Human Ecology and the Southern Iberian Neolithic: An Approach from Archaeobotany and Archaeozoology

ABSTRACT Archaeology has long incorporated the methods of the natural sciences and the theoretical principles of the overarching scientific framework. Most archaeologists acknowledge the importance of a systemic perspective in the study of the evolution of human behavior, with emphasis on the contexts in which individuals and populations lived and interacted. This article develops an ecological approach to the subsistence patterns and dynamics of the Neolithic populations in the westernmost regions of the Mediterranean. Methodologically, it implements a systematic quantitative exploration of the structure and evolution of the botanical and zoological taxa documented in a human settlement. Empirically, it begins with one of the most complete and relevant Neolithic archaeological sequences in the region, Dehesilla Cave, which has provided a dataset from high-resolution stratigraphy. The new results are then compared with the available archaeobotanical and archaeozoological records throughout the south of the Iberian Peninsula.