At the land's end: Marine resources and the importance of fluctuations in the coastline in the prehistoric hunter-gatherer economy of Portugal

This paper focuses on the importance of aquatic resources in economy and subsistence strategies during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of Portugal. Modern theoretical biases in archaeology have led to a marginalization of marine resources and a dismissal of their use by Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers. Geological and archaeological data show that changes in the position of the coastline had a direct impact on the visibility of marine resources in the archaeological record. Marine regressions and transgressions have significantly altered the record of Pleistocene coastal settlement. Using recent studies on changes in upwelling intensity during the Last Glacial we offer a new perspective on Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer economy that emphasizes the importance of the coast as a focus of subsistence and settlement. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.