Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6446230 | Quaternary Science Reviews | 2016 | 15 Pages |
Abstract
A synthesis of the occurrence of the evergreen oak (Quercus ilex-type) in the Cantabrian region (northern Spain) is presented on the basis of integrated charcoal and pollen analyses. Archaeological charcoal comes largely from sites along the littoral and pre-littoral territories of the Basque Country, Cantabria and Asturias dated from 45 to 3.7 Kyr cal BP, and culturally ranging from Mousterian to Iron Age. Pollen information is produced from a few archaeological sites but mainly from peats and lake sediments. Q. ilex-type is observed as early as at 45-30 Kyr cal BP, with sporadic occurrences in vegetation contexts dominated by Pinus sylvestris-type, which was widely exploited by Mousterian and Aurignacian inhabitants. Afterwards, during the Upper Palaeolithic, there is an important decline, and Q. ilex-type is hardly present between 29 and 15 Kyr cal BP, with open environments dominated by heathland shrubs. From Late Magdalenian onwards, Q. ilex-type expanded again, remaining in the landscape of the Cantabrian region throughout the Holocene, although subordinated in deciduous oak forests under the influence of oceanic climate conditions. Q. ilex-type had a more favourable position than deciduous Quercus across the Cantabrian southern slopes and northwest of the adjacent Iberian Cordillera, where oceanic influences have become attenuated by summer drought and continentality.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Geology
Authors
P. Uzquiano, MaB. Ruiz-Zapata, MaJ. Gil-Garcia, S. Fernández, J.S. Carrión,