With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Jonathan Haws and a team of archaeologists, geologists and geographers will survey the coastal zone near Nazare, Portugal where the appropriate conditions exist to find evidence for coastal settlement during the Late Pleistocene. Currently, archaeologists working on the Iberian Peninsula employ an explanatory framework known as the 'Broad Spectrum Revolution' to explain the 'sudden' Late Pleistocene/ Early Holocene appearance of coastal economies. The timing of these coastal economies is probably an artifact of postglacial sea level rise that destroyed earlier evidence. Since the evidence is largely destroyed or submerged under 100ft or more of water, archaeologists must search areas that would not have been impacted by sea level rise. These areas are almost always located in coastal zones where the continental shelf is narrow and steep. The Nazare area of central Portugal is adjacent to a deep submarine canyon. During the last ice age, sea level decrease would not have exposed much land surface area. If people were living near the coast at the time those sites should still exist. In central Portugal, sites with organic preservation are found in limestone caves/rockshelters and sand dunes. These two geologic settings characterize much of the area near Nazare. Furthermore, the coast of Portugal experiences a summer upwelling that creates a rich marine ecosystem. Paleoclimatic and geologic research shows that the coastal upwelling system off the coast of Portugal was several times more intense during the Last Glacial Maximum, approximately 20,000 years ago. This probably made the coast even more attractive to people than today. The project will help answer important questions regarding Late Pleistocene coastal adaptations in central Portugal through archaeological survey and testing. The interior uplands of Estremadura have been the focus of several recent and current NSF-funded projects to investigate the Paleolithic of Portugal. Most of the sites in this area with organic preservation contain marine fish and shellfish indicating regular visits to the coast. However, no systematic investigation of the adjacent coastal area has taken place despite the fact that it has the appropriate geological setting for Paleolithic sites with faunal preservation. The survey will focus on coastal dunes and limestone outcrops to locate and test sites with preserved faunal remains in order to determine the nature of Late Pleistocene coastal resource exploitation. The fieldwork will occur between June and August of 2005. Survey and testing will be done by a 10-person crew during the first two field seasons, each lasting eight weeks. Sites will be dated by radiocarbon when possible. In addition to field work, a GIS will be created to map archaeological materials, site and landscape characteristics in order to understand site distribution and prehistoric settlement patterns. The ultimate goal is to collect data that can be used to test general theoretical models about human subsistence decision-making and changes through time. Tantalizing evidence suggests the coastal zone was of key importance to human subsistence during the Late Pleistocene and the survey targets the optimal area to find sites dated to this period. This multidisciplinary project will also provide opportunities for Portuguese and American students to learn archaeological and geological research methods and how these are used to answer important questions about past human behavior. Undergraduates from the United States will be given the opportunity to travel abroad and interact with other students and researchers from in a different country.
