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The archaeological investigations developed in the Cadiz coast and countryside during the last 25 years have revealed a series of human occupations dating between ca 8000-3000 cal BP and ranging culturally from Late Mesolithic until Late Bronze Age. Pollen analyses have revealed an open Mediterranean landscape developed under dry conditions drifting to steppic ones. Pinus, Juniperus, Olea and evergreen Quercus are the main arboreal taxa. Mesophilous (deciduous Quercus, Ulmus, Betula) and hygrophilous plants (Salix, Alnus), are present at the base (Mesolithic) as indicators of moister conditions. Nevertheless its presence is discontinuous and exiguous throughout most of the sequence recovering only during the Bronze Age. Charcoal assemblages reveal in turn the management of diverse plant communities. Olea europaea , deciduous and evergreen oak woodlands, Mediterranean pines (Pinus pinea, P. halepensis) and Juniperus appear interspersed in an open environment given the systematic exploitation of a varied set of shrubs and scrubs: Pistacia lentiscus , Arbutus unedo, Phillyrea sp., Crataegus, Prunus spp., Fabaceae and Erica sp. The E-W geographical position of sites between the Bays of Algeciras and Cádiz, both separated by a series of mountainous alignments, determined the early development of the evergreen oak woodlands to the east over the deciduous oak communities which are more abundant westwards, due to the decreasing humidity gradient as going eastwards. The various sea level fluctuations occurred during the Holocene, also determined the trajectory and character of human occupations settled on the coast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reconstructed the palaeoenvironmental conditions of Cartagena Bay during the Holocene after a multidisciplinary study to identify natural variations and the anthropic processes of this coastal area. A total of 119 samples were recovered for amino acid racemization dating, 3 for radiocarbon dating (14C), and four sets of 80 samples for sedimentological and palaeontological determination, mineralogical content, biomarker and trace elements quantification. Two natural scenarios were identified from the variations of n -alkane indices and palaeobiological content. The first period (6650–5750 yr cal BP) was marked by the development of euhaline marine conditions with strong inputs from aquatic macrophytes and high biodiversity. After a hiatus, the area underwent a profound change, becoming a paucispecific brackish marsh environment with increasing inputs from land plants, with possible episodes of emersion with a greater presence from terrestrial gastropods (3600–300 cal yr BP). By combining trace element abundance and stanol distributions, our study also provides a novel approach to identify the predominant influence of anthropogenic factors in the last three millennia in the coastal record of Cartagena Bay. Findings confirmed that Pb mining and metallurgy began during the Bronze Age, with considerable inputs of this heavy metal into the atmosphere during Phoenician, Punic and particularly Roman times compared to the Middle Ages. Pollution by Cu and Zn was also observed during Punic and Roman times, and was first documented in the Middle Ages. In addition, faecal stanols, such as coprostanol, derived mainly from humans, and 24-ethylcoprostanol from herbivores were present, thereby indicating for the first time a continuous presence of human populations and significant pollution input since 3600 yr cal BP, this being greater in the late Bronze Age and Phoenician, Punic and Roman times than during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when the city was in decline. [Display omitted] • Euhaline marine conditions and high biodiversity occurred at 6650–5750 yr. • A paucispecific brackish marsh environment occurred at 3400–300 yr after an hiatus. • Faecal sterols revealed pollution from herbivores and humans since Bronze Age. • Pb–Zn–Cu linked to regional mining-metallurgy since Bronze Age to Middle Ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Navamuño peatbog (Sierra de Béjar, western Spain) is a ∼14 ha pseudo-endorheic depression with boundaries defined by a lateral moraine of the Cuerpo de Hombre paleoglacier and fault-line scarps on granite bedrock. The stratigraphy of the Navamuño peatbog system is characterized here using borehole data to a depth of 20 m. An integrated interpretation from direct-push coring, dynamic probing boreholes and handheld auger drillings advances our knowledge of the Navamuño polygenetic infill. Correlating this data with those obtained in other studies of the chronology and evolutionary sequence of the Cuerpo de Hombre paleoglacier has enabled us to establish the sequence of the hydrological system in the Navamuño depression. During the Late Pleistocene (MIS2), the depression was dammed by the Cuerpo de Hombre glacier and fed by its lateral meltwaters, and was filled with glaciolacustrine deposits. The onset of the Holocene in Navamuño is linked to a flat, fluviotorrential plain with episodes of local shallow pond/peat bog sedimentation. This evolutionary sequence is congruent with the age model obtained from available radiocarbon dating, obtaining 19 ages from ∼800 cal yr BP (at depth 1.11 m) to ∼16800 cal yr BP (at depth 15.90–16.0 m). Finally, the sedimentary record enabled interpretation of the environmental changes occurring in this zone during the late glacial (from the Older Dryas to the Younger Dryas) and postglacial (Holocene) stages, placing them within the paleoclimatic context of the Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent excavations (2008-2009) conducted at the open-air site of Las Delicias, located in the Manzanares River valley (Madrid), have revealed new important data for the understanding of the human settlement of Central Iberia during Solutrean times. In this paper, we present a geomorphological and taphonomic study of the Pleistocene deposits of Las Delicias, a technological analysis focused on the bifacial lithic reduction processes documented at the site, new Optically Stimulated Luminescence dates, and new palynological data. Together with the existence of numerous Solutrean lithic assemblages from the early 20th century excavations of the Manzanares terraces, these new data highlight the importance of the Manzanares valley as a focus of Solutrean settlement, not only related to flint procurement but also to foraging activities. Moreover, they require reconsideration of Central Iberia as a virtually unpopulated region during the Late Pleniglacial (MIS 2), and of the associated idea of its cultural dependence on the coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula. We propose new avenues of research aimed at approaching the central region of Iberia in its own cultural and ecological terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present a review of the available Holocene pollen records from the Spanish Central System (113 sites and 150 14 C dates). Palynological data obtained from pollen analyses of peat-bogs, lakes and archaeological sites, as well as radiocarbon dating, were used to infer the human impact on vegetation and landscape during the last 9 millennia. The Neolithic contribution to the configuration of landscape is scarce, limited to the valleys, while Chalcolithic settlements and their related activities (agriculture and grazing) represent the first evidence of significant human impact on the high-mountains. The pollen record has allowed us to relate two cultural periods of changing, the Copper Age–Early Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age transitions, to abrupt climate disruptions, the so-called 4.2 and 2.8 ka cal BP events respectively. From the Iron Age to the Early Middle Ages, anthropic activities were still sporadic, mainly located in the lowlands, but from the Feudal Period onwards, when La Mesta transhumance system takes place, high-mountain landscapes changed dramatically. Late Modern Period brings a further intensification of human pressure, especially related to forestry, with widespread pinewood afforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nous présentons dans ce travail, un panorama synthétique des occupations humaines du Nord du Maroc, en mettant l'accent sur l'association des données anthropologiques et des données culturelles, ceci dans un cadre chronologique compris entre le Paléolithique Moyen (MSA) et le Paléolithique Supérieur. Nous présentons aussi les projets développés, durant ces 15 dernières années, et les résultats les plus intéressants que nous avons obtenus. Pour conclure, nous proposons quelques réflexions sur l'évaluation culturelle et historique des enregistrements archéologiques de la région de Tétouan dans les périodes du Paléolithique Moyen et Supérieur. In this work, we present a synthetic panorama of the human occupations of northern Morocco, with an emphasis on the association of anthropological with cultural records, within the framework of the Middle Palaeolithic (MSA) and the Upper Palaeolithic. We also present the projects developed over the past 15 years and the most interesting results we have obtained. And we conclude bay providing some reflections on the cultural and historical evaluation of the archaeological records from the Tetouan region in the Middle and the Upper Palaeolithic phases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The sedimentary record of the volcanic lake known as the Fuentillejo maar (central Spain) offers the opportunity to determine the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the central-southern part of the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene. A total of 439 samples from the upper 88m of a ca. 142m long core (spanning the last ca. 355ka) were examined. The interval corresponds to the last 220ka of the record. High n-alkane CPI values and the presence of sulfur revealed that little diagenetic signal attenuation or modification had occurred. A number of n-alkane-based indices (e.g. predominant n-alkane, ACL, Paq and TARHC ratios, and the proportion of C27, C29 and C31 n-alkanes with respect to the summed C27 +C29 +C31) alkanes, showed changing conditions in the organic matter input to the maar lake over time, with episodes involving a major input of terrestrial vegetation, alternating with others in which algae or a mixed input of terrestrial plants, aquatic macrophytes and algae occurred. The proportions of C27, C29 and C31 were useful for reconstructing the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the basin as they allowed assignment of several dry intervals during which grasses developed, while during humid phases trees expanded at the expense of grasses. In general, we found good correspondence between these episodes and the climatic cycles observed in δ18O records from ices cores in Greenland and Antarctica, as well as from marine cores. Thus, we conclude that global palaeoclimatological changes were recorded in the maar record. Likewise, Heinrich Events appeared to be reflected in the n-alkane indices. This was confirmed by single spectral analysis and cross spectral analysis with the insolation curve on 21 July at a latitude of 65°N. The approach revealed that the cycles interpreted in the Fuentillejo record (103, 41, 23 and 19ka) showed evidence of orbital influence related to the astronomical cycles of the eccentricity variation in the Earth’s orbit, the Earth’s obliquity oscillation, and the precession variation (Milankovitch theory). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Cueva del Camino site (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid) represents the most complete MIS 5 record from the Iberian Peninsula (away from the Mediterranean margin), including a large accumulation of fossilized remains of small and large vertebrates and two human teeth. The presence of carnivores (mainly hyenas) and humans suggests that the site should be interpreted as a spotted hyena den, a human occupation, or both. During an earlier phase of excavation undertaken during the 1980s, an anthropic origin was suggested for the accumulation at the site. However, research was resumed in 2002, leading to an increase in the number of vertebrate remains recovered, as well as the recognition of new vertebrate species. These have now been incorporated into the site’s list of fauna. In addition, new palaeobotanical, geochronological and stratigraphic data have been recorded and analysed, and the human teeth identified as being of Neanderthal origin. Floristic data (pollen and charcoal remains) obtained for the north sector of this site indicate an open landscape with Pinus sylvestris-nigra as the main arboreal taxon. The available evidence suggests this accumulation to be the result of spotted hyena activity during a warm phase of Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS 5) in an environment in which fallow deer was the most abundant herbivore. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A new record from a long sediment core (S3) in Navamuño (1505 m asl, western Iberian Central System) provides the reconstruction of the vegetation history and environmental changes in the region between 15.6 and 10.6 ka cal BP, namely during the Late Glacial and the early Holocene, using a multiproxy analysis (pollen-based vegetation and climate reconstruction, sedimentary macrocharcoals, loss-on-ignition, magnetic susceptibility and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements). The results are then compared with other sequences from the Iberian Central System and the whole Iberian Peninsula in order to better understand the past dynamics of the main forest constituents. The pollen record shows a shift from open pine forests ∼15.6–14.7 ka cal BP (Oldest Dryas) to mixed open pine-birch woodlands ∼14.7–14.0 ka cal BP (Bølling). Woodlands were succeeded by a steppe-like landscape until ∼13.4 ka cal BP (Older Dryas), which was replaced again by high-mountain pine forests and riparian woodlands ∼13.4–12.6 ka cal BP (Allerød). A great development of cold steppe grasslands linked to the decline of birch woodlands is documented ∼12.6–11.7 ka cal BP (Younger Dryas). The early Holocene (11.7–10.6 ka cal BP) was characterized by a progressive reforestation of the study area by pine and birch forests in the highlands and oak woods in the lowlands. Temperate tree taxa (Carpinus betulus , Castanea sativa , Corylus avellana , Fraxinus , Juglans , Tilia , and Ulmus) were also common but likely at lower elevations. Pollen of Fagus sylvatica was already recorded during the Late Glacial and the early Holocene. The marked increasing local fire activity during the warmer and wetter Allerød oscillation could be related to a rise in tree cover, supporting the climatically driven character of these fires. Nevertheless, the strong increase in fire activity during the Younger Dryas would probably be related to growing tree and shrub mortality, as well as to the wet/dry biphasic structure of this stadial. The standard "Modern Analogue Technique" has been also applied to the Navamuño sequence to provide quantitative climate estimations for the Late Glacial and the early Holocene periods. This record is one of the few continental archives that show the climatic trend between the Late Glacial and the early Holocene in central Iberia, agreeing with many other regional records from the Western Mediterranean. • The Navamuño record provides one of the few continental records of the entire Late Glacial-early Holocene periods in central Iberia showing the strongest vegetation and environmental changes yet published. • Our study involves the first documentation of beech and hornbeam in glacial refugia in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. • Results show significant contribution of the IACP and the 11.4 ka cal BP and a biphasic structure of the Younger Dryas. • Our study is one of the few palaeoclimatic and palynological reconstructions carried out at high resolution in SW Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]