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The malacological analysis of the Cañada Honda shell midden (Tinto-Odiel estuary, SW Spain) has allowed an approximation of the palaeo biodiversity of this sector during the Mesolithic. During this period, the progressive marine transgression caused the flooding of this estuary, coinciding with an initial intensive capture of the bivalves Lutraria and Ruditapes decussatus in the northern and southern sector of this site, respectively. In a second phase, Ruditapes decussatus was the main collected species in all sectors. This last period coincided with some diversification in catches, still dominated by Ruditapes decussatus but with significant proportions of Cerastoderma edule. This stage witnessed a progressive sedimentary filling of the estuary and the creation of marshes and barrier islands. The almost total fragmentation of the specimens would imply that the surface of this shell midden was exposed for a long time while in use. In addition, an occasional charring of some molluscs has been detected. The main molluscs of this site are also the most abundant in other later shell middens (∼cal 5.2–4 kyr BP), indicating an important perpetuation of the collecting and/or eating habits in this environment. All the species determined in them are also currently found in this estuary and its surroundings, where they are also captured.

This paper analyzes the first systematic faunal record of the 1755 Lisbon tsunami in the Mediterranean. On the basis of sedimentological and paleontological features, the sedimentary record of a core collected in Gibraltar was divided into six sedimentary facies, with a paleoenvironmental evolution from a shallow marine paleoenviroment to an increasingly restricted lagoon. This record includes a bioclastic layer deposited by the 1755 Lisbon tsunami and characterized by an erosive base, presence of basal rip-up clasts and abundant shell debris composed by marine and brackish molluscs. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction derived from the foraminiferal analysis is congruent with that inferred from the sedimentary and the macrofaunal reconstructions, with the introduction of brackish species into the innermost, intertidal areas of a confined lagoon. This paleontological record is the first faunal evidence of the 1755 Lisbon tsunami in the Mediterranean., We thank the Gibraltar National Museum and its Director, Dr. Clive Finlayson, for the efforts made to conserve and acquire the BH borehole core. In addition, we thank the review of Dr. Akihisa Kitamura and Dr. Briony Mamo, whose suggestions greatly improved the manuscript, and the associate-editor of Geobios, Dr. Frédéric Quillévéré, for his kind help and comments during the revision process. This research was supported by two postdoctoral fellows of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Government (Subprograma JDCMICINN, JCI-2010-06160) and the Huelva University (PP2010 P-01). Furthermore, this work is carried out through DGYCIT project CTM2006-06722/MAR, DGYCIT project CGL2006-01412, FEDER 2014-2020 project UHU-126029, PID2021- 127268NB-I00 project funded by MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/50110 0011033/ and by FEDER, and AYUDA PUENTE 2021 project M2615 of the Rey Juan Carlos University. Other funds have come from the Andalusian Government (groups RNM-238, RNM-293 and RNM-349) and Autonomous University of Madrid (GPG-418 Research Group). It is a contribution to the Research Center in Historical, Cultural and Natural Heritage (CIPHCN) of the University of Huelva.

The major changes that occurred in the southwestern estuaries of the Spanish Atlantic coast during the last 6500 yr BP were simultaneous to human settlement and therefore the understanding of their coastal evolution will help interpreting human patterns in these areas. The study of the morpho-sedimentary features of new outcrops appearing in the middle sector of Saltés Island (Huelva Estuary, Spain) has been used to develop a model to understand the complex evolution of sand barriers than can be applied to similar inlets along the Atlantic Iberian coast. The first human settlements (6000–4000 yr BP) in the early Huelva Estuary (Tinto and Odiel rivers) were located in the ancient coastal banks or in the nearby hills. From 4000 yr BP onwards, the estuarine sediments started to emerge as sand barriers and chenier plains, prograding towards the mouth. As the littoral strands stabilized morphologically, they were colonized by human settlements in successive periods, the oldest inland (Almendral) and more recent outward (Cascajera). The study of the upper sedimentary layers of La Cascajera barrier display a tempestitic sequence of landward progradational washover-fans. The calibrated and modelled AMS dates in marine shells provide a storminess time range between the second half of first century BCE and the entire first century CE. Sedimentary records are useful to evaluate environmental changes, either from natural or anthropogenic causes, such as global and climate change. The interrelationship between the archaeological findings (mainly salting fish factories and old ports) and the morpho sedimentary evolution at the mouth of the Tinto and Odiel rivers allows us to highlight not only the Huelva Estuary's dynamics evolution, but also the possible regional patterns of human habitation from the beginning of the present sea-level highstand (middle Holocene). Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2010-15810/BTE European Union (UE) EU Excellence Project of the Andalusia Board SEJ-4770

8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table., The stratigraphy of the late Neanderthal occupation of Gorham's Cave, Gibraltar, between 33 and 24 ka BP, the latest known site of Neanderthal occupation, is discussed. Level IV at Gorham's Cave exclusively records Neanderthal occupation and is characterised by Mousterian technology and a sequence of 22 AMS dates. The overlying Level III is Upper Palaeolithic, and the earliest diagnostic culture is the Solutrean at around 18.5 ka BP. A dating interval of over four thousand years separates these two horizons. The ecological and bioclimatic characteristics of the site are considered as an explanation for the late survival of the Neanderthals in the region.

Several sets of staircased Quaternary marine deposits can be observed along the Gibraltar coast ranging from 1 to 210 m above the present mean sea level. Geomorphological mapping establishes, from the relationship between shore, scree and dune sedimentary formations, five main morphotectonic steps on the Rock: marine terraces between 1 and 25 m, 30–60 m, 80–130 m, 180– 210 m, and above. Each terrace level and its slope-aeolian linked sediments is backed by a steep relict sea cliff margin, so forming a composite cliff. The most recent coastal landforms and sediments are associated with the last 250 ka linked to Oxygen Isotope Stages (OIS) 1, 3, 5 and 7. These landforms determine a morphosedimentary highstand-lowstand sequence, with several staircased and offlapped episodes, comprising a major morphotectonic step. A well-developed palaeocliff usually separates the highstand marine terraces of OIS 9 from those of OIS 7. The Gibraltar mean tectonic uplift value of 0.0570.01 mm/yr is maintained from 200 ka to the present. Before this, at least to 250 ka, the mean uplift rate was higher (0.3370.05 mm/yr), possibly compatible with major tectonic events in response to a NNW–SSE compressive stress field between Africa and Iberia. European Union (UE) EU MEDOC Programme: 2002-02-4.1-U-048

18 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, 67 references.-- Ruiz Muñoz et al., Four phases are distinguished in the Late Holocene evolution of the southwestern Doñana National Park (SW Spain), based on a multidisciplinary analysis of the sediments present in drill cores. In the oldest phase (>2400–2500 cal. yr BP), a coastal lagoon (the Roman Lacus Ligustinus) was recognized in the central part of this area, partly closed by the Doñana spit and limited by fluvial levees. The following phase (∼2400–2200 cal. yr BP) is characterized by high-energy events, which caused the breakthrough of the Doñana spit and the creation of new littoral strands in the inner areas. In the third phase (∼2200–2050 cal. yr BP), this new outlet was closed, coinciding with the progradation of the Doñana spit. The last phase (∼2050 cal. yr BP–Recent) comprises three periods: (a) an unstable period (∼2050–1950 cal. yr BP), with the deposit of cheniers over the previous levees; (b) an infilling period, with a diminution of the marine influence; and (c) the appearance of temporary ponds between the emerged levees and cheniers., This work was funded by two Spanish DGYCIT Projects (AMB99-0226-C03-03 and BTE-2000-1153) and three Research Groups of the Andalusia Board (RNM-135, RNM-238 and RNM-293). This paper is a contribution to the IGCP 396 and 437.