Although several proxies for the inference of precipitation have been proposed, evidence of changes in aridity during the Holocene is scarce, and most is only qualitative. Moreover, precipitation regimes show relatively poor spatial correlations and can exhibit contrasting responses to global climate trends in different areas. Thus, there is a need to concentrate efforts at the local scale in order to increase the spatial resolution of palaeoclimate records, especially regarding water availability in semiarid zones. We propose the analysis of carbon isotope composition (d 13 C) in fossil charcoal (routinely recovered from archaeological sites) to quantify changes in water availability in the past. We applied this approach to reconstruct variations in aridity during the last four millennia in the Ebro Depression (NE Iberian Peninsula). First, we studied the effect of carbonization over a range of temperatures (300-500 1C) on the d 13 C of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) wood cores, collected from nine locations in NE Iberian Peninsula with distinct water availability. Despite significant changes in d 13 C caused by carbonization, the original climatic signal of wood d 13 C was well preserved. Moreover, d 13 C shifts induced by this process were successfully corrected by accounting for variation in charcoal carbon concentration (%C). After removing the effect of carbonization, we estimated annual precipitation (P) and the ratio between annual precipitation and evapotranspiration (P/E) from the d 13 C of fossil charcoal. In general, estimated water availability in the past was higher than present values, indicating that latter-day (semiarid) conditions are mostly due to recent climate changes. The good agreement between our findings and other evidence indicates that the analysis of d 13 C in charcoal may be useful to expand current palaeoclimate records as it provides a complementary (and quantitative) source of information to assess climate dynamics.

Ancient populations have commonly been thought to have lived in small groups where extreme endogamy was the norm. To contribute to this debate, a genetic analysis has been carried out on a collective burial with eight primary inhumations from Montanissell Cave in the Catalan pre-Pyrenees. Radiocarbon dating clearly placed the burial in the Bronze Age, around 3200 BP. The composition of the group-two adults (one male, one female), one young woman, and five children from both sexes-seemed to represent the structure of a typical nuclear family. The genetic evidence proves this assumption to be wrong. In fact, at least five out of the eight mitochondrial haplotypes were different, denying the possibility of a common maternal ancestor for all of them. Nevertheless, 50% of the inhumations shared haplogroup J, so the possibility of a maternal relationship cannot be ruled out. Actually, combining different analyses performed using ancient and living populations, the probability of having four related J individuals in Montanissell Cave would range from 0.9884 to 0.9999. Owing to the particularities of this singular collective burial (small number of bodies placed altogether in a hidden cave, the evidence of non-simultaneous interments, close dating and unusual grave goods), we suggest that it might represent a small group with a patrilocal mating system.

Findings of canid remains in graves at different sites in the northeast of the Iberian 2 Peninsula are evidence of a widespread funerary practice that proliferated between the end 3 of the 3 rd and the 2 nd millennium BC, in particular, in the Early-Middle Bronze Age 4 contexts. The discovery of four foxes and a large number of dogs at the sites of Can 5 Roqueta (Barcelona) and Minferri (Lleida) respectively, stand out among the many 6 examples of these types of grave goods. In this work, we have made an approximation of 7 the relationship between humans and canids through the study of their diet by analysis of 8 stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in bone collagen. These analyses were 9 complemented by archaeozoological, anthropological and archaeobotanical studies. The 10 comparison of human and animal diets comprised a total of 37 canids, 19 domestic 11 ungulates and 64 humans. The results indicate that the diet of the dogs was similar to that 12 of humans, although, δ 15 N values of dogs in Can Roqueta and Minferri are, on the average, 13 1.4‰ and 1.1‰, respectively, lower than those of humans. The offset between canids and 14 the herbivorous ungulates of each site is not up to the established minimum for a trophic 15 level, which implies an input of C3 plants and human intervention in the feeding of dogs 16 and some of the foxes. Some particular cases in Can Roqueta suggest a specific food 17 preparation, richer in cereals, for larger dogs (probably devoted to carrying loads), and 18 possibly for at least one of the foxes.

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NATALIA ALONSO (*) EMILI JUNYENT (*) ÁNGEL LAFUENTE (*) JOAN B. LÓPEZ (*) ENRIC TARTERA (*) RESUMEN La fortaleza de Els Vilars (Arbeca, Lleida), construida en torno al 750 cal. ANE y abandonada poco después del 350 ANE, constituye un yacimiento clave para la comprensión de la Primera Edad del Hierro y la Época Ibérica en sus fases antigua y plena en el noreste de la Península Ibérica. Sus defensas excepcionales, muralla torreada, barrera de piedras hincadas y foso, la convierten en referente de la fortificación ibérica. El proyecto "Vilars 2000" tiene por objeto la investigación, la recuperación patrimonial y la difusión pública. Se exponen los objetivos del Plan Director, así como la estrategia de obtención de recursos económicos, incidiendo en su condición de valor turístico de primer orden. diffusion au grand public. Dans cet article sont présentés les objectifs du Plan Directeur, ainsi que la stratégie pour obtenir les moyens économiques nécessaires, compte tenu de l'intérêt touristique majeur du site.