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As the south-westernmost region of Europe, the Iberian Peninsula stands as a key area for understanding the process of modern human dispersal into Eurasia. However, the precise timing, ecological setting and cultural context of this process remains controversial concerning its spatiotemporal distribution within the different regions of the peninsula. While traditional models assumed that the whole Iberian hinterland was avoided by modern humans due to ecological factors until the retreat of the Last Glacial Maximum, recent research has demonstrated that hunter-gatherers entered the Iberian interior at least during Solutrean times. We provide a multi-proxy geoarchaeological, chronometric and paleoecological study on human–environment interactions based on the key site of Peña Capón (Guadalajara, Spain). Results show (1) that this site hosts the oldest modern human presence recorded to date in central Iberia, associated to pre-Solutrean cultural traditions around 26,000 years ago, and (2) that this presence occurred during Heinrich Stadial 2 within harsh environmental conditions. These findings demonstrate that this area of the Iberian hinterland was recurrently occupied regardless of climate and environmental variability, thus challenging the widely accepted hypothesis that ecological risk hampered the human settlement of the Iberian interior highlands since the first arrival of modern humans to Southwest Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of small, very well-defined and perfectly preserved tooth marks on the humerus of a mole, Talpa cf. europaea (TE9, Sima del Elefante, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos), is extraordinary. To date, no micromammal fossil is known with puncture prints produced by a bite with a clear or delimited morphology that would permit its detailed study. The exceptional character of the finding may raise questions and suspicions about alteration and taphonomic agents. However, we have evidence that both the marks in the mole humerus are due to the action of biting and that this bite corresponds to the dentition of Beremendia fissidens. After all, not only large predators bite, as this article intends to demonstrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of small, very well-defined and perfectly preserved toothmarks on a humerus of a moleTalpacf.europaeafrom level TE9 of Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos) with a chronology of the Early Pleistocene is extraordinary. In a previous paper, this bite was compared with current small carnivores such asMustela nivalismolars and with fossil remains ofMustela palermineaand the soricid (Eulipotyphla and Mammalia)Beremendia fissidenswith the purpose of identifying the predator. It was hypothesised thatBeremendia fissidenscould be the bite maker. However, it was not possible to rule out other predators due to the shortage ofBeremendia fissidensremains. Recently, new fossil remains of this insectivore have been found in Sima del Elefante levels, allowing the upper dentition to be measured. These new data suggest that effectivelyBeremendia fissidensmay have had the capacity to bite prey larger than itself, even though it did not possess morphological characteristics specialised for the consumption of small mammals. The addition of small vertebrates (like talpids) to complement a diet based on insects could have been a way of responding to the needs of the high metabolic rate characteristic ofBeremendia fissidens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]