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Here we present a new site in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain): Galería de las Estatuas (GE), which provides new information about Mousterian occupations in the Iberian Plateau. The GE was an ancient entrance to the cave system, which is currently closed and sealed by a stalagmitic crust, below which a detritic sedimentary sequence of more than 2 m is found. This has been divided into five litostratigraphic units with a rich assemblage of faunal and lithic remains of clear Mousterian affinity. Radiocarbon dates provide minimum ages and suggest occupations older than 45 14C ka BP. The palynological analysis detected a landscape change to increased tree coverage, which suggests that the sequence recorded a warming episode. The macromammal assemblage is composed of both ungulates (mainly red deer and equids) and carnivores. Taphonomic analysis reveals both anthropic, and to a lesser extent, carnivore activities. The GE was occupied by Neanderthals and also sporadically by carnivores. This new site broadens the information available regarding different human occupations at the Sierra de Atapuerca, which emphasizes the importance of this site-complex for understanding human evolution in Western Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: The sedimentary record of the volcanic lake known as the Fuentillejo maar (central Spain) offers the opportunity to determine the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the central-southern part of the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene. A total of 439 samples from the upper 88m of a ca. 142m long core (spanning the last ca. 355ka) were examined. The interval corresponds to the last 220ka of the record. High n-alkane CPI values and the presence of sulfur revealed that little diagenetic signal attenuation or modification had occurred. A number of n-alkane-based indices (e.g. predominant n-alkane, ACL, Paq and TARHC ratios, and the proportion of C27, C29 and C31 n-alkanes with respect to the summed C27 +C29 +C31) alkanes, showed changing conditions in the organic matter input to the maar lake over time, with episodes involving a major input of terrestrial vegetation, alternating with others in which algae or a mixed input of terrestrial plants, aquatic macrophytes and algae occurred. The proportions of C27, C29 and C31 were useful for reconstructing the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the basin as they allowed assignment of several dry intervals during which grasses developed, while during humid phases trees expanded at the expense of grasses. In general, we found good correspondence between these episodes and the climatic cycles observed in δ18O records from ices cores in Greenland and Antarctica, as well as from marine cores. Thus, we conclude that global palaeoclimatological changes were recorded in the maar record. Likewise, Heinrich Events appeared to be reflected in the n-alkane indices. This was confirmed by single spectral analysis and cross spectral analysis with the insolation curve on 21 July at a latitude of 65°N. The approach revealed that the cycles interpreted in the Fuentillejo record (103, 41, 23 and 19ka) showed evidence of orbital influence related to the astronomical cycles of the eccentricity variation in the Earth’s orbit, the Earth’s obliquity oscillation, and the precession variation (Milankovitch theory). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]