Microvertebrates (Amphibia, Squamata, Lagomorpha, Rodentia and Insectivora) from stratigraphical unit XB of El Salt (Middle Palaeolithic, Alcoi, Spain)

The locality of El Salt (Middle Paleolithic, Alcoy, Spain) is mainly known by having one of the youngest Neanderthals records of the Southeastern Iberian Peninsula. The upper part of stratigraphic unit Xb, dated at 52.3 ± 4.6 ka (MIS 3), is characterized by the presence of several archaeological assemblages, comprising vertebrate faunal remains, lithics elements and anthropogenically modified cobbles. The stratigraphic column of El Salt consists of 6.3 m-thick of sediments divided in 13 lithostratigraphic units (Fumanal, 1994). The field campaign of 2013 in unit Xb, have yielded for the first time in this locality nearly 1,000 small vertebrates’ remains studied in order to reconstruct the palaeocological conditions during the human occupation of this unit.