Archaeology and desertification in the Vera basin (Almería, south-east Spain)

Abstract

Field research and predictive modelling of global warming and desertification by environmental scientists in the Mediterranean has concentrated on the short term. In this paper, it is argued that collaboration between the historical sciences, especially archaeology, and the environmental sciences can provide a longer-term perspective on desertification in the Mediterranean. Such collaboration has taken place recently in the Vera basin (Almería, south-east Spain), with the financial support of the European Union. Details of the archaeological and historical sequences of occupation in the basin are given, before presenting the main trends in demography, settlement and political systems from 4000 BC until the present day. This is followed by details of the long-term record of degradation in the Vera basin. The paper concludes by using the long-term record to propose recommendations for the future management of this landscape.

Mid-Holocene vegetation history and Neolithic land-use in the Lake Banyoles area (Girona, Spain)

“…This situation is not consistent with the main Bronze Age societies in southern Europe, where one of the features linked with the social change occurring in this period is the large-scale impact on the landscape, as at El Argar in the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula (Castro et al, 2000;Carrión et al, 2007), and other European regions like central Italy (Sadori et al, 2004), northern Italy (Valsecchi et al, 2006) and north-eastern Bulgaria (Marinova and Atanassova, 2006). This invisibility of Bronze Age communities could be due to the scarce archaeological record belonging to this phase in the surroundings of Lake Banyoles, and also to the fact that Bronze Age communities did not base their economy on metallurgical production, which may have been a secondary activity (Rovira, 2006).…”

Anthropogenic and climatic impact on Holocene sediment dynamics in SE Spain: A review

“…They provide data on the political, socio-economic and agrocultural strategies since the Neolithic period. The prehistoric and historic occupation periods mentioned below are based on the work of Castro et al (2000). The work of Wainwright and Thornes (2004) on the interaction between humans and their environment in the Mediterranean basin was used as reference for the analysis.…”

European Regional Studies: A Coming of Age?

“…For example, Venclová (1994Venclová ( , 1995Neustupný and Venclová, 2000) has used intensive regional survey in Bohemia to identify and study Iron Age settlement versus industrial sites, and Field (1997) has investigated English Neolithic flint mining sites and their relationship to the typically ephemeral Neolithic settlement sites. Other archaeologists have investigated the relationship between artifact distribution and the boundaries of various landscape types, identifying differences in the settlement and use of woodlands (e.g., Evans et al [1999] who describe Early Neolithic settlement in "thrown" tree trunks, and Moore [1997] who discusses the relationship between settlement and the use of forest burning techniques to clear land for farming and pasture), fens and wetlands (e.g., Evans and Knight, 2000;Hall, 1992;Long et al, 2002;Peterson and Smith, 1995), rivers and floodplains (e.g., Gillings 1995Gillings , 1996Gillings , 1997Kadrow et al, 1992;Madry and Crumley, 1990;, deserts (e.g., Castro et al, 1998;Castro et al, 2000), sea coasts (e.g., Blanton, 2000), and islands (e.g., Broodbank, 2000;Cherry et al, 1991;Gaffney and Stančič, 1991) in different times and places. Sacred landscapes also have been addressed in this manner, as the locations of settlement and ritual sites are compared (e.g., de Polignac, 1995; various articles in Alcock and Osborne, 1994), sometimes using viewshed analysis in GIS (e.g., Wheatley, 1996;various papers in Lock and Stančič, 1995).…”