Socio-Ecological Contingencies with Climate Changes over the Prehistory in the Mediterranean Iberia

Abstract

We conducted palynological, sedimentological, and chronological analyses of a coastal sediment sequence to investigate landscape evolution and agropastoral practices in the Nao Cap region (Spain, Western Mediterranean) since the Holocene. The results allowed for a reconstruction of vegetation, fire, and erosion dynamics in the area, implicating the role of fire in vegetation turnover at 5300 (mesophilous forests replaced by sclerophyllous scrubs) and at 3200 calibrated before present (cal. BP) (more xerophytics). Cereal cultivation was apparent from the beginning of the record, during the Mid-Neolithic period. From 5300 to 3800 cal. BP, long-lasting soil erosion was associated with the presence of cereals, indicating intense land-use during the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods. The decline of the agriculture signal and vegetal recolonization is likely explained by land abandonment during the Final Bronze Age. Anthropogenic markers reappeared during the Iberian period when more settlements were present. A contingency of human and environmental agencies was found at 5900, 4200, and 2800 cal. BP, coinciding with abrupt climate events, that have manifested locally in reduced spring discharge, an absence of agropastoral evidence, and a marked decline in settlement densities. This case study, covering five millennia and three climate events, highlights how past climate changes have affected human activities, and also shows that people repeatedly reoccupied the coast once the perturbation was gone. The littoral zone remained attractive for prehistoric communities despite the costs of living in an area exposed to climatic hazards, such as droughts.