This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by van der Schriek, T. Articles by Rolao, J. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The palaeogeography of Mesolithic settlement-subsistence and shell midden formation in the Muge valley, Lower Tagus Basin, Portugal

School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Daysh Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK, tim.van-der-schriek{at}ncl.ac.uk

David G. Passmore

School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Daysh Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

Anthony C. Stevenson

School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Daysh Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK

Jose Rolao

Department of Archaeology, Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Palácio dos Condos de Redondo, Rua Santa Marta 47, 1169-023, Lisbon, Portugal

This paper reports the first detailed palaeogeographical analysis of the environmental context of late Mesolithic shell midden sites in the lower Tagus area and focuses on the lower Muge valley, which contains an internationally significant Mesolithic record. The lower Muge valley fill comprises buried estuarine and fluvial environments contemporary with Mesolithic settlement. Holocene environmental and palaeogeographic changes influenced Mesolithic settlement-subsistence and midden accumulation. The sudden appearance of large late Mesolithic shell middens throughout Portugal represents a process of increased visibility and preferential preservation of the archaeological record. Prior to ~6100 cal. BC, aggrading valley floor environments did not occupy the entire width of the present lower Tagus floodplain and any sites located in the early Holocene valley are currently deeply buried. Shell midden occupation on terrace levels followed the establishment of aggrading estuarine environments, containing productive shell beds, near the mouth of the lower Muge valley at ~6100 cal. BC. The critical factors in site choice appear to have been the nearby presence of (i) rich shell resources and (ii) freshwater environments. Long-term site occupation and (semi-)sedentary behaviour was favoured by the local presence, for over 2000 years, of rich resources from estuarine, freshwater and open woodland environments. Site abandonment (~5300—4800 cal. BC) coincided with the regional establishment of an open landscape (~5000 cal. BC) and the contraction of local estuarine environments (~5555—3800 cal. BC). The associated gradual decrease in resources and cultural interaction with the expanding early Neolithic communities may have influenced Mesolithic site abandonment.

Key Words: Palaeogeography • Mesolithic • shell midden • preferential preservation • settlement • subsistence • Portugal.

The Holocene, Vol. 17, No. 3, 369-385 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0959683607075839


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?