Paleoformentera’s unprecented look at island’s first settlers and the history of the Formentera landscape

foto 2021 paleo CThe Formentera Department of Heritage is pleased to announce that the winners of local government’s 2020 research grant —Dr. Pau Sureda, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Heritage Sciences (INCIPIT-CSIC), and Dr. Jordi Revelles, postdoctoral researcher at the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA)— started work this week on ‘Paleoformentera—History of the landscape and management of plant resources Formentera’s first settlers’. Sureda and Revelles have set out obtaining sedimentary sequences in order to piece together the environmental and climatic history of Estany Pudent and Estany des Peix.

Pioneering research in Pine Islands
The unprecedented effort has seen geologists from the Pyrenean Institute of Ecology (IPE-CSIC) partnering with colleagues from the Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research (CIEMAT). “In the coming months samples will be processed and studies will aim to reconstruct the history of vegetation, fires and climatic fluctuations over the last millennia”, said Sureda, asserting the data would offer “key insight into natural dynamics and prehistoric populations’ relationship with the island environment”.

Funding increase
FDH chief Raquel Guasch welcomed the news: “The study will shed light on the history of our island, and help us better understand the footprint of Formentera’s natural heritage”. At €8,500, the 2020 grant constitutes a €2,500 increase on previous years’ amount. Guasch insisted the change was crucial given the importance of the proposed study. Six applications were received in 2020, two more than 2019.

Paleoformentera received additional support from Trasmapi.

15 May 2021
Communications Department
Consell de Formentera