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Estanilles peat bog, located in the northeastern Iberian peninsula, was studied to determine the anthropogenic changes in the landscape over the past seven millennia. The pollen diagram and sedimentary charcoal analyses from this site permit us to reconstruct the landscape changes in an area of both Mediterranean and Atlantic influence. In addition, Montarenyo ombrotrophic peat bog was studied to strengthen the analysis of data from more recent centuries. This paper attempts a reconstruction of historical cultural landscapes using two complementary palaeobotanical proxies (pollen and charcoal) in high mountain environments. The macroscopic charcoal record shows a fire signal since 7500 cal. b. p. However, the relationship between fire frequency and human impact is not always linear. This divergence is linked to fuel availability and fire activity. Fire has been used repeatedly to clear ground and to maintain open areas, and has been a key tool for the management of these high mountain areas. The intensity of use of the landscape implies the expansion of agricultural areas into higher altitudes, including cereal cultivation above 2,200 m a.s.l., during the Middle Ages. The first clear human influence detected in the pollen percentage data is recorded between 6000 and 7000 cal. b. p. and, until present times, the greatest changes in vegetation and landscape history occurred during periods of particular specialization in socioeconomic activities during the Middle Ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the landscape and management of firewood resources during the Holocene at La Garrotxa (Girona, NE Iberia), a middle mountain region (400-1600 m a.s.l.) located within a volcanic area in the Pre-Pyrenees. Anthracological and palynological data from archaeological sites and lacustrine and peat deposits in this area have been considered in an interdisciplinary approach to the landscape and use of resources. According to Early Holocene palynological data, the landscape was characterised by the progressive expansion of forests, mainly dominated by conifers (pine and juniper) and deciduous trees (oak and hazel). The Holocene Climatic Optimum led to the culmination of forest expansion, with the dominance of dense oak forests, the landscape that the first farming societies found on arrival in this area. During the Middle to Late Holocene transition ( c. 4000 cal BP), the expansion of evergreen sclerophyllous trees and the regression of broadleaf deciduous trees are recorded, in response to both climatic and anthropic causes. Deciduous Quercus and Buxus sempervirens were the most important taxa in all periods and areas, as shown in charcoal data from 26 archaeological levels. However, some other taxa had certain importance in some periods and sites. The variability observed between sites is discussed in terms of the availability of resources and the transformation of landscape evidenced in pollen records. This could explain the appearance of evergreen Quercus and other Mediterranean taxa in the Middle-Late Holocene anthracological record. The characteristics of the sites and socio-historical processes have also been considered in order to understand the use of firewood. In that sense, social necessities would have been the determining factor in planning timber and firewood procurement strategies rather than adapting to the environmental availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the environmental, climate and vegetation changes reconstructed for the last 14.6 kyr cal BP from the Marboré Lake sedimentary sequence, the highest altitude record (2612 m a.s.l.) in the Pyrenees studied up to date. We investigate the sensitivity of this high altitude site to vegetational and climate dynamics and altitudinal shifts during the Holocene by comparing palynological spectra of the fossil sequence and pollen rain content from current moss pollsters. We hypothesize that the input of sediments in lakes at such altitude is strongly controlled by ice phenology (ice-free summer months) and that during cold periods Pollen Accumulation Rate (PAR) and Pollen Concentration (PC) reflect changes in ice-cover and thus is linked to temperature changes. Low sedimentation rates and low PC and PAR occurred during colder periods as the Younger Dryas (GS-1) and the Holocene onset (12.6–10.2 kyr cal BP), suggesting that the lake-surface remained ice-covered for most of the year during these periods. Warmer conditions are not evident until 10.2 kyr cal BP, when an abrupt increase in sedimentation rate, PC and PAR occur, pointing to a delayed onset of the Holocene temperature increase at high altitude. Well-developed pinewoods and deciduous forest dominated the mid montane belt since 9.3 kyr cal BP until mid-Holocene (5.2 kyr cal BP). A downwards shift in the deciduous forest occurred after 5.2 kyr cal BP, in agreement with the aridity trend observed at a regional and Mediterranean context. The increase of herbaceous taxa during the late-Holocene (3.5 kyr cal BP-present) reflects a general trend to reduced montane forest, as anthropogenic disturbances were not evident until 1.3 kyr cal BP when Olea proportions from lowland areas and other anthropogenic indicators clearly expand. Our study demonstrates the need to perform local experimental approaches to check the effect of ice phenology on high altitude lakes sensitivity to vegetation changes to obtain more realistic reconstructions of mountain vegetation belts dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper summarises the evolution of the vegetation and the evidences of anthropisation in the Western Pyrenees (Northern Iberian Peninsula) during the Holocene. All the palynological studies published about this region, about both natural and archaeological deposits, have been compiled, and special attention is paid on the available radiocarbon dates. We also present new results of the palynological study of the peat bog of Atxuri (Navarre). The main results document the arboreal colonisation in the early Holocene; the first evidences of anthropisation associated with the Early Neolithic ( ca. 5500–4500 cal BC); the consolidation of a productive economy (agriculture and pastoralism) in the Middle/Late Neolithic ( ca. 4500–3200 cal BC) and above all in the Chalcolithic ( ca. 3200–2200 cal BC); and the rise of complex urban societies in the Bronze Age ( ca. 2200–900 cal BC) and Iron Age ( ca. 900–200 cal BC) and their impact on the vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a synthetic view of the results of anthracological studies in the Western Pyrenean Region during the Holocene. With this aim, we have compiled the results of wood charcoal analyses from archaeological sites taking into account that this region can be divided into several biogeographic areas. Firstly, we present the Aizpea archaeological site in the Pyrenees. Secondly, the deposits of Pico Ramos, Kobeaga II and El Mirón in the Coastal Area are described. Moving to the central part, into the Transition area, we describe the data of Mendandia as the main representative site, although the nearby sites of Atxoste, Kampanoste, and Kanpanoste Goikoa are also mentioned. Finally, for the southern sector of the Ebro Valley, we explain the archaeological sites of Peña Parda and Peña Larga. In addition, some specific issues that have been observed in some plant species found in this environment are also addressed. The main results show the use of different types of wood located near the archaeological sites and, in some particular cases, the selection of one of them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]