Environmental context for the Late Pleistocene (MIS 3) transition from Neanderthals to early Modern Humans: Analysis of small mammals from La Güelga Cave, Asturias, northern Spain

Álvarez-Vena, Adrián; Álvarez-Lao, Diego J.; Laplana, César; Quesada, J. M.; Rojo, Julio; García-Sánchez, Eduardo; Menéndez, Mario

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.110096

Cited by 13 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…In the Eurosiberian region, the Mousterian disappeared a few millennia earlier than in the Mediterranean region 5 – 7 and overlapped neither with the Châtelperronian nor the Aurignacian technocomplexes 7 . Stable isotopes 8 , pollen 9 and micromammal 10 analyses suggest that towards the end of MIS 3 there was a cooling trend that led to more open landscapes, with some aridity episodes. Some authors have associated these environmental changes with the Neanderthals’ decline and the resultant demographic vacuum before the early arrival of AMHs 7 , 10 , 11 .…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stable isotopes 8 , pollen 9 and micromammal 10 analyses suggest that towards the end of MIS 3 there was a cooling trend that led to more open landscapes, with some aridity episodes. Some authors have associated these environmental changes with the Neanderthals’ decline and the resultant demographic vacuum before the early arrival of AMHs 7 , 10 , 11 . Likewise, in central areas of Iberia, the disappearance of the Mousterian and the delayed colonization by AMHs have been connected with climatic deterioration and worsening environmental conditions 1 , 12 .…”

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ecosystem productivity affected the spatiotemporal disappearance of Neanderthals in Iberia

et al. 2022

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What role did fluctuations play in biomass availability for secondary consumers in the disappearance of Neanderthals and the survival of modern humans? To answer this, we quantify the effects of stadial and interstadial conditions on ecosystem productivity and human spatiotemporal distribution patterns during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (50,000–30,000 calibrated years before the present) in Iberia. First, we used summed probability distribution, optimal linear estimation and Bayesian age modelling to reconstruct an updated timescale for the transition. Next, we executed a generalized dynamic vegetation model to estimate the net primary productivity. Finally, we developed a macroecological model validated with present-day observations to calculate herbivore abundance. The results indicate that, in the Eurosiberian region, the disappearance of Neanderthal groups was contemporaneous with a significant decrease in the available biomass for secondary consumers, and the arrival of the first Homo sapiens populations coincided with an increase in herbivore carrying capacity. During stadials, the Mediterranean region had the most stable conditions and the highest biomass of medium and medium–large herbivores. These outcomes support an ecological cause for the hiatus between the Mousterian and Aurignacian technocomplexes in Northern Iberia and the longer persistence of Neanderthals in southern latitudes.

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Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem productivity affected the spatiotemporal disappearance of Neanderthals in Iberia

et al. 2022

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“…arvalis is not found at present in the studied zone, its presence has been registered during the Pleistocene and Holocene in geographic expansions linked to cold episodes, such as MIS 2 or Greenland and Heinrich Stadials (e.g., García-Ibaibarriaga et al, 2012Laplana et al, 2017;Álvarez-Vena et al, 2021), alternating with regressions linked to warm periods, such as MIS 3 interstadials (Álvarez-Vena et al, 2021), when the populations were restricted to sites with a more continental climate (e.g., López-García et al, 2011;García-Ibaibarriaga et al, 2015a, 2015bRey-Rodríguez et al, 2016;Navazo Ruiz et al, 2021). As it is a species of continental affinities (Dienske, 1979;Nores, 1989;Paupério et al, 2012;Álvarez-Vena et al, 2021), its presence in a site with an oceanic climate where it is not found nowadays, suggests that Level 0 was accumulated under cooler conditions than the current. Its oldest record in the Cantabrian Region dates from MIS 7, at level K of Lezetxiki-II (García-Ibaibarriaga et al, 2018).…”

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confidence: 83%

“…This method is based on the relative abundances of the different species and their preference for different types of habitats, which were divided into the following (López-García et al, 2014): Open Dry (OD), referring to grasslands under seasonal dryness; Open Humid (OH), humid meadows with a dense herbaceous cover; Open Woodland (OW), arboreal vegetation patches alternating with bushy or herbaceous sectors irregularly distributed; Woodland (Wo), referring to mature forests; Rocky (Ro), areas with a suitable rocky or stony substratum; and Water (Wa), areas nearby watercourses or freshwater bodies. The preferences of each species for one or more types of habitats are taken from López García (2008), ), López-García et al (2010, 2014, Álvarez-Lao et al (2020) and Álvarez-Vena et al (2021). In order to estimate the climatic conditions of the site during the formation of Level 0, the Mutual Ecogeographic Range (Blain et al, 2009(Blain et al, , 2016 was utilised.…”

Section: Environmental and Climatic Reconstructionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Palaeobiological study of the Holocene micromammal assemblage from the Cueva del Hueso (Castrillón, Asturias, NW Spain)

Cernadas-Garrido

Álvarez-Vena

Álvarez-Lao

2023

Spanish J. Palaeontol.

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Micromammals form a group that includes four orders (Rodentia, Lagomorpha, Eulipotyphla, and Chiroptera), whose common feature is not only their small size but also their phylogeny. Its utility in palaeoecology is linked to the preference of each taxon for a specific type of habitat, sometimes even being restricted to one of them (López-García, 2008). Besides, they are highly sensitive to environmental changes . They are also useful in biostratigraphy because of their quick evolution and high reproduction rate (Herráez & Sesé, 1993). These features, together with the large number of remains preserved in palaeontological sites compared to macromammals, make it possible to conduct highly accurate studies about the chronology and climate of specific levels in Quaternary fossil sites. Results can be compared with other palaeoclimatic proxies, such as the ice-and marine cores, or even absolute dating in the specimens with higher relevance. This allows for a better understanding of the environment they lived in, as well as obtaining a more accurate time frame for the micromammal association. This paper provides a study of the remains of micromammals present in Level 0 of Cueva del Hueso, focusing on the following main aims: (1) to carry out an anatomical and taxonomical study of the micromammal fauna recovered at this deposit, (2) according to the data obtained from the taxonomical study, to perform a palaeoenvironmental study that sheds light both on the climate and landscape in the surroundings of the cave, when it was inhabited by the identified species, (3) to conduct a study on the palaeobiogeography of each species separately, as well as the association as a whole, to estimate a chronological frame from the association of micromammals so that the environmental interpretation made can be set.

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“…Blain et al 2018 and references therein). Regarding small vertebrates, MER method has been used with birds (Núñez-Lahuerta et al 2016), herpetofauna (Blain, 2009;Blain et al 2009Blain et al , 2013, in which the authors named the method as MCR; Marquina-Blasco et al 2017, 2021a, small mammals (López-García et al 2014Fagoaga et al 2018;Fernández-García et al, 2020;Álvarez-Vena et al, 2020) and a combination of the two latter (López-García et al 2014Rey-Rodríguez et al 2016;Connolly et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Applying the UDA-ODA discrimination technique to a herpetological association: the case of the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt (Alcoi, Spain)

Marquina-Blasco

Fagoaga

Crespo

et al. 2022

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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El Salt (Middle Palaeolithic; Alcoi, Spain) is a key site for understanding the disappearance of Neanderthals in the eastern Iberian Peninsula, a process that is observed along its stratigraphic sequence. To improve our understanding of the palaeoclimatic context in which this process took place, we applied the UDA-ODA discrimination technique to the fossil herpetological assemblages from Stratigraphic Units (SU) Xb (52.3 ± 4.6 ka) and V (45.2 ± 3.4/44.7 ± 3.4 ka). This method is based in the application of an ecological criterion, the maximum altitude of each species on each Iberian range, to discern and remove those areas that do not meet their ecological requirements (UDA) from those that do (ODA), which are included in its distribution from Atlases from which the common distribution species is going to be extracted. Results indicate the existence of an alternation between “cold and wet” moments with “warm and dry” ones, all of them in a more humid context than nowadays. Climate was slightly warmer than nowadays in SU Xb, whereas was cooler in SU V. Regarding MAP, our results show less variation between SUs than it has been provided by previous studies. These results do not fully agree with those provided by small mammals from the same SUs, which indicate an increase of the temperatures whereas rainfall experienced the contrary. These differences could be related with the wider distribution of the Iberian herpetofauna, and some differences in the applied ecological criterion. Furthermore, herpetofaunal palaeoclimatic reconstruction shows that the abandonment of the site by Neanderthals seems to have occurred during an arid phase.

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Environmental context for the Late Pleistocene (MIS 3) transition from Neanderthals to early Modern Humans: Analysis of small mammals from La Güelga Cave, Asturias, northern Spain

Cited by 13 publications

References 82 publications

Ecosystem productivity affected the spatiotemporal disappearance of Neanderthals in Iberia

Ecosystem productivity affected the spatiotemporal disappearance of Neanderthals in Iberia

Palaeobiological study of the Holocene micromammal assemblage from the Cueva del Hueso (Castrillón, Asturias, NW Spain)

Applying the UDA-ODA discrimination technique to a herpetological association: the case of the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt (Alcoi, Spain)

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