ICE AGE IN NORTH-WEST IBERIA: PALEONTOLOGICAL AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES OF THE LATE PLEISTOCENE COLD EPISODES IN THE CANTABRIAN REGION (NW IBERIA) INFERRED FROM THE RECORD OF REXIDORA CAVE (CUERRES, RIBADESELLA)

Cold-adapted large mammals constituted a faunal community that was common in a wide area of Eurasia and North America during the Late Pleistocene. The Iberian Peninsula constituted the South-western limit of this faunal community. The Cantabrian area (NW Iberia) has special interest in this aspect since most of the Iberia sites with cold-adapted species are here localized. Recent research suggests that palaeoecological conditions in the Cantabrian area during the Late Pleistocene coldest episodes were different to those of central Europe, showing a characteristic mixture of temperate and cold elements which does not reflect the typical faunal composition of the Eurasian mammoth steppe.

The Rexidora Cave (Asturias, NW Spain), discovered in 2012, provided a remarkable large mammal assemblage. The ongoing excavation works yielded near 500 exceptionally well preserved fossil remains. The large mammal assemblage includes two cold-adapted species: woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). In addition, steppe bison (Bison priscus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus) and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), also occurred. This assemblage was dated between 44.5 and 37.6 Cal ka BP, corresponding to MIS 3, a phase of climatic instability characterized by fast climate changes, from extreme cold to temperate conditions. Geomorphological evidence suggests that bone accumulation took place as the result of gravity processes in a collapse doline, pointing to a possible natural-trap origin of this fossil assemblage. Palynological analyses indicate an open landscape with predominance of steppe and xeric herbaceous plants, and fluctuating presence/absence of mesophilous arboreal taxa.  Faunal and pollen analyses, hence, provides a new evidence for the development of cold and dry steppe-like environments in NW Iberia during MIS 3.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS AT THE SITES OF THE LOZOYA RIVER HIGH VALLEY:  PINILLA DEL VALLE

Pinilla del Valle (Madrid) is a locality placed in the high course of the Lozoya river valley, and comprises set of seven archaeo-paleontological sites. Chronology of these sites covers a wide chronological lapse from the late Middle Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene (around 300 to 40 ka BP).

A comprehensive multidisciplinary team is here working from 2002. Ongoing excavations and research provided an abundant faunal, floral, geologic and geochemical record, allowing an accurate reconstruction of the environmental evolution of Central Iberia during that time lapse. In addition, the archaeological and palaeoanthropological record indicates the continuous presence of humans, mostly Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), in the area during that episode. Most of the sites provided lithic tools and three of them also yielded Neanderthal bone remains. Evidences suggests that both, Neanderthal and hyenas, were responsible of the bone accumulations at the different sites.