Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Predictive Middle Palaeolithic climatic conditions from Eastern Iberia: a methodological approach based on charcoal analysis and modelling

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ecological and climate modelling is increasingly common in archaeological science as it is a useful tool to analyse human behaviour and ecological variables that influenced the conformation of landscapes. Predictive vegetation models, mainly based on palynological data, provide meaningful information about the theoretical distribution of plant formations in the past by creating different hypothetical scenarios. However, factors linked to variability in pollen productivity according to taxa and to the regional scale offered by this proxy in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions have led some authors to propose the use of macrobotanical data in order to detect a higher number of ecological nuances on a local scale. In this paper, we present the results of a study aimed at characterising the theoretical distribution of simulated Middle Palaeolithic biogeographic and climatic values in the local area of the Upper Serpis Valley, Eastern Iberia. Our predictive model is based on the anthracological data from two local sites, Abric del Pastor (MIS 4) and El Salt (MIS 3), and the climatic data from a total of 33 current weather stations located in the study area and adjacent distances. The data suggest that the Serpis Valley was a dynamic geographic area where there may have been different biogeographical and climatic conditions, not perceptible only through charcoal analysis. These nuances may represent the presence of several biotopes in the surroundings of these two sites, where plant taxa with different temperature and humidity requirements could have grown.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams JM, Faure H (1997) Preliminary vegetation maps of the world since the last glacial maximum: an aid to archaeological understanding. J Archaeol Sci 24:623–647. https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.1996.0146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agustí B, Alcalde G, Güell A, Juan-Muns N, Rueda JM, Terradas X (1991) La cova 120, parada de caçadors-recol·lectors del Paleolític mitjà. Cypsela IX:7–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Alcolea M (2017) Mesolithic fuel use and woodland in the Middle Ebro Valley (NE Spain) through wood charcoal analysis. Quat Int 431:39–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Allué E (2002) Dinámica de la vegetación y explotación del combustible leñoso durante el Pleistoceno superior y el Holoceno del noreste de la península Ibérica a partir del análisis antracológico. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Universitat Rovira i Virgili

  • Allué E, Picornell-Gelabert L, Daura J, Sanz M (2017a) Reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment and anthropogenic activity from the Upper Pleistocene / Holocene anthracological records of the NE Iberian Peninsula (Barcelona, Spain). Quat Int 457:172–189

    Google Scholar 

  • Allué E, Solé A, Burguet-Coca A (2017b) Fuel exploitation among Neanderthals based on the anthracological record from Abric Romaní (Capellades, NE Spain). Quat Int 431:6–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Allué E, Martínez-Moreno J, Roy M, Benito-Calvo A, Mora R (2018) Montane pine forests in NE Iberia during MIS 3 and MIS 2. A study based on new anthracological evidence from Cova Gran (Santa Linya, Iberian Pre-Pyrenees). Rev Palaeobot Palynol 258:62–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson DG, Gillam JC (2000) Paleoindian colonization of the Americas: implications from an examination of physiography, demography, and artifact distribution. Am Antiq 65:43–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Arsuaga JL, Baquedano E, Pérez-González A, Sala N, Quam RM, Rodríguez L, García R, García N, Álvarez-Lao DJ, Laplana C, Huguet R, Sevilla P, Maldonado E, Blain H-A, Ruiz-Zapata MB, Sala P, Gil-García MJ, Uzquiano P, Pantoja A, Márquez B (2012) Understanding the ancient habitats of the Last-Interglacial (late MIS 5) Neanderthals of Central Iberia: Paleoenvironmental and taphonomic evidence from the Cueva del Camino (Spain) site. Quat Int 275:55–75

    Google Scholar 

  • Arun PV (2013) A comparative analysis of different DEM interpolation methods. Egypt J Remote Sens Space Sci 16:133–139

    Google Scholar 

  • Aura JE, Carrión Y, Estrelles E, Jordà G (2005) Plant economy of hunter-gatherer groups at the end of the last Ice Age: plant macroremains from the Cave of Santa Maira (Alacant, Spain) ca. 12000–9000 B.P. Veg Hist Archaeobotany 14:542–550

    Google Scholar 

  • Badal E, Carrión Y (2001) Del Glaciar al Interglaciar: los paisajes vegetales a partir de los restos carbonizados hallados en las cuevas de Alicante. In: Villaverde V (ed) De Neandertales a Cromañones: El inicio del poblamiento en las tierras valencianas. Servei de Publicacions, Universitat de València, pp 21–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Badal E, Heinz C (1991) Méthodes utilisées en Anthracologie pour l’étude de sites préhistoriques. BAR Int Ser 573:17–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Badal E, Martínez CM (2018) Different parts of the same plants. Charcoals and seeds from Cova de les Cendres (Alicante, Spain). Quat Int 463:391–400

    Google Scholar 

  • Badal E, Villaverde V, Zilhão J (2012) Middle Palaeolithic wood charcoal from three sites in south and west Iberia: biogeographic implications. In: Badal E, Carrión Y, Macías M, Ntinou M (eds) Wood and charcoal. Evidence for human and natural history. Saguntum-Extra 13, pp 13–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Badal E, Carrión Y, Figueiral I, Oliva Rodríguez-Ariza M (2014) Pinares y enebrales. El paisaje solutrense en Iberia. Espacio, tiempo y forma. Serie I, Prehistoria y arqueología 259–272

  • Barton CM, Bernabeu J, Aura JE, Garcia O (1999) Land-use dynamics and socioeconomic change: an example from the Polop Alto Valley. Am Antiq:609–634

  • Berihuete-Azorín M (2013) First archaeobotanical approach to plant use among Selknam hunter-gatherers (Tierra del Fuego, Argentina). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 5:255–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernabeu J, Barton CM, Pardo-Gordó SP, Bergin SM (2015) Modeling initial Neolithic dispersal. The first agricultural groups in West Mediterranean. Ecol Model 307:22–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Binford LR (1980) Willow smoke and dogs’ tails: hunter-gatherer settlement systems and archaeological site formation. Am Antiq:4–20

  • Binney HA, Willis KJ, Edwards ME, Bhagwat SA, Anderson PM, Andreev AA, Blaauw M, Damblon F, Haesaerts P, Kienast F (2009) The distribution of late-Quaternary woody taxa in northern Eurasia: evidence from a new macrofossil database. Quat Sci Rev 28:2445–2464

    Google Scholar 

  • Blain HA, Laplana C, Sevilla P, Arsuaga JL, Baquedano E, Pérez-González A (2014) MIS 5/4 transition in a mountain environment: herpetofaunal assemblages from Cueva del Camino, central Spain. Boreas 43(1):107–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandišauskas D (2011) Hide tanning and its use in Taiga: the case of the Orochen-Evenki reindeer herders and hunters of Zabaikalye (East Siberia). J Ethnol Folkloristics 4:97–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Bunting M, Farrell M (2017) Seeing the wood for the trees: recent advances in the reconstruction of woodland in archaeological landscapes using pollen data. Environ Archaeol:1–12

  • Burjachs F, Julià R (1994) Abrupt climatic changes during the last glaciation based on pollen analysis of the Abric Romani, Catalonia, Spain. Quat Res 42:308–315. https://doi.org/10.1006/qres.1994.1081

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burjachs F, López-García JM, Allué E, Blain H-A, Rivals F, Bennàsar M, Expósito I (2012) Palaeoecology of Neanderthals during Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles in northeastern Iberia (Abric Romaní): from regional to global scale. Quat Int 247:26–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Burrough PA, McDonnell R (1998) Principles of geographical information systems. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrión JS (1992) A palaeoecological study in the Western Mediterranean area. The Upper Pleistocene pollen record from Cova Beneito (Alicante, Spain). Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 92:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrión JS, Munuera M, Navarro C, Burjachs F, Dupré M, Walker MJ (1999) The palaeoecological potencial of pollen records in caves: the case of Mediterranean Spain. Quat Sci Rev 18:1061–1073

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrión JS, Yll EI, Walker MJ, Legaz AJ, Chaín C, López A (2003) Glacial refugia of temperate, Mediterranean and Ibero-North African flora in South-Eastern Spain: new evidence from cave pollen at two Neanderthal man sites. Glob Ecol Biogeogr 12:119–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrión JS, González-Sampériz P, López Sáez JA, López García P, Dupré M (2009) Quaternary pollen analysis in the Iberian Peninsula: the value of negative results. Internet Archaeol 25:1–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrión Y, Guillem P, Eixea A, Martínez-Varea CM, Tormo C, Badal E, Zilhão J, Villaverde V (2018) Climate, environment and human behaviour in the Middle Palaeolithic of Abrigo de la Quebrada (Valencia, Spain): the evidence from charred plant and micromammal remains. Quat Sci Rev 217:152–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Chabal L (1988) Pourquoi et comment prélever les charbons de bois pour la période antique: les méthodes utilisées sur le site de Lattes (Hérault). Lattara:187–222

  • Chabal L (1992) La représentativité paléo-écologique des charbons de bois archéologiques issus du bois de feu. Bulletin de la société botanique de France. Actualités Botaniques 139:213–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Chabal L (1997) Forêts et sociétés en Languedoc (Néolithique final, Antiquité tardive) : l’anthracologie, méthode et paléoécologie. Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarkson C, Bellas A (2014) Mapping stone: using GIS spatial modelling to predict lithic source zones. J Archaeol Sci 46:324–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa M, Morla C, Sainz (eds) (2005) Los bosques ibéricos: Una interpretación geobotánica. Planeta, Barcelona

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson A, Paciorek CJ, McLachlan JS, Goring S, Williams JW, Jackson ST (2016) Quantifying pollen-vegetation relationships to reconstruct ancient forests using 19th-century forest composition and pollen data. Quat Sci Rev 137:156–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Errico F, Sánchez Goñi MF (2003) Neandertal extinction and the millennial scale climatic variability of OIS 3. Quat Sci Rev 22:769–788. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-3791(03)00009-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Estrela MJ, Fumanal MP, Garay P (1993) Evolución geomorfológica de los valles prebéticos nororientales. Cuaternario y Geomorfología 7:157–170

    Google Scholar 

  • Fagoaga A, Ruiz-Sánchez FJ, Laplana C, Blain H-A, Marquina R, Marin-Monfort MD, Galván B (2017) Palaeoecological implications of Neanderthal occupation at Unit Xb of El Salt (Alcoi, eastern Spain) during MIS 3 using small mammals proxy. Quat Int. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.10.024

  • Feurdean A, Wohlfarth B, Björkman L, Tantau I, Bennike O, Willis KJ, Farcas S, Robertsson AM (2007) The influence of refugial population on Lateglacial and early Holocene vegetational changes in Romania. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 145:305–320

    Google Scholar 

  • Franklin J, Potts AJ, Fisher EC, Cowling RM, Marean CW (2015) Paleodistribution modeling in archaeology and paleoanthropology. Quat Sci Rev 110:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Galván B, Hernández CM, Mallol C, Mercier N, Sistiaga A, Soler V (2014) New evidence of early Neanderthal disappearance in the Iberian Peninsula. J Hum Evol 75:16–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamble C (1991) An introduction to the living spaces of mobile peoples. In: Gamble C (Ed) Ethnoarchaeological Approaches to Mobile Campsites: Hunter-Gatherer and Pastoralist Case Studies. International Monographs in Prehistory, pp 1–24

  • García Moreno A (2007a) La evolución del paisaje en la transición al Holoceno Desarrollo de un modelo predictivo de vegetación en el Valle del Asón (Cantabria). Trab Prehist 64:55–71

    Google Scholar 

  • García Moreno A (2007b) Predictive models and the evolution of tree vegetation during the Final Pleistocene-Holocene transition. A case study from the Asón River Valley (Cantabria, Spain) - CAA Online Proceedings. In: Posluschny A, Lambers K, Herzog I (eds) Layers of perception. Proceedings of the 35th international conference on computer applications and quantitative methods in archaeology (CAA), Berlin

  • García-Moreno A (2015) The incidence of potential insolation on settlement dynamics and site location preferences: a case study from the Cantabrian Late Palaeolithic. J Archaeol Sci Rep 3:90–99

    Google Scholar 

  • García-Moreno A, Fano-Martínez MÁ (2014) Palaeolithic sites beyond the archaeological deposits. In: García A, García J, Maximiano A, Rios-Garaizar J (eds) Debating Spatial Archaeology. Procedings of the International Workshop on Landscape and Spatial Analysis in Archaeology. Santander, June 8th-9th, 2012. The Cantabria International Institute for Prehistoric Research, Santander, pp 231–241

    Google Scholar 

  • Garralda MD, Galván B, Hernández CM, Mallol C, Gómez JA, Maureille B (2014) Neanderthals from El Salt (Alcoy, Spain) in the context of the latest Middle Palaeolithic populations from the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. J Hum Evol 75:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Giesecke T, Davis B, Brewer S, Finsinger W, Wolters S, Blaauw M, de Beaulieu J-L, Binney H, Fyfe RM, Gaillard M-J (2014) Towards mapping the late Quaternary vegetation change of Europe. Veg Hist Archaeobotany 23:75–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilligan I (2007) Neanderthal extinction and modern human behaviour: the role of climate change and clothing. World Archaeol 39:499–514

    Google Scholar 

  • Gillreath-Brown A, Nagaoka L, Wolverton S (2019) A geospatial method for estimating soil moisture variability in prehistoric agricultural landscapes. PLoS One 14(8):e0220457. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220457

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • González-Sampériz, P., Leroy, S.A.G., Carrión; J.S., Fernáandez, S., García-Antón, M., Gil-García, M.J., Uzquiano, P., Valero-Garcés, B., Figueiral, I. (2010) Steppes, savannahs, forests and phyotodiversity reservoirs during the Pleistocene in the Iberian Peninsula. Rev Palaeobot Palynol 162: 427–457

  • Gualda Gómez CE (1988) La Sierra de Mariola: aspectos geomorfológicos y biogeográficos. Universidad de Alicante

  • Hardy BL (2010) Climatic variability and plant food distribution in Pleistocene Europe: implications for Neanderthal diet and subsistence. Quat Sci Rev 29:662–679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.11.016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry A, Théry-Parisot I, Voronkova E (2009) La gestion du bois de feu en forêt boréale: problématique archéo-anthracologique et étude d’un cas ethnographique (Région de l’Amour, Sibérie). In: Proceedings of the XV World Congress. BAR International Series, pp 17–37

  • Hernández CM, Galván B, Mallol C, Machado J, Molina FJ, Pérez LJ, Morales JV, Sanchis A, Vidal-Matutano P, Rodríguez Á (2014) El Abric del Pastor en el poblamiento neandertal de los Valles de Alcoy, Alicante (España). In: Sala R (ed) Los Cazadores Recolectores Del Pleistoceno y Del Holoceno En Iberia y El Estrecho de Gibraltar: Estado Actual Del Conocimiento Del Registro Arqueológico. Universidad de Burgos, Fundación Atapuerca, pp 319–323

    Google Scholar 

  • Hijmans, R.J., Cameron, S.E, Parra, J.L., Jones, P.G., Jarvis, A. (2005) Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas. Int J Climatol 25, 1965–1978

  • Holmes JA, Atkinson T, Darbyshire DF, Horne DJ, Joordens J, Roberts MB, Sinka KJ, Whittaker JE (2010) Middle Pleistocene climate and hydrological environment at the Boxgrove homonin site (West Sussex, UK) from ostracod records. Quat Sci Rev 29:1515–1527

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson ST, Williams JW (2004) Modern analogs in Quaternary paleoecology: here today, gone yesterday, gone tomorrow? Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 32

  • Jiménez-Espejo FJ, Martínez-Ruiz F, Finlayson C, Paytan A, Sakamoto T, Ortega-Huertas M, Finlayson G, Iijima K, Gallego-Torres D, Fa D (2007) Climate forcing and Neanderthal extinction in Southern Iberia: insights from a multiproxy marine record. Quat Sci Rev 26:836–852. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2006.12.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly RL (1983) Hunter-gatherer mobility strategies. J Anthropol Res:277–306

  • Lebreton V, Renault-Miskovsky J, Carrión JS, Dupré M (2006) Étude palynologique du remplissage de la Grote du Boquete de Zafarraya. In: Barroso C, De Lumley H (eds) La Grotte Boquete de Zafarraya. Monographies Institut de Paléontologie Humaine. Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Cultura, Málaga, pp 629–660

    Google Scholar 

  • López A, Rosselló V (eds) (1978) Geografía de la provincia de Alicante. Excma Diputación Provincial de Alicante

  • López-García JM, Blain H-A, Benàssar M, Fernández-García M (2014) Environmental and climatic context of Neanderthal occupation in southwestern Europe during MIS3 inferred from the small-vertebrate assemblages. Quat Int 326-327:319–328

    Google Scholar 

  • López-García JM, Valle C d, Cremaschi M, Peresani M (2015) Reconstruction of the Neanderthal and modern human landscape and climate from the Fumane cave sequence (Verona, Italy) using small-mammal assemblages. Quat Sci Rev 128:1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.09.013

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • López-Sáez JA, López-García P, Cortés M (2007) Paleovegetación del Cuaternario reciente: estudio arqueopalinológico. Cueva Bajondillo (Torremolinos). Secuencia cronocultural y paleoambiental del Cuaternario reciente en la Bahía de Málaga. Centro de Ediciones de la Diputación Provincial de Málaga, pp 139–156

  • Ludemann T (2010) Past fuel wood exploitation and natural forest vegetation in the Black Forest, the Vosges and neighbouring regions in western Central Europe. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 291:154–165

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludemann T, Michiels H-G, Nölken W (2004) Spatial patterns of past wood exploitation, natural wood supply and growth conditions: indications of natural tree species distribution by anthracological studies of charcoal-burning remains. Eur J For Res 123:283–292

    Google Scholar 

  • Machado J, Pérez L (2015) Temporal frameworks to approach human behavior concealed in Middle Palaeolithic palimpsests: a high-resolution example from El Salt Stratigraphic Unit X (Alicante, Spain). Quat Int. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.050

  • Machado J, Hernández CM, Mallol C, Galván B (2013) Lithic production, site formation and Middle Palaeolithic palimpsest analysis: in search of human occupation episodes at Abric del Pastor Stratigraphic Unit IV (Alicante, Spain). J Archaeol Sci 40:2254–2273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2013.01.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machado J, Molina FJ, Hernández CM, Tarriño A, Galván B (2016) Using lithic assemblage formation to approach Middle Palaeolithic settlement dynamics: El Salt Stratigraphic Unit X (Alicante, Spain). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 9:1–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0318-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mallol C, Hernández CM, Cabanes D, Machado J, Sistiaga A, Pérez L, Galván B (2013a) Human actions performed on simple combustion structures: an experimental approach to the study of Middle Palaeolithic fire. Quat Int 315:3–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.04.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mallol C, Hernández CM, Cabanes D, Sistiaga A, Machado J, Rodríguez Á, Pérez L, Galván B (2013b) The black layer of Middle Palaeolithic combustion structures. Interpretation and archaeostratigraphic implications. J Archaeol Sci 40:2515–2537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.09.017

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mallol C, Hernández CM, Mercier N, Falguères C, Ben-Arous E, Cabanes D, Carrancho A, Vidal-Matutano P, Pérez L, Connolly R, Mayor Á, Galván B (2019) Fire and short-term human occupations in Iberia during MIS 4: Evidence from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain). Sci Rep 9:18281. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-54305-9

  • Marston JM (2009) Modeling wood acquisition strategies from archaeological charcoal remains. J Archaeol Sci 36:2192–2200

    Google Scholar 

  • Mas B, Allué E, de la Torre MS, Parque Ó, Tejero JM, Mangado X, Fullola JM (2018) Settlement patterns during the Magdalenian in the South-Eastern Pyrenees, Iberian Peninsula A territorial study based on GIS. J Archaeol Sci Rep 22:237–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortloff CR, Kolata AL (1993) Climate and collapse: agro-ecological perspectives on the decline of the Tiwanaku state. J Archaeol Sci 20:195–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozenda P (1982) Les végétaux dans la biosphère. Doin Éditeurs. ed, Paris

    Google Scholar 

  • Pardo-Gordó S (2017) Sistemas Complejos Adaptativos y Simulación computacional en Arqueología. Trab Prehist 74(1):9–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Pérez L, Sanchis A, Hernández CM, Galván B, Sala R, Mallol C (2017) Hearths and bones: an experimental study to explore temporality in archaological contexts based on taphonomical changes in burnt bones. J Archaol Sci Rep 11:287–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettitt P, Pike AW (2001) Blind in a cloud of data: problems with the chronology of Neanderthal extinction and anatomically modern human expansion. Antiquity 75:415–417

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen SO, Bigler M, Blockley SP, Blunier T, Buchardt SL, Clausen HB, Cvijanovic I, Dahl-Jensen D, Johnsen SJ, Fischer H (2014) A stratigraphic framework for abrupt climatic changes during the Last Glacial period based on three synchronized Greenland ice-core records: refining and extending the INTIMATE event stratigraphy. Quat Sci Rev 106:14–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Ray N, Adams J (2001) A GIS-based vegetation map of the world at the last glacial maximum (25,000-15,000 BP). Internet Archaeol 11:1–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Richter J (2006) Neanderthals in their landscape. Université de Liège, Belgium

    Google Scholar 

  • Rios-Garaizar J, García-Moreno A (2015) Middle Paleolithic mobility patterns and settlement systems variability in Eastern Cantabrian Region (Iberian Peninsula): a GIS-based resource patching modelling confronted to archaeological record. In: Conard NJ (Ed) Settlement Dynamics of the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age. Tübingen publications in prehistory, pp 329–360

  • Rivas-Martinez S (1987) Memoria del mapa de series de vegetación de España: 1:400.000. ICONA

  • Rodríguez-Cintas Á, Cabanes D (2015) Phytolith and FTIR studies applied to combustion structures: the case of the Middle Paleolithic site of El Salt (Alcoy, Alicante). Quat Int. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.09.043

  • Ros T (1985) Contribució antracoanalítica a l’estudi de l’entorn vegetal de l’home del Paleolític superior a l’Edat de Ferro a Catalunya. Unpublished Master Dissertation. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

  • Sánchez-Goñi MF, Eynaud F, Turon J, Shackleton N (1999) High resolution palynological record of the Iberian margin: direct land-sea correlation for the Last Interglacial complex. Earth Planet Sci Lett 171:123–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Serra Laliga L, Soler J (2011) Flora del Parc Natural de la Font Roja. Caja Mediterráneo, Alcoi

    Google Scholar 

  • Sistiaga A, Mallol C, Galván B, Summons RE (2014) The Neanderthal meal: a new perspective using faecal biomarkers. PLoS One 9:e101045. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0101045

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stringer C, Pälike H, van Andel TH, Huntley B, Valdes P, Allen JR (2004) Climatic stress and the extinction of the Neanderthals. In: Van Andel TH, Davies W (eds) Neanderthal and modern humans in the European landscape of the last glaciation: archaeological results of the Stage 3 Project. Oxbow books, London, pp 233–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Terradas X, Mora R, Martínez J, Casellas S (1993) La Roca dels Bous en el contexto de la transición Paleolítico medio-superior en el NE de la península Ibérica, In: Cabrera Valdés V (Ed) El origen del hombre moderno en el suroeste de Europa, 247–257 UNED

  • Tobler W (1970) A computer movie simulating urban growth in the Detroit Region. Econ Geogr 46:234–340

    Google Scholar 

  • Tzedakis P, Hughen K, Cacho I, Harvati K (2007) Placing late Neanderthals in a climatic context. Nature 449:206–208

    Google Scholar 

  • Uzquiano P (1992) L’Homme et le bois au Paléolithique en région cantabrique, Espagne Exemples d’Altamira et d’El Buxu. Bull Soc Bot France 139:361–372

    Google Scholar 

  • Uzquiano P (2008) Domestic fires and vegetation cover among Neanderthalians and anatomically modern human groups (>53-30 kyr BP) in the Cantabrian region (Cantabria, northern Spain). In: Fiorentino G, Magri D (Eds) Charcoals from the past. cultural and palaoenvironmental implications. Proceedings of the Third International Meeting of Anthracology, Cavallino – Lecce (Italy), June 28th – July 1st 2004. BAR international series 1807, pp 273-285

  • Uzquiano P (2014) Wood resource exploitation by Cantabrian Late Upper Palaeolithic groups (N Spain) regarding MIS 2 vegetation dynamics. Quat Int 337:154–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Uzquiano P, Arbizu M, Arsuaga JL, Adan G, Aranburu A, Iriarte E (2008) Datos paleoflorísticos en la cuenca media del Nalón entre 40-32 Ka. BP: Antracoanálisis de la Cueva del Conde (Santo Adriano, Asturias). Cuaternario y Geomorfología 22:121–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Uzquiano P, Yravedra J, Zapata BR, García MJG, Sesé C, Baena J (2012) Human behaviour and adaptations to MIS 3 environmental trends (> 53–30 ka BP) at Esquilleu cave (Cantabria, northern Spain). Quat Int 252:82–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Huissteden K, Vanderbergue J, Pollard D (2003) Palaeotemperature reconstructions of the European permafrost zone during marine oxygen isotope stage 3 compared with climate model results. J Quat Sci 18(5):453–464

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaquero M, Pastó I (2001) The definition of spatial units in Middle Palaeolithic sites: the hearth-related assemblages. J Archaeol Sci 28:1209–1220

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidal-Matutano P (2015) Evidència de recol· lecció de teix (Taxus baccata L.) pels grups neandertals de l’Abric del Pastor (Alcoi, Alacant). Recerques del Museu d’Alcoi 24:7–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidal-Matutano P (2016) Around the fire: Landscape, climate and firewood management in hunter-gatherer groups during the Middle Palaeolithic (Alicante, Spain) (unpublished doctoral dissertation). Universitat de València

  • Vidal-Matutano P (2017) Firewood and hearths: Middle Palaeolithic woody taxa distribution from El Salt, Stratigraphic Unit Xb (Eastern Iberia). Quat Int 457:74–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidal-Matutano P, Hernández CM, Galván B, Mallol C (2015) Neanderthal firewood management: evidence from Stratigraphic Unit IV of Abric del Pastor (Eastern Iberia). Quat Sci Rev 111:81–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidal-Matutano P, Henry A, Théry-Parisot I (2017) Dead wood gathering among Neanderthal groups: charcoal evidence from Abric del Pastor and El Salt (Eastern Iberia). J Archaeol Sci 80:109–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidal-Matutano P, Pérez-Jordà G, Hernández C, Galván B (2018) Macrobotanical evidence (wood charcoal and seeds) from the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt, Eastern Iberia: Palaeoenvironmental data and plant resources catchment areas. J Archaeol Sci Rep 19:454–464

    Google Scholar 

  • Wescott K, Brandon RJ (2000) Practical applications of GIS for archaeologists: a predictive modeling toolkit. Taylor & Francis

  • Wheatley D, Gillings M (2002) Spatial technology and archaeology: the archaeological applications of GIS. Taylor and Francis

  • Whitelaw T (1983) People and space in hunter-gatherer camps: a generalizing approach in ethnoarchaeology. Archaeol Rev Cambridge 2:48–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitelaw T (1991) Some dimensions of variability in the social organization of community space among foragers. In: Gamble C, Boismier WA (Eds) Ethnoarchaeological Approaches to Mobile Campsites: Hunter-Gatherer and Pastoralist Case Studies. International Monographs in Prehistory, pp 139–188

  • Wright HE Jr (1993) Environmental determinism in near eastern prehistory. Curr Anthropol 34:458–469

    Google Scholar 

  • Yll EI, Carrión JS, Pantaleón J, Dupré M, La Roca N, Roure JM, Pérez-Obiols R (2003) Palinología del Cuaternario reciente en la Laguna de Villena (Alicante). An Biol 25:65–72

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was carried out with the financial support of a VALi+d pre-doctoral grant (ACIF/2013/260) to P. Vidal-Matutano. Archaeological research was funded under the Spanish Government projects HAR2012-32703 and HAR2015-68321-P (MICINN-FEDER/EU), Direcció General de Cultura (Conselleria d’Educació, Cultura i Esports, Generalitat Valenciana) and Museu Aqueològic Municipal Camil Visedo Moltó. P. Vidal-Matutano is funded by the Spanish Government’s Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, under the “Juan de la Cierva – Formación” program (FJCI-2017-32461) and S. Pardo-Gordó is currently granted with an APOSTD Postdoctoral grant (APOST/2019/179, Generalitat Valenciana).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. TARHA Research Group, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Pérez del Toro 1, 35003, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

    Paloma Vidal-Matutano

  2. Université Côte-d’Azur CEPAM, CNRS, Nice, France

    Paloma Vidal-Matutano

  3. Departament de Prehistòria, Arqueologia i Història Antiga, Blasco Ibáñez 28, 46010, Valencia, Spain

    Salvador Pardo-Gordó

  4. Departament de Prehistòria, GRAMPO Research Group (SGR-2017-1302), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus Bellatera, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain

    Salvador Pardo-Gordó

Authors
  1. Paloma Vidal-Matutano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Salvador Pardo-Gordó
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paloma Vidal-Matutano.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Highlights

- A predictive Middle Palaeolithic biogeographical and climatic model is presented for the Upper Serpis Valley.

- A total of 33 weather stations were included.

- Simulated results show nuances not perceptible through charcoal analysis.

- Serpis Valley would be a dynamic geographic area during the Middle Palaeolithic.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 13.0 mb)

ESM 2

(XLS 28 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vidal-Matutano, P., Pardo-Gordó, S. Predictive Middle Palaeolithic climatic conditions from Eastern Iberia: a methodological approach based on charcoal analysis and modelling. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 12, 36 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00993-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00993-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation