Approche paléoenvironnementale et paléoclimatique de l’âge du bronze moyen (niveau MIR 4) de la grotte el mirador (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Espagne)

Abstract

This article undertakes a palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstruction of the Middle Bronze Age on the basis of a study of the small mammals from level MIR 4 of El Mirador Cave. The chronology of the level under study is 3,720-3,140 cal. yr BP. The palaeoenvironmental analysis indicates that it represents the period of transition between the Subboreal and the Subatlantic, during which prevailed a very humid habitat, dominated by woodland and wet meadows. Otherwise, the palaeoclimatic analysis, carried out using the Mutual Climatic Range method (MCR), reveals that level MIR 4 falls within an interval in which the temperatures were very similar to present-day ones, while mean annual precipitation was notably higher than at present, i.e. 485 mm above the present level for Burgos.