LATE QUATERNARY VEGETATIONAL HISTORY AT NAVARRES, EASTERN SPAIN - A 2CORE APPROACH

Percentage and concentration pollen diagrams are presented for two cor es (taken 5 m apart) at an upper Pleistocene and Holocene site at Nava rres (Valencia, eastern Spain). Chronological information is provided by an internally consistent radiocarbon dating series that extends fro m c. 20700 to 3075 yr sp. The results highlight the dangers of relying on a single core in interpreting the patterns of variation of particu lar taxa. Significant palynological differences, seemingly locational, are described between the two cores. The upper Pleistocene records ac cords well with the widely recognized European sequence of (a) upper P leniglacial, (b) Boiling-Allerod warm period, and (c) Younger Dryas cr isis. However, the sequence does not show disruption of vegetation pat terns following the commencement of the Holocene, and Pinus continues to be dominant up to c. 5500-6000 yr sp. Later, there is evidence for Quercus forest, mesophilous trees, and xerosclerophyllous Mediterranea n vegetation, which is coincident with eutrophication of the study sit e. These vegetation changes are discussed in the context of anthropoge nic disturbance by Neolithic people, competitive exclusion, and climat ic change.