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Abstract
The SW coast of the Iberian Peninsula experiences a lack of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological data. With the aim to fill this gap, we contribute with a new palynological and geochemical dataset obtained from a sediment core drilled in the continental shelf of the Algarve coast. Archaeological data have been correlated with our multi-proxy dataset to understand how human groups adapted to environmental changes during the Early-Mid Holocene, with special focus on the Mesolithic to Neolithic transition. Vegetation trends indicate warm conditions at the onset of the Holocene followed by increased moisture and forest development ca. 10–7 ka BP, after which woodlands are progressively replaced by heaths. Peaks of aridity were identified at 8.2 and 7. 5 ka BP. Compositional, textural, redox state, and weathering of source area geochemical proxies indicates abrupt palaeoceanographic modifications and gradual terrestrial changes at 8.2 ka BP, while the 7.5 ka BP event mirrors a decrease in land moisture availability. Mesolithic sites are mainly composed of seasonal camps with direct access to the coast for the exploitation of local resources. This pattern extends into the Early Neolithic, when these sites coexist with seasonal and permanent occupations located in inland areas near rivers. Changes in settlement patterns and dietary habits may be influenced by changes in coastal environments caused by the sea-level rise and the impact of the 8.2 and 7.5 ka BP climate events.
Highlights
IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
From ca. 12 ka BP until ca. 8 ka BP, the sedimentation rate increases from 0.06 mm/yr to 0.69 mm/yr which corresponds to the maximum value for the Holocene in this core
The ca. 10–6 ka BP period is known as the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) [68,69,70,71], a period of warm and humid climate as compared to previous and following periods and only interrupted by a short cooling period known as the 8 ka or the 8.2 ka BP event [72,73]
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The Early-Mid Holocene period is characterized by several environmental changes, such as the postglacial marine transgression, an increase of temperatures, and the existence of diverse episodes of ice-rafted debris in the North Atlantic Ocean. Littoral areas suffered a rapid transformation resulting from the inundation of the fluvial valleys and the progressive development of diverse coastal features. The vegetation adapted to the new climatic-edaphic conditions and reacted to abrupt episodes, the so called Bond events, which are associated to dry conditions in the Mediterranean region [1]
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