Hornos de la Peña (Northern Iberia): New excavations, chronological and subsistence data of the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition

Abstract

The study of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition is one of the topics of more interest in the field of human evolution, where the differences in the subsistence strategies carried out by Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans have generated numerous debates during recent years. Hornos de la Peña cave (Cantabria, Northern Iberia), excavated during 1909-1910, contains archaeological levels attributed to this transition, which have provided se-veral publications about the human groups that occupied the cave. However, the stratigraphic sequence proposed by Obermaier at the beginning of the 20th century has been questioned due, among others, to the lack of reliable dating. From 2016 to the present, new excavation works are being carried out to review the integrity of the stratigraphic sequence and its chronology and to analyze the new faunal remains. In this article, we present the first radiocarbon dates performed on the levels attributed to the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition, as well as the archaeozoo-logical and taphonomic results of the macrofauna recovered. Our results have revealed the complexity of the stratigraphic sequence, confirming that the previous stratigraphy proposed by Obermaier must be reconsidered. For that reason, although the activity of human groups inside the cave has been proved due to the presence of different anthropogenic modifications (mainly in horses, red deer and large bovids), it is not possible to construct hypotheses about their subsistence strategies. In summary, this new study has made it possible to reassess the stratigraphic sequence and provide new data on the chronology and the activities carried out by the human groups that occupied the cavity. In addition, this work highlights the importance of reviewing and dating levels from ancient excavations without reliable dating.