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Studies carried out to date on the Iberian Peninsula have led to the belief that hunter-gatherer sites with exploitation of the marine environment are particularly found in the Cantabrian and Atlantic area. In this study, we present new data and studies of all the coastal sites in the Mediterranean area and we summarize current data, allowing us to change the existing paradigm. We argue for the existence of hunter-gatherer communities who made considerable use of maritime resources from the end of the Pleistocene and the beginning of the Holocene on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Distinguishing leporid bones accumulated by diurnal raptors, owls, mammals and humans is essential to understand not only past human subsistence activities but also past ecology. This is particularly relevant in Iberian Palaeolithic sites where leporid remains usually constitute the most abundant taxon. As far as terrestrial mammal carnivores are concerned, the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) would be the main leporid predator in the Iberian Peninsula. Up until now its contribution as a rabbit bone accumulator in archaeological sites has never been properly assessed. In order to investigate the taphonomic signature of this predator the analysis of 33 samples of modern Iberian lynx scats was carried out. Results show that leporid remains consumed by this carnivore appear very fragmented and exhibit a strong degree of corrosion digestion. Cranial elements are most abundant followed by long bones. Whereas there seem to be clear differences in relation to breakage and digestion alteration caused by owls, some of the patterns obtained are closest to those established with diurnal raptors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]