A comparative analysis of Human impact on landscape during the Eemian and the first half of the Holocene in the Iberian Peninsula.

Abstract

The geographical position of the Iberian Peninsula determined its key role in past occupation processes of Western Europe: one of important transition areas for many migration episodes, glacial refuge, and one of preferable areas for variable species during interglacials such as the Eemian (126-116 ka) and the Holocene (11,7 ka-present). The Neanderthal population thrived in this region during the Eemian Interglacial, before decreasing during the Würm/ Weichsel glaciation. The last Neanderthals had taken refuge in the Iberian Peninsula before their extinction. Anatomically Modern Human (AMH) arrived in the peninsula during the Würm/ Weichsel glaciation and inhabited the region until today. Both the Eemian and Holocene populations until the end of the Mesolithic (7,4-6,1 ka) were hunter gatherer bands with very different behaviour and environmental context. It can be hypothesized that the Eemian Neanderthals and the Holocene AMH had different impact on the landscape. Hence, the current research is devoted to the comparison of the environmental impact of the Neanderthal and AMH in the Iberian Peninsula. Multi-proxy approach will be used to unravel these processes: 1) to compare environmental conditions during the two time periods, and 2) to analyze available evidence for the Neanderthal and AMH impact on landscapes in order to clarify the role of these populations in environmental transformations. One goal of the study will be to test whether there is enough evidence to highlight a difference between the two time periods. If so, whether this indicates a difference in term of impact on the landscape will be assessed. Differences in population density, subsistence strategies and environmental contexts might be keys to understand how these two hunter-gatherers populations impacted their landscape.