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Copyright of Spanish Journal of Palaeontology is the property of Socieadad Espanola de Paleontologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we aim to understand the socio-economic significance and the nature of husbandry practices among the Iron Age communities that settled the Middle Tagus Valley, in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula. The literature on these societies is vast, including several recent monographs, but has mostly focused on the cultural aspects of material culture, settlement patterns, chronology, and the palaeoenvironmental context. In contrast, the socio-economic information that can be retrieved from faunal assemblages has been relatively overlooked. Through the zooarchaeological study of the bone assemblages from seven archaeological sites, we aim to characterise the nature of husbandry practices and analyse how patterns of change that we see during the First and Second Iron Ages, such as the significant increase in the number of pigs (Sus scrofa), can help us understand better the socio-economic dynamics of these human communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agrarian landscapes are among the least understood features of first millennium B.C. societies in the western Mediterranean. Studies of such landscapes in the context of the Iberian Iron Age have been based essentially on the archeological record in places used for purposes other than farming, particularly settlements and areas reserved for burials and rituals, or on the identification of the possible use of fertilizers. Here we present a multiproxy analysis of an agrarian landscape based on geoarchaeological and paleoenvironmental studies in a mountainous region in southeastern Iberia. The findings confirmed the existence of farmland cultivated as early as the first millennium B.C. in the high Jutia Valley in the Spanish province of Albacete. These results suggest that coordinated analyses can be highly useful for identifying enduring agricultural practices, while contributing to a fuller understanding of western Mediterranean agrarian landscapes and their millenarian resilience, attributable to the coevolution of human communities and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction based on microfaunal assemblages preserved at Lezetxiki II Cave (Arrasate, Basque Country, Iberian Peninsula) and synthesize previously published and new chronological work from the cave to better understand the environmental history of the region. The stratigraphic sequence of this short gallery ranges from the end of the middle Pleistocene to the middle Holocene and has great micropaleontological relevance for the Iberian Peninsula, especially because it contains the most ancient small vertebrate remains found in the Cantabrian region, likely deposited during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 7–6. Thirty-two small vertebrate taxa, including two extinct species, were identified. Environmental reconstruction based on small vertebrates suggests an open landscape at the base of the sequence (three lower levels) that progressively changed to woodland in the upper levels. Other paleoenvironmental data suggest a similar interpretation of the environmental history of the region, and although some uncertainty in the environmental reconstruction and chronology still exists, our data provide a richly detailed record of small vertebrates from an area that likely represented an important late Quaternary migration corridor for species traveling between the Iberian Peninsula and European continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we reconstruct the Holocene paleoenvironmental evolution of the Guadiana Estuary, southwestern Iberian Peninsula. Two previously studied boreholes (CM3 and CM5) were revisited and analyzed in the light of a foraminifera modern analog approach. Cluster analyses define four assemblages with different biocenotic, taphonomic, elevation and distance-to-sea settings, which serve as a baseline for paleoassemblages interpretation. Faunal changes along the sedimentary sequences, together with previous sedimentological and chronological data, redefine the different phases of environmental evolution in the Guadiana Estuary since ca. 13 kyr cal. BP, with special emphasis on the Holocene marine highstand. Estuarine flooding began synchronously in both locations (ca. 9 kyr cal. BP) but manifested differently in each sedimentary sequence. The most seaward borehole records a more evident and longer highstand (ca. 8.8-3.8 kyr cal. BP), characterized by the occurrence of subtidal environments and by the presence of open marine species (Pararotalia cf. spinigera, planktic forms and a significant number of exotic/allochthonous tests), indicating warmer and more marine conditions than today. In the most landward borehole, the highstand is shorter (ca. 8-7.6 kyr cal. BP) and less intense, characterized by the presence of a diverse, mainly autochthonous, open estuary assemblage, dominated by Ammonia aberdoveyensis and Haynesina germanica. At 4.4 kyr cal. BP, during a long deceleration phase of regional sea-level rise, a short but well-defined pulse of marine influence is recorded in CM5, when open estuarine assemblages reappear and replace marsh agglutinated assemblages, suggesting a new submergence phase. This short event is not identified in the previous works carried out in the same area, thus further data are needed to understand whether it is consequent from a global, warming period or whether it resulted only from local and ephemeral forcing effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overlying a palustrine deposit of unknown age (complex FP), and protected from weathering and erosion inside a large cave/rock-shelter cavity, the sedimentary fill of Cueva Antón, a Middle Paleolithic site in SE Spain, corresponds in most part (sub-complexes AS2-to-AS5) to a ca.3 m-thick Upper Pleistocene terrace of the River Mula. Coupled with the constraints derived from the deposit’s paleoclimatic proxies, OSL dating places the accumulation of this terrace in MIS 5a, and radiocarbon dates from the overlying breccia cum alluvium (sub-complex AS1) fall in the middle part of MIS 3; the intervening hiatus relates to valley incision and attendant erosion. The two intervals represented remain largely unknown in Iberia, where the archeology of the early-to-middle Upper Pleistocene is almost entirely derived from karst sites; Cueva Antón shows that this dearth of data, often interpreted in demographic terms, has depositional underpinnings ultimately determined by past climate variation. In early MIS 5a, the paleobotanical evidence indicates climate conditions similar to present, albeit wetter, followed by progressive cooling, reflected in the replacement of Aleppo pine by black pine and, at the very end, juniper-dominated landscapes — the latter characterizing also mid-MIS 3 times. The variation in sedimentary facies and composition of the mollusk assemblages reflects the changing position of the river channel relative to the back wall of the cave. Such changes represented the major constraint for the occupation of the site — most of the time inaccessible to terrestrial mammals, it was used throughout by the eagle-owl, explaining the abundance of rabbit bones. Human occupation occurred during a few, short windows of availability, and is reflected in well-preserved living floors defined by hearths, artefact scatters, and the remains of hunted herbivores. The stone tool assemblages are Middle Paleolithic, which, in Europe, implies a Neandertal identity for their makers and, hence, that Neandertals persisted in the region until GI 8. Cueva Antón’s high-resolution record provides unique, critical information on the paleoenvironments and adaptations of humans in two short windows of time during which wetter conditions existed in SE Iberia, where arid or semi-arid climates prevailed through most of the Upper Pleistocene and the Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ichnofabric analysis was conducted on cores from Site U1385 (IODP Expedition 339) to interpret paleoenvironmental conditions at the southwest margin of the Iberian Peninsula during the Pleistocene. Site U1385 provides an important record for the study of orbital and suborbital-scale climate variability, changes related to ocean/atmosphere dynamics, and affected environmental parameters. A detailed study of the ichnofabric characterization is presented, focusing on the types of ichnofabrics, relative abundance, amount of bioturbation, grouping, ichnofabric succession/transitions and vertical distribution. Seven ichnofabrics were differentiated; green mottled ichnofabric, Planolites ichnofabric, Taenidium & Planolites ichnofabric, Thalassinoides -like & Palaeophycus ichnofabric, Planolites & Thalassinoides / Thalassinoides -like ichnofabric, Zoophycos ichnofabric, and Chondrites ichnofabric. They exhibit significant differences in terms of ichnofabric features as well as in their stratigraphic distribution. The most abundant ichnofabrics are Planolites & Thalassinoides / Thalassinoides -like ichnofabric and green mottled ichnofabrics, with a dominance of the middle tier ichnofabrics. The degree of bioturbation is moderate, with a mean BI around 3, but showing a clear bimodal distribution: one group of intervals is characterized by high bioturbation (BI = 6), while another displays low-moderate BI values (BI = 1–2). In general, ichnofabric features confirm generally good environmental conditions (oxic environment and high food availability) for the macrobenthic tracemaker community, especially favorable in the uppermost part of the sediment. A complete ichnofabric succession, from deep to shallow tier ichnofabrics, is commonly registered (i.e., Zoophycos ichnofabric or Chondrites ichnofabric to Planolites & Thalassinoides / Thalassinoides -like ichnofabric, and then either to green mottled ichnofabric, or to Planolites ichnofabric and then green mottled ichnofabric). However, there are some intervals where an incomplete succession between deep and shallow ichnofabrics is observed (i.e., Chondrites ichnofabric to green mottled ichnofabric or Zoophycos ichnofabric to green mottled ichnofabric), indicating relevant modifications of environmental parameters such as oxygen or food supply. Types of ichnofabrics and the Bioturbation Index show significant short-term changes through the studied core. Such variations are probably correlated to millennial-scale climatic perturbations, such as glacial terminations and related phenomena (Heinrich events, ice-rafting events, etc.), or long-term cyclic patterns related to orbital climate variability. The patterns could be tied to a significant change in the climate system, such as the one associated with the middle Pleistocene transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chronology of layer EVT7 of the Vallparadís Estació section has been a hotly debated topic during recent years, with some authors supporting an age close to the Early-Middle Pleistocene boundary (0.83 Ma), others favouring an age older than the Jaramillo magnetostratigraphic subchron (ca. 1.2 Ma) and others proposing a chronology between 0.98 and 0.95 Ma for layer EVT7. Here, we review the biochronological data from EVT7, and review the biochronology based on the study of Mimomys savini using all the available remains of this species, which is the most abundant rodent species from this layer. Based on the morphologic and biometric comparison with remains of the same species from other similarly-aged Iberian localities (Gran Dolina TD4-6 from Atapuerca, and Barranco León D and Fuente Nueva 3 from the Guadix-Baza Basin), we propose an estimated age for EVT7 in the chronologic range from 0.99 to 0.94 Ma. We further perform a paleoenvironmental study based on the whole small-mammal assemblage from EVT7, which allows us to infer an open and humid environment in the vicinity of a lacustrine area or fluvial course. Recently published work also studied the rodent assemblage from EVT7. However, in this study only a part of the small mammals recovered from EVT7 was studied, and therefore its results can be partially biased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated archaeobotanical study carried out in the medieval village of Gasteiz (Basque Country, Northern Iberian Peninsula) was able to establish a diachronic view of the evolution of the vegetal landscape, the plant economy and the forest management in this rural community between the 8th and 12th centuries ad, through the study of seeds, fruits, firewood, pollen, spores and non-pollen palynomorphs. The main results show the presence of an anthropogenic vegetal landscape, shaped by the economic activities of the inhabitants of the village, based on cereal crops, legumes and animal husbandry. Also new data are provided about forest management related to metallurgical activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kiputz IX site records climatic variations during the Late Pleistocene since it represents a continuous time interval record (ca. 25-13 ka cal BP). Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes from the bone collagen of herbivores ( Rangifer tarandus , Cervus elaphus , and Bison priscus ) were analysed to establish environmental and climatic conditions in the northern Iberian Peninsula. Faunal distribution over time represents a response to climatic variations, showing inverse patterns with reindeer and bison profusion during cold periods and red deer abundance during warmer times. The increase in reindeer d 15 N values during stadial GS-2 appears to be greater in magnitude than in continental Europe and reflects drier, warmer climatic conditions. The d 13 C values of red deer suggest more humid environmental conditions south of the Pyrenees. During interstadial GS-1 the climatic conditions of southern Pyrenees appear to be analogous to that of northern Pyrenees regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The impact of North Atlantic Heinrich 2 event (HE2) (26.5–24.3 ka cal BP) in Iberia is currently attested by a set of high resolution deep-sea cores, confirming a record of increasing aridity, lowered temperatures, and important changes in the vegetation cover. In Portugal, a reasonable number of archaeological sites are dated to this time-span, where significant changes in the economic and technological structures have been identified as a new cultural component: the Proto-Solutrean. Based on high-resolution paleoenvironmental data, chronological and archaeological evidence, our study demonstrates how HE2 might have been the main trigger for Proto-Solutrean cultural change. Technological intensification and diversification, as well as the adjustments made in land-use patterns towards an expansion of the social networks, are presented as the major climate-driven outcomes. Within the Panarchy and the Adaptive Cycle Model framework, these modifications consist of a Release and Reorganization moment of the hunter–gatherer cultural systems that will lead to the appearance of the Solutrean technocomplex in Southwestern Iberia. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica is the property of Universidad de la Rioja, Servicio de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Alpine regions of the Mediterranean realm are among the most climatically sensitive areas in the world. Thus, alpine wetlands from the southern Iberian Peninsula, in the westernmost part of the Mediterranean region, are highly sensitive sensors of environmental changes. Difficulties have surfaced in separating controls by temperature and/or precipitation in previous paleoenvironmental studies from alpine environments in this area. We present a Holocene biomarker record (n -alkanes and long-chain diols) from a high elevation lake, Laguna de Río Seco (LdRS), in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, which contributes to the identification of these forcing mechanisms. The hydrological history of the area, primarily water availability and evapotranspiration, is reconstructed by means of the n- alkane record, including the indices of average chain length, portion aquatic, and carbon preference index, as well as hydrogen isotopes (δD) of aquatic (δD aq) and terrestrial (δD wax) n- alkanes. Temperatures are also estimated using the algae derived long-chain diols. We interpret δD aq and δD wax fluctuations as showing changes in the source and amount of precipitation throughout the LdRS record. An Atlantic precipitation source appears to have predominated during the early-middle Holocene, but an occasional Mediterranean influence with an isotopic enrichment in precipitation is detected in the middle-late Holocene that is likely related to the setting of the current atmospheric pattern in southeastern Iberia under the joint control of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Western Mediterranean dynamics, such as the Western Mediterranean Oscillation (WeMO). Our new record from LdRS is consistent with a generalized trend of a humid early-middle Holocene with low temperature variability, evolving towards an arid middle-late Holocene with abrupt temperature changes. In addition to these long-term trends during the last ∼10,500 years, two phases of climate instability, evidenced by abrupt depletions in δD aq , have been identified at the end of these periods, one between ∼6500 and 5500 cal yr BP and another in the last ∼500 years. These episodes would represent strengthened winter cold conditions that favoured the persistence of snowpack and frozen soil in the catchment, causing reduced terrestrial plant growth and low lake evaporation. According to the long-chain diol record, temperatures during these phases were relatively low, but experienced abrupt increases at the end of each period. • Algal and plant lipids reconstruct Holocene environments in South Iberia alpine wetlands. • First reconstruction of Holocene temperatures and hydrology in South Iberia alpine wetlands. • Wet climate and Atlantic precipitation sources predominate in the early-middle Holocene. • Arid climate and occasional Mediterranean moisture sources lead the middle-late Holocene. • Climate instability phases have been identified in both middle and latest Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]