Environmental and climatic context of Neanderthal occupation in southwestern Europe during MIS3 inferred from the small-vertebrate assemblages

Abstract

According to pollen analysis, Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS3, ca. 60–30 ka) is characterized in southern Europe by dynamic alternations of forest vs. semi-arid area expansion in accordance with the warming and cooling, respectively, of the sea-surface temperatures. It is in this context of rapid fluctuations that the Neanderthal occupation of the northeastern Iberian Peninsula took place. This paper sets forth a synthesis of the previously published environmental and climatic data obtained from the small vertebrates (herpetofauna and small mammals) of the Neanderthal localities of Cova del Gegant, Abric Romani, l'Arbreda cave, Canyars and Teixoneres. Using habitat weighting and mutual climatic range methods to reconstruct the environment, temperature and rainfall, the Middle Paleolithic occupations in northeastern Iberia are closely related to the presence of woodlands, irrespective of the climatic conditions. However, there are differences in the percentage of forest formations from the south to the northeast of Iberia. Southern Iberia (Gorham's cave) was much more forested than the northern parts (A. Romaní, l'Arbreda, Canyars, Teixoneres, C. Gegant). This observation coincides with the status of the southernmost Iberian Peninsula as a climatic refuge, where Neanderthals survived until ca. 28 ka BP.