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For several decades, conventional pollen analyses have been supplemented with information provided by Non-Pollen Palynomorphs (NPP). Generally, the taxa included in this group are microalgae, fungi, insects and arachnid's chitinous remains, as well as plant debris and other organic palynomorphs of undetermined origin, that are valuable tools with which to characterise the original strata as well as the local environmental features that influence deposit formation processes. In this work, we present the results of the NPP analysis of the archaeological and palaeontological deposits of Sima del Elefante, Gran Dolina and Galería, all of which are located in the Trinchera area (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos), spanning a period from 200 ka to almost 1.5 million years ago. The NPP analysis of the three deposits has provided information about the presence of decayed organic matter accumulations, erosion processes and moisture conditions. Knowledge of palynomorphs contributes to the understanding of the biological, physical and chemical dynamics that resulted in different sedimentary sequences. In almost all cases, there is a clear connection between the major stratigraphic trends established for the three deposits and the NPP assemblages identified. However, the eminently local character of the dispersion of most of the palynomorphs identified has prevented the interrelation between the three sequences analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Terrasses de la Riera dels Canyars is an Upper Pleistocene fluvial deposit containing the remains of large mammals, principally accumulated in the framework of hyena denning in the area, as well as a few artifacts. Radiocarbon-dated to ∼39.6 ka cal BP, the time of Heinrich Stadial (HS) 4, this site enables us to reconstruct the environmental conditions then prevalent in the NE of the Iberian Peninsula. The concentration in a single locus of finds generated by different agents relates to a flash-flood event, the rapidity of which, combined with the absence of archaeological, ecological or paleontological incongruities in the composition of the assemblage, warrants an assumption of broad contemporaneity for its contents. The ecofactual evidence (fauna, pollen, charcoal, phytoliths) indicates a steppe-dominated environment for the coastal areas between the Pyrenees and the Ebro delta; the dominant elements are cold- and dry-adapted species but a Mediterranean component is present, implying a less rigorous climate than farther north in Europe. The artifacts are clearly Upper Paleolithic, and assignment to the modern human-associated Aurignacian technocomplex is supported by the radiocarbon dates and the typology of a bilaterally retouched blade. This evidence is consistent with the notion that anatomical modernity spread across Europe over open landscape niches. Available pollen data from deep sea cores indicate that, during some of the interstadials of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, a significant vegetation gradient existed at 40°N, broadly coincident with the “Ebro frontier:” temperate and warm temperate trees expanded significantly to the south, while steppe-tundra landscapes remained dominant to the north, a contrast best seen during Greenland Interstadial (GI) 8. Such an environmental boundary must have implied a durable barrier to diffusion and migration during interstadials. Under the cold and arid conditions of HS4, the site of Canyars shows that the Eurasian steppe-tundra extended as far south as the Llobregat delta; however, the environmental reconstructions available for the lower Ebro valley and adjacent mountains of the Iberian Range farther south suggest that they formed at this time a belt of semi-desert or steppe-desert landscapes, thus maintaining the boundary effect despite the climatic reversal. The persistence of such a boundary through HS4 and the interstadials that bracket it must have played a role in the delayed arrival of the Aurignacian (and modern humans) to southern and western Iberia, which continued to be settled by Middle Paleolithic Neanderthals well beyond 40 ka cal BP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The present paper analyses the evidence provided by three sites (Sima del Elefante, Gran Dolina, and Galería) located in the Trinchera del Ferrocarril of the Sierra de Atapuerca. These three sites are cave infillings that contain sediments deposited from approximately 1.2 Ma to 200 kyr. Pollen, herpetofauna, and small and large mammal remains are used as proxies to obtain a general picture of the environmental changes that occurred at the Sierra de Atapuerca throughout the one million-year period represented at these sites. Similarly, cultural changes are tracked analyzing the evidence of human behavior obtained from the study of several bone and lithic assemblages from these three sites. At least three periods with different cultural features, involving technology, subsistence and behavior, are determined from the available evidence. The first two periods correspond to the Mode 1 technology and Homo antecessor: the first is dated around 1.2 to 1.0 Ma and reflects opportunistic behavior both in technology and subsistence. The second period is around 800 kyr BP. Mode 1 technology is still maintained, but subsistence strategies include systematic hunting and the use of base camps. The third period is dated between 500ka and 200ka and corresponds to the Mode 2 technology and the acquisition of directional hunting and other organizational strategies by Homo heidelbergensis. A transition from Mode 2 to Mode 3 seems to appear at the end of this time-range, and may reflect the early phases of a fourth cultural change. With regard to the environment, our main conclusion is that there was an absence of extremely harsh conditions at Atapuerca throughout this time period. The presence of Mediterranean taxa was constant and the dominant landscape was a savannah-like open environment, probably with small forest patches. An alternation of Mediterranean and mesic species as the dominant component of the tree storey was induced by the climatic cycles, and steppes spread across the landscape during the drier periods. In any case, it is not possible to establish clear cut-off points separating entirely different environmental episodes. Our results show no evidence of any relationship between environmental change and cultural change at the Sierra de Atapuerca. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: El Mirador site has a sequence formed by burnt dung resulting from pastoral activities during the Bronze Age and the Neolithic period. Because there is a high sediment variation in the profile, facies descriptions were used to guide the archaeologists in their work. Paleobotanical and mineralogical analyses were used to describe and understand the formation of the facies from the MIR 4 level. Furthermore, the paleobotanical results serve to reconstruct the landscape in Atapuerca during the Bronze Age. Most seeds recovered are from Triticum aestivum/durum, but other cereals and also Leguminoseae and fruits have been identified. Charcoal analysis has yielded mainly deciduous and evergreen Quercus. Pollen analysis has revealed a low arboreal cover, with Pinus, Quercus and riverside trees. Most of the pollen record corresponds to herbs, such as Poaceae and Asteraceae. All these results indicate a mosaic of different biota with forest, pastureland and cultivated fields near the site. Most of the phytoliths come from the leaves and stems of festucoid grasses. However, there are some differences in the phytolith type and number, the amount of faecal spherulites, the mineralogical composition and the percentage of multicellular structures that indicate that not all the facies in the site have been formed in the same way. Thus, the work carried out has demonstrated that some facies are related more to agricultural activities than to pastoralism activities, and that other facies have been affected by incipient diagenetic processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A refugium is generally understood as an area where temperate species survive cold periods, such as the Iberian, Italian, or Balkan Peninsulas in Europe. Strictly speaking, this definition refers to what is known as a glacial refugium. However, there are various types of lesser-known refugia such as the interglacial refugium, which denotes a mountainous region at low latitudes, such as the Pyrenees, where species adapted to the cold survive during interstadial periods. The small-vertebrate association from the sequence of Cova Colomera, which is located on the southern face of the Pyrenees and contains the final cold spell of the Late Pleistocene and the beginnings of the temperate period in which we currently find ourselves (the Holocene), could constitute the first fossil evidence of such an interglacial refugium, thus providing new paleoecological data on the phenomenon.

The earliest hominin occupation of Europe is one of the most debated topics in palaeoanthropology. However, the purportedly oldest of the Early Pleistocene sites in Eurasia lack precise age control and contain stone tools rather than human fossil remains. Here we report the discovery of a human mandible associated with an assemblage of Mode 1 lithic tools and faunal remains bearing traces of hominin processing, in stratigraphic level TE9 at the site of the Sima del Elefante, Atapuerca, Spain. Level TE9 has been dated to the Early Pleistocene (approximately 1.2-1.1 Myr), based on a combination of palaeomagnetism, cosmogenic nuclides and biostratigraphy. The Sima del Elefante site thus emerges as the oldest, most accurately dated record of human occupation in Europe, to our knowledge. The study of the human mandible suggests that the first settlement of Western Europe could be related to an early demographic expansion out of Africa. The new evidence, with previous findings in other Atapuerca sites (level TD6 from Gran Dolina), also suggests that a speciation event occurred in this extreme area of the Eurasian continent during the Early Pleistocene, initiating the hominin lineage represented by the TE9 and TD6 hominins.

This paper presents a multidisciplinary study on the size of the occupied surfaces, provisioning strategies and behaviour planning at the Romani rock-shelter, using the Middle Palaeolithic record of the level i. This level is dated around 46.000 BP through U/Th ages. A behavioural interpretation is proposed, which emphasises the activities and the systemic value of the archaeological artefacts and structures. Occupation patterns are identified on the basis of the accumulations formed by human activities. These archaeological accumulations, consisting of artefacts and hearths, are easily defined visually as spatial units. The relationships between these accumulations, established by means of refitted remains, indicate that differences can be established between: 1) small and medium-sized occupation surfaces; 2) restricted and diversified provisioning strategies. This variability suggests that different modes of occupation are represented in the same archaeological level. The human activities reveal the generalization of fire technology. In almost all sizes of the occupation surfaces, the exploitation of vegetal resources near the Abric Romani marks the threshold of the restricted provisioning strategy. Limited use and fragmented knapping activities are recorded in the lithic assemblage. Faunal remains show differential transport. The exploitation of lithic, faunal and vegetal resources characterizes the diversified provisioning strategy. The small occupation surfaces and restricted provisioning strategies suggest short settlements in the Abric Romani. This shorter occupation model complements the longer diversified provisioning strategy recorded in both small and medium-sized occupied surfaces. The selection of precise elements for transport and the possible deferred consumption in the diversified provision strategy suggest an individual supply. In this respect, Neanderthal occupations in the Romani rock-shelter show a direct relation to: 1) hunting strategic resources; 2) high, linear mobility.