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In this article, we present the results of the research carried out at the Gravettian occupation level of Cueva del Arco (Spain). For this purpose, a multidisciplinary investigation has been carried out in which all the elements recovered in the excavations carried out since 2015 at this site have been studied. The results are contextualised alongside all of the existing Gravettian sites in Mediterranean Iberia. The study of the material culture, the fauna, the landscape, and the dating has allowed us to approach the occupations of the site from many perspectives and has permitted us to conclude that Cueva del Arco was occupied sporadically at the beginning of the Gravettian period by a small human group in what would be the beginning of the consolidation of the anatomically modern humans (AMH) in this territory. Furthermore, these occupations were preceded by others belonging to the Aurignacian, which left hardly any remains in the cave. The data presented in this article lead us to believe that Cueva del Arco is a site of great importance for the knowledge of the beginning of the AMH settlement in the Iberian Mediterranean, both in its expansion towards the south and in its definitive consolidation in this territory.

This paper is part of a broad special issue exploring the Cultures of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Western Europe. In this context our aim is to offer a state of the art review of the figurative Palaeolithic art spanning the period between 15000 and 11500 cal BP (12500-10000 BP) in the Mediterranean Iberia. We start with a short description of the few, but singular, finds published to date in the archaeological literature and ascribed to this period based on both absolute and relative dating techniques, assessing the quality and reliability of the ascription suggested. The aim is to offer an updated review of the main features, the evolution and sequencing of final Palaeolithic art in the study area, of interest for comparative analysis and for more global debates on the latest changes and final disappearance of figurative art of Palaeolithic style in this part of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]