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This work presents the first results from the Aguilón P5 (Zaragoza) cave site on the northern slope of the Iberian System (NE Iberia). The fieldwork carried out since 2010 on several archaeological layers containing remnants of human occupations has revealed lithic remains, processed faunal bones and charred plant remains from combustion events. Due to the lithic tool assemblage and radiocarbon dating (>50.0–41.9 kyr BP), the attribution of this human occupation to the Mousterian techno-complex is clear, contemporary with other important Late Mousterian sites in the Ebro Basin (NE Iberia) and Mediterranean region. Preliminary results concerning stratigraphic, chronometric, techno-tipological and palaeoenvironmental data from the last human occupations of the cave (archaeological layers "cnc", "mcp" and "e") are provided in this paper. To contextualize the Neanderthal occupation of the Aguilón P5 cave, a timeline of Middle Paleolithic in the Iberian System is proposed. A total of 45 dates from 19 stratigraphic units (including speleothems) are available from 10 sites. Chronometric dating series allow us to establish the temporary framework of Mousterian industries in the Iberian System coinciding with the abrupt climate changes related to Heinrich Events which characterize MIS 3. In summary, this paper provides new chronometric and archaeological information about Neanderthal settlement and subsistence in an under-investigated region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It has been argued that the resource patchiness and predictability which fostered the classic seasonal round and agriculture were a product of the Holocene, and that the more unpredictable environments characteristic of the Pleistocene made such cultural developments impossible. But what of refugium environments, such as those hypothesized for the Iberian Peninsula during the Last Glacial Maximum? This paper examines evidence for resource patchiness and predictability in the late Pleistocene Iberian Peninsula, and uses archaeological site location and subsistence data to explore human mobility in different bioclimatic zones in this region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Due to its diverse geographic and climatic conditions, the Iberian Peninsula is well suited for studies into the relationship between climate, environment and hunter-gatherer adaptation. With focus on the archaeological record, this paper examines to what extent diachronic variations in site density on the Iberian Peninsula are related to climate variability and cultural change. Studies are based on a comprehensive record of technocomplexes that date from the late Middle Palaeolithic, early Upper Palaeolithic, Gravettian and Solutrean. The record comprises altogether 152 archaeological cave sites and rock shelters. Analysis reveals strong regional differences between Northern and Southern Iberia, both in isochronic and in diachronic perspective. This is expressed by the strongly different patterns of human presence in these regions. In particular, within both regions major cultural changes coincide with the environmental impact of North Atlantic Heinrich Events (HE). From previous studies, it is known that the human population on the Iberian Peninsula (IP) must have suffered strongly under the extremely variable climate conditions during the Late Pleistocene. Based on extensive site-mapping, the hypothesis is that during HE a major disintegration of habitats must have occurred, with various but strongly isolated patchy refugia remaining. Further, during HE, Southern Iberia could not uphold its previous function in providing a reliable refuge for humans. Not only does climatic deterioration during the different HE repeatedly lead to a near-complete breakdown of settlement patterns, but following each HE there is a major reorganization in settlement patterns on the IP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The disappearance of Neanderthals from the Palaeolithic record in Europe remains an enigma, even after more than 150 years of research. This paper identifies Rapid Climate Change during the Glacial period as a major factor that influences a variety of cultural, economic and demographic processes during the European Palaeolithic. In particular, and in agreement with many previous authors, climatic deterioration is put forward to explain multiple population breakdown during the European Palaeolithic, as well as to explain corresponding major cultural changes. Taking the archaeological record of the Iberian Peninsula as a case study, the Repeated Replacement Model (RRM) is proposed to explain population turnover in Europe during the most extreme climatic phases of the Glacial, the occurrence of North Atlantic Heinrich Events (HE). The strong aridity of the Mediterranean during HEs appears to have limited settlement refugia to such an extreme extent that communication networks and cultural traditions broke down and were subsequently reorganized under different socio-cultural conditions. The transition from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Aurignacian during HE 4 is one of these cultural turnover periods, which saw the final (macro-scale) extinction of Neanderthals and their widespread replacement by Anatomically Modern Humans. More specifically, and recognizable by comparisons with other climatically extreme Glacial periods (i.e. HE 3, and HE 2), the model excludes the survival of geographically wider (supra-regional) human networks, but it does allow for (micro-scale) survival of scattered groups. From this model, some kind of admixture between Neanderthals and incoming groups of modern humans would indeed have been possible on a small scale. If this climatic scenario turns out to be correct, the most spectacular thing about Neanderthal disappearance might actually lie in the seemingly unspectacular nature of the processes involved. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The sequence from Abric Romaní has provided several palaeoecological studies. This paper presents a synthesis of the results yielded by palynology, including the data from the entire non-excavated deposits, and the data obtained through the study of large mammals, micromammals, herpetofauna, and anthracology from the excavated layers. The palaeobotanical studies show that the sequence is mainly related to pine forests, and near or within these dominant forests there were smaller plant formations and/or secondary species with a Mediterranean and/or Atlantic character. Nevertheless, continuous forest did not dominate the entire region. The fauna occupying the territory indicate open spaces in which seasonal grasslands proliferated, dry assemblages in sunny areas and humid ones in mountain shadows. The non-excavated archaeological layers correspond to MIS 4, initially characterized by temperate and humid conditions, and thereafter cool and humid until HS 6 and MIS 3. Afterwards, at the beginning of the MIS 3, the Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles, ∼1500 yr rapid and abrupt climatic changes, occurred during the deposition of the archaeological levels O, N, M, L, K and J. Later, these events were interrupted by a cold and dry phase, between ca 49 and 47 ka BP, which affected levels Ja, I and H, culminating with HS 5. Finally, this cold episode was followed by the Hengelo interstadial or DO 12, characterized by a temperate and humid climate identified in levels E and D. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]