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International audienceA multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental study (pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs-NPP, macrocharcoal particles) of a small fen located in the Perafita valley (2240 m a.s.l, eastern Pyrenees, Andorra) was undertaken to trace prehistoric human activities related to woodland clearance and past land-uses at high altitudes. The results of this study constrained by 9 AMS radiocarbon measurements are combined with archaeological data and compared with similar research carried out at the same altitude in the adjacent Madriu valley (Andorra). The overall objectives of this article are, first, to formulate different chronological patterns and spatial land-use distribution at a micro-regional scale during prehistory and, second, to discuss different drivers of prehistoric occupation models in the eastern Pyrenean highlands. The palaeoecological study of the Planells de Perafita fen was performed at high temporal resolution, allowing us to focus on detailed prehistoric (mainly Mesolithic and Neolithic) and Bronze Age human activity. It demonstrates that the shaping of this cultural landscape is the result of a long-term land-use history, which began at the late Mesolithic/early Neolithic transition onwards (ca 6400–6100 cal BC). The existence of three main phases of “inter-valley” land-use variability has also been highlighted, thus testifying a complex and heterogeneous upland land-use model during the Neolithic and Bronze Age. These land-use variabilities between the two adjacent Andorran valleys provide the basis for a discussion of the way in which environmental constraints influenced prehistoric land-use spatial organisation and of how the interaction between environmental (including climatic parameters), socio-economic and cultural conditions affected the temporal and spatial dynamics of landscape shaping in the eastern Pyrenean highland

The 'pollen washes' technique, based on the analysis of the pollen embedded in the porous surface of archaeological artefacts, is developed for investigating past plant usage and consumption and to characterize the functionality of artefacts related to plant processing, gathering and storage. The research presented results in relevant methodological improvements of this technique, which has never previously been applied on materials from European contexts. The improvements allow: (1) faster analysis of a broad series of artefacts or those with large use-surface areas likely to retain more pollen; and (2) a more thorough, deeper and precise cleaning method, allowing the study of smoother artefacts. Finally, the recovery of Trifolium-group pollen from a macro-lithic tool from Xicotó rock shelter (Montsec ranges, Spain) demonstrates that the pollen washes technique can reveal new insights into both the use and consumption of wild and domestic plants by prehistoric societies, and the functionality of archaeological objects whose interpretation is still problematic.

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