Late Glacial Landscape Dynamics Based on Macrobotanical Data: Evidence From Ifri El Baroud (NE Morocco)

Abstract

The site of Ifri El Baroud has one of the longest sequences excavated in recent times in NE Morocco, covering a chronology of ca. 23–13 ka cal BP. The sequence includes Early and Late Iberomaurusian levels and offers the possibility of investigating the economic, social and environmental processes that took place during this period. In this paper we present the results of the charcoal analysis carried out at the site with the aim of reconstructing environmental alterations and changes in the use of forest resources between the LGM and the end of the Pleistocene. These results form part of multidisciplinary studies aimed at revealing the role of climatic and environmental changes in the great cultural transitions of the Late Palaeolithic. The results of the charcoal analysis show continuous exploitation of Juniperus/Tetraclinis formations throughout the sequence, so they must have been a fundamental part of the area’s landscape. These data indicate that the climatic changes occurred during the study period, and according with other environmental proxies, did not have a very significant impact on the woody vegetation of the region.