Forest management and agriculture practices at El Mirador cave

Abstract

This chapter examines the landscape management strategies used by the inhabitants of El Mirador cave based on the use of micro- and macrobotanical proxies (phytoliths, pollen, wood charcoal and seeds). These analyses reveal the human impact on the immediate environment, as the people occupying the zone transformed the landscape by clearing forests to develop areas for cultivation and grazing. Anthracological and dendroanthracological evidence points to the exploitation of the local oak and mixed holm oak forest related to the agro-livestock activities carried out in the cave. The combined study of pollen, phytoliths and seed remains has provided evidence of the cultivation of mainly emmer and durum wheat, which would have been processed at or near the site, given the presence of crop by-products. Non-crop plants can also inform us of livestock feeding regimens, having otherwise arrived at the site as part of the animals’ fodder or as a product of grazing in crop stubble. Overall, the combination of these proxies demonstrates the anthropogenic nature of the modification of the surrounding landscape as a direct outcome of the cultivation of crops and animal husbandry practices, as would be anticipated in a subsistence strategy based on mixed farming systems.