1. Mesolithic to Bronze Age landscape signatures during periods
of abrupt climate change: current work from the Upper
Vinalopó Valley (SE Spain) lake deposits
Marie-Curie Intra-European
Fellowship: IEF-628589
Dr. Samantha E Jones; Prof. Fransesc B Casas; Dr. Javier Fernández- Lopez de
Pablo
50
100
150
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250
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350
400
Depth
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stty
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Long
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dark
Papill
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100 200 300
Tota
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hyto
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Zon e
Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 3
Forest Sedge and Grass Unidentified
Snails
Burnt
Casa Corona
Preliminary Phytolith results
0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1,2
Total sum o f squares
CONISS

2. Aims and Objectives
Main aims
 1) To examine the Palaeoenvironmental context of the Mesolithic-Neolithic
transition in Eastern Iberia
 To understand the effects of environmental stress on prehistoric communities.
 The anthropogenic impact of the first agricultural and husbandary systems on
landscape (7500-4000 cal BP)
Main objectives
 To use multi-proxy high resolution analysis
 to determine abrupt climatic/environmental events in the palaeoecological
record.
 and to compare these events with changes in human signatures during the
Mesolithic-Bronze age.

3. Yacimiento Cronología Distancia respecto
a los sondeos de
polen
Casa Corona Mesolítico Antiguo
Mesolítico Reciente
Neolítico
Campaniforme
Sondeo 4: 0 km
Sondeo 3: 5,4 km
Arenal de la
Virgen
Mesolítico Antiguo
Neolítico Antiguo
Sondeo 1: 0,5 km
Sondeo 2: 1,3 km
Sondeo 3
Pinar de Tarruella Epipaleolítico Sondeo 1: 0,6 km
Sondeo 2: 1,1 km
Sondeo 3: 1,1 km
Peñon de la Zorra Campaniforme Sondeo 4: 5,8 km
Sondeo 3: 8 km
Terlinques Edad del Bronce Sondeo 1: 2 km
Sondeo 3: 3,1 km
Cabezo Redondo Edad del Bronce Sondeo 4: 4,3 km
Sondeo 3: 3,2 km
El Castellar Fenicio (ss.VII-VI a.C.) Sondeo 1: 1 km
Sondeo 3: 1,7 km
Casas del Campo Romano Sondeo 4: 1,8 km
Sondeo 3: 5,6 km
Site Location
Figure 1:
Map showing the site locations
of Casa Corona and Villena lake
Table 1:
A list of archaeological sites within
close vicinity of the pollen core
sites soneo 1-4

4. Arenal de la Virgen (Villena lake)
 Mesolithic single occupation Phase
7750±40 BP, 8600-8430 Cal BP
 Excavations yielded: A partially
altered hearth structure; Burnt
sands; Fire cracked stones; Lithic
artefacts and Terrestrial gastropods
Pinar de Tarruella
(EPIPALEOLITHIC)
Pinar de Tarruella
(EPIPALEOLITHIC)Arenal de la Virgen
(MESOLITHIC and
EARLY NEOLITHIC
Arenal de la Virgen
(MESOLITHIC and
EARLY NEOLITHIC
Fig 2: Villena basin
site location
Fig 3: Notched and
Denticulated lithic
artefacts from
Arenal de la Vigen
Fig 4: Occupation phase at Arenal de
Vigen (2007)
Fig 5: Map of the
former Villena lake
Archaeology of the Villena basin i

5. Archaeology of the Villena basin ii
Casa Corona (Villena lake)
 Initial occupation during the Younger Dryas.
 Early Mesolithic phase: at least 2 hearths
 Late Mesolithic phase
 Neolithic find: 1 pit with Neolithic Post-Cardial
ceramic ware.
 The Chalcolithic phase: a settlement with pit
structures and ceramic sherds.
Fig 8: Excavation site before the railwayFig 7: Plan of excavation site
Fig 6: Core sampling for palaeoecological analysis,
after the railway, in April 2014

6. Fig 9: Mesolithic hearth with land snails
Archaeology of the Villena basin ii
Casa Corona (Villena lake)
 Late Mesolithic phase: at least one hearth, 2 pit
graves, trapezes, pierced shells, fauna remains
and rich land-snail deposits.Two Late Mesolithic
burials 8010-7800 cal BP.
 Isotope analysis=predominantly terrestrial
despite proximity to lake
Fig 10: Late Mesolithic burial at Casa Corona from Javier Fernandez et al., 2013

7. Rational for Palaeoecological Analysis
Climate has not remained stable-Abrupt 1500 yr events-The 8.2 event is one of the most
pronounced.
Despite wide acceptance of cooler and drier conditions recorded in the Mediterranean region
during Bond events:
It is still unclear how the Bond events have affected prehistoric cultures, particularly
Mesolithic mobility-strategies and the transition to agriculture.
A lack of high resolution palaeo-environmental
data from Late Mesolithic settlement areas
Weak chronologies or well dated lake cores
located far away from late Mesolithic sites
Chronology gaps in many records
Villena basin: Outstanding no. of
archaeological sites: Epipaleolithic- Bronze
age
35 km from the oldest documented Neolithic
sites & domesticated cereals
Archaeological record adjacent to environmental record
Continuous chronology spanning Epipaleolithic-Bronze age
Spans the Neolithic transition
More precise and thorough analysis on the effects of Bond events on prehistoric societies

8. Previous work:
•The Villena lake was investigated during the late 90`s, although accurate
pollen, biotic and sedimentary data are only available for the Late Glacial
and Early Holocene
•Pollen analysis:
Villena Lagoon (Yll et al., 2003, Fernández-López de Pablo et al., 2011):
•Villena: Stable isotope δ18O and δ13C analysis of land snails shell
carbonates from Mesolithic archaeological deposits (Yanes et al., 2013)
•Salinas Playa Lake (Giralt 1999, Giralt 2003, Julià 1996, Burjachs 2009)

9. Methods employed
Figs 11 & 12: Core samples extracted from Villena
lake VL3, 2014
Figs 13, 14 & 15: Core samples undergoing Magnetic Susceptibility from lake
VL3, 2014
Fig 16: Magnetic Susceptibility Scanner, Barcelona

10. An example of a small section of the results:
Palynomorphs, pollen and geochemical
Botryococcus Phytolith:Geometric
Type 119 (in
Van Geel)
Altenaria
Burnt stomata Chenopodiaceae
Pinus Burnt epidermal cells
Fig 18: Most common pollen and
palynomorphs from VL3
Fig 17: Aquatic Palynomorphs covering 7 m of VL3
Fig 20: Plantago (red) & Ericaceae (blue)
Fig 19: Charcoal (red) & Large Poaceae (blue)
Fig 21: Calcium (orange) and Olea (blue)

11. Concluding Comments
Current State of Investigation:
Multi-proxy analysis for the VL3 core has now been completed.
Interpretation of the data sets is now underway and the results will be submitted
for publishing before Feb 2016
Presentation of the results will be provided at the MEDINES conference 2016 in
Tarragona:
https://medinesworkshop2016.wordpress.com/
sjones@iphes.cat or sjones13@qub.ac.uk
Thank you

12. “PRETM”
Prehistoric Transitions in the Mediterranean: Cultural and economic responses to climate
change during the Mesolithic-Bronze Age
PEOPLE
MARIE CURIE ACTIONS
Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)
“POSTGLACIAL-MED”
Dinámica ambiental y respuestas humanas durante el Postglacial en la fachada mediterránea
de la Península Ibérica (c.12,700-8000 cal BP) (HAR 2013-41197)
“
Mediterranean Archaeological Landscapes: Postpalaeolithic adaptations, paleodemography
and land use patterns (RYC-2011-09363)