Between two worlds: Cova Eirós and the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in NW Iberia

Arturo De Lombera-Hermida,Augusto Pérez-Alberti,Xes Aldea Moreira,Mikel Díaz Rodríguez,Hugo Bal García,Ramón Fábregas Valcarce,Undefined Iván Rey-Rodríguez,Xose-Pedro Rodríguez-Álvarez,Alicia Ameijenda Iglesias,Cristian Lorenzo Salgueiro,Tania Mosquera Castro,Irene Valverde Tejedor,Pedro P Cunha

doi:10.5852/cr-palevol2021v20a42

Abstract

Iberia, a natural cul-de-sac peninsula, plays a major role in the study of the Neanderthals demise and its eventual relationship with the spread of Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) in Europe. The site of Cova Eirós (Galicia, Spain), located in NW Iberia, contains Middle and Upper Palaeolithic levels, based on the cultural remains recovered at the site. No human remains directly associated with those levels were discovered yet. The available radiocarbon dates from the levels 2 (c. 35 ka cal BP, Early Upper Paleolithic) and 3 (c. 41 ka cal BP, Late Middle Paleolithic), point to a late survival of Neanderthal groups in North Iberia and to a relative quick arrival of the AMH, c. 35-36 ka cal BP, with respect to other territories of the Iberian Peninsula. The archaeological record shows clear differences between the Middle and the Upper Palaeolithic occupations, regarding raw-material acquisition, lithic technology and subsistence strategies. The location of Cova Eirós in the westernmost margin of the Cantabrian Rim and in the Atlantic Façade, makes this site a key place to understand the spread of the first AMH and the progressive demise of Neanderthal populations.

Highlights

The debate on the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic transition in the Iberian Peninsula has a long tradition because of its implications for understanding the demise of Homo neanderthalensis in Europe, where several models have been proposed (Straus 2005, 2012; Vaquero Rodríguez 2006; Finlayson & Carrión 2007; Bernaldo de Quirós & Maíllo-Fernández 2009)
There is a use of raw materials from the local environment (0-5 km), mainly from secondary deposits in the nearby riverbeds: the coarse and medium grained quartzites belong to the Upper Cándana formations (Lower Cambrian)
The chronometry of levels 3 and 2 of Cova Eirós is relevant to the discussion about the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in the Iberian Peninsula

Summary

Introduction

The debate on the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic transition in the Iberian Peninsula has a long tradition because of its implications for understanding the demise of Homo neanderthalensis in Europe, where several models (climatic, ecological, interspecific competitiveness, etc.) have been proposed (Straus 2005, 2012; Vaquero Rodríguez 2006; Finlayson & Carrión 2007; Bernaldo de Quirós & Maíllo-Fernández 2009). The Ebro Frontier stands out: according to Zilhão (2000, 2006), the Ebro River was a long-standing “biogeographic barrier”, which implied a millennial coexistence between populations of H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis in the NE sector of the Iberian Peninsula. This model has been discussed, partly due to some troublesome stratigraphic features of the key sites. In Cantabria, only the Esquilleu sequence (Cantabria) seems to support late dates for the Mousterian groups (Baena et al 2012; Baena-Preysler et al 2019)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion