## 2 Geographical Settings  
The landscape in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula is extremely diverse due to the heterogeneous orography and climate in the territory. Altitude and distance from the coast strongly influence the climate in this broad region and different sub-climates have been defined: littoral Mediterranean with low and irregular precipitation, in a limited area due to the presence of mountain ranges near and parallel to the coast; humid Mediterranean or sub-Mediterranean, characterized by higher precipitation and colder temperatures in inland regions close to the pre-Pyrenean slopes (500/1000-1600/1800 m asl); and continental Mediterranean, with low precipitation and contrasting temperatures; very warm in summer and cold in winter. The high-mountain or axial Pyrenees have a continental Atlantic-influenced climate with different mountain sub-types.  
The vegetation is characterized by the presence of Meso/Thermo-Mediterranean vegetation on the Mediterranean coast and inland, with the dominance of evergreen sclerophyllous forests (_Quercus_ lex L., _Quercus_ _cocifera_ L., _Pinus halepensis_ Mill.) and shrulbands (maqua and garrigue). In the sub-Mediterranean area, humid Mediterranean forests (mixture of pines and deciduous _Quercus_, _Corylus_ _asulina_ L. and _Fagus sylatica_ L.) dominate in the landscape. Finally, boreal confer forests (_Pinus unculata_ and _Abies albu_ Mill.) are present in the subalpine zone (1600-2300 m asl) in the Pyrenees.  
In this study, we focus on three different Northeast Iberian areas: high-mountain Pyrenees (Cova del Sardo), the northern inner plain (La Draga) and the southern Montsant mountainous area in the Ebro Valley (Coves del Fem) (Figure 1). These areas allow us to conduct landscape reconstruction and to study human management of vegetal resources during the Neolithic in Euro-Siberian conifer forests, in sub-Mediterranean broadleaf deciduous forests and in Mediterranean sclerophyllous forests.  
Cova del Sardo is situated in the central part of the Aiguestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park (PNAESM). The park covers an area of 14,119 ha around the heads of the Sant Nicolau and Espot valleys, in a high montane environment with glacial landforms and granite substrate. The PNAESM ranges in altitude from 1300 to 3000 m asl and contains four vegetation belts: upper montane, subalpine, alpine and subnival [25]. The climate is defined as mountain Atlantic-influenced; predominantly temperate in the valleys and colder in the peaks. The mean temperature is around 4-5 \({}^{\circ}\)C in Sant Nicolau upper valley.  
Figure 1: Location of the sites in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula: 1. Cova del Sardo, 2. La Draga, 3. Coves del Fem.  
Over 1800 m asl, temperatures hardly reach above 0 \({}^{\circ}\)C during winter and 10-13 \({}^{\circ}\)C in summer, with an annual precipitation of 1200 mm, mostly as snow.  
The site of La Draga is located in the Pla de l'Estany, which consists of a plain around Lake Banyoles (173 m asl) surrounded by medium-height mountains (600-985 m asl). The climate in Banyoles is defined as humid Mediterranean or sub-Mediterranean, with an annual precipitation of 750 mm and a mean annual temperature of 15 \({}^{\circ}\)C.  
Finally, Coves del Fem is located in the Parc Natural de la Serra del Montsant. It belongs to the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range, with steep valleys over the course of Montsant river, a tributary to the Ebro River, and reaching maximum heights of 1063-1163 m asl. The climate is defined as Mediterranean, with an annual precipitation of 525 mm and a mean annual temperature of 13.2 \({}^{\circ}\)C in Ulldemolins.