Les primeres comunitats ramaderes de la Vall de Sant Nicolau (5.000 – 2.300 CalANE)

In the last decade, the different research projects developed at National Park of Aigüestortes i l’Estany de Sant Maurici (PNAESM) show that highest parts of central Pyrenees have been inhabited since the latest 7,000 years. This anthropic pressure increases between 5,000 and 4,500 years ago, when alpine and subalpine areas are simultaneously occupied. The Cova del Sardo is a natural rock shelter sited at 1,790 m.a.s.l. in the Sant Nicolau Valley, in the Axial Central Pyrenees. Archaeological and paleoecological data from this site suggest the existence of an extensive mobility of pastoral groups from the Ebro Valley throughout the Noguera’s rivers to the Axial Pyrenees, during the entire Neolithic period. On the other hand, pollen and anthracological analyses from the Cova del Sardo suggest a dynamic process of landuse from 7,500 to 4,500 yrs cal BP. In this paper we present the results of lithic material provenance and techno-functional analyses. Obtained data confirm the existence of changes in the mobility strategies and in the occupational dynamics of the site along the 3,000 years of human occupation