Joan Bernabeu

Vegetation changes and human action from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age (7000–4000 B.P.) in Alicante, Spain, based on charcoal analysis

Charcoal analysis reveals various palaeo-ecological phases from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Agriculture starts about 7000 B.P. in favourable ecological conditions. Most of the charcoal spectra from sites on the coast represent thermomediterranean holm-oak forest; those from the inland mountains represent mesome-diterranean holm-oak forest. The Neolithic I Impressed Ware people were the first to clear the forest to plant their crops. This clearance of primary woodland resulted in the development of secondary vegetation of pine woods or scrub. The scrub reached its maximum during the Bell Beaker phase and Bronze Age in the Cova de les Cendres. In the Neolithic II open air sites, the percentages of Quercus ilex/coccifera remain high. This may be the result of a different exploitation of the land, or suitable conditions for the growth and survival of the vegetation.

Land-use dynamics and socioeconomic change : An example from the Polop Alto Valley

The Polop Alto valley, in eastern Spain, serves as the focus of study of long-term temporal and spatial dynamics in human land use. The data discussed here derive from intensive, pedestrian, non-site survey. We employ the concept of artifact taphonomy to assess the various natural and cultural processes responsible for accumulation and distribution patterns of artifacts. Our results suggest that the most significant land-use changes in the Polop Alto took place at the end of the Pleistocene and accompanying the late Neolithic, while much less notable changes in land-use patterns are associated with the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition and the initial use of domestic plants and animals in the valley.

AEA 2012 Conference Reading: Socioecological dynamics at the time of Neolithic transition in Iberia

Abstract The Western Mediterranean, spanning southern Italy to Portugal, can be considered a single archaeological unit where the diagnostic characteristics of Early Neolithic contexts share common elements, marked by the spread of Cardium-Impressed ceramics. Although some consensus exists regarding the origin of these wares in southern Italy, the debate surrounding its process of expansion to the west remains open. Iberia is a key region for the analysis of the neolithisation process due to its location at the end of the Neolithic Mediterranean expansion. This view includes the problems linked with the mechanism of this spread and the evolutionary dynamics of the early agricultural societies. Our goals are to evaluate the rich archaeological and palaeoenvironmental database produced by recent decades of research in this area in order to address issues related to the Neolithic Transition. We especially deal with the role played by climatic events in the observed dynamics of the last Mesolithic and the Early Neolithic (ca. 8500–6900 cal BP).

Chemical Element Levels as a Methodological Tool in Forensic Science

The aim of the present study was to define a methodological strategy for understanding how post- mortem degradation in bones caused by the environment affects different skeletal parts and for selecting better preserved bone samples, employing rare earth elements (REEs) analysis and multivariate statistics. To test our methodological proposal the samples selected belong to adult and young individuals and were obtained from the Late Roman Necropolis of c/Virgen de la Misericordia located in Valencia city centre (Comunidad Valenciana, Spain). Therefore, a method for the determination of major elements, trace elements and REEs in bone remains has been developed employing Inductively-Coupled Plasma – Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and ICP- Mass Spectrometry (MS). Bone samples, mainly rib and femur, from seventy-four individuals have been studied. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to facilitate the interpretation of the taphonomic processes. A multivariate classification model employing Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLSDA) was used to identify bones with less soil contamination.parameters show that diet profiles of a population could change depending on the type of bones analyzed. The proposed method could be useful in forensic science investigations to select better preserved samples in different scenarios.

Lanthanides Revealing Anthropogenic Impact within a Stratigraphic Sequence

Difficulties to differentiate between anthropogenic and natural processes in the formation of archaeological deposits are crucial for a correct interpretation not only of the actions involved in the development of archaeological sites, but also of their occupation-abandonment dynamics and the understanding of their spatial behaviors and relationship with the environment. We have carried out lanthanides (rare earth elements “REE”) analysis to distinguish anthropogenic from natural stratigraphic units in sediments using the advantage of the high sensibility, precision, and accuracy of ICP-MS measurements. In the Neolithic site of Mas d’Is (Alacant, Spain), we have applied REE analysis in a huge stratigraphic sequence called Pit 6, which was known to contain a large anthropogenic component. Randomly collected soil samples were sequentially taken in order to identify anthropogenic soil formations and to prove the proposed method blind testing has been used. In the specific case of Mas d’Is excavation a recurring question is whether paleosols are at the origin of the human occupation of the sites or it was the occupation of this areas which triggered the paleosols development. Our purpose was to distinguish the degree of human contribution to paleosols formation between samples sequentially taken at few centimeters of distances in a giant stratigraphic sequence (Pit 6) employing REE analysis.

Surviving the holocene: Human ecological responses to the current interglacial in southern valencia, spain

For hunter-gatherer groups, the dramatic changes in climate at the end of the last glacial cycle necessitated rearrangement of land use, including shifts in mobility strategies, settlement location, and resource use. We examine these behavioral changes using lithic attribute data as well as spatial distributions of artifacts and features. Using data from intensive survey and excavation, we trace human ecological response through the onset of the current interglacial in central Mediterranean Spain, comparatively far from the margins of the north-temperate ice sheets.