Juan Labranz cave: a Quaternary deposit in the central Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

Here we report the preliminary results from the 2015-19 prospections, excavations, and research from Juan Labranz Cave, a new paleontological Quaternary deposit rich in mammals that offers information on the faunal context, southern sub-plateau. It is located on the border on the Iberian range, at the Sierra de Valdecabras, Cuenca, at 1.279 m.a.s.l.. The study includes a first georeferenced digital map of the cave and a preliminary analysis of the chronology, palynology, macro-and microvertebrate paleontology, and taphonomy. The cave is interpreted as a hyena den, and this would represent one of the highest elevation cavities where the activity of this taxon is recorded. Moreover, we consider this site important and unique because it constitutes one of the very few Pleistocene cave sites in the southern sub-plateau. It is strategically located on the border between the Iberian range and the Tajo Tertiary Basin, at the Júcar river valley, which constitutes the only great natural corridor that covers hundreds of kilometres connecting two very important palaeoecological contexts, the interior of the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean basin.