A multiproxy record of palaeoenvironmental conditions at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abric del Pastor (Eastern Iberia)

This paper presents a multiproxy palaeoenvironmental study from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain), a rock shelter which has yielded evidence for Middle Palaeolithic human occupation. The sedimentary sequence has been analysed for lipid biomarker n-alkane abundances (ACL, CPI), compound specific leaf w...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Connolly, Rory, Jambrina-Enríquez, Margarita, Herrera-Herrera, Antonio V., Vidal Matutano, Paloma, Fagoaga, Ana, Marquina-Blasco, Rafael, Marín Monfort, M. D., Ruiz Sánchez, Francisco Javier, Laplana, César, Bailón, Salvador, Pérez, Leopoldo, Leierer, Lucía, Hernández, Cristo M., Galván, Bertila, Mallol, Carolina
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versão publicada
Data de publicação:2019
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositório:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/223688
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/223688
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:Pleistocene
Middle palaeolithic
Europe
Iberia
Neanderthals
Archaeology
Palaeoenvironment reconstruction
Soil micromorphology
Lipid biomarkers
Stable isotopes
Descrição
Resumo:This paper presents a multiproxy palaeoenvironmental study from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain), a rock shelter which has yielded evidence for Middle Palaeolithic human occupation. The sedimentary sequence has been analysed for lipid biomarker n-alkane abundances (ACL, CPI), compound specific leaf wax δH and δC, and bulk organic geochemistry (TOC, %N, %S), providing a record of past climate and local vegetation dynamics. Site formation processes have been reconstructed through the application of soil micromorphology. Analyses of anthracological, microvertebrate and macrofaunal assemblages from selected subunits are also presented here. Our data indicates that a variable climate marked by predominantly cold conditions persisted through most of the sequence and that Neanderthal occupations in stratigraphic unit IVd, assigned to MIS 4 or late MIS 5, occurred in a landscape setting characterised by a mosaic of biotopes. The presence of key resources inside the ravine where the site is located suggests that the occupation of the rock shelter may have been strategically motivated by a subsistence and mobility strategy which focused on zones of localised ecological resilience, such as intra-mountainous valleys or ravines, during periods of global or regional environmental downturn.

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