According to a study led by the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) and Cispac, with the participation of researchers from the University of Vigo. The findings are based on the palaeoecological analysis of animal remains from the archaeological site of Cova Eirós
A new study conducted at the Cova Eirós archaeological site (Cancelo, Triacastela, Lugo, Spain) provides new insights into the climate and environmental conditions of the eastern Galician mountains during prehistory. The research was led by Hugo Bal García, from the Northwest Prehistory Research Group – Archaeology, Antiquity and Territory (GEPN-AAT) at the University of Santiago de Compostela and the Inter-University Research Centre for Atlantic Cultural Landscapes (Cispac).
The study also involved two researchers from the University of Vigo: Iván Rey Rodríguez, a postdoctoral researcher in the MAPAS Lab research group at the Marine Research Centre (CIM), and Mikel Díaz Rodríguez, a lecturer in the Faculty of History and a member of Cispac. The paper was co-authored by Carlos Fernández Rodríguez (University of León), Álvaro Ibáñez Encinas (USC/Cispac), Tania Mosquera Castro (USC/Cispac), Arturo de Lombera Hermida (University of Oviedo), Xosé Pedro Rodríguez Álvarez (Rovira i Virgili University/IPHES), and Ramón Fábregas Valcarce (USC/Cispac).
Published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, the study analysed the zooarchaeological remains from archaeological layers 3, 2 and 1, covering a period between 41,000 and 17,000 years ago. These layers correspond to occupations by the last Neanderthals (Layer 3) and successive occupations by the first Homo sapiens who reached the northwestern Iberian Peninsula (Layers 2 and 1), allowing researchers to compare how the environment evolved during this crucial period of human history.
A colder and wetter Galicia
By identifying more than 400 animal remains belonging to at least 36 different species and applying palaeoecological models, researchers reconstructed the surrounding vegetation and estimated the temperature and rainfall associated with each of the three archaeological layers.
The results reveal that Galicia was significantly colder than today, with mean annual temperatures up to 3.6°C lower. Despite the colder climate, annual precipitation remained relatively high, exceeding 1,000 mm in all three periods analysed.
The findings also show a gradual trend towards warmer and wetter conditions throughout the Ice Age, while the landscape remained a mosaic of woodland interspersed with extensive wet grasslands. These characteristics suggest that eastern Galicia may have acted as a climatic refugium, offering favourable conditions of temperature, moisture and vegetation that supported hunter-gatherer populations during periods of climatic instability.
According to University of Vigo researcher Iván Rey, his contribution focused on “the study of small mammals and the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the site, providing evidence on climate, vegetation and ecological dynamics during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic.”
This research forms part of the project Population and Technological Dynamics during the Final Pleistocene–Holocene in the Eastern Mountains of Northwestern Iberia 2, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU), the State Research Agency (AEI) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Archaeological excavations at Cova Eirós are funded by the Regional Ministry of Culture, Language and Youth of the Government of Galicia (Xunta de Galicia).
The Marine Research Centre (CIM) holds the CIGUS distinction awarded by the Xunta de Galicia, recognizing the quality and impact of its research. Its activities are co-funded by the European Union through the 2021–2027 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER) Programme.
Source: DUVI
