What burned the forest? Wildfires, climate change and human activity in the Mesolithic – Neolithic transition in SE Iberian Peninsula

Climate variability such as higher or lower temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, shifts in plant com munities and other climate-related changes have particularly affected areas with Mediterranean-type climates. A multi-proxy analysis including pollen, sedimentary charcoal, mineralogy and S...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sánchez García, Carlos, Revelles, J., Burjachs, F., Euba, I., Expósito, I., Ibáñez, J., Schulte, L., Fernández-López de Pablo, J.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Repositorio:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/717527
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10486/717527
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2023.107542
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Palaeofires
Mesolithic-Neolithic transition
Palaeoenvironment
Paleolake
Wildfires
Iberian Peninsula
Geografía
id ES_70a323fcb4e77fbd508368bd72cc51ed
oai_identifier_str oai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/717527
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling What burned the forest? Wildfires, climate change and human activity in the Mesolithic – Neolithic transition in SE Iberian PeninsulaSánchez García, CarlosRevelles, J.Burjachs, F.Euba, I.Expósito, I.Ibáñez, J.Schulte, L.Fernández-López de Pablo, J.PalaeofiresMesolithic-Neolithic transitionPalaeoenvironmentPaleolakeWildfiresIberian PeninsulaGeografíaClimate variability such as higher or lower temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, shifts in plant com munities and other climate-related changes have particularly affected areas with Mediterranean-type climates. A multi-proxy analysis including pollen, sedimentary charcoal, mineralogy and Summed Probability Distributions (SPD) of archaeological 14C dates, allowed the reconstruction of landscape change, geomorphological evolution and fire history at the Laguna de Villena, in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. The Villena paleolake was sensitive to Early Holocene and Middle Holocene regional climatic vari ability that included several arid phases (around 8.2 ka cal BP, 6.8 ka cal BP and 5.9 ka cal BP) according to geochemical and pollen data. During this period, landscape dynamics show the degradation of oak forests and expansion of pyrophytic pine forests and shrublands, as well as open spaces predominated by grasses. The charcoal record shows a decreasing trend of biomass burned from 8.5 ka cal BP onwards, although fire peaks occurred recurrently during the Early and Middle Holocene. The most intense phase of fire activity was expe rienced in the last millennia of the Early Holocene, with five fire episodes from 9.1 to 8.4 ka cal BP, coinciding with a phase of higher archaeological evidence in the area. A decrease in archaeological evidence coincides with a gap in fire episodes during the Early Holocene-Middle Holocene transition, suggesting an effect of the abrupt 8.2 ka cal BP event on human activity and on landscape dynamics. After 8.0 ka cal BP, lowerer biomass burned is explained by the configuration of a more open landscape due to the combination of climate (increasing aridity) and increasing human activities in the region. The mineralogical and palynological data highlighted the inter action between human activities, climate and fire dynamics. The sedimentary charcoal record evidenced how most of the fire peaks did not occur in the context of dry episodes, as often assumed, deriving on an anthro pogenic explanation related to Early and Late Mesolithic burning practices during a phase of higher archaeo logical evidence in the Villena paleolake surroundings. Afterwards, combined agropastoral activities from the Early Neolithic onwards and increasing aridity during the Middle Holocene maintained the forest clearances, in the context of fire episodes characterised by decreased biomass burned. This study shows how Middle Holocene palaeoecological records reflect complex histories blending climate and anthropogenic processes that derived in major landscape changes explaining the origin of current landscapesElsevierDepartamento de GeografíaFacultad de Filosofía y Letras20242024-01-01research articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_2df8fbb1VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10486/717527https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2023.107542reponame:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAMinstname:Universidad Autónoma de MadridInglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositorio.uam.es:10486/7175272026-06-23T12:46:27Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv What burned the forest? Wildfires, climate change and human activity in the Mesolithic – Neolithic transition in SE Iberian Peninsula
title What burned the forest? Wildfires, climate change and human activity in the Mesolithic – Neolithic transition in SE Iberian Peninsula
spellingShingle What burned the forest? Wildfires, climate change and human activity in the Mesolithic – Neolithic transition in SE Iberian Peninsula
Sánchez García, Carlos
Palaeofires
Mesolithic-Neolithic transition
Palaeoenvironment
Paleolake
Wildfires
Iberian Peninsula
Geografía
title_short What burned the forest? Wildfires, climate change and human activity in the Mesolithic – Neolithic transition in SE Iberian Peninsula
title_full What burned the forest? Wildfires, climate change and human activity in the Mesolithic – Neolithic transition in SE Iberian Peninsula
title_fullStr What burned the forest? Wildfires, climate change and human activity in the Mesolithic – Neolithic transition in SE Iberian Peninsula
title_full_unstemmed What burned the forest? Wildfires, climate change and human activity in the Mesolithic – Neolithic transition in SE Iberian Peninsula
title_sort What burned the forest? Wildfires, climate change and human activity in the Mesolithic – Neolithic transition in SE Iberian Peninsula
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Sánchez García, Carlos
Revelles, J.
Burjachs, F.
Euba, I.
Expósito, I.
Ibáñez, J.
Schulte, L.
Fernández-López de Pablo, J.
author Sánchez García, Carlos
author_facet Sánchez García, Carlos
Revelles, J.
Burjachs, F.
Euba, I.
Expósito, I.
Ibáñez, J.
Schulte, L.
Fernández-López de Pablo, J.
author_role author
author2 Revelles, J.
Burjachs, F.
Euba, I.
Expósito, I.
Ibáñez, J.
Schulte, L.
Fernández-López de Pablo, J.
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Departamento de Geografía
Facultad de Filosofía y Letras
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Palaeofires
Mesolithic-Neolithic transition
Palaeoenvironment
Paleolake
Wildfires
Iberian Peninsula
Geografía
topic Palaeofires
Mesolithic-Neolithic transition
Palaeoenvironment
Paleolake
Wildfires
Iberian Peninsula
Geografía
description Climate variability such as higher or lower temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, shifts in plant com munities and other climate-related changes have particularly affected areas with Mediterranean-type climates. A multi-proxy analysis including pollen, sedimentary charcoal, mineralogy and Summed Probability Distributions (SPD) of archaeological 14C dates, allowed the reconstruction of landscape change, geomorphological evolution and fire history at the Laguna de Villena, in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, during the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition. The Villena paleolake was sensitive to Early Holocene and Middle Holocene regional climatic vari ability that included several arid phases (around 8.2 ka cal BP, 6.8 ka cal BP and 5.9 ka cal BP) according to geochemical and pollen data. During this period, landscape dynamics show the degradation of oak forests and expansion of pyrophytic pine forests and shrublands, as well as open spaces predominated by grasses. The charcoal record shows a decreasing trend of biomass burned from 8.5 ka cal BP onwards, although fire peaks occurred recurrently during the Early and Middle Holocene. The most intense phase of fire activity was expe rienced in the last millennia of the Early Holocene, with five fire episodes from 9.1 to 8.4 ka cal BP, coinciding with a phase of higher archaeological evidence in the area. A decrease in archaeological evidence coincides with a gap in fire episodes during the Early Holocene-Middle Holocene transition, suggesting an effect of the abrupt 8.2 ka cal BP event on human activity and on landscape dynamics. After 8.0 ka cal BP, lowerer biomass burned is explained by the configuration of a more open landscape due to the combination of climate (increasing aridity) and increasing human activities in the region. The mineralogical and palynological data highlighted the inter action between human activities, climate and fire dynamics. The sedimentary charcoal record evidenced how most of the fire peaks did not occur in the context of dry episodes, as often assumed, deriving on an anthro pogenic explanation related to Early and Late Mesolithic burning practices during a phase of higher archaeo logical evidence in the Villena paleolake surroundings. Afterwards, combined agropastoral activities from the Early Neolithic onwards and increasing aridity during the Middle Holocene maintained the forest clearances, in the context of fire episodes characterised by decreased biomass burned. This study shows how Middle Holocene palaeoecological records reflect complex histories blending climate and anthropogenic processes that derived in major landscape changes explaining the origin of current landscapes
publishDate 2024
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2024
2024-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv research article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_2df8fbb1
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10486/717527
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2023.107542
url http://hdl.handle.net/10486/717527
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2023.107542
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
Attribution 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
instname:Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
instname_str Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
reponame_str Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
collection Biblos-e Archivo. Repositorio Institucional de la UAM
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
_version_ 1869410594990325760
score 15,81155

Similares en LA Referencia