Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Early Neolithic in the Iberian Peninsula and the Western Mediterranean: A Review of the Evidence on Migration

  • Published:
Journal of World Prehistory Aims and scope

Abstract

The first use of domestic plants and animals in the Western Mediterranean has been a matter of debate, since there are no native ancestors for these elements. The current paradigmatic position favors an introduction by human migrants who reached southern France and the Iberian Peninsula through seafaring. The settlers would have introduced the whole economic and cultural Neolithic background. This paper reviews some of the available archaeological, paleobiological and chronological evidence for the Early Neolithic in the Western Mediterranean, and specifically the Iberian Peninsula, and its use by those who support migration.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achilli, A., Rengo, C., Magri, C., Battaglia, V., Olivieri, A., Scozzari, R., et al. (2004). The molecular dissection of mtDNA haplogroup H confirms that the Franco-Cantabrian glacial refuge was a major source for the European gene pool. American Journal of Human Genetics, 75, 910–918.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Addison, D. J., & Matisoo-Smith, E. (2010). Rethinking polynesians origins: A west-polynesia triple-I model. Archaeology in Oceania, 45(1), 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alcover, J. A. (2008). The first Mallorcans: Prehistoric colonization in the Western Mediterranean. Journal of World Prehistory, 21, 19–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alday, A. (2009). El final del Mesolítico y los inicios del Neolítico en la Península Ibérica: Cronología y fases. Munibe, 60, 157–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ammerman, A. J., & Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. (1984). The Neolithic transition and the genetics of populations in Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antolín, F., & Buxó, R. (2011). Proposal for the systematic description and taphonomic study of carbonized cereal grain assemblages: A case study of an Early Neolithic funerary context in the cave of Can Sadurní (Begues, Barcelona province, Spain). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 20, 53–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Araújo, A. C. (1998). O concheiro de Toledo (Lourinhã) no quadro das adaptações humanas do Pós-Glaciar no litoral da Estremadura. Revista Portuguesa de Arqueologia, 1(2), 19–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aura, J. E., Pérez Ripoll, M., Jordá Pardo, J. F., García Borja, P., Morales Pérez, J. V., García Puchol, O., et al. (2010). Sobre la transición al Neolítico: Las excavaciones Jordá de la Cueva de Nerja (Málaga, España). In J. F. Gibaja & A. F. Carvalho (Eds.), Os últimos caçadores-recolectores e as primeiras comunidades productoras do sul da Península Ibérica e do norte de Marrocos (pp. 221–228). Promontoria Monográfica 15. Faro: Universidade do Algarve.

  • Ballouche, A., & Marinval, P. (2003). Données palynologiques et carpologiques sur la domestication des plantes et l’agriculture dans le néolithique ancien du Maroc Septentrional (site de Kaf That El-Ghar). Revue d’Archéométrie, 27, 49–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Yosef, O., & Belfer-Cohen, A. (1992). From foraging to farming in the Mediterranean Levant. In A. B. Gebauer & T. D. Price (Eds.), The transition to agriculture (pp. 21–48). Ann Arbor: International Monographs in Prehistory.

  • Barceló, J. (2008). La seqüència crono-cultural de la prehistòria catalana: Anàlisi estadística de les datacions radiomètriques de l’inici de l’holocè a la edat del ferro. Cypsela, 17.

  • Belle, E., Landry, P.-A., & Barbujani, G. (2006). Origins and evolution of the Europeans’ genome: Evidence from multiple microsatellite loci. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences, 273, 1595–1602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, J.-F., & Guilaine, J. (2009). The 8200 cal BP abrupt environmental change and the Neolithic transition: A Mediterranean perspective. Quaternary International, 200, 31–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernabeu, J. (2002). The social and symbolic context of Neolithisation. Saguntum-PLAV Extra, 5, 209–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernabeu, J. (2006). Una visión actual sobre el origen y difusión del neolítico en la Península Ibérica. Ca. 5600–5000 cal. a.C. In El abric de La Falguera (Alcoi, Alacant): 8000 años de ocupación humana en la cabecera del río de Alcoi (pp. 189–211). Alicante: Diputación Provincial.

  • Bernabeu, J., Aura, J., & Badal, E. (1993). Al oeste del Edén: Las primeras sociedades agrícolas en la Europa mediterránea, Historia Universal Prehistoria 4, Síntesis, Madrid.

  • Bernabeu, J., Barton, C. M., & Pérez, M. (2001). A taphonomic perspective on Neolithic beginnings: Theory, interpretation, and empirical data in the Western Mediterranean. Journal of Archaeological Science, 28, 597–612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernabeu, J., & Fumanal, M. P. (2009). La excavación, estratigrafía y dataciones 14C. In J. Bernabeu & L. Molina (Eds.), La Cova de les Cendres (Moraira-Teulada, Alicante) (pp. 31–52). Alicante: Museo Arqueológico de Alicante.

  • Bernabeu, J., & Molina, L. (2009). La Cova de les Cendres: Valoración final. In J. Bernabeu, & L. Molina (Eds.), La Cova de les Cendres (Moraira-Teulada, Alicante) (pp. 195–208). Alicante: Museo Arqueológico de Alicante.

  • Bernabeu, J., Molina, L., Esquembre, M. A., Ortega, J. R., & Boronat, J. (2009). ¿La cerámica impresa mediterránea en el origen del Neolítico de la península Ibérica? In De Méditerranée et d’ailleurs… Mélanges offerts à Jean Guilaine. Toulouse: Archives d’Écologie Préhistorique.

  • Bernabeu, J., Orozco, T., Díez, A., Gómez, M., & Molina, F. (2003). Mas d’Is (Penàguila, Alicante): Aldeas y recintos monumentales del Neolítico inicial en el valle del Serpis. Trabajos de Prehistoria, 60(2), 39–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernabeu, J., Pérez, M., & Martínez, R. (1999). Huesos, neolitización y contextos arqueológicos aparentes. Saguntum-PLAV Extra, 2, 589–596.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binder, D., & Maggi, R. (2001). Le Néolithique ancien de l’arc liguro-provençal. Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 98(3), 411–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Binder, D., & Sénépart, I. (2010). La séquence de l’Impresso-Cardial de l’abri Pendimoun et l’évolution des assemblages céramiques en Provence. In C. Manen, F. Convertini, D. Binder, & I. Sénépart (Eds.), Premières sociétés paysannes de Méditerranée occidentale: Structures des productions céramiques (pp. 149–167). Mémoire LI. Paris: Société Préhistorique Française.

  • Bocquet-Appel, J.-P. (2002). Paleoanthropological traces of a Neolithic demographic transition. Current Anthropology, 43(4), 637–650.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bocquet-Appel, J.-P., & de Miguel, M. P. (2002). Demografía de la difusión neolítica en Europa y los datos paleoantropológicos. Saguntum Extra, 5, 23–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bocquet-Appel, J.-P., & Naji, S. (2006). Testing the hypothesis of a worldwide Neolithic demographic transition. Current Anthropology, 47, 341–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bocquet-Appel, J.-P., Naji, S., Vander Linden, M., & Kozlowski, J. (2009). Detection of diffusion and contact zones of early farming in Europe from the space–time distribution of 14C dates. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(2009), 807–820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bogucki, P. (1996). The spread of early farming in Europe. American Scientist, 84, 242–253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonsall, C., Macklin, M. G., Anderson, D. E., & Payton, R. W. (2002a). Climate change and the adoption of agriculture in North-West Europe. European Journal of Archaeology, 5(1), 9–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonsall, C., Macklin, M. G., Payton, R. W., & Boroneanţ, A. (2002b). Climate, floods and river gods: Environmental change and the Meso–Neolithic transition in southeast Europe. Before Farming, 3–4(2), 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, K., & Renfrew, C. (Eds.). (2000). Archaeogenetics: DNA and the population prehistory of Europe. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronk Ramsey, C. (2009). Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon, 51(1), 337–360.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broodbank, C. (2006). The origins and early development of Mediterranean maritime activity. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 19(2), 199–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buxo, R. (2007). Crop evolution: New evidence from the Neolithic of west Mediterranean Europe. In S. Colledge & J. Conolly (Eds.), The origins and spread of domestic plants in Southwest Asia and Europe (pp. 155–171). Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho, A. (2010). Le passage vers l’Atlantique: Le processus de néolithisation en Algarve (sud du Portugal). L’Anthropologie, 114, 141–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho, A., Peña Chocarro, L., & Gibaja, J. F. (2010). Datación directa de cebada (Hordeum vulgare L.) de la Cueva de los Mármoles (Córdoba, España). In J. F. Gibaja & A. F. Carvalho (Eds.), Os Últimos Caçadores-Recolectores e as Primeiras Comunidades Productoras do Sul da Península Ibérica e do Norte de Marrocos (pp. 247–249). Promontoria Monográfica 15, Universidade do Algarve, Faro.

  • Cerrillo, E. (2005). Los Primeros Grupos Neolíticos de la Cuenca Extremeña del Tajo. BAR International Series 1393, Oxford.

  • Cerrillo, E. (2008). From ‘inland Neolithic’ to ‘Neolithic dwelling in the inland’: The role of homogeneous and heterogeneous elements in the explanation of earlier agricultural stages in Central Spain. In M. Diniz (Ed.), Proceedings of the XV World Congress UISPP (Lisbon, 4–9 September 2006) 18 the Early Neolithic in the Iberian Peninsula (pp. 19–27). Regional and Transregional Components, BAR S1857, Oxbow, Oxford.

  • Chandler, H., Sykes, B., & Zilhão, J. (2005). Using ancient DNA to examine genetic continuity at the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Portugal. In P. Arias, R. Ontañón, & C. García-Moncó (Eds.), Actas del III Congreso del Neolítico en la Península Ibérica (Vol. 1, pp. 781–786), Monografías del Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Santander.

  • Chikhi, L., Nichols, R., Barbujani, G., & Beaumont, M. (2002). Y genetic data support the Neolithic demic diffusion model. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 99(17), 11008–11013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, M. N. (2009). Rethinking the origins of agriculture. Current Anthropology, 50(5), 591–595.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Consuegra, S., Díaz-del-Río, P., Capote, M., Castañeda, N., Criado, C., Casas, C., et al. (in press). Casa Montero. An early Neolithic flint mine in Iberia (5300–5200 BC). In J. Lech, & A. Saville (Eds.), Prehistoric flint mines in Europe. Archaeologia Polona. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences.

  • Convertini, F. (2010). Bilan des études réalisées sur la provenance de la céramique du Néolithique ancien en Méditerranée nord-occidentale: Mise au point d’un protocole analytique. In C. Manen, F. Convertini, D. Binder, & I. Sénépart (Eds.), Premières sociétés paysannes de Méditerranée occidentale: Structures des productions céramiques (pp. 13–27). Mémoire LI. Paris: Société préhistorique française.

  • Costantini, L., & Stancanelli, M. (1994). La preistoria agricola dell’Italia centro-meridionale: Il contributo delle indagini archeobotaniche. Origini, 18, 149–244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Currat, M., & Excoffier, L. (2005). The effect of the Neolithic expansion on European molecular diversity. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences, 272, 679–688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Díaz del Río, P. (2010). The Neolithic Argonauts of the Western Mediterranean and other underdetermined hypotheses of colonial encounters. In D. Bolender (Ed.), Eventful archaeologies: New approaches to social transformation in the archaeological record (pp. 88–99). Albany: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donahue, R. E. (1992). Desperately seeking Ceres: A critical examination of current models for the transition to agriculture in Mediterranean Europe. In A. B. Gebauer & T. D. Price (Eds.), Transitions to agriculture in prehistory, monographs in world archaeology (Vol. 4, pp. 73–80). Madison: Prehistory Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duarte, C. (1998). Necrópole neolítica do Algar do Bom Santo: Contexto cronológico e espaço funerário. Revista Portuguesa de Arqueologia, 1(2), 107–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dupanloup, I., Bertorelle, G., Chikhi, L., & Barbujani, G. (2004). Estimating the impact of prehistoric admixture on the genome of Europeans. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 21(7), 1361–1372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edo, M., Blasco, A., & Villalba, M. J. (2011). La cova de Can Sadurní, guió sintètic de la prehistòria de Garraf. In A. Blasco, M. Edo, & M. J. Villalba (Eds.), La cova de Can Sadurní i la prehistòria de Garraf. Actas de las Jornadas Internacionales de Prehistoria 30 anys d’investigació arqueològica a Garraf. Edar, Milan.

  • Esquembre, M., Boronat, J., Jover, F., Molina, F., Luján, A., Fernández, J., et al. (2008). El yacimiento neolítico del Barranquet de Oliva (Valencia). In M. Hernández, J. Soler, & J. López (Eds.), Actas del IV Congreso del Neolítico Peninsular II (pp. 183–190). Alicante: Museo Arqueológico de Alicante.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evershed, R. P. (2007). Exploiting molecular and isotopic signals at the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. Proceedings of the British Academy, 144, 141–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fernández, E., Gamba, C., Turbón, D., & Arroyo, E. (2010). ADN antiguo de yacimientos neolíticos de la Cuenca Mediterránea: La transición al Neolítico desde una perspectiva genética. In J. F. Gibaja & A. Carvalho (Eds.), Os últimos caçadores-recolectores e as primeiras comunidades produtoras do sul da Península Ibérica e do norte de Marrocos (pp. 205–212). Promontoria Monográfica 15, Universidade do Algarve, Faro.

  • Fortea, F. J. (1973). Los complejos microlaminares y geométricos del Epipaleolítico Mediterráneo español, Memorias del Seminario de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Salamanca.

  • Galeta, P., Sládek, V., Sosna, D., & Bruzek, J. (2011). Modeling Neolithic dispersal in Central Europe: Demographic implications. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 146, 104–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamba, C., Fernández, E., Tirado, M., Deguilloux, M. F., Pemonge, M. H., Utrilla, P., et al. (2011). Ancient DNA from an Early Neolithic Iberian population supports a pioneer colonization by first farmers. Molecular Ecology, 21(1), 45–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamble, C., Davies, W., Pettitt, P., Hazelwood, L., & Richards, M. (2005). The archaeological and genetic foundations of the European population during the Late Glacial: Implications for ‘agricultural thinking’. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 15(2), 193–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García, O. (2009). La piedra tallada del Neolítico en Cendres. In J. Bernabeu & L. Molina (Eds.), La Cova de les Cendres (Moraira-Teulada, Alicante) (pp. 85–104). Alicante: Museo Arqueológico de Alicante.

  • García, G. (2010). Las comarcas centromeridionales valencianas en el contexto de la Neolitización de la fachada noroccidental del Mediterráneo. Trabajos de Prehistoria, 67(1), 37–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García, P., Domingo, I., & Roldán, C. (2006). Nuevos datos sobre el uso de materia colorante durante el Neolítico Antiguo en las comarcas centrales valencianas. Saguntum, 38, 49–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gignoux, C. R., Henn, B. M., & Mountain, J. L. (2011). Rapid, global demographic expansions after the origins of agriculture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(15), 6044–6049.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gkiasta, M., Russell, T., Shennan, S., & Steele, J. (2003). Neolithic transition in Europe: The radiocarbon record revisited. Antiquity, 77(295), 45–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • González-Sampériz, P., Utrilla, P., Mazo, C., Valero-Garcés, B., Sopena, M. C., Morellón, M., et al. (2009). Patterns of human occupation during the early Holocene in the Central Ebro Basin (NE Spain) in response to the 8.2 ka climatic event. Quaternary Research, 71, 121–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gosden, C., & Knowles, C. (2001). Collecting colonialism: Material culture and colonial change. Oxford: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guilaine, J. (2003). Aspects de la néolithisation en Méditerranée et en France. In A. Ammerman & P. Biagi (Eds.), The widening harvest. The Neolithic transition in Europe: Looking back, looking forward (pp. 189–206). Colloquia and conference papers 6. Boston: Archaeological Institute of America.

  • Guilaine, J., & Manen, C. (2007). Du Mésolithique au Néolithique en Méditerranée de l’Ouest: Aspects culturels. In J. Guilaine, C. Manen, J.-D. Vigne, et al. (Eds.), Pont du Roque-Haute: Nouveaux regards sur la Néolithisation de la France Méditerranéenne (pp. 303–322). Centre de Recherche sur la Préhistoire et la Protohistoire de la Méditerranée, Toulouse.

  • Guilaine, J., Manen, C., & Vigne, J.-D. (2007). Pont de Roque-Haute: Nouveaux regards sur la néolithisation de la France méditerranéenne. Toulouse: Centre de Recherche sur la Préhistoire et la Protohistoire de la Méditerranée.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haak, W., Balanovsky, O., Sánchez, J. J., Koshel, S., Zaporozhchenko, V., Adler, C., et al. (2010). Ancient DNA from European Early Neolithic farmers reveals their near Eastern affinities. PLoS Biology, 8(11), 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haak, W., Forster, P., Bramanti, B., Matsumura, S., Brandt, G., Tänzer, M., et al. (2005). Ancient DNA from the first European farmers in 7500-year-old Neolithic sites. Science, 310, 1016–1018.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haberle, S. (2003). The emergence of an agricultural landscape in the highlands of New Guinea. Archaeology in Oceania, 38, 149–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hazelwood, L., & Steele, J. (2004). Spatial dynamics of human dispersals: Constraints on modelling and archaeological validation. Journal of Archaeological Science, 31, 669–679.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernando, A. (1999). Los primeros agricultores de la Península Ibérica. Arqueología Prehistórica 2, Síntesis, Madrid.

  • Horden, P., & Purcell, N. (2000). The corrupting sea: A study of Mediterranean history. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt-Ortiz, M. A., Consuegra-Rodriguez, S., Díaz del Río-Español, P., Hurtado-Pérez, V., & Montero-Ruiz, I. (2011). Neolithic and Chalcolithic—VI to III millennia BC—use of cinnabar (HgS) in the Iberian Peninsula: Analytical identification and lead isotope data for an early mineral exploitation of the Almadén (Ciudad Real, Spain) mining district. In J. Ortiz, O. Puche, I. Rábano, & L. Mazadiego (Eds.), History of research in mineral resources. Cuadernos del Museo Geominero, 13. Madrid: Instituto Geológico y Minero de España.

  • Improta, S., & Pessina, A. (1998). La neolitizzazione dell’Italia settentrionale: Il nuovo quadro cronologico. In Pessina, A., & Muscio, G. (Eds.), Settemila anni fa il primo pane: Ambienti e culture delle società neolitiche. Catalogo della Mostra, dicembre 1998–maggio 1999 (pp. 107–115). Udine: Museo friulano di storia naturale.

  • Jackes, M., Lubell, C., & Meiklejohn, C. (1997a). On physical anthropological aspects of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the Iberian Peninsula. Current Anthropology, 38, 839–846.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackes, M., Lubell, C., & Meiklejohn, C. (1997b). Healthy but mortal: Human biology and the first farmers of western Europe. Antiquity, 71, 639–658.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jiménez, J. (2008). El horizonte cardial del interior de la Península Ibérica. In M. Hernández, J. Soler, & J. López (Eds.), Actas del IV Congreso del Neolítico Peninsular II (pp. 348–355). Alicante: Museo Arqueológico de Alicante.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordá Pardo, J. F., & Aura, J. (2006). Radiocarbono, cronoestratigrafía y episodios ocupacionales en el Pleistoceno superior y Holoceno de la Cueva de Nerja (Málaga, Andalucía, España). In J. Maillo, & E. Baquedano (Eds.), Miscelánea en homenaje a Victoria Cabrera. Zona Arqueológica 7(I), Madrid, pp. 578–597.

  • Karafet, T., Mendez, F., Meilerman, M., Underhill, P., Zegura, S., & Hammer, M. (2008). New binary polymorphisms reshape and increase resolution of the human Y chromosomal haplogroup tree. Genome Research, 18, 830–838.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keeley, L. H. (1992). The introduction of agriculture to the western North European Plain. In A. B. Gebauer, & T. D. Price (Eds.), Transitions to agriculture in prehistory (pp. 81–95). Monographs in World Archaeology 4. Madison: Prehistory Press.

  • Lacan, M., Keyser, C., Ricaut, F.-X., Brucato, N., Duranthon, F., Guilaine, J., et al. (2011). Ancient DNA reveals male diffusion through the Neolithic Mediterranean route. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(24), 9788–9791.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lago, M., Duarte, C., Valera, A., Albergaria, J., Almeida, F., & Carvalho, A. F. (1998). Povoado dos Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz): Dados preliminares dos trabalhos arqueológicos realizados em 1997. Revista Portuguesa de Arqueologia, 1(1), 45–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lalueza Fox, C. (1996). Physical anthropological aspects of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the Iberian Peninsula. Current Anthropology, 37(4), 689–695.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lalueza, C., & González, A. (1998). On chronology versus geography in the Iberian Mesolithic–Neolithic transition. Current Anthropology, 39(4), 511–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemmen, C., Gronenborn, D., & Wirtz, K. (2011). A simulation of the Neolithic transition in Western Eurasia. Journal of Archaeological Science, 38, 3459–3470.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewthwaite, J. (1986). The transition to food production: A Mediterranean perspective. In M. Zvelebil (Ed.), Hunters in transition: Mesolithic societies of temperate Eurasia and their transition to farming (pp. 53–66). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • López Sáez, J. A., López Merino, L., & Pérez Díaz, S. (2008). Crisis climáticas en la prehistoria de la Península Ibérica: El evento 8200 CAL. BP como modelo. In S. Rovira, M. García, M. Gener, & I. Montero (Eds.), Actas VII Congreso Ibérico de Arqueometría (pp. 77–86), 8–10 octubre 2007, Madrid.

  • Lubell, D., Jackes, M., Schwarcz, H., Knyf, M., & Meiklejohn, C. (1994). The Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Portugal: Isotopic and dental evidence of diet. Journal of Archaeological Science, 21, 201–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malmström, H., Gilbert, M. T., Thomas, M. G., Brandstrom, M., Stora, J., Molnar, P., et al. (2009). Ancient DNA reveals lack of continuity between Neolithic hunter-gatherers and contemporary Scandinavians. Current Biology, 19, 1758–1762.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manen, C., Marchand, G., & Carvalho, A.-F. (2007). Le Néolithique ancien de la péninsule Ibérique : Vers une nouvelle évaluation du mirage africain? In Congrès du Centenaire (2007): Un siècle de construction du discours scientifique en Préhistoire (pp. 133–151), Société préhistorique française, Paris.

  • Manen, C., & Perrin, T. (2009). Réflexions sur la genèse du Cardial ‘franco-ibérique’. In De Méditerranée et d’ailleurs… Mélanges offerts à Jean Guilaine (pp. 427–443). Archives d’Écologie Préhistorique, Toulouse.

  • Manen, C., & Sabatier, P. (2003). Chronique radiocarbone de la néolithisation en Méditerranée nord-occidentale. Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 100(3), 479–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martí, B. (1977). Cova de l’Or (Beniarrés-Alicante) (Vol. 1). Serie de Trabajos Varios del SIP 51, Valencia.

  • Martí, B., Arias-Gago, A., Martínez, R., & Juan-Cabanilles, J. (2001). Los Tubos de Hueso de la Cova de l’Or (Beniarrés, Alicante): Instrumentos Musicales en el Neolítico Antiguo de la Península Ibérica. Trabajos de Prehistoria, 58(2), 41–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martí, B., & Hernández, M. (1988). El Neolític Valenciá: Art Rupestre i Cultura Material. Valencia: Servei d’Investigació Prehistórica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martí, B., & Juan-Cabanilles, J. (1997). Epipaleolíticos y Neolíticos: Población y Territorio en el Proceso de Neolitización de la Península Ibérica. Espacio, Tiempo y Forma. Serie I, Prehistoria y Arqueología, 10, 215–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martí, B., Pascual, V., Gallart, M. D., López, P., Pérez, M., Acuña, J.D., et al. (1980). Cova de l’Or (Beniarrés-Alicante) (Vol. 2). Serie de Trabajos Varios del SIP 65, Valencia.

  • Martín, A., Edo, M., Tarrús, J., & Clop, X. (2010). Le Néolithique ancien de Catalogne (VIe–première moitié du Ve millénaire av. J.-C.): Les séquences chronoculturelles. In C. Manen, F. Convertini, D. Binder, & I. Sénépart (Eds.), Premières sociétés paysannes de Méditerranée occidentale: Structures des productions céramiques (pp. 197–214). Mémoire LI. Paris: Société préhistorique française.

  • Martínez, G., Afonso, J. A., Cámara, J. A., & Molina, F. (2010). Contextualización cronológica y análisis tecno-tipológico de los artefactos tallados del Neolítico antiguo de los Castillejos (Montefrío, Granada). In J. F. Gibaja, & A. F. Carvalho (Eds.), Os Últimos Caçadores-Recolectores e as Primeiras Comunidades Productoras do Sul da Península Ibérica e do Norte de Marrocos (pp. 163–171). Promontoria Monográfica 15. Faro: Universidade do Algarve.

  • McClure, S. B., Molina Balaguer, L., & Bernabeu, J. (2008). Neolithic rock art in context: Landscape history and the transition to agriculture in Mediterranean Spain. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 27, 326–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGlade, J. (1999). Arqueología, dinámica no lineal y discurso histórico. Trabajos de Prehistoria, 56(2), 5–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morales, J. I., Fontanals, M., Oms, F. X., & Vergès, J. M. (2010). La chronologie du Néolithique ancien cardial du nord-est de la péninsule Ibérique: Datations, problematique et méthodologie. L’Anthropologie, 114, 427–444.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muñoz, A. (1972). Análisis de carbono-14 sobre muestras recogidas por el Instituto de Arqueología de la Universidad de Barcelona. Pyrenae, 8, 147–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Natali, E. (2010). Typologie des décors de la céramique imprimée archaïque du sud-est de l’Italie. In C. Manen, F. Convertini, D. Binder, & I. Sénépart (Eds.), Premières sociétés paysannes de Méditerranée occidentale: Structures des productions céramiques (pp. 43–55). Mémoire LI. Paris: Société préhistorique française.

  • Oosterbeek, L. (2001). Re-thinking the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the Iberian Peninsula: A view from the West. Documenta Praehistorica, 28, 75–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oross, K., & Bánffy, E. (2009). Three successive waves of Neolithisation: LBK development in Transdanubia. Documenta Praehistorica, 36, 175–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orozco, T. (2000). Aprovisionamiento e Intercambio: Análisis Petrológico del Utillaje Pulimentado en la Prehistoria Reciente del País Valenciano (España). BAR S867 International Series, Oxford.

  • Pallarés, M., Bordas, A., & Mora, R. (1997). El Proceso de neolitización en los Pirineos orientales: Un modelo de continuidad entre los cazadores-recolectores neolíticos y los primeros grupos agropastoriles. Trabajos de Prehistoria, 54(1), 121–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce, M. (2008). Structured deposition in Early Neolithic Northern Italy. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 21(1), 19–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peña Chocarro, L. (2007). Early agriculture in central and southern Spain. In S. Colledge & J. Conolly (Eds.), The origins and spread of domestic plants in southwest Asia and Europe (pp. 173–187). Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peña Chocarro, L., Zapata, L., García, J., González, M., Sesma, J., & Straus, L. G. (2005). The spread of agriculture in northern Iberia: New archaeobotanical data from El Mirón cave (Cantabria) and the open-air site of Los Cascajos (Navarra). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 14, 268–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinhasi, R., & Pluciennik, M. (2004). A regional biological approach to the spread of farming in Europe. Current Anthropology, 45(supplement), 59–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, B. J. (1977). Shifts in production and organization: A cluster-interaction model. Current Anthropology, 18(2), 209–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Price, T. D., & Gebauer, A. B. (1992). The final frontier: Foragers to farmers in southern Scandinavia. In A. B. Gebauer & T. D. Price (Eds.), Transitions to agriculture in prehistory (pp. 97–116). Madison: Prehistory Press.

  • Ramis, D. (2010). From colonisation to habitation: Early cultural adaptations in the Balearic Bronze Age. In P. Van Dommelen & A. B. Knapp (Eds.), Material connections in the ancient Mediterranean: Mobility, materiality and mediterranean identities (pp. 64–84). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reimer, P. J., Baillie, M. G. L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J. W., Bertrand, C. J. H., et al. (2004). IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon, 46(3), 1029–1058.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renfrew, C. (1982). Polity and power: Interaction, intensification and exploitation. In C. Renfrew & M. Wagstaff (Eds.), An Island polity: The archaeology of exploitation in Melos (pp. 264–290). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Richards, M., Côrte-Real, H., Forster, P., Macaulay, V., Wilkinson-Herbots, H., Demaine, A., et al. (1996). Paleolithic and Neolithic lineages in the European mitochondrial gene pool. American Journal of Human Genetics, 59, 185–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, M., Macaulay, V., Hickey, E., Vega, E., Sykes, B., Guida, V., et al. (2000). Tracing European founder lineages in the Near Eastern mtDNA pool. American Journal of Human Genetics, 67, 1251–1276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, M. P., Schulting, R., & Hedges, R. (2003). Sharp shift in diet at onset of Neolithic. Nature, 425, 366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robb, J. (2007). The early Mediterranean village: Agency, material culture, and social change in Neolithic Italy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rodanés, J. M., & Ramón, N. (1995). El Neolítico Antiguo en Aragón: Hábitat y territorio. Zephyrus, 48, 101–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodríguez, Á. L., Alonso, C., & Velázquez, J. (1995). La difusión occidental de las especies domésticas: Una alternativa a la ‘ola de avance’. I Congrès del Neolitic a la Peninsula Ibèrica (Gavá-Bellaterra, 1995). Rubricatum, 1(2), 835–839.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rojo, M., Kunst, M., Garrido, R., García, I., & Morán, G. (2008). Paisajes de la memoria: Asentamientos del neolítico antiguo en el Valle de Ambrona (Soria, España), Serie Arte y Arqueología 23. Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid.

  • Román, M. P., Martínez, C., Sánchez, L., Pérez, A. D., & Cassinello, S. (1995). El neolítico en la cuenca alta del río Almanzora (Almería): Una revisión crítica. I Congrés del Neolític a la Península Ibèrica (Gavà-Bellaterra, 1995). Rubricatum, 1(2), 613–618.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rootsi, S., Magri, C., Kivisild, T., Benuzzi, G., Help, H., Bermisheva, M., et al. (2004). Phylogeography of Y-chromosome haplogroup I reveals distinct domains of prehistoric gene flow in Europe. American Journal of Human Genetics, 75, 128–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampietro, M. L., Lao, O., Caramelli, D., Lari, M., Pou, R., Martí, M., et al. (2007). Palaeogenetic evidence supports a dual model of Neolithic spreading into Europe. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences, 274, 2161–2167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Semino, O., Magri, Ch., Benuzzi, G., Lin, A., Al-Zahery, N., Battaglia, V., et al. (2004). Origin, diffusion, and differentiation of Y-chromosome haplogroups E and J: Inferences on the Neolithization of Europe and later migratory events in the Mediterranean area. American Journal of Human Genetics, 74, 1023–1034.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shennan, S., & Edinborough, K. (2007). Prehistoric population history: From the Late Glacial to the Late Neolithic in Central and Northern Europe. Journal of Archaeological Science, 34, 1339–1345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sherratt, A. (2004). Fractal farmers: Patterns of Neolithic origin and dispersal. In J. Cherry, C. Scarre, & S. Shennan (Eds.), Explaining social change: Studies in Honour of Colin Renfrew (pp. 53–63). Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge.

  • Simoni, L., Calafell, F., Pettener, D., Bertranpetit, J., & Barbujani, G. (2000). Geographic patterns of mtDNA diversity in Europe. American Journal of Human Genetics, 66, 262–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skeates, R. (2003). Radiocarbon dating and interpretations of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in Italy. In A. Ammerman & P. Biagi (Eds.), The widening harvest. The Neolithic transition in Europe: Looking back, looking forward (pp. 157–187). Colloquia and conference papers 6. Boston: Archaeological Institute of America.

  • Soares, P., Achilli, A., Semino, O., Davies, W., Macaulay, V., Bandelt, H.-J., et al. (2010). The archaeogenetics of Europe. Current Biology, 20, 174–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stika, H.-P. (2005). Early Neolithic agriculture in Ambrona, Provincia Soria, central Spain. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 14(3), 189–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiner, M. C., Bicho, N. F., Lindly, J., & Ferring, R. (2003). Mesolithic to Neolithic transitions: New results from shell-middens in the western Algarve, Portugal. Antiquity, 77(295), 75–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tozzi, C. (2002). Ripa Tetta. Puglia. In M. A. Fugazzola Delpino, A. Pessina, & V. Tiné (Eds.), Le ceramiche impresse nel Neolitico antico (pp. 579–588). Roma: Italia e Mediterraneo, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato.

  • Utrilla, P. (2002). Epipaleolíticos y neolíticos del valle del Ebro. Saguntum Extra, 5, 179–208.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Willigen, S. (2007). Entre Toscane et Provence: Le néolithique ancien corse dans son contexte Méditerranéen. In Corse et Sardaigne préhistoriques: Relations et échanges dans le contexte méditerranéen (pp. 59–77). Documents Préhistoriques 22. Paris: CTHS.

  • Van Willigen, S., Hajdas, I., & Bonani, G. (2008). Nouvelles données concernant la chronologie interne du cardial franco-ibérique en France méditerranéenne. In M. Hernández, J. Soler, & J. López (Eds.), Actas del IV Congreso del Neolítico Peninsular II (pp. 365–373). Alicante: Museo Arqueológico de Alicante.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vergés, J., Allué, E., Angelucci, D., Burjachs, F., Carrancho, A., Cebriá, A., et al. (2008). Los niveles neolíticos de la cueva de El Mirador (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos): Nuevos datos sobre la implantación y el desarrollo de la economía agropecuaria en la Submeseta Norte. In M. Hernández, J. Soler, & J. López (Eds.), Actas del IV Congreso del Neolítico Peninsular II (pp. 418–427). Alicante: Museo Arqueológico de Alicante.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vicent, J. M. (1990). El neolítico: Transformaciones sociales y económicas. Boletín de antropología americana, 24, 31–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vicent, J. M. (1997). The island filter model revisited. In M. S. Balmuth, A. Gilman, & L. Prados Torreira (Eds.), Encounters and transformations: The archaeology of Iberia in transition (pp. 1–13). Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology 7. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.

  • Watkins, T. (2008). Supra-regional networks in the Neolithic of southwest Asia. Journal of World Prehistory, 21, 139–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, T. (2010). New light on Neolithic revolution in southwest Asia. Antiquity, 84, 621–634.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weninger, B., Alram-Stern, E., Bauer, E., Clare, L., Danzeglocke, U., Jöris, O., et al. (2006). Climate forcing due to the 8200 cal yr BP event observed at Early Neolithic sites in the eastern Mediterranean. Quaternary Research, 66, 401–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zapata Peña, L. (2007). First farmers along the coast of the Bay of Biscay. In S. Colledge & J. Conolly (Eds.), The origins and spread of domestic plants in Southwest Asia and Europe (pp. 189–208). Walnut Creek: Left Coast Press.

  • Zapata, L., Peña-Chocarro, L., Pérez, G., & Stika, H.-P. (2004). Early Neolithic agriculture in the Iberian Peninsula. Journal of World Prehistory, 18(4), 283–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zilhão, J. (1998a). On logical and empirical aspects of the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the Iberian Peninsula. Current Anthropology, 39(5), 690–698.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zilhão, J. (1998b). A passagem do Mesolítico ao Neolítico na costa do Alentejo. Revista Portuguesa de Arqueologia, 1(1), 27–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zilhão, J. (2001). Radiocarbon evidence for maritime pioneer colonization at the origins of farming in West Mediterranean Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 98(24), 14180–14185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zilhão, J. (2003). The Neolithic transition in Portugal and the role of demic diffusion in the spread of agriculture across West Mediterranean Europe. In A. Ammerman & P. Biagi (Eds.), The widening harvest. The Neolithic transition in Europe: Looking back, looking forward (pp. 207–223). Colloquia and conference papers 6. Boston: Archaeological Institute of America.

  • Zilhão, J. (2009). The Early Neolithic artifact assemblage from the Galeria da Cisterna (Almonda karstic system, Torres Novas, Portugal). In De Méditerranée et d’ailleurs… Mélanges offerts à Jean Guilaine (pp. 821–835). Toulouse: Archives d’Écologie Préhistorique.

  • Zilhão, J. (2011). Time is on my side…. In A. Hadjikoumis, E. Robinson, and S. Viner (Eds.), The dynamics of Neolithisation in Europe (pp. 46–65). Studies in Honour of Andrew Sherratt. Oxford: Oxbow Books.

  • Zvelebil, M. (1989). On the transition to farming in Europe, or what was spreading with the neolithic: A reply to Ammerman (1989). Antiquity, 63(239), 379–383.

  • Zvelebil, M., & Dolukhanov, P. (1991). The transition to farming in Eastern and Northern Europe. Journal of World Prehistory, 5(3), 233–278.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Dolores Segura Buitrago for her interpretive guidance on the genetic data. My warmest thanks and acknowledgement go to Antonio José Cuesta Vázquez for his guidance with the statistical analysis, and to Jose Manuel Rojo Abuin and Almudena Mata Murillo (CCHS, CSIC). Special thanks to Susana Consuegra, Pedro Díaz del Río, Juan Francisco Gibaja Bao, Maribel Martínez Navarrete, Sandra Montón and Juan Vicent García, who generously gave me their time and ideas and who really greatly improved the paper. Joan Bernabeu Aubán, Laurent Bouby, Juan Antonio Cámara Serrano, Margaret Conkey, Manuel Edo Benaiges, Antonio Gilman, Marcos Llobera, Araceli Martín Cólliga, Ignacio Montero Ruiz, Susana Pascual, Leonor Peña Chocarro, Damià Ramis, Beatriz Robledo, and Josep Maria Vergès Bosch, were also generous with their comments and bibliographical guidance. Two reviewers of a previous version of this manuscript made constructive suggestions. Marilyn Reynolds and Bruce Harris kindly revised the English. Any error remains my own.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IH, CCHS, CSIC, c/Albasanz 26-28, 28037, Madrid, Spain

    María Cruz Berrocal

Authors
  1. María Cruz Berrocal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to María Cruz Berrocal.

Additional information

A first version of this paper was prepared during my appointment as a MEC/Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, 2006–2008.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cruz Berrocal, M. The Early Neolithic in the Iberian Peninsula and the Western Mediterranean: A Review of the Evidence on Migration. J World Prehist 25, 123–156 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-012-9059-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-012-9059-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation