Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar: a Dated Late Early Pleistocene Palaeolithic Site in Southeastern Spain

Abstract

Systematic excavation and multidisciplinary research undertaken over three decades have deepened our understanding of the early Palaeolithic archaeology at Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar (Caravaca de la Cruz, Murcia, Spain). New results from biochronology and combined ESR and U-series dating corroborate previous magnetostratigraphy, placing the entire excavated sequence between the Jaramillo sub-chron and the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary (i.e., ca. 990-772 thousand years ago [ka]); palaeontological and palynological findings reflect temperate environmental conditions. A bifacially-flaked limestone hand-axe was excavated one metre below the top of the Pleistocene sequence. The Equus cf. altidens tooth that provided the ESR estimate was excavated one metre below the hand-axe. Throughout its five-metre-deep sedimentary sequence, small nodules, fragments, and struck flakes make up the bulk of the Palaeolithic assemblage. Stratigraphical analysis points to undisturbed continuous sedimentary deposition above a layer of ashy sediment, encountered 4.5 m below the top of the Pleistocene sequence, which contained thermallyaltered bone and heat-shattered chert cores and flakes. Cueva Negra is among the earliest European sites with firm evidence of combustion..Introduction Context Geographical locationCueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar is a large, north-facing, rock-shelter (ca. 10x10 m in area), in Upper Miocene (Tortonian) biocalcarenite rock, lying at 740 m above sea level, a.s.l. (38° 02' 12.5" N; 1° 53' 5.8" W) on the right bank 40 m above the Quípar River where it flows northwards from a one-kilometre-long gorge (the Estrecho, i.e., "the Narrows") below the hamlet of La Encarnación in Caravaca de la Cruz municipality (Murcia, Spain) (Figure 1). The Quípar is a tributary of the Segura River that reaches the Mediterranean Sea 110 km E of Cueva Negra, even though the cave lies only 70 km N of the Murcian coast. Important geological faults determine the alignment of tributaries in the Segura drainage basin. The Estrecho follows the sinistral reverse Quípar Fault, active since the Late Miocene (Messinian). Activity caused uplift of the right bank of the river, thereby saving from riverine erosion the fine-grained fluviatile sediments that had accumulated in Cueva Negra under conditions of low transport energy by intermittent overflow of an erstwhile swampy lake fed by the Quípar during the late Early Pleistocene. The Quípar enters the gorge at 725 m a.s.l. and leaves it at 690 m a.s.l.. The height of the land above sea level during the Early Pleistocene is unknown. The Upper Miocene (Tortonian) calcarenite formed under the Tethys Sea, arising to become a shoreline surface in the Upper Pliocene. Cueva Negra is a vestige of a trapezoidal endokarstic cavity that likely developed in relation to low-lying lagoons or lakes. LithostratigraphyThe fluviatile sediments inside Cueva Negra include clasts eroded from the cave roof and walls. Palaeolithic and faunal remains are present throughout the five-metre depth, implying...

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“…Similarly, a simple limestone handaxe has been reported from Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Quípar in southern Spain. Palaeomagnetic and biostratigraphic evidence supports a late Early Pleistocene date, despite previous debate about the site's age (Scott and Gibert, 2009; Jiménez‐Arenas et al ., 2011; López Jiménez et al ., 2020; Walker et al ., 2020).…”

Hyaenas and early humans in the latest Early Pleistocene of South-Western Europe

“…Dispersal of Crocuta into Europe from Africa and Asia took place at the end of the Villafranchian (after the Jaramillo normal polarity sub-chron), during MIS 21–MIS 19, as documented at Atapuerca-Trinchera Dolina from TD4/5 onwards 21 , 78 and at Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar 28 . Crocuta dispersal in the late Early Pleistocene coincided with a more consolidated presence of early humans in southern Europe 28 , 74 , and the faunal turnover during the Early-to-Middle Pleistocene transition from 41 ka climatic cycles to cyclical glacial periodicity of 100 ka 12 .…”

“…Dispersal of Crocuta into Europe from Africa and Asia took place at the end of the Villafranchian (after the Jaramillo normal polarity sub-chron), during MIS 21–MIS 19, as documented at Atapuerca-Trinchera Dolina from TD4/5 onwards 21 , 78 and at Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Río Quípar 28 . Crocuta dispersal in the late Early Pleistocene coincided with a more consolidated presence of early humans in southern Europe 28 , 74 , and the faunal turnover during the Early-to-Middle Pleistocene transition from 41 ka climatic cycles to cyclical glacial periodicity of 100 ka 12 . This spread of social hunters, such as Crocuta and Homo , also corresponded with the decline of late Villafranchian solitary hypercarnivores and large scavengers 6 , such as the sabre-toothed Megantereon whitei, the Pleistocene Eurasian jaguar ( Panthera gombaszoegensis ), and the large hyaenid Pachycrocuta brevirostris , which are well represented at the 0.9–1.0 Ma site of Cueva Victoria 69 .…”

“…Systematic scientific excavations began in 1990. Recent accounts 26 – 28 address inaccuracies and shortcomings of some earlier publications. Palaeomagnetic reverse polarity throughout the 5-m depth of sedimentary deposits 29 , micromammalian biostratigraphy 30 , and ESR-dating 31 indicate a late Early Pleistocene age somewhere between the end of the Jaramillo sub-chron (ca.…”

“…The macrofauna is under examination by Dr. Jan van der Made 27 , 28 and includes several taxa that existed at that time, viz., Megaloceros novocarthaginiensis , Dama cf. vallonnetensis , Stephanorhinus cf.…”