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El presente trabajo se ha centrado sobre la Cuadrilla de Ayala (Álava), donde se han localizado ocho poblaciones relictas de vid silvestre en diversos hábitats. Se ha comprobado su carácter dioico durante el periodo de floración. Se han identificado las principales especies parásitas existentes sobre estas parras y las principales componentes de su vegetación acompañante. Por otro lado, se han estudiado quince vides cultivadas, con una edad superior a cincuenta años, situadas en la fachada principal de los caseríos. El análisis del ADN de ambos tipos de parras se ha realizado con 48 marcadores SNPs. Los resultados obtenidos han sido comparados con la base de datos disponible en el Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino (Logroño), a fin de proceder a la caracterización genética de las muestras. This paper focuses on the Cuadrilla de Ayala (Álava province, Spain), where eight relic wild grapevine populations were located in different habitats. The dioecious nature of these lianas was determined at flowering time. The main parasitic species on these vines and also the most frequent taxa of their accompanying vegetation were identified. On the other hand, fifteen vines, aged in excess of fifty, and located in the main entrances of traditional farmhouses (caseríos), were also studied. The analysis of the DNA from both kinds of sampled vines was based on 48 SNPs markers. Results were compared with the available data base at the Instituto de Ciencias de la Vid y del Vino (Logroño, Spain) for the sample genetic characterization.

The exploitation of ungulates in the Cantabrian region during the Upper Palaeolithic is characterized by the appearance of progressively specialized hunting strategies, especially during the Magdalenian. This specialization focused on either Iberian ibex or red deer, depending on environmental or topographic features. Red deer, for instance, was hunted mostly on the plains while ibex and/or chamois was hunted in rocky and mountainous areas. Here we present new zooarchaeological and taphonomic evidence from Coímbre cave (northern Spain), a site located in the rugged region between the Picos de Europa and Sierra del Cuera (Asturias) which has evidence for specialized ibex hunting. We discuss the possible reasons for such a selective hunting pattern. While the predominance of mountain species such as Iberian ibex or chamois in the Magdalenian levels suggests prey selection based on topographic or environmental criteria, the predominance of large bovids in the Gravettian level could imply that other alternatives were available. We also provide evidence of a pattern of rabbit exploitation which is unusual by comparison with other Upper Palaeolithic sites of northern Spain, and which taphonomic evidence suggests was due to human activity.

[ES] En este capítulo presentamos la síntesis paleoecológica y paleoambiental de la cueva de Coímbre obtenido a partir de las diferentes evidencias proporcionadas paleovegetales y paleofaunísticas y siguiendo los resultados de los estudios polínicos, antracológicas, macro- y micofaunísticos. Los resultados muestran un medio con paisajes abiertos y unas condiciones frías más o menos rigurosas según el momento bajo las cuales tuvieron lugar las ocupaciones humanas del Gravetiense y Magdaleniense inferior y medio. La secuencia arqueológica culmina con una fase más húmeda y una mayor diversidad del ecosistema durante el Magdaleniense superior., [ES] In this chapter we offer a paleoecological and paleoenvironmental synthesis of the Coímbre cave using the evidence provided by plant and animal remains, as well as the results of the studies on pollen, wood charcoal, and microfauna. The result shows a milieu characterized by open landscapes and cold conditions of varying degrees of severity, depending on the time when the Gravettian and Lower and Middle Magdalenian human occupations took place. The archaeological sequence culminates in a more humid phase with a greater diversity of ecosystems during the Upper Magdalenian.

57th Annual Meeting in Heidenheim, 7-11 April 2015. Erlangen: Hugo Obermaier-Gesellschaft für Erforschung des Eiszeitalters und der Steinzeit e. V. = Hugo Obermaier Society for Quaternary Research and Archaeology of the Stone Age, 2015, Coímbre cave (135 meters asl) is located on the southwestern slope of Mount Pendendo (532 m), in the small valley of Besnes river, tributary of Cares river, in a medium-higher mountain are in the central-western Cantabria –northern Iberian Peninsula- (Álvarez-Alonso et al., 2009; 2013b). The landscape in the surroundings of the cave –situated in an interior valley but near to the current coast in a low altitude- can be described as a mountainous environment where valleys, small hills and steep mountains with high slopes are integrated, which confer a relative variety of ecosystems to this area. Coímbre contains an important archaeological site divided in two different areas. B Area, is the farthest from the entrance, and is the place where took place the excavations carried out to date, between 2008 and 2012 (Álvarez-Alonso et al., 2009, 2011, 2013a, 2013b). Coímbre B shows a complete and very interesting Magdalenian sequence (with Lower, Middle and Upper Magdalenian levels), and a gravettian level, that converts this cave in one of the biggest habitat areas in western Cantabria. Its rich set of bone industries, mobiliar art and ornaments, provide key information that shows the connections between this area, the Pyrenees and the south-west of Aquitaine. Moreover, Coímbre cave presents an interesting set of Magdalenian engravings, located in different places of the cavity, both in open and accessible areas, and in narrower and inaccessible places, which clearly define two different symbolic spaces. All this artistic expressions belong to the Magdalenian, and it is possible to establish a division between a set of engravings framed in the first stages of this period (the most abundant and remote); and a more limited set of engravings, in which stand out a block with a engraving of a bison with a deep trace of more than one meter long, that belongs to the recent Magdalenian. This work presents the preliminary results of the analysis of Magdalenian occupations in Coímbre, after the end of the excavations in B Area, and the study of its rock art, shaping this site as one of the most important places of Magdalenian human activities in western Cantabria.

RESUMEN: La cueva del Mirón (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria, España) conserva el testimonio de breves visitas de grupos de cazadores al alto valle del Asón, en la zona más oriental de Cantabria, durante el Último Máximo Glacial, con fechas de radiocarbono que oscilan entre los 19200 y 18400 uncal BP. Durante este tiempo, el paisaje carecía casi por completo de árboles (acaso pinos dispersos), con diversos grados de humedad y una leve mejora climática al final de la secuencia de los siete niveles solutrenses. Armados con una variedad de puntas foliáceas, puntas de base cóncava y de muesca, azagayas de asta, y adornados con cuentas de concha, diente, hueso e incluso piedra, los visitantes acamparon repetidas veces al fondo del vestíbulo de la cueva, hicieron varias hogueras ocasionales, cazaron ciervos y cabras, pescaron salmones y realizaron actividades de talla con materias primas locales y con otras no locales de alta calidad. Este yacimiento es uno de los pocos yacimientos solutrenses de la región cantábrica situado en una zona montañosa, donde de hecho, todos los principales campamentos base solutrenses se encuentran en zonas costeras. ABSTRACT: El Mirón Cave (Ramales de la Victoria, Cantabria, Spain) has evidence of brief visits (by hunting parties) to the montane zone of the upper Asón valley in easternmost Cantabria during the Last Glacial Maximum with 14C dates ranging between 19.2-18.4 kya uncal BP. Landscapes were largely treeless (scattered pines), with varying degrees of humidity and some amelioration at the end of the sequence of seven levels. Armed with a variety of Solutrean foliate, concave base and shouldered stone points and antler sagaies, decorated with beads of shell, tooth, bone and stone, the visitors camped repeatedly at the rear of the cave vestibule, made informal hearths, hunted red deer and ibex and caught fish, and did some stone knapping of both local and high-quality non-local raw materials. This is one of relatively few montane Solutrean sites known in the Cantabrian region, where, in fact, all major Solutrean base camps are in the coastal zone. The excavations in El Mirón Cave, directed by LGS and MGM since 1996, have been authorized and partially fun¬ded by the Gobierno de Cantabria. Other funds have been provided by the US National Science Foundation, Fundación Marcelino Botín, L. S. B. Leakey Foundation, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Proyects PB96-0442 y HUM2006-13729), National Geographic Society, University of New Mexico and the UNM Stone Age Research Fund (J. and R. Auel, principal donors). Material support has been provided by the Universidad de Cantabria and the Town of Ramales de la Victoria. ABM-A has a Ramón y Cajal Research Program con¬tract (RYC-2011-00695) at the Universidad de Cantabria.

The Lower to Middle Palaeolithic transition in Western Europe is a long and complex process that is difficult to assess from an epistemological, chronological and behavioural point of view (Monnier 2006). Around 300 kyrs BP some elements of material culture, such as the Levallois technique (Mode 3) appear in several assemblages, but undisputed Mode 2 or Acheulean assemblages are still present until almost OIS (Oxygen Isotope Stage) 5e (≈115 kyrs BP) in different regions (Santonja & Villa 2006). These final Acheulean assemblages share Middle and Lower Palaeolithic traits and are crucial to understanding the patchwork nature of the transformation processes of Neanderthal societies during this period.

In the course of a sondage dug in the rock shelter of J3, in the Jaizkibel mountains (at the north-western tip of Guipúzcoa), the body of a adult man was located buried inside a shell midden. This shell midden had not been disturbed and presented internal stratigraphy features. In any case, the outer edge of the shell midden does show some interesting interdigitation with the adjacent habitational layers, with evidence of different stages of occupation. Within the shell midden itself, under the individual buried there, it was possible to observe layers without any ceramics, whereas the layers covering said individual included ceramic fragments. This individual has been dated to 8300 BP and therefore corresponds to a Mesolithic context., Durante la apertura de un sondeo en el abrigo rocoso de J3, en la sierra de Jaizkibel (extremo nororiental de Gipúzcoa), fue localizado el cuerpo de un individuo masculino adulto, inhumado en el interior de un conchero. Este conchero aparece en condiciones de conservación muy buenas, incluyendo indicios de estratificación interna. El perímetro exterior del conchero muestra una interesante interdigitación con los niveles habitacionales adyacentes, poniendo en evidencia diferentes estadios de ocupación. Todavía dentro del conchero, en la base de esta acumulación de conchas, la cultura material comprendía sólo industria lítica, mientras que por encima de la inhumación fueron descubiertos diferentes fragmentos cerámicos. Contamos con una datación directa de los restos humanos correspondiente al 8300 BP, que lo adscribe por tanto a un momento pleno del Mesolítico.

[EN]In the course of a sondage dug in the rock shelter of J3, in the Jaizkibel mountains (at the north-western tip of Guipúzcoa), the body of a adult man was located buried inside a shell midden. This shell midden had not been disturbed and presented internal stratigraphy features. In any case, the outer edge of the shell midden does show some interesting interdigitation with the adjacent habitational layers, with evidence of different stages of occupation. Within the shell midden itself, under the individual buried there, it was possible to observe layers without any ceramics, whereas the layers covering said individual included ceramic fragments. This individual has been dated to 8,300 BP and therefore corresponds to a Mesolithic context. [ES]Durante la apertura de un sondeo en el abrigo rocoso de J3, en la sierra de Jaizkibel (extremo nororiental de Gipuzkoa), fue localizado el cuerpo de un individuo masculino adulto, inhumado en el interior de un conchero. Este conchero aparece en condiciones de conservación muy buenas, incluyendo indicios de estratificación interna. El perímetro exterior del conchero muestra una interesante interdigitación con los niveles habitacionales adyacentes, poniendo en evidencia diferentes estadios de ocupación. Todavía dentro del conchero, en la base de esta acumulación de conchas, la cultura material comprendía sólo industria lítica, mientras que por encima de la inhumación, fueron descubiertos diferentes fragmentos cerámicos. Contamos con una datación directa de los restos humanos correspondiente al 8300 BP, que lo adscribe por tanto a un momento pleno del Mesolítico. Spanish Education Ministry Research project (HAR2008-03976/HIST), Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and Prehistory Research Group at the University of the Basque Country (IT-288-07)

Homenaje a Ignacio Barandiarán Maestu / coord. por Javier Fernández Eraso, Juan Santos Yanguas [ES] Este trabajo sintetiza los principales datos paleobotánicos disponibles para el Epipaleolítico-Mesolítico vasco. La mejora climática del Holoceno supuso la colonización del espacio por el estrato arbóreo y el retroceso progresivo de taxones como "Pinus", "Betula" y plantas de carácter estépico como "Ephedra" y "Artemisia". En la vertiente atlántica destaca el bosque mixto caducifolio con "Corylus" y "Quercus" como principales componentes junto con un interesante elenco de otras especies arbóreas ("Fagus", "Quercis ilex tp.", "Castanea", "Fraxinus", "Juglans", "Tilia"…). El principal combustible utilizado en los yacimientos es la madera de roble. Al sur de la divisoria de aguas, incluyendo el área pirenaica occidental, destaca la importancia del pino. Los principales combustibles utilizados son los robles acompañados, según las zonas, por rosáceas espinosas o por "Pinus". En la dieta humana se documenta el uso de bellotas, pomos de manzana y serba y sobre todo avellanas. [EN] This work summarizes the main palaeobotanical data available for the Basque Epipalaeolithic-Mesolithic. The Holocene climatic improvement resulted in the colonization of the territory by the arboreal stratum and the progressive retreat of taxa such as "Pinus", "Betula" and steppic plants like "Ephedra" and "Artemisia". In the Atlantic part of the Basque Country mixed oak-forests prevail with "Corylus" and "Quercus" as main components but also with an interesting group of other arboreal taxa ("Fagus", "Quercus ilex tp.", "Castanea", "Fraxinus", "Juglans", "Tilia"…). The main fuel used on archaeological sites is oak. To the south of the watershed, including the western Pyrenean region, the presence of "Pinus" is significant. The main fuel used by humans is oak together with "Rosaceae" or "Pinus". Plant foods identified are acorns, apple and "Sorbus" pomes and, particularly, hazelnuts.

380 p. + anexos Esta Tesis Doctoral analiza el grado de validez interpretativa del estudio del registro de los microfósiles no esporopolínicos (NPP). Se evalúan las posibilidades y limitaciones que presenta este tipo de estudios y las consecuencias interpretativas que se derivan de ellas, mediante referentes de análogos modernos y el estudio de diversos depósitos de la Cuenca Vasco-Cantábrica y de la vertiente sur de los Pirineos occidentales. Junto al clásico estudio palinológico, los NPP (esporas fúngicas, algas, restos de invertebrados) pueden contribuir con interesantes lecturas de eventos o fenómenos de orden ecológico, económico o comportamental (prácticas pastoriles, episodios de incendios o erosión, patologías). Sin embargo, la interpretación e información extraída de estos fósiles resulta, en ocasiones, contradictoria. Para evaluar su potencial, hemos desarrollado este proyecto desde una perspectiva holística, incluyendo el estudio bibliográfico, el trabajo experimental en análogos modernos y la interpretación de registros fósiles. Hemos podido comprobar una serie de contradicciones respecto al sistema óptimo de recogida, procesado y cuantificación de muestras, así como un conocimiento muy limitado acerca de la capacidad de producción y dispersión de los organismos y de la tafonomía implicada en el proceso de conservación/destrucción de los mismos. Proponemos una serie de pautas para mejorar la metodología empleada hasta la fecha.