Vegetation dynamics and human activity in the Western Pyrenean Region during the Holocene

Abstract

The present paper summarises the evolution of the vegetation and the evidences of anthropisation in the Western Pyrenees (Northern Iberian Peninsula) during the Holocene. All the palynological studies published about this region, about both natural and archaeological deposits, have been compiled, and special attention is paid on the available radiocarbon dates. We also present new results of the palynological study of the peat bog of Atxuri (Navarre). The main results document the arboreal colonisation in the early Holocene, the first evidences of anthropisation associated with the Early Neolithic (ca. 5500-4500calBC); the consolidation of a productive economy (agriculture and pastoralism) in the Middle/Late Neolithic (ca. 4500-3200calBC) and above all in the Chalcolithic (ca. 3200-2200calBC); and the rise of complex urban societies in the Bronze Age (ca. 2200-900calBC) and Iron Age (ca. 900-200calBC) and their impact on the vegetation.