150803 20251017144653.0 doi 10.1038/s43247-025-02023-8 sideral 142861 ART-2025-142861 eng Julián-Posada, Irene Neolithic pastoralism and plant community interactions at high altitudes of the Pyrenees, southern Europe 2025 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted The Neolithization process introduced remarkable ecological impacts, especially in Mediterranean mountain areas. We generated a comprehensive sedimentary ancient DNA record from the central Pyrenees, spanning 12,200 to 1300 years before present, revealing the earliest continuous presence of sheep (6500 years before present) and cattle (5900 years before present) in alpine southern Europe. This evidence suggests pastoralism nearly concurred with the Neolithic in the Iberian lowlands, challenging prior assumptions of only sporadic occurrence and confirming Neolithic pastoralist use of mountain ecosystems. A notable plant community shift arose at 6000 years before present, with deciduous forests transitioning into diverse open grasslands. This change became pronounced at 4200 years before present, aligning with continuous presence of domesticates and a regional cooling climate, suggesting a synergistic relationship between past climate change and human-induced plant community alteration. These findings highlight complex interactions between climate, human activities, and landscape dynamics during the Neolithic in Mediterranean mountains. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2020-116598GB-I00 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2022-141558NB-I00 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/E02-23R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/H14-23R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2019-106050RB-I00 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN PRE2020-094749 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by-nc-nd https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Gil-Romera, Graciela (orcid)0000-0001-5726-2536 Garcés-Pastor, Sandra Heintzman, Peter D. Gómez, Daniel Fillat, Federico Moreno, Ana (orcid)0000-0001-7357-584X Lara-Recuero, Javier Bover, Pere (orcid)0000-0003-2942-2840 Montes, Lourdes Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-0628-2582 Sierra, Alejandro Valero-Garcés, Blas (orcid)0000-0003-2214-7057 Alsos, Inger G. González-Sampériz, Penélope (orcid)0000-0002-5097-1468 3000 695 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Ciencias de la Antigüed. Área Prehistoria 6, 1 (2025), [10 pp.] Communications Earth and Environment 2662-4435 6329706 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/150803/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2851497 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/150803/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:150803 articulos driver 2025-10-17-14:37:07 ARTICLE