Re-evaluating the Neolithic: The Impact and the Consolidation of Farming Practices in the Cantabrian Region (Northern Spain)

Abstract

Research projects undertaken in the Cantabrian region since 1980 have produced new, high-quality information about the neolithisation process(es) in this area. It is now necessary to review this archaeological information and test the main hypotheses put forward to explain it. This paper presents an update on the archaeological evidence (sites, chronological dates, archaeozoological, archaeobotanical and technological information) for the early Neolithic in the Cantabrian region. It summarizes recent research on neolithisation in the region, and assesses the impact of this process during the early Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

Regional Demographic Dynamics in the Neolithic Transition in Iberia: Results from Summed Calibrated Date Analysis

“…3) suggests a gradual increase in human activity from 8500 to 6000 cal BP and a statistically significant 2σ deviation beyond the general linear model c. 7900-7700 cal BP. Furthermore, this peak only affected a relatively short time period and probably resulted from the aggregation of Mesolithic communities in the western part of this study area (Fano 1998;Arias 2007;Fernández López and Gómez Puche 2009;Fano et al 2015;Cubas et al 2016). This early peak in human activity during the Mesolithic in northern Iberia corresponds, curiously, to the most severe climatic perturbation in the Holocene since the Younger Dryas (Dansgaard 1987;1997;López Sáez et al 2008) and has no parallel in other Iberian regions.…”

“…However, a substantial degree of subregional variability during the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic in Iberia has also been spotlighted (Bernabeu Aubán et al 2014, p. 223;Balsera et al 2015a, p. 154). A case in point is the Cantabrian strip; a recent review of radiocarbon dates suggests diverse spatio-temporal dynamics for the spread of the Neolithic in the fifth millennium cal BC, being quicker in its eastern sector (Fano et al 2015;Cubas et al 2016). As a way to evaluate such claims, this paper examines inter-regional dynamics in Iberia deploying alternative analytical units at larger scales.…”

“…1a). These areas encompass a suite of broadly concurrent spatio-temporal processes for the Neolithic transition: (1) Eastern Mediterranean Iberia, where the oldest foci (from c. 7400 cal BP) of the Early Neolithic diagnostic elements occur (Impressa and Cardial wares) and they spread quickly inwards (c. 7300-7100 cal BP) via the Ebro Valley and the eastern Meseta (impressed wares) (Alday 2012; García-Martínez de Lagrán 2015); (2) the southwest, a slightly later route of expansion (c. 7200 cal BP), most likely from several sources of entrance independent from the eastern region, and involving a North African demic contribution (Gibaja and Carvalho 2010;Cortés et al 2012;Linstädter et al 2012;Manning and Timpson 2014); and (3) the northern fringe, from Galicia and Northern Portugal to the western Pyrenees, within the Eurosiberian biogeographic domain, with a delayed introduction of agriculture (c. 7000 cal BP) related to post-Cardial traditions of Middle Neolithic date (Arias 2007;Alday 2012;Bernabeu Aubán et al 2014, 2015Cubas et al 2016). The strength of this division is that there are enough radiocarbon dates in each regional chronology to provide a high-resolution record; its weakness is that the spatial resolution is too low, distinct regions encompassing contrasting ecological settings and only broadly concurrent historical pathways are combined to provide enough dates and, as a result, the singularity of particular socioeconomic processes is blurred.…”

“…The simultaneous occurrence of agropastoral indicators on the Iberian coasts c. 7300 cal BP, from Catalonia to southern Portugal, might be accounted for both mainstream demic hypotheses, i.e., processes triggered by the movement of incomers, such as Bpioneer maritime colonization^of seafaring settlers (Zilhão 2001(Zilhão , 2014Bernabeu Aubán et al 2015;Martins et al 2015), and alternative models (e.g., Bcapillary,^Bpercolative,^and Bparticipatory^viewpoints) embracing gradual and exchange dynamics and emphasizing the agency of Mesolithic populations (Vicent 1997;Hernando Gonzalo 1999;Díaz-del-Río 2010;Alday 2005Alday , 2012Cruz Berrocal 2012). After initial arrival, inland expansion of farming seems to have followed assorted historical pathways in a mosaic-like scenario, including irregular and discontinuous leap-frog colonization (Rojo et al 2008;Bernabeu Aubán et al 2015;García-Martínez de Lagrán 2015;Pardo Gordó et al 2015) and piecemeal acculturation/ adoption of particular traits by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers (Arias 2007;Alday 2012;Cruz Berrocal 2012;Cubas et al 2016).…”

“…1). In addition, the important contribution of Mesolithic communities in the adoption of the Neolithic package in some Atlantic regions has also been highlighted (Arias 2007;Alday 2012;García-Martínez de Lagrán 2015;Cubas et al 2016). As a result, some current research tends to either disregard biogeographic variability within Iberia or spotlight only seafaring processes in the Mediterranean domain.…”