ENVIRONMENTS AND LANDSCAPES OF THE PAST

Trees, shrubs and grasses

According to studies of the pollen preserved in sediments and other residues recovered from the Lagar Velho occupation levels, the landscape of the Lapedo Valley and surrounding areas was different from what we see today. There were patches of forest dominated almost exclusively by Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) - a species adapted to cold climates and able to tolerate frozen soils, now absent from Portugal - and more open spaces where shrubs and grasses predominated. During relatively more temperate phases of this glacial period, evergreen oaks (Quercus ilex and Q. suber) and maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) also flourished, among other tree and shrub species. Riparian vegetation grew near the watercourses, including alder trees (Alnus sp.) and ash trees (Fraxinus sp.) that can still be seen today.
The documented vegetation mirrors climatic conditions that changed over the course of the rockshelter's occupation during the Upper Palaeolithic.