Site Formation and Karst Processes during the Last Glacial Cycle at Lapa Do Picareiro, Portugal

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Paleolithic cave site of Lapa do Picareiro is located on the upper slopes of the Serra de Aire limestone massif (571 m asl) about 100 km northeast of Lisbon, Portugal. The cave is a single chamber (15 × 15 m) with >10 m of sedimentary fill, mostly limestone éboulis clasts and muddy sediment in pore spaces. During the last glacial stage, the cave underwent a cycle of karst enlargement, speleogenesis, roof retreat, and deposition, resulting in a sedimentary sequence that dates 9–80 ka BP. The cave was occupied frequently, containing abundant archaeological and faunal evidence from the Middle Paleolithic, Upper Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age. Sedimentation rates stayed relatively constant throughout the glacial stage, while occupation intensity varied. The Middle Paleolithic levels reflect occasional use of the cave during a time when speleothems were forming, the cave was wet and perhaps less accessible from the surface. The Upper Paleolithic levels reflect more frequent human occupations alternating with dense faunal accumulations, at a time when the climate was mostly cold but the cave was more open to the surface. Karst processes and occupation dynamics were both influenced in part by Pleistocene climate events including Greenland stadials/interstadials and Heinrich events.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37599.0