rock-shelter documented several early Neolithic occupations dated from 5700 to
5500 cal BC, overlying the Mesolithic levels (Guilaine et al. 1995). These are
surprisingly old, as they are also linked with clear evidence of domesticated goats
and carpological remains of domestic cereals, as well as storage structures, hearths
and pottery. The rock-shelter appears to have been used by communities that were
“fully Neolithic”, in the heart of the mountain range, at a very early date for the
Neolithic in the whole of Iberia. This finding has provoked archaeological debates
in which a possible route for the Neolithisation of the Iberian Peninsula through the
Segre Valley has been proposed. However, oldest dates have often been questioned
(Bernabéu 2006; Morales et al. 2010; Mazzucco 2014); a recent and detailed
revision of the radiocarbon, stratigraphic and material culture data from the Balma
Margineda, suggests that the first Neolithic occupation of the site should be dated
not earlier than about 5500–5300 cal BC (Oms et al. 2016). These new dates appear
more coherent with the chronological framework currently available for the
Pyrenean area (Table 4.1).
Several recent finds have substantially confirmed this interpretation. On the one
hand, archaeological surveying in high areas has located sites dated in the first half
and middle of the sixth-millennium cal BC at over 1800 m a.s.l. On the other, the
increase in research is revealing the existence of sites dated as well towards the last
third of the sixth-millennium cal BC at between 1400 and 1600 m a.s.l. In the latter
case, the most surprising aspect is that the existence of crops and livestock is widely
found at these sites.
Two of the locations in the first group are SU 110 beneath Hut P009 at the site of
Orris of the Perafita I peat bog, and Phase 9 at the Cova del Sardo. At the first of
these, above a stratum with Mesolithic remains, the excavation under the medieval
barn revealed a more recent prehistoric level that also contained some flakes. No
structures were associated with these, and neither were potsherds or archaeozoological and archaeobotanical remains found. It may be a level representing visits to
the area over which the buildings visible on the surface were built. A determination
on a piece of charcoal dated the formation of this level between 5615 and 5475 cal
BC (Orengo et al. 2014: 143). The second site, Cova del Sardo, is at 1,790 m a.s.l in
the Sant Nicolau Valley, one of the central transversal valleys in the National Park. It
is a small rock-shelter with a surface area of 19.3 m
2 produced by glacial erosion of
the granite bedrock. It is 60 m above the modern river bed on the lower part of the
hillside (Fig. 4.6). The deposit was excavated from 2006 to 2008 (Gassiot et al.
2014) when a first occupation defined by a small hearth in a pit dug in the sediment
was documented above a large deposit of till probably resulting from the collapse of
lateral moraines in the late Pleistocene or early Holocene. Chipped lithic fragments
were found in association with the hearth, but no potsherds or any other type of
archaeological object. A piece of charcoal from the hearth was dated to a time almost
contemporary with the Andorran site; between 5609 and 5376 cal BC.
In neither of these two cases is there any evidence linking the occupations with
farming activities, although this might be explained by the small size of the deposits
and poor conservation of the osseous remains at both sites. However, this contrasts
86
E. Gassiot Ballbè et al.
5500 cal BC, overlying the Mesolithic levels (Guilaine et al. 1995). These are
surprisingly old, as they are also linked with clear evidence of domesticated goats
and carpological remains of domestic cereals, as well as storage structures, hearths
and pottery. The rock-shelter appears to have been used by communities that were
“fully Neolithic”, in the heart of the mountain range, at a very early date for the
Neolithic in the whole of Iberia. This finding has provoked archaeological debates
in which a possible route for the Neolithisation of the Iberian Peninsula through the
Segre Valley has been proposed. However, oldest dates have often been questioned
(Bernabéu 2006; Morales et al. 2010; Mazzucco 2014); a recent and detailed
revision of the radiocarbon, stratigraphic and material culture data from the Balma
Margineda, suggests that the first Neolithic occupation of the site should be dated
not earlier than about 5500–5300 cal BC (Oms et al. 2016). These new dates appear
more coherent with the chronological framework currently available for the
Pyrenean area (Table 4.1).
Several recent finds have substantially confirmed this interpretation. On the one
hand, archaeological surveying in high areas has located sites dated in the first half
and middle of the sixth-millennium cal BC at over 1800 m a.s.l. On the other, the
increase in research is revealing the existence of sites dated as well towards the last
third of the sixth-millennium cal BC at between 1400 and 1600 m a.s.l. In the latter
case, the most surprising aspect is that the existence of crops and livestock is widely
found at these sites.
Two of the locations in the first group are SU 110 beneath Hut P009 at the site of
Orris of the Perafita I peat bog, and Phase 9 at the Cova del Sardo. At the first of
these, above a stratum with Mesolithic remains, the excavation under the medieval
barn revealed a more recent prehistoric level that also contained some flakes. No
structures were associated with these, and neither were potsherds or archaeozoological and archaeobotanical remains found. It may be a level representing visits to
the area over which the buildings visible on the surface were built. A determination
on a piece of charcoal dated the formation of this level between 5615 and 5475 cal
BC (Orengo et al. 2014: 143). The second site, Cova del Sardo, is at 1,790 m a.s.l in
the Sant Nicolau Valley, one of the central transversal valleys in the National Park. It
is a small rock-shelter with a surface area of 19.3 m
2 produced by glacial erosion of
the granite bedrock. It is 60 m above the modern river bed on the lower part of the
hillside (Fig. 4.6). The deposit was excavated from 2006 to 2008 (Gassiot et al.
2014) when a first occupation defined by a small hearth in a pit dug in the sediment
was documented above a large deposit of till probably resulting from the collapse of
lateral moraines in the late Pleistocene or early Holocene. Chipped lithic fragments
were found in association with the hearth, but no potsherds or any other type of
archaeological object. A piece of charcoal from the hearth was dated to a time almost
contemporary with the Andorran site; between 5609 and 5376 cal BC.
In neither of these two cases is there any evidence linking the occupations with
farming activities, although this might be explained by the small size of the deposits
and poor conservation of the osseous remains at both sites. However, this contrasts
86
E. Gassiot Ballbè et al.