## 2 Study Area: Environmental Settings and Archaeological Background
### NE Iberia  
The climate in the NE Iberian Peninsula is defined as Mediterranean, with variations depending on the altitude and distance from the sea. The climate in Pla de l'Estany, the plain around Lake Banyoles (173 m asl.), 35 km from the coast and 50 km south of the Pyrenees, is defined as humid Mediterranean or sub-Mediterranean, characterized by higher precipitation and cooler temperatures than in the coastal ranges, with an annual precipitation of 750 mm and a mean annual temperature of 15 \({}^{\circ}\)C in Banyoles. The average maximum temperature during July andAugust is 23 \({}^{\circ}\)C, and the average minimum is 7 \({}^{\circ}\)C in winter. At the present, the vegetation in the NE Iberian Peninsula is characterized by the predominance of evergreen sclerophyllous forests (evergreen oaks and Mediterranean pines) on the Mediterranean coast and in the continental interior, and humid sub-Mediterranean forests (deciduous oak and beech) in the middle mountains of the pre-Pyrenees. Pla de l'Estany consists of a transition area between humid forests in the nearby mountainous areas (eastern slopes of pre-Pyrenees) and sclerophyllous forests and maquia on the coast. Dense vegetation formations in the mountains surrounding Lake Banyoles, are dominated by a mixed evergreen forest (_Quercus izx_, _Quercus coccifera_, _Rhamus al alternus_, _Phillyrea media_, _P. angustifolia_), deciduous oak (_Quercus pubescens_, _Buxus semiperviens_, _Ikea aquifolium_) and pine forest (_Pinus halepensis_). In this context, shrublands (_Erica arbora_, _Rosamirus officinalis_) are well represented.  
The first evidence of Neolithic occupation in NE Iberia is dated in the second half of the 8 th millennium cal. BP. The archaeological evidence suggests a chronological hiatus of ~500 years, in ~8.1-7.6 cal kyr BP, in which no human occupations have been documented [26; 27]. The gap in human presence in the region during the first half of the 8 th millennium cal BP indicate that the Neolithisation of the NE Iberian Peninsula was the result of migration of farming populations to uninhabited territories [28], contrasting with the interaction documented between indigenous Mesolithic communities and the arriving farming communities on the Eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula [29]. Bioarchaeological research carried out in recent decades has shown that intensive mixed farming (small-scale, labour-intensive cultivation integrated with small-scale herding) emerges as the most plausible model in NE Iberia, featuring an agriculture that included the cultivation of a large variety of cereals and legumes [30; 31].  
Similarities in the archaeological record, particularly the Cardium-impressed ware, between the Italian and the Iberian Peninsula, including south France, Corsica and Sardinia, point to the existence of active maritime networks, which would have played a significant role in the Neolithisation process [32]. As mentioned, both in Corsica and in NE Iberia, the first farming societies reached uninhabited territories after the cooling phase associated with the 8.2 kyr cal BP event, in regions predominated by natural landscapes free of human disturbance. In both areas, Neolithic communities settled along the coast and in wetlandareas, where they found a rich variety of ecological niches for provision of food and raw materials.