Ramon Julià Brugués

• PhD
• Spanish National Research Council

The River Ter is one of the axes which, in a west-east direction, has historically articulated the population of the extreme north-east of the Iberian Peninsula. Although its upper, middle and part of the lower courses do not present any problems in its course, its mouth in the Mediterrane-an Sea has raised many questions due to the existence of tw...

This article aims to show the transformation of the coast in the extreme northeast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is focused on the Ciutadella de Roses. Data were integrated from the digital elevation model (LIDAR), a geomorphological analysis, and lithostratigraphic and chronological correlations based on eight geological boreholes and twelve radioc...

El Mercat del Born s’assenta sobre sorres del front deltaic del marge dret del riu Besòs, en el seu límit occidental, en una zona topogràficament deprimida coneguda com la Ribera. Els elements morfològics que confinen aquesta depressió són: els materials neògens del Mons Taber per l’oest, el Quaternari antic pel nord i la barra litoral pel sud-est,...

La Historia del Oso de las Cavernas: vida y muerte de un animal desaparecido

La cova de Mollet és un jaciment clàssic dins la prehistòria paleolítica de Catalunya. Conegut a partir de les intervencions de Josep M. Corominas i pels diferents estudis dels materials procedents d’aquestes –com el primer que va tenir ressò internacional, el d'Eduard Ripoll i Henry de Lumley–, fins fa poc presentava l’inconvenient que tota la inf...

We review and present new geochronological data on the uplifted Middle-Late Pleistocene marine deposits at the western termination of the Corinth Rift and the Rion area. Geomorphological and geological observations define the general morphotectonic context of these deposits, which predicts a pattern of differential uplift. Uplift rate estimates bas...

Marine isotope stage 3 (MIS 3) was characterised by marked oscillations of extreme cold episodes with very short warm events during the stadial, and several regional differences have been recorded in the ice cores and marine deposits. The aim of this study is to reconstruct this period by evaluating both terrestrial and regional responses. Cova del...

Na monografía clásica de Puig y Larraz (1896: 250-252) amiéntense delles cavidaes del Conceyu de Piloña, pero non la Cueva d’El Sidrón (Fig. 1). Esta conocíase, ensin dulda, dende la Guerra Civil y el maquis al servir d’abellugu a persiguíos políticos, y guarda una alcordanza imborrable nuna de les sos múltiples entraes, yá qu’ellí ta enterrada Olv...

A 2600 yr long composite palaeoflood record is reconstructed from high-resolution delta plain sediments of the Hasli–Aare floodplain on the northern slope of the Swiss Alps. Natural proxies compiled from sedimentary, geochemical and geomorphological data were calibrated by textual and factual sources and instrumental data. No fewer than 12 of the 1...

A 2600-year long composite palaeoflood record is reconstructed from high-resolution delta plain sediments of the Hasli–Aare floodplain on the northern slope of the Swiss Alps. Natural proxies compiled from sedimentary, geochemical and geomorphological data were calibrated by textual and factual sources and instrumental data. No fewer than 12 of the...

Abstract The Cova del Rinoceront, a site in NE Iberia, contains a thick sedimentary fill preserving a faunal archive from the penultimate glacial and the the last interglacial periods. Layers I to III have been dated to between 74 and 147 ka, coinciding with MIS 5a to 5e, a period poorly represented in the Mediterranean terrestrial record. The resu...

The Countrasts Bog (1400 m a.s.l.), located in the western part of the Mont Lozère medium mountain, has been the object of an interdisciplinary study combining multiproxy analyses which includes pollen, nonpollen palynomorphs (NPP), macrocharcoal particles, sedimentology and geochemistry, with archaeological and archaeobotanical data. The high temp...

Archaeological survey and test excavations were conducted at high altitude in the western Catalan Pyrenees since 2001 to 2010. Together with palaeoecological studies of lake cores and peat bogs, these studies (including a series of 27 radiocarbon dates) permit one to discuss human occupations of the high mountains from Mesolithic times to the early...

Karst landscape evolution has been widely studied in recent years on karst plateaus, but the use of dating methods has not usually been possible owing to a lack of data. The intensely karstified GarrafMassif, however, presents large solution dolines and several shafts that contain archaeological and palaentological remains that can be used for dete...

Marine Isotope Stage 7 (MIS 7) is an interglacial that has not been a major topic of scientific interest, yet is interesting because it contains five warm and cold phases (MIS 7e-a) within a brief period of time (ca. 246–186 ka). In this context, there are several sites that contain Middle Pleistocene human remains in Europe, including Mollet cave,...

RESUMEN: Los restos de conchas recuperados en el yacimiento neolítico de la Caserna de Sant Pau del Camp (Barcelona) se caracterizan por un gran número de elementos del género Glycy-meris, muchos de ellos rodados por la actividad del mar. Por lo tanto, la mayor parte del regis-tro arqueomalacológico no tiene un origen alimentario. La comparación co...

The shell remains recovered at the ancient Neolithic site of Caserna de Sant Pau (Barcelona) are characterized by a large number of elements of the genus Glycymeris, many of them eroded by wave action. It is therefore surmised that the main part of the archaeomalaco-logical record does not have an alimentary origin. Comparison with current taphonom...

Este libro pretende poner el valor el yacimiento de la cueva de Amutxate, más todavía cuando ha sido considerada «Patrimonio Paleontológico de Navarra» e incluida dentro de la lista de los 144 lugares patrimoniales de la geología española, dentro de tres contextos claramente diferenciados: en el conjunto de las poblaciones ibéricas de oso de las ca...

Es presenta una nova proposta d'evolució geomorfològica del front litoral barceloní, entre el mont Tàber i el parc de la Ciutadella, a partir de la integració de nova informació sedimentològica, datacions radiocarbòniques i dades arqueològiques. Aquestes dades evidencien l'existència d'una cala preromana al peu del mont Tàber que serà regularitzada...

In order to reveal evidence for rapid, short-term climate fluctuations on the Iberian Peninsula during the Late Quaternary, we performed a multi-parameter study of the 67-m long sediment core (BAN II) from Lake Banyoles (NE Spain). Our investigation included non-destructive sediment-physical, geochemical and optical methods to identify proxies whic...

The cultural transition from Mousterian to Aurignacian is abrupt at l'Arbreda Cave and occurs within a homogeneous sedimentary unit with no visible lithologic changes. Fragments of milligram-size charcoal were collected immediately above and below the cultural boundary for radiocarbon dating by accelerator. Four charcoal fragments from the lowest b...

The chronometry of the Sidrón Cave (Piloña, Asturias). Problems and derived implications): We expose the strategy used to date the archaeological record (mainly human Neanderthal bones and lithic industry) from the El Sidrón site, the results obtained, the discussion about them, and we highlight the problems that some results could generate in the...

The Iberian Peninsula plays a central role in the current debates on the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition and the Neanderthal extinction. This is largely due to the chronological data which some authors have suggested show a clear divide between Northern Iberia, where the Upper Palaeolithic appeared as early as 36.5 ka 14C BP, and Southern Iber...

Pérez-Peña et al. (2009) recently estimated erosion rates for an intramontane basin based on the age of the petrocalcic horizon developed in the uppermost basin fill surface. This new interpretation contradicts well-established and reliable evidence for the origin of the travertines deposited after this surface was cut by a new exorheic drainage sy...

Analyses of a 67-m long sediment core from Lake Banyoles (northeastern Spain) have revealed evidence for the palaeoclimate history of the northern Iberian Peninsula. Investigations have included high-resolution and non-destructive sediment-physical, geochemical, and optical methods to generate proxies indicative of sedimentologic variability and cl...

Pérez-Peña et al. (2009) recently estimated erosion rates for an intramontane basin based on the age of the petrocalcic horizon developed in the uppermost basin fill surface. This new interpretation contradicts well-established and reliable evidence for the origin of the travertines deposited after this surface was cut by a new exorheic drainage sy...

The study of a 475 cm core (spanning 4316 y BP) sampled in a Posidonia oceanica meadow (Portlligat Bay, NW Mediterranean) allowed us to make the first detailed description of the soil below this endemic seagrass. The sediments under P. oceanica (often referred to as mat or matte) are low density (average bulk density of 0.69 g DW cm− 3) marine soil...

The Roman Period is considered a crucial phase in the evolution of Holocene landscapes, due to the coincidence of major climatic, environmental, economic and cultural changes. However, there is still debate as to the regional expression of these changes, and to the mechanisms involved, particularly in the topographically and climatically complex re...

The main goal of the InterAmbAr reseach project1 is to analyze the relationships between landscape systems and human land-use strategies on mountains and littoral plains from a long-term perspective. The study adopts a high resolution analysis of small-scale study areas located in the Mediterranean region of north-eastern Catalonia. The study areas...

A multidisciplinary (historical, archaeomorphological, archaeological, palaeobotanical, and sedimentary) and multi-scale study was carried out to gain a better understanding of the long term landscape shaping of the Montjuïc promontory as a result of land use and palaeoenvironmental changes. Evidence suggests that, especially the southern slope of...

In 2008, an archaeological excavation on a site near Barcelona's Port Vell made it possible to study and locate an important area of the city's mediaeval port, including the dock built in 1477 and a shipwreck with a clinker-built hull. This article examines the Barceloneta I shipwreck from different viewpoints based on palynological, dendrochronolo...

The numerous studies on the historical changes to the Barcelona shoreline reveal the close relation established between the shaping of the shoreline of a Mediterranean city like Barcelona and its historical development. Consequently, awareness of the morphological changes of the shoreline throughout history becomes a key element to understanding th...

This study presents a new Last Glacial to Holocene paleolimnological record from NE-Spain. The new paleoenvironmental dataset shows great capability for further matching of this off-site archive with archaeological data from nearby on-site archives (e.g., Cova de l'Arbreda, Abric Romani). The karstic Lake Banyoles is surrounded by various archeolog...

The Coma de Burg lake (CMB) and the Estanilles peat bog (EST) are two sedimentary records that provide paleoenvironmental information about the Lateglacial-Holocene transition in the central-eastern Pyrenees (Alt Pallars, Lleida). The comparison of the organic matter values (Loss On Ignition) with the pollen records from the two sequences (CMB and...

The Guadix-Baza Basin hosts a continuous continental record of paleoenvironmental, paleobiological and geological changes from around 8 Ma to 205 ka. A remarkable succession of Pleistocene mammal sites is found in the Lower and Upper members of the Baza Formation in the Orce area. The Upper Member contains the Early Pleistocene paleontological and...

We present the first winter (December to March) rainfall reconstruction based in a novel proxy, the thickness of annual calcite laminations preserved in Lake La Cruz (central–eastern Spain). A previous calibration analysis between laminae thickness and the instrumental data series (1950 to present) indicated a highly significant correlation with wi...

Lake Issyk-Kul constitutes one of the most important economic resources in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, with more than 100 recreational centers along its shore. Some 370,000 holidaymakers visit the lake annually, and this number is expected to increase in the near future given the growing interest in natural environments (Romanovsky, 1990; Savvaitov...

The study of macroscopic charcoal particles from peat bogs has led to a better understanding of climate, vegetation and fire history, and human impacts. To determine the relationship between human activities and the role of fire events in vegetation change during the last 3300 cal yr BP, we present the results of a multi-proxy approach based on the...

Superimposed on the long-term climate variability attributed to orbital forcing, there are other modes of variability covering timescales from interannual to millennial throughout the Holocene. Their signatures in climate proxy archives can differ substantially because of their lower magnitude and regional diversity. However, if identified they can...

The aim of this research is to study the climate and vegetation history in the western Mediterranean, in the Iberian Peninsula, during the middle Holocene through pollen analysis. The origin of the deposits varied from the most xeric to more mesic Mediterranean environments. The timing, extent, and progress of the establishment of the Mediterranean...

The purpose of this paper is to bring into light the landscape change and natural resources management in the Moroccan Middle Atlas across centuries. The pastoral way of life prevailed for many centuries. However, following the results of this research, evidence of important socioeconomic changes and resources use is found. Ancient agricultural act...

Mont Lozère is located in the Massif Central (France). The area presents a wide diversity of long-term shaped landscapes, which result from complex strategies in natural resources management: farming, agro-pastoralism, forest exploitation, metallurgy… What is the relation between spatial and temporal variability in land-use patterns and the high la...

The n-alkane components of sediments were measured in 530 samples taken from a 107m-long core in the Padul Basin (Andalusia, Spain) covering from the Lower Pleistocene (ca. 1Ma) to the mid-Holocene (ca. 4.5kaB.P.). We show that the relative percentages of the high molecular weight n-alkanes (C27, C29 and C31) are useful tools to reconstruct the anc...

Well-preserved Quaternary staircased marine terraces appear on Ras Leona limestone relief. This is a peculiar sector of the Betic-Rif Cordillera, lying in the four-way junction between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and Europe and Africa. The age and altitude correlation of the Ras Leona terraces with travertine-covered lateral equivalent terr...

The age of Neanderthal remains and associated sediments from El Sidron cave has been obtained through different dating methods (14CAMS, U/TH, OSL, ESR and AAR) and samples (charcoal debris, bone, tooth dentine, stalagmitic flowstone, carbonate-rich sediments, sedimentary quartz grains, tooth enamel and land snail shells). Detrital Th contamination...

Stratigraphic study of the Cova del Gegant’s sedimentary fill revealed different cycles of accumulation of typical interior cave and delta facies. A precise chronology for these deposits, the faunal remains and stone tools contained therein was obtained by radiocarbon, U–Th and OSL. Our results indicate that the Upper Pleistocene archaeological seq...

Stratigraphic study of the Cova del Gegant's sedimentary fill revealed different cycles of accumulation of typical interior cave and delta facies. A precise chronology for these deposits, the faunal remains and stone tools contained therein was obtained by radiocarbon, U-Th and OSL. Our results indicate that the Upper Pleistocene archaeological seq...

De Torres, T., Ortiz, J.E., Arribas, I., Delgado, A., Julià, R. & Martín-Rubí, J.A. 2009: Geochemistry of Persististrombus latus Gmelin from the Pleistocene Iberian Mediterranean realm. Lethaia, Vol. 43, pp. 149–163. In this paper the organic and inorganic geochemistry of fossil and extant Persististrombus latus are compared, together with other st...

Rapid extension and active normal faulting in the western extremity of the Corinth Gulf are accompanied by fast coastal uplift. We investigate Pleistocene uplift west of Aigion, by attempting to date remains of marine terraces and sedimentary sequences by calcareous nannoplankton and U-series analyses. Net uplift initiated recently, due to abandonm...

Although high mountain areas have traditionally been viewed as predominantly grazing areas, with low population and a high degree of land-use stasis, recent research suggest that land-use complexity and change over time has been underestimated. This interdisciplinary palaeoenvironmental analysis has been carried out on the Pradell calcareous fen, l...

Despite important progress in Holocene palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental studies in the Alps during recent years, the knowledge of Alpine river dynamics and their chronology is still limited. To address the influence of external factors, such as climatic variability and land use, on aggradation and floods, we focused our research on the Late Ho...

The age of Neanderthal remains and associated sediments from El Sidrón cave has been obtained through different dating methods (14 CAMS, U/TH, OSL, ESR and AAR) and samples (charcoal debris, bone, tooth dentine, stalagmitic flowstone, carbonate-rich sediments, sedi-mentary quartz grains, tooth enamel and land snail shells). Detrital Th contaminatio...

These studies were funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (CGL2006‐01111) and by the Alexander von Humboldt‐Foundation (V‐3.FLF‐DEU/1070630). Conventional radiocarbon dating was carried out at the Radiocarbon Laboratory, Physics Institute, University of Bern and the authors thank Professor Thomas Stocker and René Fischer for their...

Water availability is the result of the long-time confluence of natural and human forces such as climate variability, land use and water management. Water availability and water shortage are key factors triggering the relationship between human communities and their physical environments in Spanish Mediterranean regions. Besides, socio-environmenta...

Lake La Cruz is a meromictic, karstic lake with annually laminated sediment formed by summer pulses of calcite deposition. The aim of this study was to explore the potential use of the laminated sediment from Lake La Cruz as a quantitative climate proxy, by calibrating lamina thickness against instrumental climate data. Statistical analysis of the...

Our results from the River Aguas basin suggest that fluvial archives, travertine and slope deposits provide sensitive resolution records of environmental changes during the last 170 kyr. From the chronostratigraphic data sets we have established a model of middle and late Pleistocene river response for littoral basins on the southern Iberian Penins...

The marsh deposits cropping out near Galerazamba are located at 15 m above sea level and at a distance of 1,250 m from the present day Ciénaga El Totumo. This location suggests frequent changes in the sea level. A radiocarbon age 4,150±50 yr BP was obtained from mollusc remains at the Ciénaga El Totumo. The age of the marsh corresponds to a dry cli...

The variability of Late Holocene fluvial dynamics in the Swiss Alps is traced from fan delta deposits using a multi-proxy approach. The spatial coexistence of wetland, alluvial and fluvial environments on the low-gradient Lütschine fan delta provides a high-resolution fluvial record. The sedimentary record shows seven major aggradation pulses from...

This multi-proxy paleoenvironmental study from Lake Sanabria (NW Iberian Peninsula), based on pollen, diatom, and sedimentology, provides evidences of climatic oscillations attributed to the Late Roman and Medieval Warm Periods as well as the Little Ice Age (LIA). From 440 to 950 AD, the climate was characterized by mild temperatures and a Mediterr...

Se describe el yacimiento de vertebrados de los depósitos lacustres que afectan a la formación Incarcal, en las cercanías de Crespià. Se da una lista faunística provisional y se describen y discuten los materiales de pachycrocuta brevirostris (Aymard) hallados en esta localidad. Este yacimiento de vertebrados constituye un eslabón importante en el...

We review and present new geochronological data on the uplifted Middle-Late Pleistocene marine deposits at the western termination of the Corinth Rift and the Rion area. Geomorphological and geological observations define the general morphotectonic context of these deposits, which predicts a pattern of differential uplift. Uplift rate estimates bas...

The dating of the fluvial terraces of the middle River Llobregat enabled one to establish a correlation between the sedimentation episodes in continental zones and in neighbouring deltaic and coastal areas in the NE Iberian continental margin. The fluvial Terraces 4 (+85-95 m above river level) and 3 (+55-65 m above river level) are made up by or i...

Fossil evidence from the Iberian Peninsula is essential for understanding Neandertal evolution and history. Since 2000, a new sample approximately 43,000 years old has been systematically recovered at the El Sidrón cave site (Asturias, Spain). Human remains almost exclusively compose the bone assemblage. All of the skeletal parts are preserved, and...

A geochemical study of oligotrophic Lake Sanabria (NW Iberian Peninsula) allows us to distinguish the geochemical response of a lacustrine system to catastrophic events and climatic events. The main major elements analysed were: K, Na, Mg, Ca, Ti, Al, Fe, Mn, P and S. The organic matter content in the sediment of Lake Sanabria is determined by the...

The Guadix–Baza basin is one of a number of intramontane depressions located within the Betic Cordillera (SE Spain), where the geological and geomorphological evolution is controlled by tectonic activity. The basin ceased to be closed after capture by the Atlantic network, when five main land systems developed. Late Pleistocene geological evolution...

Environmental changes discussed in an earlier work using pollen, sedimentology, ostracods and charcoal proxies were evaluated with new non-pollen palynomorph data. The limits of non-pollen palynomorph biozones are consistent with the main environmental changes reported earlier in the Pre-Pyrenean Lake Estanya. The non-pollen palynomorph diagram fro...

Approximately one million inhabitants in an area of more than 1x10^6 km^2 in Argentina are potentially exposed to natural high arsenic water (As >50 μg l-1) and, consequently, are at a high risk of arsenicosis. The origin of arsenic has been associated with in-situ volcanic ash weathering, although there are not conclusive evidences on that. The av...

ABSTRACT A balance of the research in the Benzú Cave was presented from the different study lines of our multidisciplinary team. We present the stratigraphy of the archaeological site. This site is contextualised in the regional surroundings of the Gibraltar Strait North-African area for human groups carriers of Mode 3 technology.