Seis mil años de gestión y dinámica antrópica en el entorno del Parque Natural de los Collados del Asón (Cordillera Cantábrica Oriental)

Abstract

The knowledge about the evolution of the mountain areas is a very interesting issue from the palaeoenvironmental stand point, but also from the archaeological view in relation with human occupations. In this paper we analyze the composition and evolution of the vegetation of the peat bog of Sotombo, located in the vicinity of the Collados del Asón Natural Park (Cantabria) over the last 6000 years, through the study of pollens, spores and non-pollen palynomorphs, with the support of 8 AMS radiocarbon dates. The main results point the dominance of deciduous forests with pines between ca. 5926-2418 cal BP. From this moment is clearly evident the anthropogenic activities, in contemporary to the expansion of the beech forests. Subsequently (from ca. 596 cal BP) starts the development of mountain meadows, that dominate the current landscape.