hunting activities (at least for regular big-game hunting practices) are still scarce, so
the option of overnight occupations associated to cross-Pyrenean routes should also
be taken into account. With Neolithisation (ca. 5600–3000 year BC), human
presence at both lower, mid- and high-altitudes gradually increase, with a diversification of sites of different duration and functionality associated with the
extension of farming practices into mountainous zones. Around ca. 3500–
2500 year BC, a sharp increasing in the number of sites and the signs of anthropic
disturbance of the alpine environment is observed, suggesting a more stable and
ubiquitous human presence, probably primarily associated with the development of
mobile herding practices. Starting from the ca. 2000 year BC, a change in the
settlement pattern probably occurs and, even if we are not still capable of fully
explicate such process, the number of detected archaeological sites decrease
quickly. Adopted survey techniques, medieval and modern reoccupation of prehistoric sites, changes in settlement strategy or the group’s demography, lack of
extensive research, all of them are factors that probably affect our site-detection
capability. Future research might shed some light on this period.
Another consideration that can be drawn from the information obtained is that
shortly after the end of the last important cold period, the Younger Dryas, human
activity has been identified in sub-alpine and alpine zones. In these altitudes, the
evidence of visits by hunter-gatherer groups is much weaker than in the valleys, and
also more recent. However, these visits took place relatively quickly after the
glaciers withdrew and these areas were re-colonised by vegetation. The information
from the valleys is also of great interest and it suggests that they were occupied
even in some of the colder periods in the late Ice Age. The results at Montlleó
illustrate that the people who lived there were entirely familiar with the geography
of the mountain range. Therefore, it was not an unplanned or occasional occupation.
A further aspect to be highlighted is the introduction of such essential practices
in shaping the ecosystems as animal husbandry and arable farming. Until recently,
information about sites with evidence of both activities in old chronologies, in the
area of the western Mediterranean, was known in the outer ranges of the
Pre-Pyrenees. Balma Margineda was, to some degree, an isolated site and it was not
clear whether it was an isolated case. This perspective predominated, albeit not
made explicit, and it was assumed that the expansion of the Neolithic, in social and
economic terms, had largely been halted or slowed down in mountain areas. We
now know that this picture was incorrect. At more recent times than the oldest sites
in the foothills, but only a little more recent, sites like Coro Tracito, Els Trocs and
El Sardo confirm the full introduction of agrarian activity in the central part of the
Pyrenees. They indicate the intensity of Neolithisation on some hillsides, also used
for arable farming, comparable with the situation in geographically proximate areas
at much lower altitudes.
Finally, it is also interesting that the rates and characteristics of this process differ
as a function of the altitude. In the sixth and fifth millennia, human presence in the
alpine zone and upper part of the sub-alpine zone is rather tenuous, according to the
current data. In contrast, from the mid-fourth millennium onwards, the number of
sites and intensity of their occupation increases noticeably. This phenomenon,
4 The Beginning of High Mountain Occupations in the Pyrenees …
99
the option of overnight occupations associated to cross-Pyrenean routes should also
be taken into account. With Neolithisation (ca. 5600–3000 year BC), human
presence at both lower, mid- and high-altitudes gradually increase, with a diversification of sites of different duration and functionality associated with the
extension of farming practices into mountainous zones. Around ca. 3500–
2500 year BC, a sharp increasing in the number of sites and the signs of anthropic
disturbance of the alpine environment is observed, suggesting a more stable and
ubiquitous human presence, probably primarily associated with the development of
mobile herding practices. Starting from the ca. 2000 year BC, a change in the
settlement pattern probably occurs and, even if we are not still capable of fully
explicate such process, the number of detected archaeological sites decrease
quickly. Adopted survey techniques, medieval and modern reoccupation of prehistoric sites, changes in settlement strategy or the group’s demography, lack of
extensive research, all of them are factors that probably affect our site-detection
capability. Future research might shed some light on this period.
Another consideration that can be drawn from the information obtained is that
shortly after the end of the last important cold period, the Younger Dryas, human
activity has been identified in sub-alpine and alpine zones. In these altitudes, the
evidence of visits by hunter-gatherer groups is much weaker than in the valleys, and
also more recent. However, these visits took place relatively quickly after the
glaciers withdrew and these areas were re-colonised by vegetation. The information
from the valleys is also of great interest and it suggests that they were occupied
even in some of the colder periods in the late Ice Age. The results at Montlleó
illustrate that the people who lived there were entirely familiar with the geography
of the mountain range. Therefore, it was not an unplanned or occasional occupation.
A further aspect to be highlighted is the introduction of such essential practices
in shaping the ecosystems as animal husbandry and arable farming. Until recently,
information about sites with evidence of both activities in old chronologies, in the
area of the western Mediterranean, was known in the outer ranges of the
Pre-Pyrenees. Balma Margineda was, to some degree, an isolated site and it was not
clear whether it was an isolated case. This perspective predominated, albeit not
made explicit, and it was assumed that the expansion of the Neolithic, in social and
economic terms, had largely been halted or slowed down in mountain areas. We
now know that this picture was incorrect. At more recent times than the oldest sites
in the foothills, but only a little more recent, sites like Coro Tracito, Els Trocs and
El Sardo confirm the full introduction of agrarian activity in the central part of the
Pyrenees. They indicate the intensity of Neolithisation on some hillsides, also used
for arable farming, comparable with the situation in geographically proximate areas
at much lower altitudes.
Finally, it is also interesting that the rates and characteristics of this process differ
as a function of the altitude. In the sixth and fifth millennia, human presence in the
alpine zone and upper part of the sub-alpine zone is rather tenuous, according to the
current data. In contrast, from the mid-fourth millennium onwards, the number of
sites and intensity of their occupation increases noticeably. This phenomenon,
4 The Beginning of High Mountain Occupations in the Pyrenees …
99