Palaeoenvironmental changes and human-environment interactions in the surroundings of La Silla del Papa, SW Spain

Abstract

The surroundings of the Strait of Gibraltar in southern Iberia are well known as a crossroads for population movements, cultural exchange and trade from Late Prehistory to Modern Times. However, questions remain about how this historical development has impacted the environment. The settlement of La Silla del Papa, an important hillfort located in the Sierra de la Plata in southern Andalusia (Cádiz), and its territory represent an ideal location for long-term studies of human-environment interactions. It was occupied throughout the entire Iron Age, replaced by the coastal town of Baelo Claudia during Roman times, and reoccupied in the early Middle Ages. Therefore, the geoarchaeological investigations in the surroundings of La Silla del Papa within the framework of the interdisciplinary project “Archeostraits” aimed at constraining the ecological conditions and human-environment interactions during the Mid- and Late Holocene and during the most important human occupation phases. Our investigations included sedimentological, geochemical, chronological (OSL, 14C-AMS, diagnostic pottery), microfaunal and palynological analyses of nine sediment profiles as well as nine vibracores from the catchment of the Río del Cachón, a small river originating in the Sierra de la Plata, just below La Silla del Papa. Our results document an early Mid-Holocene open marine embayment in what is now the lower floodplain, which rapidly transformed into a coastal lagoon and later into freshwater-dominated wetlands. After ~2100 BP, fluvial and alluvial deposition considerably increased, suggesting high anthropogenic impact on the local landscape during the Roman or post-Roman times. Palynological results reveal fluctuating agricultural and pastoral activities and suggest two distinct periods of landscape opening between 7000-6000 BP and during the Phoenician and Iron Age period.

Authors 14

1. Dominik Brill corresponding

   University of Cologne

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Cologne, Institute of Geography, Köln, Germany

2. Simon Matthias May corresponding

   University of Cologne

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Cologne, Institute of Geography, Köln, Germany

3. Maike Norpoth

   University of Cologne

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Cologne, Institute of Geography, Köln, Germany

4. Anna Pint

   Friedrich Schiller University Jena

   Affiliation as printed

   Friedrich Schiller University, Institute of Geosciences, Jena, Germany

5. Lyudmila S. Shumilovskikh corresponding

   University of Göttingen

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Palynology and Climate Dynamics, Albrecht-von-Haller-Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

6. Kira Raith

   Oxford Brookes University

   Affiliation as printed

   Oxford Brookes University, Human Origins and Palaeoenvironments Research Group, Department of Social Sciences, Oxford, UK

7. Gilles Rixhon

   Laboratoire Image, Ville, Environnement · Université de Strasbourg

   Affiliation as printed

   Laboratoire image, ville, environnement (LIVE), Faculté de géographie et d'aménagement, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

8. Helena Jiménez‐Vialás

   Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés · Université de Toulouse · Universidad de Murcia

   Affiliation as printed

   Laboratoire TRACES – UMR 5608 du CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France

   University of Murcia, Campus La Merced, Spain

9. Ignasi Grau Mira

   University of Alicante

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Alicante, Sant Vicent del Raspeig, Spain

10. Iván García Jiménez
    Affiliation as printed

    Conjunto Arqueológico de Baelo Claudia, Área de Investigación y Conservación, Bolonia, Tarifa (Cádiz), Spain

11. Dirce Marzoli

    Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Madrid

    Affiliation as printed

    German Archaeological Institute (dept. Madrid), Madrid, Spain

12. César León‐Martín

    Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Madrid

    Affiliation as printed

    German Archaeological Institute (dept. Madrid), Madrid, Spain

13. Klaus R. Reicherter corresponding Aachen Neotectonics and Natural Hazards

    RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Neotectonics and Natural Hazards, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

14. Helmut Brückner

    University of Cologne

    Affiliation as printed

    University of Cologne, Institute of Geography, Köln, Germany