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- The Gravettian-Solutrean transition in westernmost Iberia: new data from the sites of Vale Boi and Lapa do PicareiroPublication . Belmiro, Joana; Bicho, Nuno; Haws, Jonathan; Cascalheira, JoãoThis study presents the analysis of the lithic assemblages from Layers 5 and 4E (Terrace) of the site of Vale Boi (southern Portugal) and Levels U and T from Lapa do Picareiro (central Portugal). We aimed to understand the technological patterns and raw material exploitation during the Gravettian-Solutrean transition in westernmost Iberia and test the traditional models with assemblages from recently excavated sites, while expanding the geographic range. Results show the existence of two discrete phases in each site. The first, with high frequency of quartz use for bladelet production, seems to reflect the presence of a Terminal Gravettian horizon, as defined by Almeida (2000). The second, with some significant differences between sites, attests the presence of Vale Comprido technology and lower quartz frequencies at Vale Boi, representing a Proto-Solutrean occupation; and the presence of a blade component in Lapa do Picareiro that, together with the respective absolute chronology, may be attributed to a Proto-Solutrean or an Early Solutrean horizon. In general terms, this study allowed to confirm that the Terminal Gravettian and the Proto-Solutrean are discrete phases across the transition, in agreement with the Three-Phase model presented by Zilh˜ao (1997). It further consolidates the expansion of similar techno-cultural patterns to southern Portugal, which may be explained by the significant changes in the dynamic of social networks (Cascalheira and Bicho, 2013).
- Rapid climatic events and long term cultural change: the case of the Portuguese Upper PaleolithicPublication . Bicho, Nuno Gonçalo Viana Pereira Ferreira; Cascalheira, João; Marreiros, Joao; Pereira, TelmoIn Western Europe, the Upper Paleolithic is marked by clear regional and diachronic technological differences. Some of these are most likely related with human adaptations to the Late Pleistocene environmental shifts. In this paper we focus on the rapid climatic change events and their influence on the Iberian regional ecology and vegetation cover. Based on those changes and their impact on the main Upper Paleolithic cultural phases in central and southern Portugal, we propose an explanatory model, to be tested in the future, where rapid climatic events, such as the D-O and Heinrich Events, have direct impact on the ecology and vegetation cover and this, in turn, cause changes in human adaptations in terms of mobility, settlement patterns, land use and technology. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
- Lithic technological adaptation within the Gravettian of the Iberian Atlantic region: results from two case studiesPublication . Bradtmoller, Marcel; Marreiros, Joao; Pereira, Telmo; Bicho, NunoThe origins and expansion of Gravettian industries in Western Europe have recently been considered a cultural mosaic phenomena marked by regional technological facies. Probably associated with climatic oscillations, the development of these facies is likely related to sociocultural patterns and human adaptations to different ecological niches. Thereby, changes of subsistence strategies and mobility patterns are also reflected by technological and typological adaptations and innovations within the lithic assemblages. With the Iberian Peninsula being an important ecological niche for studying these phenomena, we conducted a comparative analysis of two occupations to test human ecological and lithic technological adaptations during the early Gravettian in Iberia: Cueto de la Mina on the northern Iberian Atlantic coast and Vale Boi on the western Portuguese Atlantic coast. Results show that these occupations exhibit major technological differences, but also strong similarities in the case of typological innovation/adaptation, possibly related to local resource accessibility (e.g. high-quality raw material). Based on these observations, the study provides further information concerning possible connections throughout the Iberian Atlantic coastline during an early Gravettian timeframe. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
- Cross-scale adaptive behaviors during the Upper Paleolithic in Iberia: The example of Vale Boi (Southwestern Portugal)Publication . Cascalheira, João; Bicho, Nuno; Manne, Tiina; Horta, PedroIt is now rather evident that, concomitant with the advent, growth and disappearance of the traditionally defined Western European Upper Paleolithic techno-complexes, a series of discrete eco-cultural niches would have existed within Iberia. Vale Boi, and its surroundings, may represent one of these niches, since its lengthy and fairly complete archaeological record clearly attests that the region was an attractive location for hunter-gatherer communities for over 10,000 years. From the first Modern Human occupations, c. 32 ka cal BP ago, a set of very specific cultural adaptive markers seem to have been developed in response to the particularities of the regional ecological background. Some of these strategies, such as intensive subsistence practices, raw-material specialized use, among others, were resilient through time and apparently impermeable to the major shifts in the techno-typological novelties brought about with the advent of each Upper Paleolithic phase. Even with the appearance of quite unique and broad-scale technologies, e. g. Solutrean, regional markers and identity have been kept, clearly showing that each level of the adaptive system seem to have operate at its own pace. This paper focus on long-term adaptive choices and on how and why hunter-gatherers inhabiting Vale Boi manage to absorb change and re-organize their system under new techno-complex cultural patterns while still retaining, efficiently, the same regional adaptive idiosyncrasies. Within the theoretical framework of Panarchy and the cross-scale resilience model we argue that cross-scale interactions between creative and conserving niche-specific behavioral adaptations were the keystone for the sustainability of hunter-gatherer cultural systems across the Late Pleistocene. c (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.