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This paper presents a palynological study of the archeological layers from the Neanderthal site Abrigo 3 del Complejo del Humo, in southern Spain (Málaga), with the aim of reconstructing the environmental conditions in the vicinity of this hominin site. The Upper Pleistocene vegetation and its variability are described, revealing a high diversity of thermophilous plant taxa throughout the cold dry phases, together with a long-term persistence of woody taxa, including Mediterranean, mesophytes, xerothermics and conifers. With the pollen records of Maytenus senegalensis as an outstanding finding, this study demonstrates the co-existence of temperate, Mediterranean and Ibero-Maghrebian angiosperms on the southern coastal plains of the Iberian Pleistocene where Neanderthals survived for a long time. It is therefore clear that Neanderthals and early Upper Paleolithic modern humans lived in a litoral refugium, which was a propitious environment for maintaining a high biodiversity, including potentially edible plant species. Besides, this coastal refugium offers broad possibilities for hunting, and interpopulational relationships through coastal platforms., The research of this work was funded by the projects MED-REFUGIA-RTI2018-101714-B-I00 (Plan Nacional I + D + I, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness) and by the ERC-Starting Grant Proposal No. 805478. The development of this work was supported by Project (CGL-BOS2015-68604-P), funded by: FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation - Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Project (PID2019-1049449GB-I00), funded by: FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation - Agencia Estatal de Investigación and Fundación Séneca (grant number 20788/PI/18). Reyes Luelmo Lautenschlaeger is funded by a FPU contract (Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports). FPU16/00676.

Long-term fire ecology can help to better understand the major role played by fire in driving vegetation composition and structure over decadal to millennial timescales, along with climate change and human agency, especially in fire-prone areas such as the Mediterranean basin. Investigating past ecosystem dynamics in response to changing fire activity, climate, and land use, and how these landscape drivers interact in the long-term is needed for efficient nature management, protection, and restoration. The Toledo Mountains of central Spain are a mid-elevation mountain complex with scarce current anthropic intervention located on the westernmost edge of the Mediterranean basin. These features provide a perfect setting to study patterns of late Holocene fire activity and landscape transformation. Here, we have combined macroscopic charcoal analysis with palynological data in three peat sequences (El Perro, Brezoso, and Vi&ntilde, uelas mires) to reconstruct fire regimes during recent millennia and their linkages to changes in vegetation, land use, and climatic conditions. During a first phase (5000&ndash, 3000 cal. BP) characterized by mixed oak woodlands and low anthropogenic impact, climate exerted an evident influence over fire regimes. Later, the data show two phases of increasing human influence dated at 3000&ndash, 500 cal. BP and 500 cal. BP&ndash, present, which translated into significant changes in fire regimes increasingly driven by human activity. These results contribute to prove how fire regimes have changed along with human societies, being more related to land use and less dependent on climatic cycles.

[EN] The northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula is home to a unique ecosystem of bogs, which are particularly sensitive to projected climate change. In this context, the rate of carbon (C) accumulation in Chao de Veiga Mol, an intact raised bog, was analysed. Changes in the accumulation rate over the past 10 millennia were determined in a peat core of 847 cm in depth, with a high mean rate of peat growth (11 yr cm1, 0.09 cm yr1). An age-depth model was generated from 22 14C dates and fallout radionuclides. Chronological, stratigraphical and physico-chemical data confirmed the existence of a single cycle of peat formation throughout the Holocene and the formation of ombrotrophic peat 9500 years ago. The total mean C content was 50.2%, and over 10 millennia 583 kg C m2 accumulated at a mean rate of 35.3 g C m2 yr1, with a long-term (apparent) rate of carbon accumulation in the catotelm of 59.9 g C m2 yr1. These values are much higher than reported for other Iberian peatlands and are amongst the highest documented for peatlands in the northern hemisphere. The dynamics of C accumulation and other measured parameters reveals important variations throughout the Holocene. They could be associated with the main climatic events described in the northern hemisphere and are highly consistent with models established for northern latitudes. The Chao de Veiga Mol raised bog is unique and of great potential value for carrying out high resolution palaeoenvironmental studies, especially in relation to regional and local modulations in southern Europe, Los autores agradecen a la comunidad de Santo Tomé de Recaré por permitirnos llevar a cabo esta y otras investigaciones en su propiedad, y a todos los que participaron en el trabajo de campo . Esta investigación fue posible gracias a la recepción de una subvención otorgada por la Xunta de Galicia (proyecto: INCITE09-200-019-PR). Los autores desean agradecer el uso de las instalaciones analíticas RIAIDT-USC y al Prof. Geoff Millward (Universidad de Plymouth) por su ayuda con el espectrómetro gamma . También agradecemos a Christine Francis, traductora nativa, por la revisión y corrección del manuscrito en sus aspectos lingüísticos.

Knowledge of the current status of Fagus sylvatica in the Western Pyrenean Region (Northern Iberian Peninsula) is based on its widespread presence in mountain areas. However, the past evolution of this taxon and its links to natural and anthropogenic activities is not well defined. We have compiled all the published palaeobotanical data (macro and micro remains) on this region, including both natural and archaeological deposits and with particular emphasis on available radiocarbon dates. To support our analysis of the evolution of F. sylvatica, we present the palynological study of a new sequence (Gesaleta, Navarre), covering the last 11,400 cal yr BP. The main results of this paper suggest the ancient presence of F. sylvatica in the Western Pyrenean Region from at least the Late Pleistocene and Early and Middle Holocene, with a clear expansion from ca 4,500–3,500 cal yr BP, although with some regional differences. This was the point when European beech became one of the main actors in mountain forests, where it has been exploited for a variety of anthropogenic activities, Mónica Ruiz-Alonso and Sebastián Pérez-Díaz are funded by the Programa Estatal de Promoción del Talento y su Empleabilidad en I + D + i (Juan de la Cierva).

This paper presents the archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data of the 6th to 4th millennia cal BC sequence recently documented at Dehesilla Cave, and puts forward an interdisciplinary approach to the significant ecological patterns from this key archaeological site in the Southern Iberian Peninsula throughout the entire Neolithic period. Results indicate an ecological scenario characterised mainly by oak and wild olive forests, and human populations with agricultural practices and herds of mainly sheep and goats. However, this general panorama must have undergone several remarkable fluctuations. The first Neolithic populations of Dehesilla Cave, dated around the mid-6th millennium cal BC and linked to the Mediterranean impressa pottery complex, do not yet display evidences of agriculture, while all of the subsequent Early Neolithic levels indicate a model of small-scale populations with a mixed economy but still with a greater component of livestock. The second quarter of the 5th millennium cal BC shows a marked accentuation of the monoculture of naked wheats, which could have been related to the transition from an intensive to an extensive farming system. This may have entailed a selective pressure on the environment, leading to a large deforestation spanning the second half of the 5th millennium cal BC and the constitution of relatively open thermo-Mediterranean forests with a physiognomy similar to that of the dehesa. These ecological patterns are discussed within a review of the current state of the art of the use of plant and animal resources by the Neolithic human populations in the southern regions of the Iberian Peninsula.

The Toledo Mountains are a mid-elevation mountain range that separates the Tagus and Guadiana basins in the central area of the Iberian Peninsula. The location of these mountains allows the development of typical Mediterranean vegetation with some Atlantic influence. Consequently, typical broadleaved evergreen Mediterranean vegetation currently dominates the regional landscape, with the remarkable presence of more mesophilous species in sheltered and more humid microsites such as gorges (e.g., Prunus lusitanica, Taxus baccata, Ilex aquifolium) and mires/bogs (e.g., Betula pendula susbp. fontqueri, Erica tetralix, Myrica gale). Palaeoecological studies in these mountains are essential to understand the long-term ecology and original distribution of these valuable communities and are key to assess their resilience. Understanding the hazards and opportunities faced in the past by the plant communities of the Toledo Mountains is necessary to enhance the management and protection of those species currently threatened. This study focuses on El Perro mire, a peatland on the southern Toledo Mountains (central Spain) where climatic variability has played a major role in landscape dynamics at multi-decadal to millennial timescales. Climatic events such as the 4.2 ka cal. Before Present (BP) or the Little Ice Age triggered relevant landscape changes such as the spread and latter decline of birch and hazel forests. Human communities also seemed to be affected by these events, as their resilience was apparently jeopardized by the new climatic conditions and they were forced to find new strategies to cope with the new scenarios., This research was funded the project REDISCO-HAR2017-88035-P (Plan Nacional I+D+I, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness). Reyes Luelmo Lautenschlaeger is funded by a FPU contract (Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports).

The study of anthropogenic activities in prehistoric landscapes has increased greatly in recent decades in theNorthern Iberian Peninsula, particularly through pollen records from low altitude areas where settlement wasmore frequent throughout Prehistory. However, little is known about the evolution of landscapes in highlands,particularly in the Basque-Cantabrian mountains (Northern Iberia). In this paper, we analyze human dynamics inmountain landscapes through the multiproxy analysis of Arbarrain mire from c. 8200 cal BP. Obtained mainresults show the predominance of deciduous forests in the whole sequence, with presence of pinewoods at aregional scale. Thefirst evidence of anthropization of mountain environments is dated c. 6800 cal BP, in relationwith the early Neolithic. During the Mid-late Neolithic evidences of human impact on the landscape increases inparallel to the development of the megalithic structures. The Chalcolithic shows a decrease in the anthropogenicactivities in mountains. Finally, during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and Historical Period, from c. 4000 cal BP,mountain ecosystems reflect the expansion ofFagus, clearly linked with a further increase in human activity,origin of current landscape configuration.

Aralar is a karstic mountainous landscape situated to the south of the western-most part of the Pyreneeswhere, apart from forests, mountain pastures are very important. We have found evidence of seasonalshepherds' settlements from the Neolithic to the present in the form of megaliths, caves and foundationsof dwelling huts dating from the Bronze Age, and confirmed by radiocarbon dating. Pastoralism, apartfrom gathering and some hunting, enables the use of resources in these areas. The environmental,cultural and economic conditions determine the characteristics of the animal herds here. Thus, mountainareas are used in summer, when grass and nutritional resources are good but, when lignification in-creases, the livestock is moved lower down the valleys. More than two decades of archaeological researchin this landscape has helped to understand the shepherds' way of life over time.

This paper describes the patterns and processes of vegetation change and fire history in the Late Holocene (c. 3,140 cal BP) palaeoecological sequence of El Tiemblo, in a mountainous area in central Spain (Gredos range, Spanish Central System), and provides the first Iberian pollen sequence undertaken within a Castanea sativadominated woodland. These new data reassess not only the autochthonous nature of the species in the region and in the Iberian Peninsula, but also the naturalness of well-developed sweet chestnut forests. The study focuses on anthropogenic dynamics linked both to the effects of livestock husbandry and the use of fire for forest clearance. With this aim, non-pollen palynomorphs (coprophilous fungi ascospores) and charcoal accumulation rate are useful indicators for assessing the increasing role of human influence on vegetation, We sincerely thank three anonymous reviewers and the editor for their constructive suggestions and comments. This work was funded by the project HAR2013-43701-P (Spanish Economy and Competitiveness Ministry) “Dinámicas socio-ecológicas, resiliencia y vulnerabilidad en un paisaje de montaña: el Sistema Central (9,000 cal BC-1850 cal AD) (DESIRÈ)”. J.A. López-Sáez is currently supported by a research Grant (Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport) at Caen Basse-Normandie University. We are grateful to A. López Andreu (RIP) and P. Sáez Navas for their collaboration and assistance during the field work.

The Verdeospesoa mire is located in the Basque Mountains (Basque Country, Northern Iberian Peninsula, Spain) on the western slopes of the Gorbeia Mountain (43° 03ʹ 18ʺ N, 2° 51ʹ 41ʺ W, 1015 m above...

This paper focuses on pollen, spores, non‐pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) and certain geochemical elements from the ombrotrophic blanket bog of Zalama (Basque‐Cantabrian Mountains, northern Iberian Peninsula), with the support of a robust chronology based on 17 AMS 14C dates. The main results related to the last 8000 years show that, during the early middle Holocene, pines and deciduous forests were the most extensive tree formations. At the beginning of the succession, pines reach 44%, showing regional presence, whereas after 7600 cal. a BP, deciduous forests were particularly abundant. From c. 6500 cal. a BP the pollen diagram constructed from our samples shows the first anthropogenic evidence, linked with the new economic practices related to the Neolithic of the Basque‐Cantabrian Mountains. From 3300 cal. a BP the expansion of Fagus sylvatica is particularly clear, and has since then become one of the dominant forest species in this region. We also discuss the Holocene evolution of other noteworthy plant communities in southwestern Europe, such as Taxus baccata, Juglans and shrublands., S. Pérez‐Díaz is currently supported by a postdoctoral research grant (Basque Government) and is part of the Research Group in Prehistory IT622‐13/UFI 11‐09 of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and Project HAR2011‐23716 (Nuevos cultivos, nuevos paisajes), funded by the Plan Nacional I+D+I

Sebastián Pérez-Díaz is currently supported by a post-doctoral research grant (Basque Government) at Toulouse-Le Mirail University, France. This article is part of the research carried our within the project Spanish Consolider Program (CSD2007-00058)

This research has been supported by the European Research Council (GC2.0 (grant no. 694481)), the European Research Council (REALM (grant no. 787203)), Imperial College through the Lee Family Scholarship, the Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society (grant no. RC-2018-023), and the REDISCO (grant no. HAR2017-88035-P) project., Charcoal accumulated in lake, bog or other anoxic sediments through time has been used to document the geographical patterns in changes in fire regimes. Such reconstructions are useful to explore the impact of climate and vegetation changes on fire during periods when human influence was less prevalent than today. However, charcoal records only provide semi-quantitative estimates of change in biomass burning. Here we derive quantitative estimates of burnt area from vegetation data in two stages. First, we relate the modern charcoal abundance to burnt area using a conversion factor derived from a generalised linear model of burnt area probability based on eight environmental predictors. Then, we establish the relationship between fossil pollen assemblages and burnt area using tolerance-weighted weighted averaging partial least-squares regression with a sampling frequency correction (fxTWA-PLS). We test this approach using the Iberian Peninsula as a case study because it is a fire-prone region with abundant pollen and charcoal records covering the Holocene. We derive the vegetation-burnt area relationship using the 31 records that have both modern and fossil charcoal and pollen data and then reconstruct palaeoburnt area for the 113 records with Holocene pollen records. The pollen data predict charcoal-derived burnt area relatively well (R-2 = 0.44), and the changes in reconstructed burnt area are synchronous with known climate changes through the Holocene. This new method opens up the possibility of reconstructing changes in fire regimes quantitatively from pollen records, after regional calibration of the vegetation-burnt area relationship, in regions where pollen records are more abundant than charcoal records., European Research Council (ERC) European Commission 694481 787203, Imperial College through the Lee Family Scholarship, Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society RC-2018-023 REDISCO HAR2017-88035-P

This paper presents the results of a series of studies conducted in two villages located in the region of Asturias, north of the Iberian Peninsula. These studies explore medieval settlements as well as agricultural and cattle farming activities in these villages, with a special focus on areas still inhabited today as well as surrounding productive spaces. An interdisciplinary methodology was used, which involves pollen and sedimentological analyses, physical and chemical soil analyses, and includes micromorphological studies and radiocarbon dating. These data are combined with the interpretation of stratigraphic information derived from archaeological excavations. The areas of study in the village of Vigaña comprise the necropolis and a nearby meadow, which provided a stratigraphic sequence from the Neolithic era to the present day, and are characterized by the continued significance of farming activities. In Villanueva, meanwhile, both village areas and productive spaces were excavated, which provided information from the Roman period, and revealed the existence of combined agricultural and farming activities since the early medieval era., This work was funded by the project ‘ La formación de los paisajes del NW peninsular en la Edad Media’ HAR2010-21950-CO3-03 (Plan Nacional I+D+i, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity), and co-funded by the Dirección General de Política Forestal del Principado de Asturias (Spain).

[EN] Palaeobotanical studies are a very interesting tool for evaluating past vegetation, climatic variability and human pressure on the landscape. In this paper we offer an overview of Holocene evolution of the yew (Taxus baccata L.) in the Basque Mountains (Northern Iberian Peninsula). For this purpose, we have collected all macro- and micro-remain evidence of the presence of yew within its chronological framework. The results suggest the existence of a period of expansion of yew populations during the Middle Holocene and a regression phase in the Late Holocene., [ES] Los estudios paleobotánicos son una herramienta de gran interés para conocer la evolución de la cubierta vegetal del pasado, además de las condiciones climáticas y la dinámica antrópica. Pero también resulta muy útil a la hora de evaluar la historia de particular de algunas especies. En este trabajo ofrecemos una visión sintética de la evolución holocena del tejo (Taxus baccata L.) en las montañas vascas (Norte de la Península Ibérica). Para ello hemos recogido todos los depósitos con macrorestos o microrrestos botánicos de tejo, así como su adscripción cronológica. Los resultados sugieren la existencia de un período de expansión de los tejos durante el Holoceno medio, así como una fase de regresión durante el Holoceno final.

15 páginas, 4 figuras, 1 tabla., This article describes the patterns and processes of vegetation change and fire history in the Late Holocene (c. 2400 calendar year BP) palaeoecological sequence of Lanzahíta, Sierra de Gredos in central Spain, and provides the first Iberian pollen sequence undertaken within a monospecific Pinus pinaster woodland. These new data reassess not only the autochthonous nature of this pine species in the region and the Iberian Peninsula, but also the naturalness of well-developed cluster pine forests. Conflicts of palaeoecological evidence with phytosociological models of vegetation dynamics in the study region, and the relationships of P. pinaster with fire occurrence in Mediterranean-type ecosystems, are discussed., This study was funded by the projects HAR2008-06477-C03-03/HIST, CGL-2006-2956-BOS (Plan Nacional I + D + i, Ministry of Education and Science, Spain), CSD2007-00058 (Consolider Program, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Spain) and Paleodiversitas Network (Fundación Séneca, Murcia).

El análisis palinológico de un registro fósil obtenido en la Bahía de Port Lligat (Girona) ha permitido reconstruir la historia de la vegetación litoral del noreste de la Península Ibérica y del Pirineo oriental catalán durante los últimos 1600 años, en directa relación con la antropización de los ecosistemas forestales y los cambios climáticos acontecidos.

[EN] This paper presents the prehistoric ditched enclosure of Cerro de los Vientos located in Puente del Obispo (Jaén, Spain). The study has made possible the characterization of the site, including its complete layout, main architectural features, two unpublished radiocarbon dates, and the pottery, lithic, and pollen analyses. The site consists of two concentric circular ditches and more than ninety pits built during the Copper Age. In addition, new structures, masonry constructions and the final infilling of the central ditch were carried out in the Bronze Age., [ES] En este trabajo se da a conocer el recinto de fosos prehistórico del Cerro de los Vientos, localizado en la población de Puente del Obispo (Jaén, España). Se presentan su planta completa, las estructuras que lo componen, la caracterización de los conjuntos cerámicos y líticos hallados en sus rellenos, dos dataciones inéditas y el análisis polínico realizado en el yacimiento. Estos estudios han permitido reconocer la construcción de dos fosos concéntricos y más de noventa fosas circulares realizadas durante la Edad del Cobre. Un espacio de ocupación que, además, experimentará la construcción de nuevas estructuras en negativo, algunas construcciones en mampostería y la completa amortización de su foso central durante la Edad del Bronce., El presente trabajo forma parte del proyecto de investigación “Innovación, hibridación y resistencia cultural. Las sociedades de III y II milenios cal BC en el sur de la Península Ibérica” (HAR2017-82932-P). Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad.