Palaeoenvironment and human occupation patterns: a case study for the first half of the Holocene at Cova Fosca (Eastern Spain)

Abstract

The environmental interpretation of an archaeological site requires a combined assessment of all the taxa of proven bioindicator value. Some animal groups, such as rodents, are routinely used as proxies to this end. Combining such results with those of other animal groups strengthens the validity of inferences about the palaeoenvironment and regarding settlement.The rock shelter of Cova Fosca (Ares del Maestrat, Spain) features human occupations from the Late Pleistocene to the Middle-Early Late Holocene periods. Such a wide time span grants the possibility to explore the climatic and ecological changes that took place during the final stages of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, as well as those associated with the onset of the Neolithic economies in the region. While several groups of bioindicators present in the shelter converge on an essentially unified view of Cova Fosca¿s environmental history, each specific group sheds light on different aspects of the ecosystem. Therefore, data from small vertebrates and terrestrial molluscs are combined here in an effort to provide a more comprehensive view of the seasonal human occupation of this shelter and territorial use through time.