Testing micro-regional variability in the Holocene shaping of high mountain cultural landscapes: a palaeoenvironmental case-study in the eastern Pyrenees

Abstract

a b s t r a c tPrevious research acknowledges the ancient and complex land-use history of European mountainous areas, which are characterised by a remarkable regional variability in terms of human practices and patterns of occupation during the Holocene. However, the combined palaeoenvironmental and archaeological study of highland human management at a micro-regional scale remains a largely unexplored research field, especially in the Pyrenees. A combined pollen, stomata, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) and macrocharcoal study was carried out at three nearby alpine and subalpine peat basins from a relatively small territory (ca.1700 ha) at the Madriu valley (Andorra, eastern Pyrenees), following a fine spatialresolution strategy. The purpose was to test the suitability of high altitudinal palaeoecological sequences when reconstructing past small-scale land-use variability. The palaeoecological results of those peat records are compared and further integrated with archaeological local data, and together underline the marked complexity of high mountain land-use system over the Holocene period. Main phases of microregional land-use and landscape variability can be distinguished from the middle Neolithic to the early Bronze Age and from the Roman Period to the Modern Era. Conversely, several phases of homogeneous landscape management are distinguishable during the early Neolithic, and from the late Bronze to the late Iron Age. Results drawn from this study show that landscape variability is not necessarily connected to topographic or climatic parameters, and underline the role of social, economical and cultural parameters in the land-use organisation and the landscape shaping of high mountain spaces since Prehistory.

A 2500-year multi-proxy reconstruction of climate change and human activities in northern Spain: The Lake Arreo record

“…6) in diatom assemblages, taxa which can tolerate disturbance and higher nutrient levels (Van Dam et al, 1994), also suggests an increase in human activities in the watershed as these taxa are directly related to the clastic input to the lake (Corella et al, 2011b). The existence of a large fen around the Lake Arreo palustrine area (unit C and LPAZ 1) would have favored the expansion of pastures between the 2 nd and the 5 th centuries AD as it is well-known that Roman used fens as wet pastures in the subalpine woodland (Ejarque et al, 2010). The most intense arid phase reflected by increased salinity and lower lake levels occurred between AD 890 and 1300 characterized by the Sr/Ca ratio increase and low P:B index (Fig.…”

A multi-proxy perspective on millennium-long climate variability in the Southern Pyrenees

“…Other lake and peatbog records (i.e. Tramacastilla and Bubal (Montserrat-Martí, 1992), Bosc dels Estanyons (Miras et al, 2007), Riu dels Orris fen (Ejarque et al, 2010), Lake Burg (Bal et al, 2011) and Col d'Ech (Rius et al, 2012), among others), have not been considered for this paper because of the lack of a multi-proxy analysis or their exclusive focus on human activities.…”

La alta montaña durante la Prehistoria: 10 años de investigación en el Pirineo catalán occidental

“…A grandes rasgos, los datos expuestos permiten afirmar la necesidad de estudiar la evolución del poblamiento prehistórico desde un enfoque multidisciplinar y una metodología que integre las evidencias arqueológicas en el territorio y considere los cambios en el paisaje (Soriano et al 2003;Ejarque et al 2009;Ejarque et al 2010;Gassiot et al 2010a;Rodríguez Antón 2011).…”

“…En los últimos años este panorama ha empezado a cambiar gracias a la consolidación de proyectos de investigación arqueológicos y paleoecológicos dirigidos a documentar las actividades humanas en medios de alta montaña a lo largo del tiempo; principalmente en Andorra (Palet et al 2008;Ejarque et al 2009;Ejarque et al 2010), la Cerdanya (Rendu 2003;Bal et al 2010), los Pirineos atlánticos (Gardes 1996;Galop et al 2007) y el Pirineo axial occidental de Catalunya Este artículo presenta los resultados de las campañas realizadas desde 2001 a 2010 en el Pirineo axial occidental de Catalunya, que han generado unos registros arqueológicos extensos y detallados, así como análisis paleoecológicos de turberas y contextos lacustres. Estos trabajos han documentado la secuencia del poblamiento prehistórico en medios alpinos y subalpinos durante la mayor parte del Holoceno, proponiendo nuevas hipótesis para explicarla.…”