The importance of calcareous landscapes to our understanding of Late Pleistocene human-environment interactions in Western Iberia

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F49777513%3A23330%2F24%3A43974011" target="_blank" >RIV/49777513:23330/24:43974011 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The importance of calcareous landscapes to our understanding of Late Pleistocene human-environment interactions in Western Iberia

Original language description

The western margin of the Iberian Peninsula is marked by two areas of Mesozoic calcareous substrates surrounded by Paleozoic basement rock draped in places by Cenozoic sediments. In Estremadura and Algarve, karstic landscapes form in Jurassic and Cretaceous limestone massifs interspersed with valleys filled with Miocene and Quaternary sands and gravels. Throughout the Pleistocene, human groups settled these areas in varying degrees of intensity. Although geomorphic bias may impact site preservation and visibility, several key features of the calcareous landscapes provide the bulk of information about Paleolithic land-use strategies and point to a likely preference for these areas. Caves house most of the stratified evidence for human settlement, providing key records of organic preservation, paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental change, as well as diachronic patterns of human-environment interaction. The calcareous landscape known as the Maciço Calcário Estremenho (MCE) contains abundant caves, avens, sinkholes, and poljes or sunken karst valleys. These latter features formed lakes during the Pleistocene providing water to humans and animals. The limestone also contains chert, a highly valued and preferred lithic raw material for tool-making. Recent stable isotope studies from cave speleothems provide additional data on Late Pleistocene climates that can be integrated with Paleolithic archaeological and faunal records from caves, including the site of Lapa do Picareiro. Here, we discuss the impact of calcareous landscapes on human-environment interactions with special emphasis on Lapa do Picareiro, which has become an important reference site for the Middle and Upper Paleolithic in Portugal. The ongoing excavation has produced an intact stratigraphic sequence of about 11 m with archaeological occupation layers from the Bronze Age to Middle Paleolithic. The sediments contain rich archaeological and faunal records and paleoclimatic data spanning at least 60,000 years, providing a continuous record of long-term human-environment interaction.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60102 - Archaeology

Project

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Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů