The first arrivals of hominin populations into Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene are currently considered to have occurred as short and poorly dated biological dispersions. Questions as to the tempo and mode of these early prehistoric settlements have given rise to debates concerning the taxonomic significance of the lithic assemblages, as trace fossils, and the geographical distribution of the technological traditions found in the Lower Palaeolithic record. Here, we report on the Barranc de la Boella site which has yielded a lithic assemblage dating to ∼1 million years ago that includes large cutting tools (LCT). We argue that distinct technological traditions coexisted in the Iberian archaeological repertoires of the late Early Pleistocene age in a similar way to the earliest sub-Saharan African artefact assemblages. These differences between stone tool assemblages may be attributed to the different chronologies of hominin dispersal events. The archaeological record of Barranc de la Boella completes the geographical distribution of LCT assemblages across southern Eurasia during the EMPT (Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition, circa 942 to 641 kyr). Up to now, chronology of the earliest European LCT assemblages is based on the abundant Palaeolithic record found in terrace river sequences which have been dated to the end of the EMPT and later. However, the findings at Barranc de la Boella suggest that early LCT lithic assemblages appeared in the SW of Europe during earlier hominin dispersal episodes before the definitive colonization of temperate Eurasia took place.

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Evidence of late Early Pleistocene elephant butchery activity has been excavated in the Pit 1 locality at Barranc de la Boella (Catalonia, Spain). The fossil assemblage mainly comprises the remains of one prime adult individual of Mammuthus meridionalis, together with 125 lithic artefacts, among which several refitting groups of chert have been identified. The lithic assemblage from the Pit 1 locality is composed of cobbles, cores, simple and retouched flakes, together with a large, well-fashioned pick of hard-wearing schist. Spatial, zooarchaeological, taphonomic, technical and use-wear analyses confirm that the occupation was devoted to butchery of the mammoth carcass. The activity zone is in a fluvio-deltaic area that incises the terrace Tþ60 of the lower Francolí river basin, 50 m a.s.l. Palaeomagnetic and cosmogenic analyses, as well as microfaunal (Mimomys savini, Victoriamys chalinei) and macrofaunal biostratigraphy (Mammuthus meridionalis), support the timing of the occupation to the late Matuyama chron. These various lines of evidence point to Barranc de la Boella being the oldest Early Acheulean butchering site in Europe. Ongoing excavations at several localities at Barranc de la Boella are yielding new data on the palaeoenvironmental, geochronological and technological framework of these occupations. Finally, the evidence is integrated into current understanding of the subsistence strategies practised by Early Pleistocene hominins.

a b s t r a c tSince 2007, excavations at Barranc de la Boella (Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain) have revealed three localities with rich archaeo-paleontological assemblages: La Mina, El Forn and Pit 1. Palaeontology, palaeomagnetism and cosmogenic analyses have dated these localities to close to 1 Ma. The presence of Mammuthus meridionalis, Hippopotamus antiquus, Stephanorhinus cf. hundsheimensis, Mimomys savini and Victoriamys chalinei stand out in the sample of macro and micro-mammals.The lithic assemblages from the three sites are made up of percussion cobbles, choppers, choppercores, cores, simple flakes, and some retouched flakes: mainly denticulates and notches. In the case of the El Forn and Pit 1 localities, two large cutting tools have been recovered: a cleaver-like tool and a pick made of hard-wearing schist. The lithic assemblage of Pit 1, which includes several refitting lithic sets, is closely associated with the remains of a young-adult Mammuthus meridionalis, in a clear butchering site context. This evidence suggests that Barranc de la Boella is the oldest European Early Acheulean site, and one of the oldest butchering site on the subcontinent during the late Early Pleistocene. The study of the variability among these three localities in similar environmental conditions, together with information from other sites, are discussed in order to gain further knowledge about the appearance of the Acheulean in Europe, and its continuity or discontinuity in relation to pre-existing technologies.

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Sixteen Miocene, Pleistocene, and historic lava flows have been sampled in Lanzarote (Canary Islands) for paleointensity analysis with both the Coe and multispecimen methods. Besides obtaining new data, the main goal of the study was the comparison of paleointensity results determined with two different techniques. Characteristic Remanent Magnetization (ChRM) directions were obtained in 15 flows, and 12 were chosen for paleointensity determination. In Thellier-type experiments, a selection of reliable paleointensity determinations (43 of 78 studied samples) was performed using sets of criteria of different stringency, trying to relate the quality of results to the strictness of the chosen criteria. Uncorrected and fraction and domain-state corrected multispecimen paleointensity results were obtained in all flows. Results with the Coe method on historical flows either agree with the expected values or show moderately lower ones, but multispecimen determinations display a large deviation from the expected result in one case. No relation can be detected between correct or anomalous results and paleointensity determination quality or rock-magnetic properties. However, results on historical flows suggest that agreement between both methods could be a good indicator of correct determinations. Comparison of results obtained with both methods on seven Pleistocene flows yields an excellent agreement in four and disagreements in three cases. Pleistocene determinations were only accepted if either results from both methods agreed or a result was based on a sufficiently large number (n > 4) of individual Thellier-type determinations. In most Pleistocene flows, a VADM around 5 3 10