Shellfish collectors on the seashore: The exploitation of the marine environment between the end of the Paleolithic and the Mesolithic in the Mediterranean Iberia

Abstract

Studies carried out to date on the Iberian Peninsula have led to the belief that hunter-gatherer sites with exploitation of the marine environment are particularly found in the Cantabrian and Atlantic area. In this study, we present new data and studies of all the coastal sites in the Mediterranean area and we summarize current data, allowing us to change the existing paradigm. We argue for the existence of hunter-gatherer communities who made considerable use of maritime resources from the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula.