and subsistence contexts from 73 records. Our aims were to assess the challenges and opportunities of analysing HAS, while highlighting that this class of artefacts is still largely an untapped source of information on prehistoric human activities. Results HAS have been documented since the Pleistocene, attesting that culinary and non-culinary activities using heating stones emerged among foraging groups subsisting on hunting, fishing and gathering. The high frequency of HAS during the middle and late Holocene testifies to the continuation of some practices over long time periods, amid the emergence of new food systems, and the introduction of new resources and technologies, such as domesticated plants and animals, and ceramic containers. A considerable lack of studies on HAS from Africa, Oceania, Asia, and South America was noted, all of which are key geographic areas for assessing the role of heating stones in human evolution, geographic dispersal, early cuisine and diet, and cultural transmission across the globe. Conclusions Our results highlight the persistent challenges archaeologists face in establishing fundamental definitions and diagnostic criteria for identifying HAS, while emphasizing the importance of HAS as essential elements for studying ancient foodways and cultural heritage. We call on archaeologists and cultural heritage managers to reconsider the heritage value of HAS and include them in specialised research agendas before significant knowledge of our past is lost.

El hallazgo de un canto de esquisto con 7 zoomorfos (ciervos, cápridos y/o bóvidos) y restos informes grabados en el yacimiento de Coves del Fem (Ulldemolins, Tarragona), contribuye a enriquecer el exiguo repertorio de arte mueble de tradición paleolítica del noreste de la península Ibérica. Su análisis detallado y su comparación con el registro artístico de la vertiente mediterránea peninsular resultan claves para determinar su adscripción crono-cultural. La pieza conserva un complejo palimpsesto de motivos figurativos y no figurativos distribuidos por ambas caras, cuyas características formales, técnicas y compositivas (asociaciones no escénicas), nos remiten al final del ciclo artístico paleolítico. Este hallazgo amplía el inventario de arte paleolítico catalán, reafirma la importancia de la provincia de Tarragona, que concentra la mayoría de los hallazgos de arte mueble paleolítico de Cataluña, y abre nuevas perspectivas en el estudio del yacimiento, al ampliar su cronología hasta momentos finales del Paleolítico superior. ABSTRACT: This paper reports the discovery of a schist slab with 7 zoomorphic figures (deer, wild goats and/or bulls) and other engraved remains at Coves del Fem site (Ulldemolins, Priorat, Tarragona) in 2020. This find adds to the limited, although unique, repertoire of portable art of Palaeolithic style found so far in the northeastern part of the Iberian Peninsula. A detailed analysis of this piece and comparison with the artistic record known so far for the Mediterranean side of Iberia are key to establish the relative chronology of this find. The themes (a combination of animals and non-figurative motifs), the formal (simplified representations of animals with elongated bodies), technical (a schist slab with fine incised engravings filled with striated strokes) and compositional patterns of the motifs, with a complex palimpsest of figurative and non-figurative engravings distributed on both sides creating two non-scenic compositions, recall an art from the end of the Paleolithic artistic cycle. To these common elements, this slab adds certain singularities. First, two animals of different species are involved in a mirror symmetry composition, which is not unique to this site, but it is more common in older periods and with the animals distributed on both sides of a vertical axis, rather than horizontal, as in this case. Such distribution has no parallels in this final phase of the artistic sequence. Second, the microscopic analysis of the art reveals the preservation of red pigment inside the engraved grooves, showing the use of a mixed technique, involving a combination of incision and painting. This practice, used probably to enhance motifs and improve visualization, has been recorded in a limited number of Palaeolithic sites, most likely due to conservation problems. Third, the slab includes the first example of an engraved goat known in the Catalan repertoire. Overall, this find contributes to expand the repertoire of Catalan Paleolithic art, confirms the importance of the Tarragona province, concentrating most of the finds of Paleolithic portable art in Catalonia, and opens new perspectives in the study of Coves del Fem, substantially expanding the chronology of this site until the end of the Upper Paleolithic period. Finally, it brings a new example with its own peculiarities (the type of composition) for characterizing the art of the Pleistocene/Holocene transition in south-western Europe.

Southwestern Iberia has played a key role in characterizing Late Pleistocene human ecodynamics. Among other aspects of human behavior, chert procurement and management studies in this region have received increasing attention in the past two decades, especially focusing on the sites showing repeated human occupation, such as the case of Vale Boi (Southern Portugal). However, these studies have been very limited in their geographical scope, and mostly focused on brief macroscopic descriptions of the raw materials. To further our knowledge of the relationship between regional availability of raw materials and its impact on human adaptations and mobility, a more detailed approach to characterizing geological sources is needed. This paper characterizes chert raw materials location, diversity, and availability in a geologically well-defined region of southern Portugal - the Algarve. Through macroscopic and petrographic approaches, we provide a detailed characterization of geological chert sources to build a frame of reference for chert exploitation in the region. Our results show that there are four main chert formations in Algarve, and that despite the within-source variability, sufficient differences at macroscopic and petrographic levels are present to allow clear source attribution. These results provide a baseline for raw material studies in archaeological assemblages across southwestern Iberia, that will be essential to further characterize the dynamics of human behavior in some of the most important eco-cultural niches.