The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition at El Mirón Cave (Cantabria, Spain)

Abstract

The use of caves during the Late Middle and Early Upper Palaeolithic in Europe was often characterized by alternation between humans (Neandertals and Anatomically Modern Humans) and carnivores. One of the most important karstic areas in Europe that contains a rich archaeological record during this cultural period is the Cantabrian Region, northern Spain. We explore the archaeological evidence recovered from the lower levels of the stratigraphic sequence in El Mirón Cave dated between 27 and 48ka cal BP – Gravettian and Mousterian in age. Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses of the limited number of mammal bones, together with the small lithic artefact assemblages, suggest brief human occupations after which the carcass remains left by humans and, composed mainly of Spanish ibex, red deer and some leporids, were scavenged by carnivores. Carnivores were probably also agents of accumulation, especially in the two lowest layers in which artifacts are most scarce. Notable palaeontological finds include remains of mammoth and leopard. Stable isotopic analyses of Spanish ibex remains provide information of relatively open landscape and suggest that cooler conditions prevailed during the Early Upper Palaeolithic. The results of this research offer an insight on the type of cave use by humans and carnivores during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction at the time late Neanderthals and early anatomically modern humans inhabited in the Cantabrian region.