EcoPLis--AdP: Human Occupations in the Pleistocene Ecotones of River Lis - Abrigo do Poço (WGF - Post PhD Research Grant)

Summary

This resource is an application for the Post PhD Research Grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation.

The coarse and dispersed information on the western-most Iberia does not allow a detailed understanding of the human behavior ecology and ecodynamics during the Pleistocene. That problem can only be solved with an innovative project focusing a region rich in multiple resources that is an ecotone between different landscapes and where can be found sites with long sequences and good preservation of organic material. One of these regions is the basin of the River Lis (Leiria, Central Portugal), particularly the Chitas Valley. Here we located dozens of caves and rockshelters, many with rich and stratified archaeological sediments. In 2015, we start excavating one of these rockshelters: Abrigo do Poço. We recovered hundreds of shells and charcoal fragments, along with lithics and fauna from the hard, ashy and high carbonated sediments taken from a 1x1 m2 test pit, excavated down to 0.6m. Among other things, we piece-plotted every visible remain regardless the size with a total station, floated all sediments, and sampled for multiple analysis including phytolits and paleoparasites. From 2016-on, we will wide the excavation area and expose more of the stratigraphic sequence using our high-resolution protocol. We strongly believe that, in a short time, we will be able to produce data with the necessary quality to considerably contribute answering questions such as: What was the human behavioral ecology in western Iberia during the Pleistocene? How important were the rich karsic canyons linking the coast to the inland mountains? Were these specific ecotones refuges, especially during the archer times?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• WGF - Support for Research Projects   •
• Wenner-Gren Foundation

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Wenner-Gren Foundation

Notes

Rights & Attribution: This resource is an application from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and has been approved by the grantee solely for pedagogical purposes. Please do not cite, circulate, or duplicate any part of these documents without the express written consent of the author.

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