An Upper Palaeolithic Landscape Analysis of Coastal Portugal Using Groundpenetrating Radar

Ground-penetrating mapping radar allows fo r the three-dimensional reconstruction of ancient landscapes by interpreting geological horizons associated with archaeological sites. When the geological framework of a site can be placed in both time and space, ancient environments and people’s usage and adaptation to landscapes can be studied. In coastal Portugal late Ice Age people discarded stone tools within aeolian sands that were deposited directly on a bedrock surface, which could be mapped using ground-penetrating radar. That surface was then studied in three-dimensions and the palaeotopography at the time people were using this area was mapped. It was found that these ancient people probably took shelter behind a small elevation rise on the edge of a series of streams that flowed toward a nearby floodplain. Using this type of analysis the environmental context of prehistoric activities and human behaviour of these people is provided in a way not possible using traditional archaeological methods. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.