Palaeoenvironmental Evidence Research Articles

Archaeobotanical data from the Sabor Valley reveal shifting moments in landscape and agriculture in NW Iberia during the Holocene

NW Iberia is dominated by Atlantic climate areas that favour pollen preservation, useful for palaeoecological studies. However, the region also includes Mediterranean sectors in which preservation of such palaeoenvironmental evidence is more difficult. To overcome these constraints, archaeological plant macroremains can be used to help characterize flora and vegetation dynamics at a local and regional level. To fill the gap in knowledge in an understudied Mediterranean region, a large archaeobotanical study was conducted at the river Sabor valley, NE Portugal. With 13 archaeological sites sampled for charcoal, fruits and seeds, it allowed the study of vegetation throughout the Holocene, starting in the Mesolithic up to Modern times, with some chronological gaps. Tree taxa dominates the older period and an expansion of shrubby taxa since Bronze age was observed. Diversification of plants used during the Iron Age and Roman period suggests an intensification of resources exploitation and deforestation. These trends seem to be related with changes in human settlements and productive strategies. During Prehistory, agricultural fields were established in flat and wide areas, and, during Iron Age, fortified granaries were used to store large amounts of grains, particularly free-threshing wheat. Drastic changes in settlement during Roman times and the establishment of small farms producing wine and/or olive oil were testified by the occurrence of Olea and Vitis in both anthracological and carpological datasets. Data from more recent periods is scarce. Results highlight that the combination of several proxies and integration of archaeological evidence helps to understand ecological dynamics in areas without pollen data and contributes to the characterization of heterogeneous areas under diverse climatic conditions and with a variety of social trends.

Late Quaternary climatic inferences from southern Patagonia (∼53°S): A holistic palaeoecological approach to tracking the behaviour of the southern westerly winds

The glacial and vegetation patterns of Patagonia are strongly correlated to the behaviour of the Southern westerly winds (SWWs) with palaeoenvironmental evidence for the behaviour of the SWWs interpreted as past changes in southern hemisphere climate and ocean currents. To fully define shifts in the position and intensity of the SWWs palaeoenvironmental data sets must be generated from climate sensitive proxies with sites located in regions that are responsive to changes in effective moisture. Here we present a c. 15,700 yr-old record from a peat bog at Punta Arenas (53°09′S) which was analysed for pollen, pollen preservation, charcoal and organic content to reconstruct changes in the surrounding vegetation, fire history and mire surface wetness. The peat bog lies in a closed basin and so environmental changes likely reflect changes in effective moisture primarily driven by fluctuations in precipitation. During the Late glacial the landscape was virtually treeless and dominated by cold-tolerant steppe/tundra vegetation. This was followed by substantial vegetation changes as Nothofagus woodland expanded and the local site transitioned from a small lake to a fen and later a raised mire. The Early and Mid-Holocene (11,600–6000 cal a BP) was marked by a period of sustained drier conditions evidenced by reduced pollen preservation and increased fire activity. After c. 4600 cal a BP there was a shift to increased effective moisture superimposed with higher magnitude and higher frequency changes in precipitation. The palaeoenvironmental record presented here is used to better define the nature and timing of latitudinal shifts in the position of the SWWs. Careful interpretation of the Nothofagus pollen signal is required as during drier periods small increases in humidity can drive large woodland responses in the pollen record while during periods of higher humidity the woodland may appear to be unresponsive to climatic changes.

Wells, fields and the emergence of early-to-middle Holocene villages in the Huai River region, China: Contesting regional similarities and differences on prehistoric water management with new archaeological and palaeo-environmental evidence

The history of water management is closely intertwined with evolution of social structures. In particular, the emergence of rice farming and transition to sedentary life contributed significantly to the development of water management practices, with increasing labour and economic investments to build and operate water-management infrastructures. Here we present archaeological, archaeobotanical and geoarchaeological evidence of early water management obtained from the excavations of three early-to-middle Holocene sites in the upper and middle Huai River region (UMHR), including Hanjing from Sihong County of Jiangsu Province and Xielaozhuang and Zhangwangzhuang from Luohe City and Zhumadian City of Henan Province. Our 14C dates suggest multiple episodes of regional inhabitation in the UMHR region. Our results also reveal that the wells at Xielaozhuang represent some of the earliest attempts to ensure water consumption in the village, and importantly, the rice-field-like structures at Hanjing and Zhangwangzhuang are evidence of a more systematic effort to modify and transform local landscapes for rice cultivation and related economic activities. In line with the results from published phytolith studies, we found that the early experiment of rice cultivation altered local soil and hydrological conditions at these sites. These early forms of rice fields share some similarities in micro-and-macro- morphologies and represent successful adaptations to the low-lying plains that continued to have fluctuating hydrological regimes. The construction and operation of these wells, moats and rice-field-like structures stimulated collaboration beyond individual households and groups in these early-to-middle Holocene villages in the UMHR region and thus would have had profound social and economic ramifications.

Palaeoenvironmental and chronological context of hominin occupations of the Armenian Highlands during MIS 3: Evidence from Ararat-1 cave

Archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence from the Armenian Highlands and wider southern Caucasus region emphasises the significance of Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (c. 57–29 ka) as a crucial period for understanding hominin behaviours amidst environmental fluctuations. Ararat-1 cave, situated in the Ararat Depression, Republic of Armenia, presents potential for resolving emerging key debates regarding hominin land use adaptations during this interval, due to its well-preserved lithic artefacts and faunal assemblages. We present the first results of combined sedimentological, geochronological (luminescence and radiocarbon), archaeological and palaeoecological (macrofauna, microfauna and microcharcoal) study of the Ararat-1 sequence. We demonstrate sediment accumulation occurred between 52 and 35 ka and was caused by a combination of aeolian activity, cave rockfall and water action. Whilst the upper strata of the Ararat-1 sequence experienced post-depositional disturbance due to faunal and anthropogenic processes, the lower strata remain relatively undisturbed. We suggest that during a stable period within MIS 3, Ararat-1 was inhabited by Middle Palaeolithic hominins amidst a mosaic of semi-arid shrub, grassland, and temperate woodland ecosystems. These hominins utilised local and distant toolstone raw materials, indicating their ability to adapt to diverse ecological and elevation gradients. Through comparison of Ararat-1 with other sequences in the region, we highlight the spatial variability of MIS 3 environments and its on hominin land use adaptations. This demonstrates the importance of the Armenian Highlands for understanding regional MP settlement dynamics during a critical period of hominin dispersals and evolution.

Vegetation and climate dynamics at the dawn of human settlement: multiproxy palaeoenvironmental evidence from the Hashilan Wetland, western Iran

ABSTRACTThe scarcity of high‐resolution palaeoclimate records from the interior of West Asia has limited our understanding of the mechanisms of past climate change and their potential impacts on early human societies of the Eastern Fertile Crescent. Here, we present a multiproxy sedimentological, geochemical and palynological record from the Hashilan Wetland in the central Zagros Mountains, spanning the time interval from 22 to 2.2 kcal bp. Our results indicate a cold, dry climate for the last deglaciation (22 to 10 kcal bp) with amplified aridity during the Last Glacial Maximum, Heinrich Stadial 1, the Younger Dryas and the 8.2 and 3.2 ka events. The Early Holocene (11.6 to 7.8 kcal bp) is characterised by prolonged dry summers, frequent spring/summer dust storms and restricted oak woodlands that gradually expanded as summers shortened toward the second half of the Holocene (<6 kcal bp). We show an out‐of‐phase Holocene moisture variation between the interior of West Asia and the Indian Summer Monsoon domain and conclude that summer insolation‐driven latitudinal shifts of the Hadley cell played a key role in seasonality changes in the interior of West Asia by modulating the strength and pathway of the subtropical high‐pressure cells. Finally, we explore possible impacts of these changes on regional prehistoric human communities.

Anglo-Scandinavian Walmgate: New Structural and Palaeoenvironmental Evidence for 10th Century Jorvik

From the 20th–22nd September 2021 York Archaeology conducted an archaeological watching brief on a sewer repair in Walmgate, York. The work was undertaken for Avove Utilities Ltd. in response to an Operations Notice from the City of York Council and involved the monitoring and recording of repairs to a sewer trench. The earliest observed deposits were Anglo-Scandinavian in date. These included highly organic deposits and the remains of a timber structure dated by dendrochronology to AD 958–981. The timbers comprised two upright planks and one horizontal plank, with wicker work to the rear. Organic deposits had accumulated against the woodwork, the analysis of which yielded information relating to diet, the arable economy, the local environment, and the selection and use of fuel in Anglo-Scandinavian York.

The green granary of the Empire? Insights into olive agroforestry in Sicily (Italy) from the Roman past and the present

Groves with ancient olive trees (Olea europaea L.) could be considered remnants of old agroforestry systems. Anything but static, these agro-ecosystems have undergone drastic transformational processes in Mediterranean countries, where abandonment or intensification have been observed far more than continuity, expansion or renaissance, leading to environmental degradation of rural areas. Starting from this assumption and inspired by historical ecology and historical geography, we consider centuries-old olive trees as living archives of human-nature interactions and are thus proxies of past agroforestry. Our aim is to better understand what has driven dynamics of change and persistence, happening today as well as in the past. We first travel backward in time, looking at the ecology of land management systems during the Roman period (ca 200 BC-400 AD) and late Antiquity (ca AD 400-700). The special focus is the island of Sicily, the granary of the Empire, well known as a region where cereal production increased around the latifundia economy. We reconstruct the diversity of land tenure and the ecology of such complex systems, by combining records from Roman agriculturalists and palaeoenvironmental evidence of the past. We then zoom out, to look at today’s management practices in olive groves, thus drawing a parallel between Antiquity and today. Our work provides valuable insights into the correlation between certain organisation models, ecological strategies and adaptation capacity over the long term, clearly showing that human and nature dimensions are interconnected. Such entanglement may be a key element for ensuring these agroecosystems resilience. All elements that may contribute to the re-invention of sustainable forms of their management, for the present and the future.

Holocene animal tracks from the intertidal zone in the west of Ireland

During the winter storms of 2019, a deposit of organic-rich clay was fortuitously exposed in the intertidal zone of a beach near Streedagh (Co. Sligo). Impressed in the clay surface were a series of small (<10cm) paired indentations arranged in rough alignments. Their size and shape suggest that they are animal tracks; possibly red deer but not excluding sheep/goat. Animal tracks in Holocene sediments are well-documented from intertidal contexts in Great Britain but, to date, none have been reported from Ireland. This paper describes these tracks and discusses their chronological and paleoenvironmental context. Radiocarbon dating of the clay surface places it between ~7300–6300 cal BP, though for taphonomic reasons the tracks are argued to have been made later in the Holocene: probably after 5800 and before 4000 cal BP As such, the deposit provides an example of palaeoenvironmental evidence, that can be found even under the high-energy conditions characteristic of the Irish coast, and hints at the possibility that Holocene ichnological evidence can also be found here.

Hydro-climatic aspects of prehistoric human dynamics in the drylands of the Asian interior

The causes of prehistoric human migrations in the drylands of the Asian interior have long been debated among multidisciplinary scholars. The Bronze Age Xiaohe settlements (ca. 4000–3300 cal yr BP) are situated in the extremely arid Tarim Basin of northwest China and exemplify a societal collapse which included a long-distance movement along river catchments. Here, we present the results of stable carbon isotope values (δ13C) of archaeobotanical remains, sedimentary faces analysis from the Tarim River catchment, and a compilation of palaeo-environmental evidence in order to investigate potential relationships between regional environmental changes and the response of prehistoric societies in this arid region. Results suggest that the early Xiaohe population was forced to migrate as a consequence of the deterioration of hydrological conditions around settlements. The decline of Xiaohe Culture occurred in the context of decreasing water availability in the basin interior due to climatic change lasting several hundred years. Results are potentially significant for the management of ecologically fragile dryland habitats, particularly the watershed terminus area, threatened by ongoing climate change, specifically in the context of the need to manage scarce water resources to promote sustainable socioeconomic development.

Tough to digest: first record of Teleosauroidea (Thalattosuchia) in a regurgitalite from the Upper Jurassic of north‐eastern Italy

AbstractPostcranial remains of a small teleosauroid from the Upper Jurassic of north‐eastern Italy are described in detail. The specimen, discovered in 1980 on a slab of Rosso Ammonitico Veronese (RAV Fm.; Bajocian–Tithonian), is represented by partially articulated thoracic, sacral and anterior caudal vertebrae, fractured and displaced osteoderms and pelvic girdle elements. Additional bone elements overlap one another in a densely packed cluster. The peculiar arrangement of this specimen is here interpreted as the result of regurgitation of the animal carcass from a pelagic predator or scavenger. Microstructural and geochemical evidence from bone and surrounding matrix support this hypothesis. A dearth of phosphorus in the matrix near the bone mass corroborates the interpretation of the specimen as a regurgitalite rather than a coprolite. Calcareous nannofossil and stratigraphic data allow us to assign the fossil to the latest Kimmeridgian or earliest Tithonian. The specimen is here tentatively referred to the teleosauroid subfamily Aeolodontinae based on the alternating pattern of the osteoderm ornamentation; this attribution is supported by stratigraphical and palaeoenvironmental evidence. If confirmed, this represents the first occurrence of Aeolodontinae in Italian outcrops of the western Tethys margin and represents the first marine crocodylomorph described as a bromalite.

Dryland dunes and other dryland environmental archives as proxies for Late Quaternary stratigraphy and environmental and climate change in southern Africa

AbstractThe Namib Desert and the Kalahari constitute the drylands of southern Africa, with the current relatively humid portions of the latter having experienced periodically drier conditions during the Late Quaternary. This study explores the range of dryland archives and proxies available for the past ~190 ka. These include classic dryland geomorphological proxies, such as sand dunes, as well as water-lain sediments within former lakes and ephemeral fluvial systems, lake shorelines, sand ramps, water-lain calcrete and tufa sediments at the interface of surface hydrological and hydrogeological, speleothems and groundwater hydrogeological records, and hyrax middens. Palaeoenvironmental evidence can also be contained within geoarchaeological archives in caves, overhangs and rockshelters. This integration of records is undertaken with the aim of identifying a (or a number of) terrestrial regional chronostratigraphic framework(s) for this time period within southern Africa, because this is missing from the Quaternary stratigraphy lexicon. Owing to a lack of long, near-continuous terrestrial sequences in these drylands, the correspondence between nearby terrestrial records are explored as a basis for parasequences to build this chronostratigraphy. Recognising the modern climatological diversity across the subcontinent, four broad spatial subdivisions are used to explore potential sub-regional parasequences, which capture current climatic gradients, including the hyper-arid west coast and the decrease in aridity from the southwest Kalahari toward the north and east. These are the Namib Desert, the northern Kalahari, the southern Kalahari and the eastern fringes of the southern Kalahari. Terrestrial chronostratigraphies must start from premise that climate-driven environmental shifts may have occurred independently to those in other terrestrial locations and may be diachronous compared to the marine oxygen isotope stratigraphy (MIS), which serves as a global-scale master climatostratigraphy relating to global ice volume. The fragmented nature of preserved evidence means that we are still some way from producing unambiguous parasequences. There is however, a rich record to consider, compile and compare, within which seven broad wetter intervals are identified, with breaks between these inferred to be relatively drier, and some also have proxy evidence for drying. The onset and cessation of these wetter intervals does not align with MIS: they occur with greater frequency, but not with regular periodicity. Precession-paced insolation forcing is often invoked as a key control on southern African climate, but this does not explain the pacing of all of the identified events. Overall, the pattern is complex with some corresponding wetter intervals across space and others with opposing west-east trends. The evidence for drying over the past 10 ka is pronounced in the west (Namib Desert), with ephemerally wet conditions in the south (southern Kalahari). The patterns identified here provide a framework to be scrutinised and to inspire refinements to proposed terrestrial chronostratigraphies for southern Africa. Considering changes across this large geographic area also highlights the complexity in environmental responses across space as we continue to test a range of hypotheses about the nature of climatic forcing in this region.

Rethinking the Disappearance of Microblade Technology in the Terminal Pleistocene of Hokkaido, Northern Japan: Looking at Archaeological and Palaeoenvironmental Evidence

Archaeological research, for several decades, has shown that various microblade technologies using obsidian and hard shale appeared and developed from the Last Glacial Maximum to the terminal Pleistocene (Bølling–Allerød–Younger Dryas) in Hokkaido, Northern Japan. It is well accepted that microblade technology was closely related to the high mobility of foragers to adapt to harsh environments. Recent archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence from Hokkaido demonstrates that the disappearance of microblade technology occurred during the terminal Pleistocene, influenced by a wide range of factors, including changes in landscape, climate, subsistence and human populations. The goal of this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of research on the process and background of the disappearance of microblade technology and to discuss prospects for future research. This paper will (1) review palaeoenvironmental research in Hokkaido on changes in climate and biological composition from the terminal Pleistocene to the initial Holocene; (2) survey changes in the technological adaptations and resource use of humans based on the archaeological evidence; and (3) discuss how the abrupt fluctuations of climate that occurred in the terminal Pleistocene affected human behaviour and demographics in Hokkaido.

Pushing the Limits: Palynological Investigations at the Margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet in the Norse Western Settlement

ABSTRACT This paper presents two high-resolution pollen records dating to ∼AD 1000–1400 that reveal the impacts of Norse colonists on vegetation and landscape around a remote farmstead in the Western Settlement of Greenland. The study is centred upon a ‘centralised farm’ (ruin group V53d) in Austmannadalen, near the margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet (64°13′N, 49°49′W). The climate is low arctic and considered marginal in terms of its suitability for the type of pastoral agriculture that the Norse settlers introduced. The data reveal that at a short distance (∼500 m) from the farm buildings, the palynological ‘footprint’ for settlement becomes extremely indistinct, the only clear palaeoenvironmental evidence for a human presence being elevated levels of microscopic charcoal. This contrasts with the Eastern Settlement, where a strong palynological signature for Norse landnám is evident, from the local (individual farm) through to the regional (landscape) scale. The palynological data from Austmannadalen, and the Western Settlement more generally, imply that farming occurred at very low intensity. This aligns with ideas that promote the importance of hunting, and trade in valuable Arctic commodities (e.g. walrus ivory), ahead of a search for new pasture as the dominant motivation driving the Norse settlement of this region.

New insights into Late Bronze Age settlement and farming activity in the southern Burren, western Ireland

This paper is a palaeoenvironmental investigation into prehistoric farming activity in the southern Burren, a distinctive karst landscape in western Ireland, from the Mesolithic to the Early Iron Age (ca 4600–10 bc). This archaeologically rich landscape has been exploited by humans since the Neolithic and both the archaeological record and published pollen records from the area attest to its importance in early prehistory, specifically from the Early Neolithic–Early Bronze Age. Pollen, macrofossil and loss-on-ignition analyses were undertaken on a sediment core extracted from Lough Inchiquin, a large lake immediately south of the Burren. Previous investigations in this region all focused on small lake basins which provided only local signals of land-use offering conflicting insights into the land-use dynamics of later prehistory. With a scarcity of known archaeological evidence for Late Bronze Age activity in this region, the current narrative has been one of decreasing importance at this time. Through the establishment of a robust chronology, this paper presents the palaeoenvironmental evidence for human activity, focused on anthropogenic indicators, in conjunction with the archaeological data, from the Mesolithic to the Early Iron Age, to provide a detailed account of landscape change. The new data provide a more regional signal of land-use across the wider Burren landscape than previous studies and highlight an intense period of exploitation from ca 1210–560 bc that resulted in a Late Bronze Age Landnam.

Continuidad y cambio: sistemas de terrazgos y usos del suelo en la Inglaterra altomedieval

Britain ceasing to be part of the Roman Empire undoubtedly had a profound effect on society, and traditionally this was thought to include major changes in the economy and patterns of agrarian production, with large areas of the landscape being abandoned as population declined. Medieval fieldscapes were thought to be much later in date, with a large swathe of central England seeing the creation of vast open fields sometime between the eighth and twelfth centuries. Recent archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence – mostly from developer-funded work – has, however, dramatically transformed our understanding of landscape change in this period, with many regions seeing a far greater degree of continuity than was previously thought. Rather than open fields having been created through a «great replanning» of the landscape that swept aside all traces of the earlier field systems, in some cases they appear to have evolved within a framework of existing boundaries that had survived from the Roman period.

Cultural change and population dynamics during the Bronze Age: Integrating archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence for Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany

In archaeology, change in material culture is viewed as indicating social or cultural transformation and is the basis of our typo-chronological classification of phases and periods. The material culture from northern Germany reveals both quantitative and qualitative changes during the Bronze Age. At the same time, there is also evidence for ‘boom and bust’ cycles in population density/size, as indicated by changing human impact on the environment in several Bronze Age palaeoenvironmental records. These demographic fluctuations may relate to the observed changes in social phenomena in aspects of ideology, technology, food production and habitation. For example, innovations in food production, such as the adoption of new crops and agricultural techniques, could have led to population growth. While usually viewed by archaeologists as a ‘negative’ development, population stress or collapse may have favoured the emergence of new cultural phenomena. In order to test the cause-and-effect relationship between population dynamics and sociocultural change, we synthesise the archaeological evidence – qualitative and quantitative information from settlements, deposition finds (hoards), burials, material culture and architectural remains – for the Bronze Age in northern Germany, mainly Schleswig-Holstein, and compare it with the boom and bust pattern seen in the palaeoenvironmental record. The synchronicity of changes at ca. 1500 BC and ca. 1100 BC reflects the relationship between phases of major sociocultural transformation in the archaeological datasets and booms and busts in the palaeoenvironmental record of the region seen as a proxies for palaeo-demography. This sets the stage for a better understanding of the transformation of practices and relationships in the Bronze Age communities of the region.

ANJTAUY: NOTAS SOBRE SU NATURALEZA Y LOCALIZACIÓN ENTRE EL REINO ANTIGUO Y EL REINO NUEVO

Landscapes are dynamic and changing realities at a geographical and cognitive level that should be studied in detail in their synchronic and diachronic aspects for the correct understanding of their role in human societies. This paper presents a case study of the toponym Ankhtawy (anx-tAwj), the ‘Life of the Two Lands’, located in the Memphite region since the Third Millennium BC. Thanks to a combination of written, archaeological, geomorphological and palaeoenvironmental evidence, an analysis has been carried out that considers the scarce and not very detailed previous studies, the topography associated with the toponym, its spellings and possible meanings and its associated deities, together with new archaeological, geomorphological and paleoenvironmental evidence. It has been found that at first Ankhtawy could not designate (part of) the city of Memphis or its necropolis, but the Wadi Abusir; only in a later date it would designate the necropolitan and cultic area of the desert of North Saqqara.

Deforestation and Human Agency in the North Atlantic Region: Archaeological and Palaeoenvironmental Evidence from the Western Isles of Scotland

This paper considers the timing and mechanisms of deforestation in the Western Isles of Scotland, focusing in particular on the landscape around the Calanais stone circles, one of the best preserved late Neolithic/early Bronze Age monumental landscapes in north-west Europe. We present new archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence from a soil and peat sequence at the site of Aird Calanais, which spans the main period of use of the Calanais circles. We then draw on a new synthesis of archaeobotanical and palynological evidence from across the Western Isles and a review of comparable data from the wider North Atlantic zone, before assessing the role of early farming communities in clearing the wooded landscapes of the region. Pollen and radiocarbon dating at the site of Aird Calanais reveal that a layer of birch branches, dating to the late Neolithic (2912–2881 calbc), was contemporaneous with a decline in woodland at the site, as well as with the major phase of Neolithic activity at the Calanais stone circle complex. However, our synthesis of the pollen and plant macrofossil evidence from across the Western Isles suggests that the picture across these islands was altogether more complex: woodlands declined both before, as well as during, the Neolithic and deciduous woodlands remained sufficiently abundant for Neolithic fuel procurement. Finally, we consider the implications of the results for understanding the interactions between first farmers and woodlands in the wider North Atlantic region.

Natural environment and resources, and the long life of the Neolithic settlement at Vinča, southeast Europe

The Neolithic settlement in Vinca near Belgrade, Serbia, was occupied for more than a millennium (c. 5600–4500 cal BC); from about 5200 cal BC the occupation, associated with the regional Vinca culture phenomenon, was uninterrupted. After gradual horizontal expansion in the beginning, the Vinca culture settlement grew vertically. A number of successive occupation levels composed of large, dense agglomerations of buildings formed an artificial mound of more than 10 ha in extent. The long and continuous life in a fixed location was likely facilitated by favourable natural environment offering a range of subsistence options and pathways. This paper reviews previous, and presents more recent, archaeological (i.e. artefactual) and palaeoenvironmental (geological, hydrological, palaeobotanical, faunal) evidence for the Vinca site and uses it to identify natural resources available in the settlement’s surroundings as well as those found in more distant areas. Using the on-and off-site data, it indirectly evaluates economic potential of the different environmental zones around Neolithic Vinca. The impression is that the resources available locally were remarkably diverse, offered a wide spectrum of food and raw materials, and were exploitable throughout the duration of the settlement. In addition to the apparently marked profusion and variety of opportunities in the vicinity of the site, the subsistence behaviour and the nature of landscape use were likely such that they did not have a great impact on the natural environment.

Cultural, Demographic and Environmental Dynamics of the Copper and Early Bronze Age in Iberia (3300–1500 BC): Towards an Interregional Multiproxy Comparison at the Time of the 4.2 ky BP Event

This paper presents the first comprehensive pan-Iberian overview of one of the major episodes of cultural change in later prehistoric Iberia, the Copper to Bronze Age transition (c. 2400–1900 BC), and assesses its relationship to the 4.2 ky BP climatic event. It synthesizes available cultural, demographic and palaeoenvironmental evidence by region between 3300 and 1500 BC. Important variation can be discerned through this comparison. The demographic signatures of some regions, such as the Meseta and the southwest, diminished in the Early Bronze Age, while other regions, such as the southeast, display clear growth in human activities; the Atlantic areas in northern Iberia barely experienced any changes. This paper opens the door to climatic fluctuations and inter-regional demic movements within the Peninsula as plausible contributing drivers of particular historical dynamics.