El Arenal de la Virgen (Villena, Alicante), the first lacustrine Notches and Denticulates Mesolithic site in the Iberian Peninsula: cultural and chrono-stratigraphical data and palaeoenvironmental context

Abstract

Fieldwork carried out in the prehistoric site of Arenal de la Virgen (Villena, Alicante) have provided thorough evidences for the first lacustrine occupation belonging to Notches and Denticulates Mesolithic in the Iberian Peninsula. In this paper we present chronostratigraphical and palaeoenvironmental data along with material culture, subsistence and habitat record. The whole information is discussed in the context of cultural processes and environmental dynamics that took place along Early and Middle Holocene transition in the Iberian Mediterranean region. The results point out an advanced chronology in the Notches and Denticulates Mesolithic period and situate the occupation in one of the most humid periods during the Holocene.

Keywords

• mesolítico de muescas y denticulados
• península ibérica
• paleoambiente
• hábitat al aire libre