Herpetological remains from the Lower Magdalenian site of El Juyo (Cantabria, Spain): the challenge of reconstructing climate and landscape from poorly diverse assemblages

Abstract

ABSTRACT El Juyo is a Cantabrian Lower Magdalenian cave site located approximately 8 km west of the city of Santander. The excavations covered an area over 40 m2, and the stratified deposits reach 3.5 m thick, with an estimated duration of Magdalenian occupation of around 1,000 years. Here, we present the first study of the herpetofaunal assemblages from El Juyo and explore their significance in terms of quantitative palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions using different quantitative methods. The palaeoherpetofaunal assemblages documented at El Juyo have a much lower diversity than present day. All methods applied to these assemblages characterised the climate as colder (between −8.5 and −3.7°C) and dryer (between −415 and −344 mm) than today, whereas landscape reconstructions suggest humid open area together with a potentially good representation of woodland areas in the vicinity of the site. This indicates that the climate during the Dryas I was much colder and dryer than today, even if the proximity of the sea may have mitigated in some way the harshness of the climate in this area. Rainfall seasonality pattern changed between the coldest periods of the Dryas I and today from more abundant precipitation during summer to late fall and winter maximum.