4.2 The Start of Modern History: The Population
of the Pyrenees in the Late Pleistocene
and the First Half of the Holocene
The archaeology of hunter-gatherer groups in the late Pleistocene in southern
France and the Iberian Peninsula has traditionally paid considerable attention to the
Pyrenean–Cantabrian region. However, this interest has focused on the foothills of
the two mountain chains or, at the most, their outer ranges, relatively distant from
their higher areas. Archaeological deposits with Palaeolithic remains have been
known in both regions since the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries, and
many of them have been studied archaeologically (Bahn 1983; Fullola 1995). The
situation in the interior of the ranges is very different, as they have not attracted the
interest of researchers, perhaps because it was assumed that type of environment,
especially during the cold conditions of the Upper Palaeolithic, would have been
unattractive to human groups. In recent years that outlook is beginning to change
(Mangado et al. 2005, 2009).
4.2.1 Human Presence in the Valleys in the Late Pleistocene
Evidence of human settlement in the Pyrenees in the Pleistocene is very scanty.
Numerous Upper Palaeolithic sites certify the presence of hunter-gatherer groups
during the last 20,000 years in the outer ranges of the Pyrenees and the foothills
(Fullola et al. 2004; Utrilla and Montes 2007; Martzluff et al. 2012). Most of these
archaeological deposits are situated in limestone caves and rock-shelters on the
southern and northern edges of the mountain range, located at mid and low altitude.
However, evidence for the penetration of these hunter-gatherer groups into the inner
mountain areas are virtually absent (not even some lithic scatter or some isolated
find), despite surface surveying has been carried out extensively in the Axial
Pyrenees and the pre-Pyrenees since at least 10–15 years ago (Gassiot et al. 2016).
This lack could be explained in several ways. One possible explanation could be
that mountain areas did not attract the communities of different human species
living in south-west Europe during the Pleistocene; this would have been particularly likely during the coldest periods when glaciers were much more extensive than
today and covered most of the mountain zones. Another explanation is that the
erosion of hillsides and valleys caused by the advance of glaciers removed the
evidence of previous occupations.
Two main sites indicate human presence in the central zone of the Pyrenees
during the late Pleistocene (Fig. 4.1). Both are situated in valleys. The first of these
is in the open air, on a ridge in the Segre valley, in the town of Montlleó (Cerdanya)
at 1140 m a.s.l. Archaeological excavations have identified two hunter-gatherer
occupation phases dated between 18,360 and 16,700 cal BC (Mangado et al. 2005,
2009). They both took place in a cold humid climate that gradually ameliorated.
78
E. Gassiot Ballbè et al.
of the Pyrenees in the Late Pleistocene
and the First Half of the Holocene
The archaeology of hunter-gatherer groups in the late Pleistocene in southern
France and the Iberian Peninsula has traditionally paid considerable attention to the
Pyrenean–Cantabrian region. However, this interest has focused on the foothills of
the two mountain chains or, at the most, their outer ranges, relatively distant from
their higher areas. Archaeological deposits with Palaeolithic remains have been
known in both regions since the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries, and
many of them have been studied archaeologically (Bahn 1983; Fullola 1995). The
situation in the interior of the ranges is very different, as they have not attracted the
interest of researchers, perhaps because it was assumed that type of environment,
especially during the cold conditions of the Upper Palaeolithic, would have been
unattractive to human groups. In recent years that outlook is beginning to change
(Mangado et al. 2005, 2009).
4.2.1 Human Presence in the Valleys in the Late Pleistocene
Evidence of human settlement in the Pyrenees in the Pleistocene is very scanty.
Numerous Upper Palaeolithic sites certify the presence of hunter-gatherer groups
during the last 20,000 years in the outer ranges of the Pyrenees and the foothills
(Fullola et al. 2004; Utrilla and Montes 2007; Martzluff et al. 2012). Most of these
archaeological deposits are situated in limestone caves and rock-shelters on the
southern and northern edges of the mountain range, located at mid and low altitude.
However, evidence for the penetration of these hunter-gatherer groups into the inner
mountain areas are virtually absent (not even some lithic scatter or some isolated
find), despite surface surveying has been carried out extensively in the Axial
Pyrenees and the pre-Pyrenees since at least 10–15 years ago (Gassiot et al. 2016).
This lack could be explained in several ways. One possible explanation could be
that mountain areas did not attract the communities of different human species
living in south-west Europe during the Pleistocene; this would have been particularly likely during the coldest periods when glaciers were much more extensive than
today and covered most of the mountain zones. Another explanation is that the
erosion of hillsides and valleys caused by the advance of glaciers removed the
evidence of previous occupations.
Two main sites indicate human presence in the central zone of the Pyrenees
during the late Pleistocene (Fig. 4.1). Both are situated in valleys. The first of these
is in the open air, on a ridge in the Segre valley, in the town of Montlleó (Cerdanya)
at 1140 m a.s.l. Archaeological excavations have identified two hunter-gatherer
occupation phases dated between 18,360 and 16,700 cal BC (Mangado et al. 2005,
2009). They both took place in a cold humid climate that gradually ameliorated.
78
E. Gassiot Ballbè et al.