Peninsular Southern Europe Refugia during the Middle Paleolithic
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Peninsular Southern Europe Refugia during the Middle Paleolithic," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Neanderthals faced environmental and climatic instability during the Pleistocene that may have influenced their subsistence, technology, behavior and survival. Research assessing the effect of climate and environment on the Middle Paleolithic has often turned to southern Europe, specifically peninsular southern Europe. These are regions typically regarded as refugia during periods of unfavorable climatic conditions, inspiring numerous paleoenvironmental studies at Neanderthal sites and hypotheses on late Neanderthal survival in locations with relatively ameliorated conditions.
This session will focus on assessing the peninsulas of southern Europe as refugia during periods of unfavorable climate during the Middle Paleolithic and transition to Upper Paleolithic. Contributors to this session will address questions such as: did Southern European peninsulas (Iberia, Italy, Balkans) really act as refugia during periods of deteriorating environmental change? Were those peninsulas active refugia or "sanctuaries" (locations with favorable environmental conditions and rich in resources that were actively procured) or just passive refugia (areas of species retention or survival relative to surrounding regions)?
Overall, this session will shed light on Neanderthal adaptations to environmental change and contribute to a better understanding of southern European peninsulas as refugia during the Late Pleistocene.
Other Keywords
Paleolithic •
Environment and Climate •
Bioarchaeology/Skeletal Analysis •
Zooarchaeology •
Rabbits •
Settlement patterns •
Neanderthal •
Iberian Peninsula •
Digital Archaeology: GIS •
Neanderthals; Middle Paleolithic; Interdisciplinary Approach
Geographic Keywords
Principality of Monaco (Country) •
Kingdom of Spain (Country) •
Principality of Andorra (Country) •
Gibraltar (Country) •
Portuguese Republic (Country) •
French Republic (Country) •
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nort (Country) •
Ireland (Country) •
Isle of Man (Country) •
Kingdom of Belgium (Country)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-6 of 6)
- Documents (6)
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Assessing the Spatial Patterning of Middle Paleolithic Human Settlement in Westernmost Iberia (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Peninsular Southern Europe Refugia during the Middle Paleolithic" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Currently available data on the Pleistocene human occupation of the westernmost territories of Iberia attests the presence of Middle Paleolithic industries from c. 240 ka cal BP until c. 38 ka cal BP. Previous studies focusing on this timeframe have suggested that Middle Paleolithic populations were highly mobile and...
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Human Adaptability to Fauna and Flora Changes during MIS 5-3. Is the Iberian Mediterranean Region a Refuge? (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Peninsular Southern Europe Refugia during the Middle Paleolithic" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Neanderthal and AMH from the Early Upper Palaeolithic have a really good knowledge of their environment and its potential resources. The local landscape and its changes should influence their behavior and the availability of resources. In this sense, the faunal remains have been better documented than flora. But our team...
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Late Pleistocene Refugia and Neanderthal Extinction in Southern Iberia (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Peninsular Southern Europe Refugia during the Middle Paleolithic" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Iberian Peninsula has long been regarded as a glacial refugium for humans, as well as temperate, Eurosiberian flora and fauna. The well-documented Cantabrian region served as an "active" and densely populated refugium during the LGM and Late Pleniglacial. In southern Iberia, the Mediterranean-type biota found refugia...
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Neanderthals in Porto Selvaggio, Southern Italy (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Peninsular Southern Europe Refugia during the Middle Paleolithic" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Porto Selvaggio of southern Italy is where the Uluzzian culture was first identified and documented, providing key insights into the transition of the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic. The area has also yielded evidence of continuous Neanderthal occupations spanning MIS 5-3. Situated in the Natural Park of Porto Selvaggio,...
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A Stable Isotopes Analysis of Ungulate Remains from Lapa do Picareiro: An Assessment of Refugia Concepts during the Middle Paleolithic and Transition to Upper Paleolithic (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Peninsular Southern Europe Refugia during the Middle Paleolithic" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans (AMH) adapted to a series of environmental changes during the Late Pleistocene and may have sought refugia in the southern reaches of Europe in response to environmental degradation. Explanatory models such as the Ebro Frontier Model propose that Neanderthals were adapted to...
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Were Neandertals the Original Snowbirds? Zooarchaeological Evidence from Greece (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Peninsular Southern Europe Refugia during the Middle Paleolithic" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Compared to other parts of Eurasia, the southern Balkan Peninsula had a relatively stable climate during the Late Pleistocene. Zooarchaeological materials from the Asprochaliko Rockshelter in northwestern Greece provide evidence for hominin subsistence strategies in the Middle and Upper Paleolithic. In this study, we...