Could the central‐eastern Iberian Mediterranean region be defined as a refugium? Fauna and flora in MIS 5–3 and their implications for Palaeolithic human behaviour

Abstract

Neanderthals and modern humans from the Early Upper Palaeolithic had a highly developed knowledge of their environment, where they found the essential resources for their subsistence. Therefore, changes in the local landscape and available resources should have influenced their behaviour, as indicated by faunal and plant remains recovered from archaeological sites. In the central‐eastern Iberian Mediterranean region, the archaeological sites of Cova Negra, Abrigo de la Quebrada, Cova de les Malladetes and Cova de les Cendres have provided wood charcoal, seeds and fauna. The combination of these data allows an accurate reconstruction of the regional landscape from MIS 5 to the beginning of MIS 2. The available evidence suggests that this region could be defined as a refugium in which biodiversity persisted. This type of refugium, containing a high diversity of biotopes and some endemic species, which has lasted until the present day, can be seen at a regional scale, but also locally, especially near the coast. These special characteristics of the region – relatively stable climatic conditions with oscillations mainly in aridity and humidity, and a high diversity of flora and fauna – could explain the high density of Palaeolithic sites throughout Middle and Upper Palaeolithic here.

New insights in Neanderthal palaeoecology using stable oxygen isotopes preserved in small mammals as palaeoclimatic tracers in Teixoneres Cave (Moià, northeastern Iberia)

“…Pollen and charcoal analyses conducted in some of these sites agree on a predominance of forests composed of conifers (mainly Pinus and Juniperus) and evergreen and deciduous species (González-Sampériz et al 2010;Burjachs et al 2012;Carrión 2012;Allué et al 2017;Daura et al 2017). Stable climatic conditions, which prevailed during MIS3, sheltered a high biodiversity during the Late Pleistocene as also proposed for the Levantine area (including the MIS3 records from Cova de les Malladetes and Cova de les Cendres) based on charcoal, pollen, and faunal studies (Real et al 2021).…”

Geoarchaeological and microstratigraphic view of a Neanderthal settlement at Rambla de Ahíllas in Iberian Range: Abrigo de la Quebrada (Chelva, Valencia, Spain)

“…To all this, we must add that in Unit G, there are bone remains of the Mediterranean tortoise ( Testuto hermanni ). There are also some indications of their presence in MIS 4/3, although they were mostly present in the Iberian Peninsula during the Last Interglacial (Morales Pérez & Serra, 2009; Real et al, 2021).…”

“…There are also some indications of their presence in MIS 4/3, although they were mostly present in the Iberian Peninsula during the Last Interglacial (Morales Pérez & Serra, 2009;Real et al, 2021).…”

Iberian Neanderthals in forests and savannahs

“…In line with former anthracological works (Badal, 2001; Esteban et al ., 2017), Real et al . (2021, this issue) have shown the widespread occurrence of cryophilous pines ( P. nigra, P. sylvestris ) in the forests of eastern Iberia during Neanderthal times, with Abrigo de la Quebrada (Carrión Marco et al ., 2019), El Salt (Vidal‐Matutano and Pardo‐Gordó, 2020) and Abric del Pastor (Vidal‐Matutano et al ., 2017; Connolly et al ., 2019; Vidal‐Matutano and Pardo‐Gordó, 2020) particularly relevant. Similarly, the appearance of xerophytic Mediterranean pines ( P. halepensis, P. pinea ) in Cueva Antón (Zilhão et al ., 2016), Figueira Brava (Zilhão et al ., 2020) and Gibraltar (Ward et al ., 2012a,b) is remarkable.…”