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Paleoenvironmental and geoarchaeological reconstruction from late Holocene slope records (Lower Huerva Valley, Ebro Basin, NE Spain)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Fernando Pérez-Lambán ,
José Luis Peña-Monné ,
Javier Fanlo-Loras ,
Jesús V. Picazo-Millán ,
David Badia-Villas ,
Virginia Rubio-Fernández ,
Rosario García-Giménez  and
María M. Sampietro-Vattuone
Fernando Pérez-Lambán*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Zaragoza, Departamento de Ciencias de la Antigüedad, C/ Pedro Cerbuna 12, Zaragoza 50009, Spain
José Luis Peña-Monné
Affiliation:
Universidad de Zaragoza, Departamento de Geografía y Ordenación del Territorio, C/ Pedro Cerbuna 12, Zaragoza 50009, Spain
Javier Fanlo-Loras
Affiliation:
Universidad de Zaragoza, Departamento de Ciencias de la Antigüedad, C/ Pedro Cerbuna 12, Zaragoza 50009, Spain
Jesús V. Picazo-Millán
Affiliation:
Universidad de Zaragoza, Departamento de Ciencias de la Antigüedad, C/ Pedro Cerbuna 12, Zaragoza 50009, Spain
David Badia-Villas
Affiliation:
Universidad de Zaragoza, Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias y del Medio Natural, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Huesca 22071, Spain
Virginia Rubio-Fernández
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Departamento de Geografía, Cantoblanco, Madrid 28049, Spain
Rosario García-Giménez
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Departamento de Geología y Geoquímica, Cantoblanco, Madrid 28049, Spain
María M. Sampietro-Vattuone
Affiliation:
CONICET and Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Laboratorio de Geoarqueología, San Miguel de Tucumán 4000, Argentina
*
*Corresponding author at: Universidad de Zaragoza, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Dpto. Ciencias de la Antigüedad—Prehistoria, C/ Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain. E-mail addresses:[email protected](F. Pérez-Lambán), [email protected](J.L. Peña-Monné), [email protected](J. Fanlo-Loras), [email protected](J.V. Picazo-Millán), [email protected](D. Badia-Villas), [email protected](V. Rubio-Fernández), [email protected](R. García-Giménez), [email protected](M.M. Sampietro-Vattuone).
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Abstract

Slope deposits in semiarid regions are known to be very sensitive environments, especially those that occurred during the minor fluctuations of the late Holocene. In this paper we analyse Holocene colluvium genesis, composition, and paleoenvironmental meaning through the study of slope deposits in NE Spain. Two cumulative slope stages are described during this period. In the study area, both slope accumulations are superimposed and this has enabled an excellent preservation of the aggregative sequence and the paleosols corresponding to stabilisation stages. 14C and TL dating, as well as archaeological remains, provide considerable chronological precision for this sequence. The origin of the accumulation of the lower unit is placed around 4295–4083 cal yr BP/2346–2134 cal yr BC (late Chalcolithic) and it developed until the Iron Age in a cooler and wetter climate (Cold Iron Age). Under favourable conditions, a soil A-horizon was formed on top of this unit. A new slope accumulation was formed during the Little Ice Age. Within the slope two morphogenetic periods ending with A-horizons are distinguished and related with two main cold–wet climatic events. The study of these slopes provides a great amount of data for the paleoenvironmental and geoarchaeological reconstruction of the late Holocene in NE Spain.

Keywords

GeoarchaeologySlope morpho-dynamicPaleosolPaleoenvironmentLate HoloceneCold Iron AgeWarm Roman PeriodMedieval Climatic AnomalyLittle Ice AgeEbro Depression
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 81 , Issue 1 , January 2014 , pp. 1 - 14
Copyright
University of Washington

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