In short, the first occupants of Coro Trasito practised a subsistence economy in
which animal husbandry and crops played a significant role in the supply of food.
Their material culture is also comparable with that of other “Neolithic” deposits of
the same period in less mountainous regions.
Another site excavated recently which has altered the view of the Neolithic in the
Pyrenees is Cova dels Trocs (Sant Feliu de Veri, Bisauri) (Fig. 4.1). It is at 1530 m
a.s.l in a small hill in the plateau between the Turbón Massif in the south and the
peaks of Vallivierna to the north (Rojo et al. 2013 and 2014). It is an elongated
cave, 15 m long and 6 m wide, with a narrow entrance. Inside, the excavations
performed since 2009 have documented three Neolithic occupation phases dated in
5300–4850, 5050–4350 and 3940–2915 cal BC. In the oldest phase, the cave floor
was paved with cobblestones and occasionally with large potsherds. This means
that the number of sherds retrieved, especially in this occupation, is quite spectacular and comes to tens of thousands. Large fires were lit on these pavements, and
these have left large stains of ashes. The identified bone remains include a large
number of domestic species: pig, sheep, cattle and goats, which form a large part of
the total. Domestic cereal grains (wheat and barley) were also recovered, although
the excavators tend to believe that they were introduced from outside the area by the
occupants of the cave, who were mainly transhumant shepherds. Whatever the
economic model was, the deposit in Cova dels Trocs is another example of an
entirely “Neolithic” site in the central Pyrenees above an elevation of 1500 m in the
late sixth-millennium cal BC (Rojo et al. 2013). Supporting this impression, in a
palaeoecological test sounding outside the cave, Uría (2013) documented the
clearance of woodland possibly to create pastures between 5500 and 5400 cal BC.
Occupations with “Neolithic” evidence at higher altitudes are dated some centuries later. At the Cova del Sardo (Fig. 4.1), in the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant
Maurici National Park, the first potsherds and remains of domestic cereals appear in
the second occupational phase, called Phase 8 (Gassiot et al. 2012 and 2014). This
phase is formed by a series of repeated occupations of the rock-shelter, from about
4800 to 4400 cal BC; during this period a small terrace was built in front of the
cave, a combustion area where pine and juniper woods were repeatedly burnt.
Moreover, two hearths were lit under the roof of the shelter. A single grain of barley
(Hordeum vulgare) was recovered from the outer terrace, together with seeds of
spontaneous plants (Galium aparine) and a few fragments of hazelnut shells. The
pollen record inside the rock-shelter is indicative of relatively open vegetation, with
a low proportion of arboreal pollen and taxa of secondary woodland and shrubs,
contrasting with the situation during the rest of the occupations in the rock-shelter
until the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, the acidity of the sediment has deteriorated
faunal remains and only the presence of ovicaprids, and medium-sized mammals
have been documented among the animals consumed. Potsherds are scarce, like the
lithic assemblage. However, this shows that the implements were nearly always
made away from the site and a considerable part of the raw materials was not from
the immediate surroundings of the rock-shelter. Some of the flints came from the
Ebro valley, as was also the case at Els Trocs (Mazzucco 2014).
4 The Beginning of High Mountain Occupations in the Pyrenees …
93
which animal husbandry and crops played a significant role in the supply of food.
Their material culture is also comparable with that of other “Neolithic” deposits of
the same period in less mountainous regions.
Another site excavated recently which has altered the view of the Neolithic in the
Pyrenees is Cova dels Trocs (Sant Feliu de Veri, Bisauri) (Fig. 4.1). It is at 1530 m
a.s.l in a small hill in the plateau between the Turbón Massif in the south and the
peaks of Vallivierna to the north (Rojo et al. 2013 and 2014). It is an elongated
cave, 15 m long and 6 m wide, with a narrow entrance. Inside, the excavations
performed since 2009 have documented three Neolithic occupation phases dated in
5300–4850, 5050–4350 and 3940–2915 cal BC. In the oldest phase, the cave floor
was paved with cobblestones and occasionally with large potsherds. This means
that the number of sherds retrieved, especially in this occupation, is quite spectacular and comes to tens of thousands. Large fires were lit on these pavements, and
these have left large stains of ashes. The identified bone remains include a large
number of domestic species: pig, sheep, cattle and goats, which form a large part of
the total. Domestic cereal grains (wheat and barley) were also recovered, although
the excavators tend to believe that they were introduced from outside the area by the
occupants of the cave, who were mainly transhumant shepherds. Whatever the
economic model was, the deposit in Cova dels Trocs is another example of an
entirely “Neolithic” site in the central Pyrenees above an elevation of 1500 m in the
late sixth-millennium cal BC (Rojo et al. 2013). Supporting this impression, in a
palaeoecological test sounding outside the cave, Uría (2013) documented the
clearance of woodland possibly to create pastures between 5500 and 5400 cal BC.
Occupations with “Neolithic” evidence at higher altitudes are dated some centuries later. At the Cova del Sardo (Fig. 4.1), in the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant
Maurici National Park, the first potsherds and remains of domestic cereals appear in
the second occupational phase, called Phase 8 (Gassiot et al. 2012 and 2014). This
phase is formed by a series of repeated occupations of the rock-shelter, from about
4800 to 4400 cal BC; during this period a small terrace was built in front of the
cave, a combustion area where pine and juniper woods were repeatedly burnt.
Moreover, two hearths were lit under the roof of the shelter. A single grain of barley
(Hordeum vulgare) was recovered from the outer terrace, together with seeds of
spontaneous plants (Galium aparine) and a few fragments of hazelnut shells. The
pollen record inside the rock-shelter is indicative of relatively open vegetation, with
a low proportion of arboreal pollen and taxa of secondary woodland and shrubs,
contrasting with the situation during the rest of the occupations in the rock-shelter
until the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, the acidity of the sediment has deteriorated
faunal remains and only the presence of ovicaprids, and medium-sized mammals
have been documented among the animals consumed. Potsherds are scarce, like the
lithic assemblage. However, this shows that the implements were nearly always
made away from the site and a considerable part of the raw materials was not from
the immediate surroundings of the rock-shelter. Some of the flints came from the
Ebro valley, as was also the case at Els Trocs (Mazzucco 2014).
4 The Beginning of High Mountain Occupations in the Pyrenees …
93