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Unit TE9 of the Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain), where the remains of Homo sp. have been discovered (1.2–1.3 Ma), is also a level rich in small mammals. The taphonomic study of these small vertebrates sheds light on the landscape that provided the setting for the activities of these early hominids and allows us to describe what the cave was like during the formation of the level. Small mammal predators identified in the study indicate that during this period the Sierra de Atapuerca was part of a large biome consisting of semi-open riparian forests with meadows nearby. Postdepositional alterations reveal that the production of fossils took place outside the cave, being transported inside by water currents. During the formation of TE9, the cave presented conditions of high humidity, which made it difficult for hominids to establish occupations inside, although these conditions became somewhat less severe in TE9c, the sublevel where human remains are found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Heinrich Event 3 (H3) is well documented in the North Atlantic Ocean as a cooling event that occurred ca. 31 000 years ago. Deep-sea cores around the Iberian Peninsula coastline have been analysed to characterize the H3 event, but there are no data on the terrestrial response to this event. Here we present for the first time an analysis of terrestrial proxies for characterizing the H3 event, using the small-vertebrate assemblage (comprising small mammals, squamates and amphibians) from the Galls Carboners cave, an archaeo-palaeontological deposit located in the Prades mountain range in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula. This assemblage shows the H3 event to be characterized in north-eastern Iberia by harsher and drier terrestrial conditions than today. Our results were compared with the small-vertebrate assemblage data recovered from present-day Strix aluco pellets available from this site, as well as with the general H3 event fluctuations and with other sites where the previous Heinrich events (H5 and H4) and subsequent Late Glacial Maximum have been detected in the Mediterranean and Atlantic regions of the Iberian Peninsula. Terrestrial proxies seem to follow the same climatic pattern as detected in the deep-sea cores at NorthGRIP and the Iberian margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small mammals, especially rodents, constitute valuable proxies for continental Quaternary environments at a regional and local scale. Recent studies have demonstrated the relation between the stable oxygen isotope composition of the biogenic phosphate from rodent teeth (δ18O p), and the oxygen isotope composition of meteoric waters (δ18O mw), which is related to air temperatures at mid and high latitudes. This work explores the δ18O p of rodent tooth enamel (from Murinae and Arvicolinae subfamilies) to investigate the palaeoenvironmental conditions in northeastern Iberia during Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3; ca. 60-30 ka). Fourteen new δ18O p analyses from modern samples in conjunction with forty-six δ18O p analyses previously published are used to decipher the isotope record of present-day rodent teeth in this region. Two main factors should be considered in Iberian palaeoenvironmental reconstructions: the singular nature of Iberian δ18O mw records and the potential seasonality bias of small-mammal accumulation. Methodological proposals are made with a view to ensuring the correct interpretation of the δ18O p of small mammals in reconstructing past air temperatures. This methodology is applied to the MIS 3 sequence of the Cova dels Xaragalls site (Vimbodí-Poblet, Tarragona, Spain), where fifty-one δ18O analyses were performed on wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) lower incisors. A spring-early summer accumulation of small mammals is suggested for the layers at Cova dels Xaragalls. In agreement with previous environmental studies of the site, variations in the δ18O p values suggest slight fluctuations in the climatic conditions throughout the sequence, which are consistent with the stadial-interstadial alternations that characterized MIS 3. Complementary palaeoenvironmental methods determine cooler conditions than nowadays, but within a globally stable climatic period. • Oxygen isotopes analyses on rodent contributes to continental environment knowledge. • Iberia requires a specific regional equation for past temperatures estimation. • Prey-predator interactions influence oxygen isotope temporal information recorded. • Seasonality bias and Iberian context are considered in the methodological proposal. • Complementary palaeoenvironmental methods yielded matching results at Xaragalls cave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L’Arbreda Cave is one of the southernmost of the Reclau Caves (Serinyà, Girona, northeastern Iberian Peninsula), located between the west margin of the Pla d’Usall and the Serinyadell river, at an altitude of about 211 m a.s.l. The Pla d’Usall forms part of the Banyoles-Besalú Basin, which is bounded by Eocene and Neogene reliefs. It is filled with sediments of Plio-Pleistocene age. The cave is a shelter formed by travertine cascades with a degree of karstification, and contains sedimentary deposits ranging from the end of the Middle Pleistocene to the Early Holocene, thus constituting an important archaeo-palaeontological record for an understanding of the prehistoric occupation of northeastern Iberia. It is one of the most complete and best-dated terrestrial sequences in Iberia from the Mousterian to the Early Holocene period. In this paper we present a palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstruction of the sequence based on non-flying small mammals (insectivores and rodents) and pollen analyses. The environmental and climatic results, together with the absolute dating of the sequence and direct comparison with NorthGRIP δ 18 O and the sea-surface temperatures (SST) of the Alborán Sea, allow us to identify various climatic periods within our sequence: a cold period between interstadials 12 and 10 in Level I, probably interstadial 10 in Level H, the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in Levels C and B, the Bölling-Allerød interstadial (B/A) in Level A, and the Preboreal/Boreal (Pr/B) in the Terra Rossa Level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]