POPULATION AND LIFESTYLES DURING THE UPPER PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE IN THE EASTERN PREPYRENEES

THE PROJECT HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN THE SOUTHEAST PYRENEES DURING THE LAST 50,000 YEARS IS A LONG-TERM PROJECT THAT CONTINUES THE LINE OF RESEARCH STARTED BY THIS GROUP IN 2004. THE RESULTS OBTAINED DURING THESE YEARS, TOGETHER WITH OTHER TEAMS FROM VARIOUS NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES, ARE REDEFINING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PROCESSES IDENTIFIED IN THE LATE PLEISTOCENE/HOLOCENE. THIS AREA IS KEY IN THE CURRENT INTERNATIONAL PALEOANTHROPOLOGICAL DISCUSSION. IN PREVIOUS CALLS, WE FOCUSED OUR RESEARCH ON A CRITICAL PERIOD RELATED TO THE DISAPPEARANCE OF H. NEANDERTHALENSIS AND THE IRRUPTION OF H. SAPIENS, IN WHICH THE SITES OF COVA GRAN DE SANTA LINYA AND ROCA DELS BOUS PLAY A CENTRAL ROLE. IN THE CURRENT PROJECT, WE REDIRECT OUR OBJECTIVES TOWARDS OTHER EQUALLY RELEVANT TOPICS. LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE (20-7 KA) HUNTER-GATHERER POPULATIONS WERE AFFECTED BY SEVERE CLIMATIC/ECOLOGICAL EVENTS, WHICH IMPACTED THE LIFESTYLE OF THE SO-CALLED MAGDALENIAN-AZILIAN-MESOLITHIC TECHNO-COMPLEXES. AS FAR AS WE KNOW, THIS SEGMENTATION DOES NOT EXPLAIN THE TRANSFORMATIONS UNDERLYING THIS HISTORICAL-CULTURAL CYCLE. THE MATERIAL RECORD OF COVA GRAN, BALMA GUILANYA AND FONT DEL ROS ALLOW US TO DEFINE DISCONTINUITIES THAT CHARACTERIZE THE SOCIO-CULTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THESE GROUPS. DISCONTINUITY IS A KEY CONCEPT TO ANALYZE THE IMPACT OF THE “NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION”. TRADITIONALLY, THIS PROCESS IS LINKED TO THE EXPANSION OF POPULATIONS FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST. ALTERNATIVELY, COVA GRAN AND COVA DEL TABAC, SITES LOCATED IN THE EASTERN PRE-PYRENEES, ALLOW US TO EXAMINE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN AUTONOMOUS NEOLITHIC PROCESS FROM THE CLASSICAL “CARDIAL” MODEL. ALTHOUGH THIS EVENT SEEMS TO BE SLIGHTLY MORE RECENT, IT COULD RECONCILE THE "ANOMALOUS" EARLY IRRUPTION OF FOOD PRODUCTION IN INLAND IBERIA. THESE TWO LINES REFERRING TO THE APPEARANCE AND ESTABLISHMENT OF HUMAN GROUPS DURING THE LATE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE CONFIRM THAT THE EASTERN PRE-PYRENEES CONSTITUTES A KEY SPACE IN THE BIO-CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF PREHISTORY IN THE IBERIAN PENINSULA. THIS PROJECT PRIORITIZES THE TRANSFER OF HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE TO SOCIETY, IN WHICH THE RESEARCH GROUP HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE. FOR THIS, THE GROUP ARTICULATES DIFFERENT INFRASTRUCTURES THAT ALLOW MANAGING, PROMOTING AND DISSEMINATING THIS INFORMATION TO ALL AUDIENCES, SUCH AS ESPAI ORIGENS DESIGNED TO HIGHLIGHT THE HERITAGE AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE ON A LOCAL SCALE (HTTP://WWW.ESPAIORIGENS.ES/); ROCA DELS BOUS, A SITE-MUSEUM OPEN TO ALL TYPES OF PUBLIC AND THAT CAN BE VISITED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR (HTTP://LAROCADELSBOUS.UAB.CAT/ES); AND THE SANT LLORENÇ DE MONTGAI ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK DESIGNED FOR THE EDUCATION AND DISSEMINATION OF PREHISTORIC AND ARCHEOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE, AIMED AT PRE-UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, TRAINING OF PEDAGOGICAL EDUCATORS AND CULTURAL AND FAMILY TOURISM. IN CONCLUSION, THE STRATEGY OF THIS PROJECT IS TO CREATE SYNERGIES BETWEEN RESEARCH AND DISSEMINATION RELATED TO THE OLDEST PHASES OF HUMAN SETTLEMENT IN THE EASTERN PREPYRENEES, AND THAT THESE RESULTS ALLOW THE DESIGN OF TARGETED CONTENT WITH SOCIAL INTEREST INVOLVING ALL TYPES OF PUBLICS.