The spread of farming out of the Balkans and into the rest of Europe followed two distinct routes: An initial expansion represented by the Impressa and Cardial traditions, which followed the Northern Mediterranean coastline; and another expansion represented by the LBK (Linearbandkeramik) tradition, which followed the Danube River into Central Europe. Although genomic data now exist from samples representing the second migration, such data have yet to be successfully generated from the initial Mediterranean migration. To address this, we generated the complete genome of a 7,400-year-old Cardial individual (CB13) from Cova Bonica in Vallirana (Barcelona), as well as partial nuclear data from five others excavated from different sites in Spain and Portugal. CB13 clusters with all previously sequenced early European farmers and modern-day Sardinians. Furthermore, our analyses suggest that both Cardial and LBK peoples derived from a common ancient population located in or around the Balkan Peninsula. The Iberian Cardial genome also carries a discernible hunter–gatherer genetic signature that likely was not acquired by admixture with local Iberian foragers. Our results indicate that retrieving ancient genomes from similarly warm Mediterranean environments such as the Near East is technically feasible.

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The Middle Pleistocene is a crucial time period for studying human evolution in Europe, because it marks the appearance of both fossil hominins ancestral to the later Neandertals and the Acheulean technology. Nevertheless, European sites containing well-dated human remains associated with an Acheulean toolkit remain scarce. The earliest European hominin crania associated with Acheulean handaxes are at the sites of Arago, Atapuerca Sima de los Huesos (SH), and Swanscombe, dating to 400–500 ka (Marine Isotope Stage 11–12). The Atapuerca (SH) fossils and the Swanscombe cranium belong to the Neandertal clade, whereas the Arago hominins have been attributed to an incipient stage of Neandertal evolution, to Homo heidelbergensis, or to a subspecies of Homo erectus. A recently discovered cranium (Aroeira 3) from the Gruta da Aroeira (Almonda karst system, Portugal) dating to 390–436 ka provides important evidence on the earliest European Acheulean-bearing hominins. This cranium is represented by most of the right half of a calvarium (with the exception of the missing occipital bone) and a fragmentary right maxilla preserving part of the nasal floor and two fragmentary molars. The combination of traits in the Aroeira 3 cranium augments the previously documented diversity in the European Middle Pleistocene fossil record

Carbonate pond deposits occur associated with alluvial sediments in Miocene sequences of the Madrid Basin, central Spain. The ponds developed near the basin margins, either in floodplain environments (north) or mud‐flat settings (south). Three main facies assemblages are recognized: (1) floodplain/mud‐flat, (2) palaeosols and (3) pond deposits. In the northern part of the basin, ponds developed on the floodplain of terminal fluvial systems. The floodplain facies are typically red mudstones with interbedded sandstones and siltstones. Palaeosols associated with the ponds show a pedofacies relationship, the maturity of soils increasing with distance from the main channel. Carbonate pond deposits consist mainly of limestones, which display typical ‘palustrine’features. The formation and further accumulation of carbonate in the ponds took place in periods of reduced clastic sediment input and it is suggested that recharge into the pond areas was mainly from groundwater. In the south, ponds developed on mud‐flats located between sheet‐flood‐dominated alluvial fans and evaporite lakes. Mud‐flat facies consist of red mudstone that exhibits evidence of progressive soil development near both edges and beneath the carbonate pond lenses. Carbonate in the ponds is mainly dolomite and comprises two subfacies, mottled and laminated dolomicrites. This mineralogy, together with the presence of gypsum crusts below and in the lower part of the carbonate body, suggests higher evaporation rates and/or more saline waters filling the ponds in this part of the basin. In spite of differences in depositional setting and, to some extent, climatic conditions between the two areas of the basin, both facies associations and the sequential arrangement of the ponds show strong similarities that allow the proposal of a facies model for carbonate pond deposits related to semi‐arid alluvial systems. The sequences recognized from the pond deposits record a set of facies clearly different to those forming in swampy lakes associated with many permanent fluvial systems developed in more humid climates.

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