Peninsular Southern Europe Refugia during the Middle Paleolithic

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.