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The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we generated a de novo genome assembly of the black rat, 67 ancient black rat mitogenomes and 36 ancient nuclear genomes from sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result of the breakdown of the Roman Empire, the First Plague Pandemic, and/or post-Roman climatic cooling., We thank the wet laboratory teams at MPI-SHH, the PalaeoBARN at the University of Oxford and the University of York. We thank David K. James and Lucia Hui of the Alameda County Vector Control Services District for procuring the rat used for the de novo genome. We are grateful to Sarah Nagel at Max Planck Institute for the Evolutionary Anthropology for the single-stranded library preparation, and Dovetail Genomics for the de novo genome assembly service. We thank Maria Spyrou for her suggestions and comments. We acknowledge Ewan Chipping and Helena England (University of York), Carl Phillips, Veronica Lindholm (Ålands Museum), Christine McDonnell and Nienke van Doorn (York Archaeological Trust), Emile Mittendorf (Gemeente Deventer), Inge Riemersma (Archaeological depot, Provincie Zuid-Holland), the Turkish Ministry of Culture & Tourism, Jan Frolík and Iva Herichová (Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague), Franz Humer and Eduard Pollhammer (Archaeological Park Carnuntum), Dorottya B. Nyékhelyi and László Daróczi-Szabó (Budapest History Museum), Institut National du Patrimoine (Tunisia), University of Barcelona, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Project HUM2006-03432/HIST), Spanish Ministry of Culture (program of archaeological excavations abroad 2009); Spanish Agency of International Cooperation for the Development (2009), Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC), Vujadin Ivanisević, Nemanja Marković and Ivan Bugarski (Archaeological Institute 809 Belgrade), the Field Museum Chicago, the British National History Museum and the American Museum of Natural History for providing materials and support. G.L. and A.J. were supported by the ERC (grant ERC-2013-StG-337574-UNDEAD) and A.J. was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council Doctoral Training Program. D.O. was supported by Wellcome (Small Grant in Humanities and Social Science 209817/Z) and the British Academy / Leverhulme Trust (Small Research Grant SG170938). E.R. was supported by Estonian Research Council grant No PRG29. R.K. was supported by the Czech Academy of Sciences institutional support (RVO:67985912). S.V.-L. was supported by the ERC (grant ERC-StG- 716298 ZooMWest). H.E. was funded by an ERC grant (206148) through the Sealinks Project. A.H.B was funded by the Leverhulme Trust (ECF-2017-315). The de novo genome assembly, population genomics study, and radiocarbon dating were funded by the Max Planck Society.

Overexploitation has directly, negatively affected marine fish populations in the past half-century, modifying not only their abundance but their behaviour and life-history traits. The recovery and resilience of such populations is dependent upon their exploitation history, which often extends back millennia. Hence, data on when exploitation intensified and how populations were composed in historical periods, have the potential to reveal long-term population dynamics and provide context on the baselines currently used in fisheries management and conservation. Here, we setup a framework for investigations on the exploitation history of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus; BFT) in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean by collating records of their zooarchaeological remains and critically reviewing these alongside the literature. Then, we outline how novel multidisciplinary applications on BFT remains may be used to document long-term population dynamics. Our review of literature provides clear evidence of BFT overexploitation during the mid-20th century ce. Furthermore, a strong case could be made that the intensification of BFT exploitation extends back further to at least the 19th century ce, if not the 13th–16th century ce, in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean. However, a host of archaeological evidence would suggest that BFT exploitation may have been intensive since antiquity. Altogether, this indicates that by the currently used management baselines of the 1970s, population abundance and complexity was already likely to have declined from historical levels, and we identify how biomolecular and morphometric analyses of BFT remains have the potential to further investigate this.

Bird remains are rare on archaeological sites yet often crucial to address a multitude of questions, both cultural and biological. In this paper we argue that oribatid mites living on bird feathers, scales and nests may prove useful to infer not only bird presence but occasionally their breeding at a given site in the absence of their remains. Although oribatids are for all purposes stationary, a good number of species practice non-parasitic phoresis on birds that allows the mites to disperse over large distances. The specificity of the interrelationship, thus the quality of the bioindicator signal, is probably time-dependent, so that the longer the more specific the link between the vertebrate and the arthropod becomes. Oribatids are useful bioindicators because of the intensive sclerotization of their exoskeleton that insures their preservation in archaeological deposits. In this paper inferences about the bird assemblage retrieved at the Early Medieval site of Tabacalera (Gijon, Spain) are explored from the standpoint of the phoretic oribatids recovered in the deposits.

Prehistoric and historical insights in avian zooarchaeology, taphonomy and ancient bird use

This paper constitutes the first comprehensive review of animal fossils retrieved in Iberian archaeological sites. Out of 633 items from 82 sites, 143 were analyzed and a further 13 assessed and their status clarified by us on 20 sites. Among others, this study is the first one in Iberia to assess the role played by fossil scaphopods and to carry out a systematic description of shark teeth. The relevance of those 156 fossils we assessed through a comparison with all the finds located in the Iberian literature. Failure to report fossils properly did not allow us to warrant such status for 352 items. We believe that the poor record of fossils in Iberian archaeological sites is the result of a combination of methodological and theoretical constraints. For that reason, we contend that the items herein reported probably represent a fraction, however substantial, of the evidence at hand. In light of the contrasted relevance of fossils for addressing cultural issues, some recommendations and a plea for a more systematic and rigorous search of archaeological specimens are made., This paper is a contribution to project HUM-949-PAI by the Junta de Andalucía and ICAREHB. The Junta de Andalucía granted permission to excavate Hedionda-IV. The research at La Pileta and El Pirulejo were supported by MEC (Ministerio de Economía y Competividad) grants US-1264079 (I+D+i FEDER Andalucía), HAR2013-44269-P and HAR2016-77789-P. Research also benefited from MEC grants HAR2014-55722-P and HAR2017-88325-P, and from grant 19438/PI/14 (SÉNECA Program). AGA was supported by a MINECO Ramón y Cajal Fellowship (RYC-2015-18966). Alfredo Prada (ANMRC) granted permission to study the specimens from Las Aguas, Tesoro, El Juyo, Rascaño and Altamira, and Lola Hernando (Museo Arqueológico Nacional) facilitate the study of fossils from El Oficio. We thank Ana Gómez Díaz, Ana Pajuelo and Alfred Sanchís for photographing the specimens from Campo Real, Grave-5/Señorío de Guzmán and Parpalló.

International audience; The prevalence of large game found in association with Middle Paleolithic tools has traditionally biased our ideas of Neanderthal subsistence practices. Studies document the exploitation of small mammals, birds, and plants by Neanderthals, whereas data on aquatic resources are still scarce and data on fish are almost non-existent. This article presents a review of fish remains from 11 Middle Palaeolithic fish bone assemblages from well contextualized sites in Belgium, France and Spain. It explores the nature of the evidence in order to determine whether Neanderthal fished and if so, whether fishing was a casual, opportunistic activity or a systematic practice. The first issue to address is whether archaeological fish remains at any given site represent human activity or not. Our study tests that assertion while enhancing our understanding of the diversity of food alternatives available to Neanderthals at any given site, and their ability to adapt to them. Methodological protocols include quantification, body mass and length estimations, and, whenever possible, spatial distribution of fish remains, taphonomic analyses and inference of the season of death. This methodology constitutes an analytical protocol to assess the contribution of fish to the human diet during the Paleolithic and set apart human-generated fish deposits from those generated by alternative fish accumulators. The evidence gathered so far points essentially to circumstantial fishing by Neanderthals, and the question must necessarily remain open for the moment. Nevertheless, some of the evidence, in particular the presence of large (> 1 kg) fish in anthropogenic deposits and the absence of animal digestive traces and gnawing marks on fish bones in such deposits, seems compelling and suggests that Neanderthals could have played a role in the accumulation of some of these remains.

Se valora la fauna del pozo-depósito de la antigua Fábrica de Tabacos de Gijón desde la perspectiva de la génesis del depósito. Aunque la información arqueozoológica no basta para inferir tal fenómeno, apunta a que en el aljibe estuvo establecida una comunidad léntica con anterioridad a las circunstancias que dieron al traste con su función y que la mayoría de la fauna estudiada hasta la fecha no parece haber sido depositada tras la amortización del aljibe, sino en un momento previo. Cabe pensar que un vertido de cadáveres pudo incluso haber sido el desencadenante de dicha amortización.

The Middle (MP) and Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) evidences of shellfish collection on the southern Iberian site of Bajondillo cave are presented and compared with Westernmost Mediterranean archaeological sites. The main feature is stasis for Mytilus galloprovincialis represents the dominant taxon during a ∼120kyr temporal sequence. The second feature is the decrease of the shellfishing signal when site distance to the coast increases. The data reveal that shellfish collection was practiced during Marine Isotopic Stage 4, a poorly documented stage in terms of aquatic adaptations. Striking is also that mollusc assemblages evidence an uninterrupted decreasing trend in terms of remains from the earliest to the latest levels, in particular when H. sapiens replaced H. neanderthalensis. Although taxa of secondary importance are too scarce to make reliable inferences, another difference between the MP and EUP collections is the substantial increase of infaunal bivalves in the latter cultural period. Warm and cold water mollusc records match temperature rises and drops although the scarcity of data do not allow one to proceed beyond qualitative statements. Likewise, the prevalence of fresh and brackish water mollusc hint at a permanent presence of freshwater around the site at all times. When compared with assemblages from the Alboran sea region (Westernmost Mediterranean Sea), the Bajondillo cave collections are remarkable for their abundance of mussels. Comparison between Bajondillo cave and Pinnacle Point reveal that infaunal bivalve abundances in the South African site are far higher than those recorded in the MP levels, though not those from the EUP. Whether this feature hints at subtle differences existing between the collection of shellfish by H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis, reflects a behavioral convergence between the two hominine lineages or represents an inherited cognitive trait from a common ancestor is an issue in need of further analysis., The research of the Bajondillo faunal assemblages was allowed by the Consejería de Cultura of the Junta de Andalucía (Spain) (UPPH/49/06) to one of the authors (MCS). This research has been sponsored by Grants HAR2013-44269-P, HAR2014-55722-P, HAR2016-77789-P and HAR2017-88325-P from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and 19438/PI/14. The paper constitutes a contribution of Research Group HUM-949 (University of Sevilla, Spain) and the ICArEHB (Universidade do Algarve, Portugal).

International audience; Fish are consumed by many predators in addition to humans. Identifying the agent responsible for an archaeological fish bone accumulation is a crucial yet far from straightforward task in the absence of diagnostic criteria. It is for this reason that exploring the features of fish bone collections produced by animals constitutes a key issue of archaeozoological research. In this paper, one such study is presented for the Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis J.F. Naumann, 1840). A total of 48 pellets were collected in a colony of the species on two islands of the Chafarinas archipelago (Mediterranean Sea). The analyses demonstrate that fish remains, represented by 13 species and 1 genus, made up 93% of the 2789 identified remains. Most assemblages were dominated by the European pilchard (Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792)). Our study indicates that digestive processes modify skeletal elements through abrasion and fragmentation. Based on the modifications that were recorded, a set of diagnostic criteria is proposed to serve as proxies for spotting fish bone deposits produced by Yellow-legged Gulls on archaeological assemblages.

This paper presents an archaeological, paleontological, taphonomical, chronological and geochemical study of a fossil oyster valve retrieved at the cave of La Pileta. The specimen was taken from Neogene fossiliferous deposits located more than 10 km away from the site. The shell was worked so as to become a portable lamp. 14C/AMS dating of the carbonate crust overlying the shell indicates a Gravettian chronology. Different lines of evidence indicate that during its use life, the valve was used to harbor or process pigments. The data presented throw light on the spread of symbolism in the southwestern corner of Europe during the Early Upper Palaeolithic, and add elements to the debate on the existence of a pre-Solutrean stage in the rock art of La Pileta and, by extension, of the southern Iberian Peninsula., En este trabajo presentamos el estudio arqueológico, paleontológico, tafonómico, cronológico y geoquímico de una valva de ostra hallada en la cueva de La Pileta. El ejemplar procede de depósitos fosilíferos neógenos distantes más de 10 km del yacimiento. Una vez adaptada, la concha fue empleada como lámpara portátil. La cronología 14C/AMS de la costra carbonatada que sellaba la cubeta nos remite al periodo Gravetiense. Según diversos indicios en la lámpara, durante su vida útil se procesaron o almacenaron pigmentos. Los datos aportados informan sobre la dispersión del simbolismo del Paleolítico Superior Inicial hasta el extremo sudoccidental europeo, así mismo, suma nuevos elementos al debate sobre la existencia de una fase presolutrense en el arte parietal de La Pileta y, por ende, de todo el sur de la Península Ibérica.

The paper presents the fish collections retrieved in the site of Santa Catalina. The results from this analysis are explored in terms of the Richness, Diversity, Equitability and Trophic level values of the 61 archeological levels that span from the Upper Magdalenian (15 ky cal BC) to the Azilian (10 ky cal BC). These results are discussed within the frame of theoretical proposals on the origin and evolution of prehistoric fishing in the Cantabrian region, and evidence that some of these proposals appear to be in need of revision.

Zooarchaeological and palaeontological records indicate that whereas the pine marten (Martes martes, L.) constitutes a genuine element of the European fauna, the beech marten (Martes foina E.) is a recent colonizer whose invasion was fostered by the spread of the Neolithic economies. In this paper: (1) we provide the first direct radiocarbon date for the appearance of the beech marten in the Iberian Peninsula and Europe, (2) assess the evolution of the abundances of the two species in the eastern Iberian site of Cova Fosca (13,360–4522 cal BC), and (3) explore the causes that may have played a role in the expansion of the beech marten and the retreat of the pine marten to the northern fringe of the Iberian Peninsula. Our study suggests that whereas the beech marten might have benefited from landscape transformations that the Neolithic agropastoral communities fostered, hunting pressure along with a combination of natural and anthropic landscape changes that took place in eastern Iberia after the onset of the Neolithic (ca. 5600 cal BC onwards) may have sealed the fate of the pine marten in the region., The funding for the botanical study derives from DESIRE (HAR2013-43701-P) and RELICTFLORA (P11RNM-7033) projects, sponsored by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and the Junta de Andalucía, respectively

Westernmost Europe constitutes a key location in determining the timing of the replacement of Neanderthals by anatomically modern humans (AMHs). In this study, the replacement of late Mousterian industries by Aurignacian ones at the site of Bajondillo Cave (Malaga, southern Spain) is reported. On the basis of Bayesian analyses, a total of 26 radiocarbon dates, including 17 new ones, show that replacement at Bajondillo took place in the millennia centring on ~45–43 calibrated thousand years before the present (cal ka bp)—well before the onset of Heinrich event 4 (~40.2–38.3 cal ka bp). These dates indicate that the arrival of AMHs at the southernmost tip of Iberia was essentially synchronous with that recorded in other regions of Europe, and significantly increases the areal expansion reached by early AMHs at that time. In agreement with human dispersal scenarios on other continents, such rapid expansion points to coastal corridors as favoured routes for early AMH. The new radiocarbon dates align Iberian chronologies with AMH dispersal patterns in Eurasia. New 43–45 ka dates for stone tool assemblages associated with anatomically modern humans (AMHs) at the southern Spanish site of Bajondillo suggest an early AMH incursion and weaken the case for late Neanderthal persistence in the region.

9 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, This article attempts to set out a research agenda on the origin and evolution of hake exploitation in the Northeast Atlantic through a combination of zooarchaeological data with history and fisheries biology. An overview of archaeological hake remains from the Iberian Peninsula is presented and discussed in terms of a series of long-established paradigms. These are later expanded through an overview of issues currently facing the hake fishery, in particular its southern stock. The work concludes by specifying some research problems these issues imply and how historical and biomolecular analyses of archaeological specimens may improve our understanding of hake fisheries in former times in an attempt to implement a hindcasting to forecast strategy that could synergize with current fisheries research on the species, This research benefited from Grant HAR 2014-55722-P (“FISHCAN-Ictioarqueologia de la Prehistoria cantábrica: Modelos para la caracterización de las primeras pesquerías europeas”) from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and from Grant 19438/PI/14 (“Proyecto Gavilanes: Explotación de recursos naturales en el litoral de Mazarrón (Sureste Ibérico) de fines del III milenio a.C. al cambio de Era. Formas, modelos de explotación y derivaciones paleoecológicas”) from the PROGRAMA SÉNECA 2014. L. Llorente-Rodríguez is supported by the European Commission under a Marie-Curie-Sklodowska-If fellowship (FISHARC-IF 658072) for Career development FISHARC-IF 658022 and by the aforementioned HAR Grant of which she is member of the recipient research team

Fossil gathering by humans has been rarely documented in the Iberian Peninsula. In the present paper, a multidisciplinary approach has been taken to analyze a straight-tusked elephant (Elephas antiquus) molar retrieved in a Magdalenian deposit at the rock shelter of El Pirulejo in southern Spain. The taphonomical analyses revealed a multifarious use of a tooth that had not only been worked into an anvil-sort-of-tool but also used as a core and partly tainted with a composite pigment. The dating and geochemical analyses further evidenced that the molar derived from an animal that had lived in a rather arid landscape with a temperature range between 12.3 and 14.3 A degrees C coincident with a cold episode within marine isotope stage (MIS) 6.6 and probably fed on herbaceous plants. These analyses evidence the potential fossils from archaeological sites bear for addressing a wide range of issues that include both the cultural and paleoenvironmental realms. Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competividad [HAR2013-44269-P, HAR 2014-55722-P, HAR2012-34620] Programa Seneca [19438/PI/14] University of Seville Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship within the 7th Framework Program for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (European Commission) [PIEF-GA-2013-623027]

The physiographical features of the Galician sea, in particular its temperature, marine currents and plankton richness, have turned its waters into one of the most biologically diversified marine regions of the planet. The 1500 km of shorelines from this Northwest Iberian region are dotted with rías (Galician fjords) where settlements devoted to fishing and trade have existed since prehistoric times. These activities left abundant testimonies in terms of archaeological deposits. In recent decades, urban/industrial development, as well as a number of natural agents (e.g., storms, sea level rise, climate change), is rapidly erasing the evidences of this rich cultural heritage. Loss of fish and shellmiddens in particular will hamper our ability to infer traditional lifeways, doing away with evidence that is crucial to monitoring past climatic changes and to inferring those biological conditions under which marine species and coastal populations thrived in the past. This paper surveys some issues dealing with the coastal bio-archaeological heritage of Galicia, and the risks these deposits face. It concludes with a proposal to save this increasingly threatened marine heritage.

Taxonomic over-splitting of extinct or endangered taxa, due to an incomplete knowledge of both skeletal morphological variability and the geographical ranges of past populations, continues to confuse the link between isolated extant populations and their ancestors. This is particularly problematic with the genusEquus.To more reliably determine the evolution and phylogeographic history of the endangered Asiatic wild ass, we studied the genetic diversity and inter-relationships of both extinct and extant populations over the last 100,000 years, including samples throughout its previous range from Western Europe to Southwest and East Asia. Using 229 bp of the mitochondrial hypervariable region, an approach which allowed the inclusion of information from extremely poorly preserved ancient samples, we classify all non-African wild asses into nine clades that show a clear phylogeographic structure revealing their phylogenetic history. This study places the extinct European wild ass,E. hydruntinus, the phylogeny of which has been debated since the end of the 19thcentury, into its phylogenetic context within the Asiatic wild asses and reveals recent gene flow events between populations currently regarded as separate species. The phylogeographic organization of clades resulting from these efforts can be used not only to improve future taxonomic determination of a poorly characterized group of equids, but also to identify historic ranges, interbreeding events between various populations, and the impact of ancient climatic changes. In addition, appropriately placing extant relict populations into a broader phylogeographic and genetic context can better inform ongoing conservation strategies for this highly endangered species.

International audience; Seven centuries before the discovery of the African zebras by the Europeans, the names zebro andzebra were given to an enigmatic equid widely reported in the Iberian Peninsula during the MiddleAges. Roughly 150 toponyms deriving from the words zebro/a have been recorded in Iberia startingfrom the IXth century A.D. together with 65 Portuguese Forais and 16 Spanish Fueros (i.e. town laws)referred to these animals as onagri or zebros – Latin and Romance etimology respectively – duringthe XIIth and XIIIth centuries. However, the precise biological nature of the animal remains unclearto this day. Four hypotheses have been put forward to explain the taxonomic status of the zebro:1) Equus hydruntinus, an extinct onager; 2) the antecessor of the Sorraia horse breed; 3) a modernonager species introduced by the Muslims; and 4) a feral domestic equid, either an ass or a horse. Thispaper addresses the issue by reviewing the historical and nomenclatural data on the subject, whilebriefly covering the genetic and archaeozoological evidence that may eventually shed light on the issue.; Sept siècles avant la découverte des zèbres africains par les Européens, les noms « zebro » et « zèbre »ont été donnés à un équidé énigmatique largement documenté dans la péninsule Ibérique au MoyenÂge. Environ 150 toponymes découlant des mots « zebro/a » ont été enregistrés dans la péninsuleIbérique à partir du IXe siècle de notre ère. De même, 65 « Forais » au Portugal et six « Fueros » enl’Espagne (comprendre : lois urbaines) mentionnent ces animaux sous le nom d’« onagres » ou de« zebros » (étymologies latine et romane, respectivement) au cours des XIIe et XIIIe siècles. Cependant,la nature biologique précise de l’animal reste incertaine, même aujourd’hui. Quatre hypothèses ontété avancées pour expliquer le statut taxonomique du « zebro » : 1) Equus hydruntinus, l’hydrontin,un onagre éteint ; 2) l’ancêtre de la race de cheval Sorraia ; 3) espèce d’onagre moderne introduite parles musulmans ; et 4) équidé domestique errant, âne ou cheval. Cet article aborde la question à partirdes données historiques et de nomenclature de cet animal et les confronte brièvement avec celles dela génétique et de l’archéozoologie.

Leopard complex spotting is inherited by the incompletely dominant locus,LP, which also causes congenital stationary night blindness in homozygous horses. We investigated an associated single nucleotide polymorphism in theTRPM1gene in 96 archaeological bones from 31 localities from Late Pleistocene (approx. 17 000 YBP) to medieval times. The first genetic evidence ofLPspotting in Europe dates back to the Pleistocene. We tested for temporal changes in theLPassociated allele frequency and estimated coefficients of selection by means of approximate Bayesian computation analyses. Our results show that at least some of the observed frequency changes are congruent with shifts in artificial selection pressure for the leopard complex spotting phenotype. In early domestic horses from Kirklareli–Kanligecit (Turkey) dating to 2700–2200 BC, a remarkably high number of leopard spotted horses (six of 10 individuals) was detected including one adult homozygote. However,LPseems to have largely disappeared during the late Bronze Age, suggesting selection against this phenotype in early domestic horses. During the Iron Age,LPreappeared, probably by reintroduction into the domestic gene pool from wild animals. This picture of alternating selective regimes might explain how genetic diversity was maintained in domestic animals despite selection for specific traits at different times.

New data and a review of historiographic information from Neolithic sites of the Malaga and Algarve coasts (southern Iberian Peninsula) and from the Maghreb (North Africa) reveal the existence of a Neolithic settlement at least from 7.5 cal ka BP. The agricultural and pastoralist food producing economy of that population rapidly replaced the coastal economies of the Mesolithic populations. The timing of this population and economic turnover coincided withmajor changes in the continental and marine ecosystems, including upwelling intensity, sea-level changes and increased aridity in the Sahara and along the Iberian coast. These changes likely impacted the subsistence strategies of the Mesolithic populations along the Iberian seascapes and resulted in abandonments manifested as sedimentary hiatuses in some areas during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. The rapid expansion and area of dispersal of the early Neolithic traits suggest the use of marine technology. Different evidences for a Maghrebian origin for the first colonists have been summarized. The recognition of an early North-African Neolithic influence in Southern Iberia and the Maghreb is vital for understanding the appearance and development of the Neolithic in Western Europe. Our review suggests links between climate change, resource allocation, and population turnover., The results presented in this paper derive from research carried out under the sponsorship of the following projects: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portugal) and the European Science Foundation (III Community Support Framework), PTDC/HAH/64548/2006, A.F.C. & J.F.G., funded by the European Union and the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnología; HAR 2008-1920 (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain) and European Research Council2008-AdG 230561. Archeological sites management by M.C.S. & M.D.S.V. with permits from the Junta de Andalucía (Spain). This work also benefited from funding from the following projects: CGL2009-07603, CTM2009-07715, CSD2006-00041 and HAR2008-06477-C03-03/HIST, all from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain; 200800050084447 (MARM), Project RNM 05212 and Research Group 0179 (Junta de Andalucía, Spain). E.S. received financial support of the FCT (grant: SFRH/BPD/26525/2006). F.J. Jiménez Espejo acknowledges the CSIC “JAE-Doc” postdoctoral program for funding.

Faunal remains are basic elements in the analysis of pre- and protohistoríc systems as well as environmental reconstructions as so many studies now amply demonstrate. Because of it, faunal analysis have become a routine of all integral archaeological research. Despite this, the role played by animal associations in the interpretation of human settlements is not free from drawbacks. Not realizing these in each particular case, might cause false interpretations which will eventually damage the theoretical arguments of the discussions. In this work we present some instances of these «damaged theoríes» which have been formulated within the framework of the Iberian Peninsula., Las faunas son elementos fundamentales en la reconstrucción de las economías y de los paisajes de los asentamientos humanos. Esto ha sido ya puesto de manifiesto en numerosos trabajos. Es por ello que actualmente no se concibe un análisis integral de un yacimiento antrópico que no incluya su correspondiente informe faunístico. A pesar de esto, el papel desempeñado por la fauna en la interpretación de un complejo arqueológico no está exento de limitaciones. No reconocer éstas puede inducir a cometer errores interpretativos que acaben lesionando la argumentación teórica. En este trabajo se discuten algunos casos concretos procedentes de estudios llevados a cabo en la Península Ibérica.

Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus; BFT) abundance was depleted in the late 20th and early 21st century due to overfishing. Historical catch records further indicate that the abundance of BFT in the Mediterranean has been fluctuating since at least the 16th century. Here we build upon previous work on ancient DNA of BFT in the Mediterranean by comparing contemporary (2009-2012) specimens with archival (1911-1926) and archaeological (2nd century BCE-15th century CE) specimens that represent population states prior to these two major periods of exploitation, respectively. We successfully genotyped and analysed 259 contemporary and 123 historical (91 archival and 32 archaeological) specimens at 92 SNP loci that were selected for their ability to differentiate contemporary populations or their association with core biological functions. We found no evidence of genetic bottlenecks, inbreeding or population restructuring between temporal sample groups that might explain what has driven catch fluctuations since the 16th century. We also detected a putative adaptive response, involving the cytoskeletal protein synemin which may be related to muscle stress. However, these results require further investigation with more extensive genome-wide data to rule out demographic changes due to overfishing, and other natural and anthropogenic factors, in addition to elucidating the adaptive drivers related to these., We thank two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved the quality of the manuscript. This work was carried out under the provision of the FARB Project (University of Bologna), the ICCAT Atlantic Wide Research Programme for Bluefin Tuna (GBYP) Data Recovery Plan, the International Governance Strategy of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (F5211-180183 and F5211-160166), and the MARES Joint Doctorate programme selected under Erasmus Mundus and coordinated by Ghent University (Grant Number: FPA 2011-0016). This work is also a contribution to the MSCA SeaChanges ITN and was part-funded by EU Horizon 2020 (Grant Number: 813383).