Socio-Ecological Contingencies with Climate Changes over the Prehistory in the Mediterranean Iberia

Bibliographic Data

ID15801760
AuthorsE Brisset (0000-0001-8706-0505, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, corresponding author), J Revelles (0000-0003-4803-9513, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social), Isabel Expósito (IPHES—Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, 43007 Tarragona, Spain), I Expósito Barea (0000-0002-2084-5487, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social), Joan Bernabeu Aubán (0000-0002-5742-8708, Universitat de València), Francesc Burjachs (0000-0002-7200-9552, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats)
Year2020
Volume3
Issue3
Pages19-19
Publication date2020-07-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQuaternary (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2571-550X • E-ISSN: 2571-550X
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/quat3030019
OpenAlexW3038288614
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited64

We conducted palynological, sedimentological, and chronological analyses of a coastal sediment sequence to investigate landscape evolution and agropastoral practices in the Nao Cap region (Spain, Western Mediterranean) since the Holocene. The results allowed for a reconstruction of vegetation, fire, and erosion dynamics in the area, implicating the role of fire in vegetation turnover at 5300 (mesophilous forests replaced by sclerophyllous scrubs) and at 3200 calibrated before present (cal. BP) (more xerophytics). Cereal cultivation was apparent from the beginning of the record, during the Mid-Neolithic period. From 5300 to 3800 cal. BP, long-lasting soil erosion was associated with the presence of cereals, indicating intense land-use during the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods. The decline of the agriculture signal and vegetal recolonization is likely explained by land abandonment during the Final Bronze Age. Anthropogenic markers reappeared during the Iberian period when more settlements were present. A contingency of human and environmental agencies was found at 5900, 4200, and 2800 cal. BP, coinciding with abrupt climate events, that have manifested locally in reduced spring discharge, an absence of agropastoral evidence, and a marked decline in settlement densities. This case study, covering five millennia and three climate events, highlights how past climate changes have affected human activities, and also shows that people repeatedly reoccupied the coast once the perturbation was gone. The littoral zone remained attractive for prehistoric communities despite the costs of living in an area exposed to climatic hazards, such as droughts

Archaeology · Bronze Age · Chalcolithic · Climate change · Ecosystem · Fire regime · Geography · Holocene · Human settlement · Mediterranean climate · Palynology · Period (music · Physical geography · Prehistory · Vegetation (pathology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Ecology