Chapter 4
The Beginning of High Mountain
Occupations in the Pyrenees. Human
Settlements and Mobility from
18,000 cal BC to 2000 cal BC
Ermengol Gassiot Ballbè, Niccolò Mazzucco, Ignacio Clemente Conte,
David Rodríguez Antón, Laura Obea Gómez, Manuel Quesada
Carrasco and Sara Díaz Bonilla
Abstract During the last two decades, the archaeological research carried out in
the Pyrenees challenged the traditional images of the past in this mountain area. The
archaeological sequence of the range goes back and sites like Balma Margineda,
treated until recently as an exception, now are seen as part of more global process.
Actual data suggest that main valleys of the Pyrenean frequented by humans at the
end of the last glacial period, with sites slightly over 1000 o.s.l. After the Younger
Dryas, the human presence ascended to alpine and subalpine areas, in accordance
with current archaeological data. The Neolisitation process was early in some
hillsides, with intense remains of farming and pastoralism in many sites from dated
in the second half of the 6th millennia cal BC. Human settlements like Coro Tracito,
Els Trocs and El Sardo confirm the full introduction of agrarian activity in the
central part of the Pyrenees between 5300 and 4600 cal BC. After 3500/3300 cal
BC the indices oh sheepherding rises to alpine areas, with an abrupt increase of
known archaeological sites in alpine areas, above the current timberline. This
phenomena, as well as the signs of anthropic disturbance of the alpine environment
in sedimentary sequences, suggests a more stable and ubiquitous human presence,
probably largely associated with the development of mobile herding practices.
E. Gassiot Ballbè (&) Á D. Rodríguez Antón Á L. Obea Gómez Á M. Quesada Carrasco Á
S. Díaz Bonilla
Department of Prehistory, Autonomous University of Barcelona,
08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Bellaterra, Spain
e-mail: ermengol.gassiot@uab.cat
N. Mazzucco
Préhistoire et Technologie UMR 7055, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense,
Nanterre, France
I. Clemente Conte
Institució Milà I Fontanals, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC),
C/Egipcíaques 15, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
© The Author(s) 2017
J. Catalan et al. (eds.), High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World,
Advances in Global Change Research 62, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55982-7_4
75
The Beginning of High Mountain
Occupations in the Pyrenees. Human
Settlements and Mobility from
18,000 cal BC to 2000 cal BC
Ermengol Gassiot Ballbè, Niccolò Mazzucco, Ignacio Clemente Conte,
David Rodríguez Antón, Laura Obea Gómez, Manuel Quesada
Carrasco and Sara Díaz Bonilla
Abstract During the last two decades, the archaeological research carried out in
the Pyrenees challenged the traditional images of the past in this mountain area. The
archaeological sequence of the range goes back and sites like Balma Margineda,
treated until recently as an exception, now are seen as part of more global process.
Actual data suggest that main valleys of the Pyrenean frequented by humans at the
end of the last glacial period, with sites slightly over 1000 o.s.l. After the Younger
Dryas, the human presence ascended to alpine and subalpine areas, in accordance
with current archaeological data. The Neolisitation process was early in some
hillsides, with intense remains of farming and pastoralism in many sites from dated
in the second half of the 6th millennia cal BC. Human settlements like Coro Tracito,
Els Trocs and El Sardo confirm the full introduction of agrarian activity in the
central part of the Pyrenees between 5300 and 4600 cal BC. After 3500/3300 cal
BC the indices oh sheepherding rises to alpine areas, with an abrupt increase of
known archaeological sites in alpine areas, above the current timberline. This
phenomena, as well as the signs of anthropic disturbance of the alpine environment
in sedimentary sequences, suggests a more stable and ubiquitous human presence,
probably largely associated with the development of mobile herding practices.
E. Gassiot Ballbè (&) Á D. Rodríguez Antón Á L. Obea Gómez Á M. Quesada Carrasco Á
S. Díaz Bonilla
Department of Prehistory, Autonomous University of Barcelona,
08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Bellaterra, Spain
e-mail: ermengol.gassiot@uab.cat
N. Mazzucco
Préhistoire et Technologie UMR 7055, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense,
Nanterre, France
I. Clemente Conte
Institució Milà I Fontanals, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC),
C/Egipcíaques 15, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
© The Author(s) 2017
J. Catalan et al. (eds.), High Mountain Conservation in a Changing World,
Advances in Global Change Research 62, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55982-7_4
75