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The evolution of the landscape surrounding the rivers of the Madrid basin during the Middle Pleistocene is summarised in the present paper. Patterns of adaptation of human populations who settled on the riverbanks have been established in this area through geoarchaeological data recovered from associated deposits, mainly in the Manzanares and Jarama rivers. An exceptional paleoenvironmental record has been documented for the last 379,000 years in the sequences studied in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. Pollen and non-pollen samples were studied in eight sequences obtained from different sedimentary environments of two terraces, one located in the Manzanares river (Complex Terrace of Butarque) and the other in the Jarama river (Complex Terrace of Arganda), both in Madrid (Spain). The findings show the constant presence of Pinus, sometimes as the prevailing species, and Juniperus as an element of the regional vegetation. The local vegetation is characterised by open Mediterranean forest and riverside woodlands, which together with the aquatic taxa demonstrates the presence of water. The occasional presence of deciduous forest taxa, probably related to riverside woodlands, suggest warmer conditions. Ubiquitous taxa prevail among the herbaceous strata. These types of plants do not require specific ecological conditions, but could suggest a certain degree of humidity and explain the low values of xeric taxa and sub-continental steppe grasslands. The development of nitrophilous taxa, associated with the presence of fauna, is consistent with the faunal remains recorded from the sites. However, the pollen record shows changes in the structure of the vegetation in all sequences (progressive increase in the tree component), as well as in the composition of the plant landscape (decrease of the Mediterranean taxa and increase of xeric and steppe grasslands), due to temperature and humidity rate related changes. Climatic oscillations are observed across the stratigraphic sequence, and discussed in light of the archaeological evidence for the human occupation of inland Iberia.

Trace element concentrations in the Cartagena Bay coastal record reveal a contribution of natural processes. However, the influence of anthropogenic factors predominates in the last three millennia, particularly aerosol deposition linked to mining and industrial activities in the area. The coastal record of Cartagena can be considered a preserved environment, suitable to search for regional human activity fingerprinting, specifically that related to the deposition of heavy metals such as Pb and Cu. A multivariate statistical analysis was carried out to clarify the geochemical behaviour of trace and major elements. Our study design represents a novel approach to assign natural contributions, such as eolian and riverine input, to coastal deposits, and organic matter preservation under anoxic environments. Therefore, synergies obtained by the simultaneous study of multivariate statistics and enrichment factors allow robust conclusions about palaeoenvironmental evolution and human activities. Anthropogenic influence suggested that Pb mining and metallurgy began during the Chalcolithic period, with considerable inputs of Pb and Cu to atmospheric pollution during Phoenician, Punic and Roman times., This paper was made possible by funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation projects: Cambios ambientales y ocupación humana en el sector central del sureste ibérico (HAR2017-85726-C2-2-P) and Carthago Nova desde su entorno litoral: Paleotopografía y evolución medioambiental del Sector central del Sureste Ibérico. Dinámica poblacional y productiva (HAR2017-85726-C2-1-P). XRF core scanner equipment was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund via the Spanish National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2013-2016 (IGME13-4E-2576).

In the eastern Iberian Peninsula, the archaeological site of Cuesta de la Bajada (Teruel, Spain) has produced some of the earliest evidence of Middle Paleolithic stone tool traditions together with evidence of equid and cervid carcasses defleshed by hominins. Based on the numerical age of 317-240 ka derived from OSL, ESR and AAR dating methods for the lower part of the Cuesta de la Bajada sedimentological sequence (level CB3), as well as the biochronological inferences for the small and large mammal associations, the site can be attributed to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 8 or the end of MIS 9. As amphibians and reptiles have precise environmental and climatic requirements and do not differ at species level from the extant herpetofauna of the Iberian Peninsula, they can contribute to the reconstruction of the landscape and climate. In this paper, the fossil amphibians and squamate reptiles from Cuesta de la Bajada are studied for the first time. The mutual ecogeographic range and habitat weighting methods were applied to the herpetofaunal assemblages to estimate quantitative data for the landscape and climate reconstructions. The climate is shown to have been colder and wetter than today in the interior of eastern Spain, with mean annual temperature up to 2.5 °C lower and mean annual precipitation slightly higher than at present. The monthly climatic reconstruction shows differences in the distribution of precipitation over the course of the year, with more abundant precipitation from late autumn to spring (i.e. from October to May), and more or less similar precipitation to today during the summer months (July and August). This suggests there was stronger rainfall seasonality between winter and summer than currently occurs. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction based on the herpetofaunal assemblage depicts a poorly forested (15–20%) patchy landscape with a large representation of dry meadows and scrubland habitats together with well-evidenced aquatic habitats. These reconstructions are consistent with other proxies recovered at Cuesta de la Bajada (pollen, small and large mammals) as well as other European MIS 8–9 paleoclimatic records. We can thus correlate levels CB2 and CB3 with the later part of MIS 8 (265-257 ka) or with a humid fluctuation within the MIS9b (303-290 ka). It is also possible to provide a new description of the environmental and climatic conditions that occurred in inner Spain during a cold period of the late Middle Pleistocene.

A new record from a long sediment core (S3) in Navamuño (1505 m asl, western Iberian Central System) provides the reconstruction of the vegetation history and environmental changes in the region between 15.6 and 10.6 ka cal BP, namely during the Late Glacial and the early Holocene, using a multiproxy analysis (pollen-based vegetation and climate reconstruction, sedimentary macrocharcoals, loss-on-ignition, magnetic susceptibility and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) measurements). The results are then compared with other sequences from the Iberian Central System and the whole Iberian Peninsula in order to better understand the past dynamics of the main forest constituents. The pollen record shows a shift from open pine forests ∼15.6–14.7 ka cal BP (Oldest Dryas) to mixed open pine-birch woodlands ∼14.7–14.0 ka cal BP (Bølling). Woodlands were succeeded by a steppe-like landscape until ∼13.4 ka cal BP (Older Dryas), which was replaced again by high-mountain pine forests and riparian woodlands ∼13.4–12.6 ka cal BP (Allerød). A great development of cold steppe grasslands linked to the decline of birch woodlands is documented ∼12.6–11.7 ka cal BP (Younger Dryas). The early Holocene (11.7–10.6 ka cal BP) was characterized by a progressive reforestation of the study area by pine and birch forests in the highlands and oak woods in the lowlands. Temperate tree taxa (Carpinus betulus, Castanea sativa, Corylus avellana, Fraxinus, Juglans, Tilia, and Ulmus) were also common but likely at lower elevations. Pollen of Fagus sylvatica was already recorded during the Late Glacial and the early Holocene. The marked increasing local fire activity during the warmer and wetter Allerød oscillation could be related to a rise in tree cover, supporting the climatically driven character of these fires. Nevertheless, the strong increase in fire activity during the Younger Dryas would probably be related to growing tree and shrub mortality, as well as to the wet/dry biphasic structure of this stadial. The standard “Modern Analogue Technique” has been also applied to the Navamuño sequence to provide quantitative climate estimations for the Late Glacial and the early Holocene periods. This record is one of the few continental archives that show the climatic trend between the Late Glacial and the early Holocene in central Iberia, agreeing with many other regional records from the Western Mediterranean.

The recent excavations (2008–2009) conducted at the open-air site of Las Delicias, located in the Manzanares River valley (Madrid), have revealed new important data for the understanding of the human settlement of Central Iberia during Solutrean times. In this paper, we present a geomorphological and taphonomic study of the Pleistocene deposits of Las Delicias, a technological analysis focused on the bifacial lithic reduction processes documented at the site, new Optically Stimulated Luminescence dates, and new palynological data. Together with the existence of numerous Solutrean lithic assemblages from the early 20th century excavations of the Manzanares terraces, these new data highlight the importance of the Manzanares valley as a focus of Solutrean settlement, not only related to flint procurement but also to foraging activities. Moreover, they require reconsideration of Central Iberia as a virtually unpopulated region during the Late Pleniglacial (MIS 2), and of the associated idea of its cultural dependence on the coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula. We propose new avenues of research aimed at approaching the central region of Iberia in its own cultural and ecological terms.

Knowledge about the relative impact of climate and socio-economic factors on agriculture is still not well known as they change in space and time. Social researchers stress the role of endogenous (societal, economical, etc.) factors whilst physical/natural scientists focus on the role of climate on land use and land cover change, but the latter do not usually focus on human dynamics. Through the analysis of proxies of land cover, sediment yield (erosion) and salinity changes from sediments in a fluvial wetland in central Spain and documentary evidence collected from the 16th century onwards, it becomes clear that climate impact on farming has changed during this period. Thus, until ca. 1725 CE, agriculture production in central-southern Spain followed the cycles and trends of rainfall at the annual, multiannual and decennial time scales. From that time onwards, production began to show discrepancies with climate, with high production cycles associated with dry periods being common and a sustained productivity that was independent of climate trends and it must be related to socio-economic changes. This change from climate-driven to human-driven agriculture can be seen in other areas of the Iberian Peninsula but at different times that vary from the first half of the 17th century until the first half of the 18th century. These different times can be attributed to diachronous changes in the Little Ice Age phases and local and regional differences in economic factors (such as proximity to commercial routes, development of markets) and their evolution, as supported by the different information sources., Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España, Museo Comarcal de Daimiel, España, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, España, Departamento de Geología, Geografía y Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, España, Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas, España

This study presents the results of the archaeological investigation in Benzú Cave, located on the North African shore of the Strait of Gibraltar. The archaeological deposits, approximately 1 m deep, belong to two occupational levels dated to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. A wide range of artifacts was found, and this led to an interdisciplinary study that led us to reach new conclusions concerning the material life, subsistence economy, and environment of the Neolithic and Bronze Age societies in northern Africa and the southern Iberian Peninsula., This study was funded by City Council of Ceuta (65.933/20 [01], 47.849/3 [03], 007086, 77.891/3 [09], 96.478/2 [2010], 0-094/2011, 124.111/3[2011], 23.685/[13]), Plan Nacional I+D, MCYT. (HAR2008-06477-C03-02), Programa de Investigación Juan de la Cierva, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, de España (IJCI-2014-20590), and Proyecto de Investigación de I+D (Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad de España) (HAR2017-87324-P).

Here we present a new site in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain): Galería de las Estatuas (GE), which provides new information about Mousterian occupations in the Iberian Plateau. The GE was an ancient entrance to the cave system, which is currently closed and sealed by a stalagmitic crust, below which a detritic sedimentary sequence of more than 2 m is found. This has been divided into five litostratigraphic units with a rich assemblage of faunal and lithic remains of clear Mousterian affinity. Radiocarbon dates provide minimum ages and suggest occupations older than 4514C ka BP. The palynological analysis detected a landscape change to increased tree coverage, which suggests that the sequence recorded a warming episode. The macromammal assemblage is composed of both ungulates (mainly red deer and equids) and carnivores. Taphonomic analysis reveals both anthropic, and to a lesser extent, carnivore activities. The GE was occupied by Neanderthals and also sporadically by carnivores. This new site broadens the information available regarding different human occupations at the Sierra de Atapuerca, which emphasizes the importance of this site-complex for understanding human evolution in Western Europe.

The Navamuño peatbog (Sierra de Béjar, western Spain) is a ∼14 ha pseudo-endorheic depression with boundaries defined by a lateral moraine of the Cuerpo de Hombre paleoglacier and fault-line scarps on granite bedrock. The stratigraphy of the Navamuño peatbog system is characterized here using borehole data to a depth of 20 m. An integrated interpretation from direct-push coring, dynamic probing boreholes and handheld auger drillings advances our knowledge of the Navamuño polygenetic infill. Correlating this data with those obtained in other studies of the chronology and evolutionary sequence of the Cuerpo de Hombre paleoglacier has enabled us to establish the sequence of the hydrological system in the Navamuño depression. During the Late Pleistocene (MIS2), the depression was dammed by the Cuerpo de Hombre glacier and fed by its lateral meltwaters, and was filled with glaciolacustrine deposits. The onset of the Holocene in Navamuño is linked to a flat, fluviotorrential plain with episodes of local shallow pond/peat bog sedimentation. This evolutionary sequence is congruent with the age model obtained from available radiocarbon dating, obtaining 19 ages from ∼800 cal yr BP (at depth 1.11 m) to ∼16800 cal yr BP (at depth 15.90–16.0 m). Finally, the sedimentary record enabled interpretation of the environmental changes occurring in this zone during the late glacial (from the Older Dryas to the Younger Dryas) and postglacial (Holocene) stages, placing them within the paleoclimatic context of the Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean regions., This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Projects CGL2013-44076-P and CGL2016-78380-P). The authors also wish to acknowledge the help and assistance of the Regional Environment Department (JCyL) and the Local Authority in the village of Candelario. Valenti Turu acknowledges grant ATC013 -and- 2015/2016 from the Government of Andorra.

Geochemical (element analysis, molecular analysis of organic compounds), physical, palynological, mineralogical and sedimentary facies analysis were performed to characterise the sedimentary record in Fuentillejo maar-lake in the Central Spanish Volcanic Field of Campo de Calatrava, in order to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic processes which controlled vegetation patterns and deposition of different sedimentary facies. The upper 20 m of core FUENT-1 show variations in clastic input, water chemistry, vegetation and organic fraction sources in the lake throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The temporal framework provided by 14C accelerator mass spectrometry dating allows assigning the sequence to the last 50 cal. ka BP. Arid phases identified in the FUENT-1 sequence are correlated to Heinrich events (HE) and to stadials of the Dansgaard/Oeschger (D/O) cycles. Siliciclastic facies with high magnetic susceptibility values, high Juniperus pollen content, a low Paq index (aquatic macrophysics proxy index), a decrease in the relative percentage of the n-C27 and an increase in the n-C31 alkanes are indicative of arid and colder climatic events related to HE 2, HE 1 and the Younger Dryas (YD). Similar short cold and arid phases during the Holocene were identified at 9.2–8.6, 7.5–7 and 5.5–5 cal. ka BP. In dolomite–mud facies, the pollen data show an increase in the herbs component, mainly – Chenopodiaceae, Artemisia and Ephedra – steppe taxa; a low Paq index, a decrease in the relative percentage of the n-C27 alkane and an increase in the n-C31 alkane are also observed. This facies was probably the result of lower lake levels and more saline–alkaline conditions, which can be interpreted as linked to arid–warm periods. These warm and arid phases were more frequent during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 and the interstadials of MIS 2. HE 4, HE 2, HE 1 and the YD in core FUENT-1 were immediately followed by increases of warm steppe pollen assemblages that document rapid warming similar to the D/O cycles but do not imply increasing humidity in the area. Fuentillejo hydrology is controlled by changes in the atmospheric and oceanic systems that operated on the North Atlantic region at millennial scale during the last 50 cal. ka BP. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this paper we present a review of the available Holocene pollen records from the Spanish Central System (113 sites and 150 14C dates). Palynological data obtained from pollen analyses of peat-bogs, lakes and archaeological sites, as well as radiocarbon dating, were used to infer the human impact on vegetation and landscape during the last 9 millennia. The Neolithic contribution to the configuration of landscape is scarce, limited to the valleys, while Chalcolithic settlements and their related activities (agriculture and grazing) represent the first evidence of significant human impact on the high-mountains. The pollen record has allowed us to relate two cultural periods of changing, the Copper Age–Early Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age–Early Iron Age transitions, to abrupt climate disruptions, the so-called 4.2 and 2.8 ka cal BP events respectively. From the Iron Age to the Early Middle Ages, anthropic activities were still sporadic, mainly located in the lowlands, but from the Feudal Period onwards, when La Mesta transhumance system takes place, high-mountain landscapes changed dramatically. Late Modern Period brings a further intensification of human pressure, especially related to forestry, with widespread pinewood afforestation., We are indebted to the CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 Program (CSD2007-00058), EXCELENCIA 2011 Program (RNM-7033) and AGRIWESTMED (ERC-Advanced Grants, proposal n° 230561)

Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park has experienced many hydrological and ecological modifications through out its history, both of natural as well as anthropogenic origin, which have affected its carbon storage capacity and carbon fluxes. The study of those variations has been carried out by the analysis of its sedimentary record (geochemistry and pollen) and historical data. The natural changes have a wider variation range than the anthropogenic ones, showrepetitive patterns and the system reacts readjusting the equilibrium among its components. Anthropogenic effects depend on the direct or indirect impact on the wetlands of change and its intensity. In addition, the anthropogenic impacts have the capacity of breaking the natural balance of the ecosystem and the internal interactions., Dirección de Geología y Geofísica, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, España, Departamento de Estratigrafía, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, España, Earth Surface Processes, United States Geological Survey, Estados Unidos, Dirección de Recursos Minerales, Riesgos Geológicos y Geoambiente, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, España, Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, España

The geometric and genetic characterization of the Navamuño depression peatland system (Iberian Central System) is presented here using results from a geophysical survey. This depression is a ~30 ha pseudo-endorheic flat basin over granitic bedrock. Three geophysical techniques were used to map the subsurface geology, and identify and describe the infill sequence: shallow seismic refraction (SR), Magnetic Resonance Sounding (MRS) and electrical resistivity measurements (VES and ERT). The three main geoelectrical layers (G1, G2, G3) identified in previous research, have also been identified in the present work. Using the data obtained in this new research we have been able to analyse these three geological layers in detail and reinterpret them. They can be grouped genetically into two sedimentary units: an ancient sedimentary body (G3), of unknown age and type, beneath an Upper Pleistocene (G2) and Holocene (G1) sedimentary infill. The facies distribution and geometry of the Upper Pleistocene was examined using the Sequence Stratigraphy method, revealing that the Navamuño depression was an ice-dammed in the last glacial cycle resulting in glaciolacustrine sedimentation. A highly permeable sedimentary layer or regolith exists beneath the glaciolacustrine deposits. Below 40 m depth, water content falls dramatically down to a depth of 80 m where unweathered bedrock may be present. The information obtained from geophysical, geological and geomorphological studies carried out in this research, enabled us to consider various hypotheses as to the origin of this depression. According to these data, the Navamuño depression may be explained as the result of a transtensional process from the Puerto de Navamuño strike-slip fault during the reactivation of the Iberian Central System (Paleogene-Lower Miocene, Alpine orogeny), and can be correlated with the pull-apart type basins described in these areas. The neotectonic activity of this fault and the ice-dammed processes in these areas during the Last Glacial Cycle (MIS2) were the main causes of recent sedimentary infill in this depression., This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Projects CGL2013-44076-P and CGL2016-78380-P).