Search results for "mesolithic"
showing 10 items of 71 documents
Isotope evidence for the use of marine resources in the Eastern Iberian Mesolithic
2014
There are relatively few coastal Mesolithic sites in the Iberian Mediterranean region, probably due to a number of factors including sea level changes and the disappearance of sites due to agriculture and urbanisation. However, recent excavations have uncovered inland sites that have marine faunal remains (i.e. molluscs and fish) and lithics from the coastal area, which both indicate interactions between the coast and the upland valleys. These inland sites are located at a distance of 30-50km from today's coastline and are at altitudes higher than 1000m. We report on additional information on the links between the coast and these inland sites through the use of dietary isotope analysis (car…
Late Mesolithic burials at Casa Corona (Villena, Spain): direct radiocarbon and palaeodietary evidence of the last forager populations in Eastern Ibe…
2013
Abstract Current knowledge about the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the Central and Western Mediterranean European regions is deeply limited by the paucity of Late Mesolithic human osteological data and the presence of chronological gaps covering several centuries between the last foragers and the first archaeological evidence of farming peoples. In this work, we present new data to fill these gaps. We provide direct AMS radiocarbon dating and carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope analysis were carried out on bone collagen samples of two single burials from the recently discovered open-air Late Mesolithic site of Casa Corona (Villena, Spain). The results shed new light on the…
A Bayesian Approach for Timing the Neolithization in Mediterranean Iberia
2017
AbstractIn this paper, we compile recent14C dates related to the Neolithic transition in Mediterranean Iberia and present a Bayesian chronological approach for testing thedual model, a mixed model proposed to explain the spread of farming and husbandry processes in eastern Iberia. The dual model postulates the coexistence of agricultural pioneers and indigenous Mesolithic foraging groups in the Middle Holocene. We test this general model with more regional models of four geographical areas (Northeast, Upper, and Middle Ebro Valley, and Eastern and South/Southeastern regions) and present a filtered summed probability of all14C dates known in the region in order to compare socioecological dyn…
Palaeogeographical evolution of the Egadi Islands (western Sicily, Italy). Implications for late Pleistocene and early Holocene sea crossings by huma…
2019
Abstract The continental shelf morphology offshore of western Sicily suggests that during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 20 ka cal BP), two of the Egadi Islands, Favignana and Levanzo, were connected to Sicily by a wide emerged plain, while Marettimo was only separated from the other islands by a narrow channel. We studied the relative sea-level variation from the LGM until today, focussing on two important time slices: the Mesolithic (9.5–13 ka cal BP) and the Neolithic (6.5–7.5 ka cal BP). In this research, we discuss a sea-level rise model by means of geomorphological, archaeological and geophysical observations and new radiocarbon dating of marine and terrestrial fossil fauna. The resul…
From the Mesolithic to the Neolithic on the Mediterranean Coast of the Iberian Peninsula
2009
This paper summarizes early Holocene cultural sequences, economic strategies, and social dynamics on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Recent research in the central-southern regions of Valencia provides important diachronic information, particularly for discerning the nature of the shift from a hunter-gatherer lisfestyle to agricultura. If biogeographic conditions played a leading role in determining exploitation strategies, the recognizing distinctive social responses is crucial for understanding the impact of the changes that occurred.
Systematic consumption of non-marine gastropods at open-air Mesolithic sites in the Iberian Mediterranean region
2011
Arenal de la Virgen and Casa Corona, located in the upper Vinalopo Valley (SE of the Iberian Peninsula), are open-air Mesolithic sites dated to the Middle Holocene – 8600-7800 cal BP. Recent excavations have provided evidence of non-marine assemblages dominated by terrestrial (Sphincterochila candidissima and Iberus alonensis) and fresh water gastropods (Melanopsis tricarinata tricarinata) associated with habitation structures. These sites represent the first documented cases of systematic land snail consumption at open-air residential camps in the Iberian Mediterranean Region. This report presents the assemblage composition and modern ethological parameters, and discusses taphonomic proces…
Climate change and population dynamics during the late Mesolithic and the Neolithic transition in Iberia
2009
This paper explores how Early Holocene climate changes in the Western Mediterranean would have affected Late Mesolithic settlement distribution and subsistence strategies in Iberian Peninsula, thereby giving rise to various adaptive scenarios. The current radiocarbon data set concerning the Neolithisation process has revealed the rapidity of the spread of farming in Iberia. Considering both the implications of the last hunter-gatherers’ adaptation strategies and the population dynamics of agro-pastoral communities, we address the migration patterns underlying the Mesolithic- Neolithic transition. In conclusion, we propose that the initial colonization process was the result of two successiv…
Human paleogenetics of Europe--the known knowns and the known unknowns.
2014
The number of ancient human DNA studies has drastically increased in recent years. This results in a substantial record of mitochondrial sequences available from many prehistoric sites across Western Eurasia, but also growing Y-chromosome and autosomal sequence data. We review the current state of research with specific emphasis on the Holocene population events that likely have shaped the present-day genetic variation in Europe. We reconcile observations from the genetic data with hypotheses about the peopling and settlement history from anthropology and archaeology for various key regions, and also discuss the data in light of evidence from related disciplines, such as modern human geneti…
Application of multivariate statistics to the problems of upper palaeolithic and mesolithic samples
1987
Multivariate statistics (discriminant function analysis and principal component analysis) have been applied to a broad sample of Upper Paleolithic and mesolithic skulls. In addition to some methodological problems concerning the evaluation of missing data by principal component analysis, we discussed the possibility of misclassifications (14%).
Le Néolithique du Morvan : état des connaissances
2012
The region of Morvan, in particular the granitic massif, forms a very large geographic area of which the prehistoric remains largely unknown. The situation regarding the zone lying between Morvan massif and the adjacent Serein, Arroux, A leine and Yonne valleys is very different. The lithic industry of several sites in Upper Morvan has demonstrated a first inhabitation during the Mesolithic and several hill sites occupied from the Middle Neolithic and during the Final Neolithic, including a probable enclosure on Mont Beuvray. Complementary studies in the A rroux Valley confirm a large expansion of the habitat and the erection of menhirs during the Middle Neolithic. Discoveries relating to t…