Pollen and mollusc records for environmental change in central Spain during the mid- and late Holocene

The central part of the Iberian Peninsula has few radiocarbon dated records of vegetation and climatic history for the Holocene. Extinct and active tufa-forming sites occur along the northwestern margin of the Sierra de Alcaraz. Tufas are often closely associated with the remains of plants and animals, and two extinct systems near the settlements of El Jardin and Alcaraz have yielded a record of environmental history that spans much of the last 6000 years. The record indicates that the present-day sedimentological regime and vegetation are human-induced, and probably extend back to about 2700 yr BP. Before this date, oak-dominated scrub (mattoral) was widespread. Prior to around 5000 yr BP the climate appears to have been relatively humid, and possibly cooler, and the catchments for the two sites were more wooded than today.