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In this paper we present two Bronze Age sepultures in Navarre (Spain), characterized by their small chamber and flat tumulus. They are put in relation with other examples of the Ebro valley, showing the regional connection between the architecture of the megalithic tombs and the cromlechs, the Iron Age incineration tombs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope research on past populations in the Iberian Neolithic has emphasized the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. This study provides the first isotopic insights into the diet and subsistence economy of Early and Middle Neolithic populations from open-air sites in interior north-central Iberia. We present bone collagen carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope ratios for 44 humans and 33 animals recovered from six cemeteries of the Ebro valley and the northern Iberian Plateau. The results obtained are consistent with the C3 terrestrial diets typical of other contemporary south-western European populations, but the spacing between human and herbivore values from Los Cascajos and Paternanbidea sites is higher than expected, and a significant positive correlation is identified between the δ13C and δ15N human values at both. Moreover, the results clearly differ from those of the Late Neolithic/Early Chalcolithic in the same region, which show significantly lower δ13C and δ15N values. These findings contribute to an understanding of the implementation of an agro-pastoral economy in interior Iberia, suggesting a stronger reliance on animal foods among the first Neolithic groups of inner Iberia than in subsequent periods as well as differential access to some resources (possibly suckling herbivores) in the diet, which may point to the existence of early social or economic inequalities that do not seem to be linked to age and sex parameters or to mortuary treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge of climatic and environmental changes at the onset of the Holocene and its impact on human populations and cultures is key for the understanding of their both past and future evolution. In this sense, the study through trenching and cores of the Holocene archaeosedimentary record in the surroundings of the Los Cascajos Neolithic archaeological site (Los Arcos, Navarra), provides valuable information not only for the establishment of the environmental evolution of this area, but also for the knowledge of the activities that the inhabitants of the settlement developed in the Odrón riverbanks. In this work the results of the stratigraphic, sedimentological and geochemical study (XRFCS) of the LAC1 core are presented. The obtained data denote a trend towards longterm aridification throughout the Holocene, recorded by an aggradation-incision cycle in the fluvial evolution of the Odrón River. In the fluvial sedimentary record, anthropic activity proxies coetaneous to Los Cascajos settlement are also detected during a relatively more humid period than nowadays, this fact evidences the subsequent aridification of this area of the Ebro valley along the late Holocene (Meghalayan). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of the first excavation campaign of the Artusia rock shelter in Unzué, Navarre, Spain. Chronocultural and archaeobiological analyses revealed five different occupation phases (Artusia I–V) within the regional Mesolithic timeline, specifically in the Mesolithic of Notches and Denticulates (Artusia I and II) and the Geometric Mesolithic (Artusia III, IV, and V). In addition, the study of the sedimentological and palaeoenvironmental evolution in the entire record helped to clearly define several climatic events which developed around 6550 cal BC–8500 cal BP and 6250 cal BC–8200 cal BP. Here, we present a description of these events and their (pre)historical interpretation with the aim of recognizing how they influenced the Mesolithic hunter–gatherer groups living in the Ebro Basin of the Iberian Peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of the Neolithic cultural and economic practices in the Basque region has been traditionally understood as a late process, in parallel to the achievement of the production of the first metals in neighbouring areas where the production economy has been considered to arrive much earlier. This paper presents an updated view of the beginnings and consolidation of the Neolithic practices in the Basque area and the current state of knowledge based on data from recent excavations and advances in 14 C dating and micro/macro-plant remains, fauna, lithic raw materials, artefact and micromorphological analysis. The results challenge traditional interpretations and provide a timeframe and cultural and palaeoenvironmental characterisation of the Early, Middle and Late Neolithic periods in the region through data currently available from rockshelter, cave and open-air site deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]