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Palynological investigations of Toll Cave, a carnivore and archaeological cave site in northeastern Spain, are presented. The inferred vegetation reveals the long-term permanence of mixed pine-oak forests through a long period of environmental changes within the interval MIS 4 to MIS 1, and probably before. A relatively high diversity of woody taxa is found, including conifers, mesophytic angiosperms, Mediterranean forest, and xerothermic scrub. The most outstanding findings include the abundance of Pinus, evergreen Quercus, and Juniperus; the continuous occurrences of deciduous Quercus, Acer, Castanea, Betula, Fraxinus, Buxus, Olea, Salix, and Erica, and the presence of Abies, Taxus, Carpinus betulus, Tilia, Populus, Celtis, Juglans, Ulmus, Calicotome, Cistus, Ephedra fragilis, Myrtus, Pistacia, Rhamnus and Viburnum. Together with the pollen record of the nearby Teixoneres Cave, this new data suggest the existence of woodland refugia during the coldest and most arid stages of the upper Pleistocene across this relatively high-latitude region within the Iberian Peninsula. This study also supports the occurrence of forest ecosystems within the Mediterranean-Eurosiberian ecotone of the Iberian Peninsula in the vicinity of Homo habitats, including Neanderthals.

Hitherto unpublished 14C and 230Th 234U determinations from Carihuela Cave (Granada province, Andalusia, Spain) raise a possibility of late survival here of Neanderthals and their Mousterian technocomplex into an advanced stage of the Late Pleistocene (MIS-3), when anatomically-modern humans with Upper Palaeolithic toolkits were penetrating the region, and when also several carnivore taxa competed for access to the cave. Previous palaeopalynological studies are reinforced by new pollen analyses of samples extracted from coprolites. The palaeoecological and sedimentological records bear comparison with new data from the Padul peat deposits in the Sierra Nevada, and are in line with the view that there was late persistence of the Mousterian in Granada. There is a pressing need for renewed international multidisciplinary research at Carihuela Cave, with up-to-date lithostratigraphical and dating techniques that can expand on results obtained from fieldwork undertaken by a previous generation of researchers. Carihuela Cave continues to hold out great promise for analysing Neanderthal palaeoecology during the Late Pleistocene up to the appearance in southeastern Iberian Peninsula of anatomically-modern Upper Palaeolithic people, particularly with regard to the earlier phases of the Middle Palaeolithic at the cave which await intensive excavation but apparently extend back in time to the last interglacial period.

A palynological study of the archaeological layers from the Neanderthal site of Bolomor Cave, located in Eastern Spain, is presented. Vegetational developments for the periods MIS 9 to MIS 5 are described, among which it is worth highlighting the long resilience of mixed oak-pine forests throughout cold phases and the high diversity of woody taxa including deciduous, Mediterranean, and thermophytes. The relative abundance of evergreen Quercus and Castanea, the continuous occurrences of Olea, Fraxinus, Pistacia, Myrtus, Phillyrea and Cistaceae, and the presence of Celtis, Ceratonia, Pinus pinaster, and Rhododendron are peculiar features of the sequence. The existence of a Mid-Pleistocene glacial refugium is postulated. To our knowledge, there is no similar record of forest landscape that have been described in glacial context for Neanderthals, which at the time bears archaeological and anthropological implications. The records of past vegetation in Bolomor are coherent with palaeontological finds, especially concerning the mammal fauna, which also suggests forested landscapes. The hominids of Bolomor possessed highly adaptative subsistence strategies that match the potential benefits offered by a diverse and rich environment where a broad spectrum of edible plants was available.

This article presents a palynological analysis of samples obtained in three different locations in the semiarid southeast Spain. Sampling was carried out on four surfaces (directly from the soil, then from textile samples that had been in direct contact with the ground, another set collected from clothing using adhesive and the final from sediment accumulated on footwear) after a forensic simulation. This study can be compared to previous work carried out in the same region. All of the samples were polleniferous, the pollen spectra giving relevant information about the vegetation of each location. We confirm the potential utility of palynology in forensic studies in order to establish the source of a sample and to be able to link people or objects to a crime scene. We show that samples from the same location may produce different results, depending on the sampling method, although they will show common taxa that will serve to identify the place where they were found. Moreover, it is shown that the use of glass microscope slides with adhesive is an adequate method to retrieve pollen from clothing surfaces.

This paper presents pollen analyses on hyaena coprolites from Vanguard Cave, Gibraltar, with the aim of depicting the vegetation landscapes of the southern Iberian Neanderthals during the MIS 3. The Palaeolithic vegetation in the surroundings included pine, oak, juniper, Pistacia, and mixed woodlands, savannahs, riverine forest patches, heliophytic matorrals, rocky scrub with chamaephytes and hemicryptophytes, grasslands with heaths, shrubby grasslands, steppe-like saltmarshes, and littoral vegetation. We compare our results to those of previous palaeobotanical study in the adjacent Gorham's Cave providing data for the MIS 3 and MIS 2. Placing the palaeobotanical records of Vanguard and Gorham's Caves in European context, the southern coasts of Iberia emerge as the most thermic refugium of the Late Quaternary, which has important implications for existing arguments about the long survival of Neanderthals in the Iberian Peninsula. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

This paper presents a new Holocene palaeoecological record from coastal south-eastern Spain, a region characterised by high plant species diversity, varied physiography, high risk of desertification, and a history of human pressure on the landscape that stretches to antiquity. The pollen sequence shows four main vegetation phases: the first characterised by mixed forests of Pinus and evergreen Quercus accompanied by broad-leaved mesophilous trees, and a diversity of Mediterranean scrub; the second phase is characterised by mesophytic decline and expansion of Artemisia; a third, mid-Holocene phase of thermo-mesophytic maxima with prevalence of forested landscapes; and, finally, the progressive opening of the landscape with sparse pines, halo-xerophytic grasslands and sclerophyllous brushwood. The current treeless situation of south-eastern Spain is a relatively recent feature resulting from a dramatic change in the ecological structure of the regional landscapes. This paper stresses the continued vulnerability of these arid systems in the face of a changing climate. This sequence adds to previous palaeobotanical records (pollen and charcoal) and archaeological reports to suggest that deforestation started earlier in low-elevation areas and river basins than in the inland mountains and platforms, a factor that appears in connection to human exploitation of the natural environment.

S. Fernández, J.S. Carrión, J. Ochando, P. González-Sampériz, M. Munuera, G. Amorós, J.M. Postigo-Mijarra, C. Morales-Molino, P. García-Murillo, G. Jiménez-Moreno, J.A. López-Sáez, F. Jiménez-Espejo, L.M. Cáceres, J. Rodríguez-Vidal, G. Finlayson, S. Finlayson, C. Finlayson Erratum to “New palynological data from the Late Pleistocene glacial refugium of South-West Iberia: The case of Doñana” [Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology (2021) PALBO 104431] Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Volume 296, January 2022, Pages 104566, The Doñana area in southern Iberia is one of the most renowned protected areas of Europe, mostly due to the diversity and value of its wetland ecosystems. The large biogeographical significance of this territory and the outstanding availability of sedimentary archives have made this region a hotspot of paleobotanical research in the Iberian Peninsula. Specifically, the organic deposits on El Asperillo Cliff have been studied during the past few decades from the geomorphological and paleobotanical (pollen, macrofossils) points of view. However, large uncertainties remain concerning the chronology of certain sections of the exposed profile and the paleobotanical potential of this site has not been fully exploited yet. In this study, we revisited El Asperillo with the aims of completing the paleobotanical record and refining the chronology of this site. The age of the studied deposits ranges from ca. 22,000 to 30,900 cal. yr BP according to the radiocarbon dates obtained, thus embracing the particularly cold and dry Heinrich Event 2 and the Last Glacial Maximum. Our palynological results allow inferring the presence of a coastal marshland system. Additionally, the new pollen records highlight the relevance and diversity of pines (Pinus nigra-sylvestris type, P. pinaster, P. halepensis-pinea type) in the Late Pleistocene landscape of Doñana, reinforcing the native status of pines. Last but not least, the results stress the persistence of a highly diverse woody flora in Doñana during the harshest periods of the last glacial cycle, highlighting the importance of this enclave in postglacial vegetation recolonization of the Iberian Peninsula., The development of this work was supported by Projects FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation, Agencia Estatal de Investigación CGL-BOS2015-68604-P and PID2019-1049449GB-I00), 261-2011 Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales and Fundación Séneca grant 20788/PI/18

This paper presents pollen analyses and radiocarbon dating on Crocuta coprolites from Las Ventanas (LV) and Carihuela (Car) Caves in southern Spain (Granada), with the aim of reconstructing the environmental conditions of these hominin sites. The LV coprolites are radiocarbon dated from c. 37,890 to 6980 cal yr BP, and the Car coprolites from c. 31,063 to 7861 cal yr BP. Overall, the palaeoecological scenario inferred from both coprolite series display similar patterns, with Pinus, Poaceae, and Artemisia as dominant during the full Pleistocene, and an important contribution of Quercus in the most recently dated coprolite samples. While the palynology is consistent with results of former investigations on the past environments in the region as obtained from other deposits (peat bogs, cave infills), the Late Glacial and Holocene chronology of several coprolites in both sites is in conflict with the generally accepted timing of extinction of Crocuta in western Europe. A discussion on the taphonomical processes and potential sources of carbon contamination of the radiocarbon samples is provided. The correlation between pollen from coprolites and from sedimentary records, and the paucity of the fossil bone record suggests nevertheless, that a late survival of Crocuta in southern Spain should not be categorically discarded.

A palynological study of the archaeological layers from the Neanderthal site of Teixoneres Cave, located in Northeastern Spain, is presented. Vegetation dynamics for the MIS 7-MIS 2 period are described, revealing the long-term resilience of mixed oak-pine forests throughout cold phases and a high diversity of woody taxa, including conifers, mesophytes, Mediterranean, and xerothermics. Unexpected features of the Teixoneres sequence include the relative abundances of evergreen Quercus, deciduous Quercus + suber and Juniperus, the continuous occurrences of Corylus, Castanea, Betula, Fraxinus, Buxus, Olea, Populus, and Salix, and the presence of Abies, Taxus, Cedrus, Acer, Alnus, Celtis, Juglans, Fagus, Ulmus, Calicotome, Ceratonia, Cistus, Ephedra fragilis, Myrtus, Pistacia, Phillyrea, Rhamnus and Viburnum. To our knowledge, the existence of a forest refugium during the coldest and most arid stages of the upper Pleistocene has not previously been documented across this region. The high values of oak pollen during depositional episodes III, II and I of Teixoneres do not have an equivalent in any pollen sequence of the northern Iberian Peninsula during the MIS 4-MIS 2 interval. Our palynological analyses reveals a specific forest environment within the Mediterranean-Eurosiberian ecotone for the human occupation of Teixoneres Cave. These forested environments would have undoubtedly required highly adaptive subsistence strategies and expertise to ensure the long-term survival of Neanderthal groups in the region.