Climate change and population dynamics during the late Mesolithic and the Neolithic transition in Iberia

Authors

  • Javier Fernández López de Pablo Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Magdalena Gómez Puche Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Universidad de Valencia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.36.4

Keywords:

climate change, 8200 calBP event, Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, migration

Abstract

This paper explores how Early Holocene climate changes in the Western Mediterranean would have affected Late Mesolithic settlement distribution and subsistence strategies in Iberian Peninsula, thereby giving rise to various adaptive scenarios. The current radiocarbon data set concerning the Neolithisation process has revealed the rapidity of the spread of farming in Iberia. Considering both the implications of the last hunter-gatherers’ adaptation strategies and the population dynamics of agro-pastoral communities, we address the migration patterns underlying the Mesolithic- Neolithic transition. In conclusion, we propose that the initial colonization process was the result of two successive and spatially heterogeneous migrations: Maritime Pioneer Colonization and targeted migration to places favorable to the new economic system.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Downloads

Published

31.12.2009

How to Cite

López de Pablo, J. F., & Gómez Puche, M. (2009). Climate change and population dynamics during the late Mesolithic and the Neolithic transition in Iberia. Documenta Praehistorica, 36, 67–96. https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.36.4

Issue

Section

Articles