0000000000597357
AUTHOR
Carolina Mallol
Erratum to “Palaeoecological context for the extinction of the Neanderthals: A small mammal study of Stratigraphic Unit V of the El Salt site, Alcoi, eastern Spain” [Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 530 (2019) 163–175]
El Salt is an important reference site for understanding the extinction of Neanderthal populations in the eastern Iberian Peninsula during MIS 3. In this paper, we describe the small mammal assemblage from Stratigraphic Unit V, the youngest unit with evidence of human presence, based on nearly 1300 specimens. A total of seven rodents (Microtus arvalis, Microtus duodecimcostatus, Microtus cabrerae, Sciurus vulgaris, Arvicola sapidus, Eliomys quercinus and Apodemus sylvaticus), three insectivores (Talpa occidentalis, Crocidura sp., Sorex sp.) and one lagomorph (Oryctolagus cf. cuniculus) were identified. Palaeocological analyses point to drier conditions in this part of the stratigraphic sequ…
Use-wear analysis applied in a dissected palimpsest at the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt (eastern Iberia): working with lithic tools in a narrow timescale
Los análisis de uso-desgaste son muy útiles para aumentar el conocimiento sobre las dinámicas económicas y de subsistencia llevadas a cabo por los neandertales. En términos generales, los resultados funcionales provienen tradicionalmente del análisis de herramientas pertenecientes a unidades estratigráficas cuya escala temporal se refiere al tiempo geológico. Esto se debe a que muchos yacimientos neandertales son palimpsestos de ocupaciones reiteradas a lo largo del tiempo, que deben ser diseccionadas para acercarnos a la escala temporal humana. En la unidad estratigráfica Xa de El Salt (Alcoi, este de Iberia) se han llevado a cabo estudios arqueoestratigráficos de alta resolución temporal.…
Amphibians and reptiles as palaeonvironmental proxies during the Late Pleistocene (MIS3): The case of Stratigraphic Unit V of El Salt, Alcoi, Spain
The locality of El Salt (Alcoi, Spain) is a key site for understanding the extirpation of Neanderthals in the eastern part of Iberia. In this paper, we analyse an assemblage of amphibians and reptiles from Stratigraphic Unit V (45.2 ± 3.4 ka to 44.7 ± 3.4 ka), which corresponds to one of the last regional records of Neanderthals, to improve knowledge of the palaeoecology and palaeoclimate of this event. The assemblage comprises three anurans (Pelodytes sp., Alytes obstetricans, and Epidalea calamita), two lizards (Lacertidae indet. and Chalcides bedriagai), and five snakes (Colubridae indet., Coronella sp., Coronella sp./Zamenis sp., Natrix maura, and Vipera latastei). Palaeoclimatic recons…
Small vertebrates from a Holocene gravelly deposit at El Salt (Alcoi, Alicante)
The small-vertebrates’ assemblage recovered comes from Units I to IV from El Salt site (Alcoi, Spain). The sample is composed by nearly 310 remains, and includes one toad (Epidalea calamita), two lizards (Lacertidae indet. and Chalcides cf. bedriagai), two snakes (Coronella cf. girondica and cf. Coronella sp.), two insectivores (Crocidura sp. and Sorex sp.), one lagomorph (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and seven rodent taxa (Arvicola sapidus, Microtus sp., M. arvalis, M. cabrerae, M. duodecimcostatus, Apodemus sylvaticus, and Eliomys quercinus). All the species described in the present work are consistent with a Late Pleistocene-Holocene chronology. The presence of M. cabrerae (absent in the Middl…
Neanderthal firewood management: Evidence from Stratigraphic Unit IV of Abric del Pastor (Eastern Iberia)
This paper presents anthracological data from Abric del Pastor (Alcoi, Spain), a Middle Paleolithic rock shelter site. Analysis of 1077 wood charcoal remains from Stratigraphic Unit IV (S.U. IV), collected within archaeological combustion structures and from loose sediment outside of structures, allowed us to characterise the local landscape, as well as to approach the interaction between Neanderthal groups and their local environment. Taxonomic identification suggests that firewood was gathered from nearby sources, with predominance of juniper (Juniperus sp.) followed by thermophilous shrubby taxa. Additional analysis focussing on post-depositional processes affecting charcoal have shown f…
Improving the accuracy of small vertebrate-based palaeoclimatic reconstructions derived from the Mutual Ecogeographic Range. A case study using geographic information systems and UDA-ODA discrimination methodology
Abstract Understanding past climate and the mechanisms of climate change remain major challenges in scientific research. The Mutual Ecogeographic Range (MER) method for climatic reconstruction uses the current geographical distribution of fossil assemblages to infer palaeoclimatic conditions. Current species distributions used in the MER method are usually obtained from biogeographic atlases that record the absence/presence of species in a 10 × 10 km grid. A 10 × 10 km area is quite broad and the method only records presence/absence, without considering the real area occupied by any given species. Thus, the method overlooks the fact that environmental heterogeneity is strongly related to to…
Palaeoecological context for the extinction of the Neanderthals: A small mammal study of Stratigraphic Unit V of the El Salt site, Alcoi, eastern Spain
El Salt is emerging as a reference site for the study of the extinction of Neanderthal populations in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula during MIS 3. The small vertebrate assemblage analysed in this work is framed within this general objective and comes from Stratigraphic Unit V, the most recent unit with human presence. Nearly 1300 small mammal remains have been studied in order to reconstruct the palaeoecological conditions of this debated period. A total of seven rodents (Microtus arvalis, Microtus duodecimcostatus, Microtus cabrerae, Sciurus vulgaris, Arvicola sapidus, Eliomys quercinus and Apodemus sylvaticus), three insectivores (Talpa occidentalis, Crocidura sp., Sorex sp.) and one lagom…
A multiproxy record of palaeoenvironmental conditions at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abric del Pastor (Eastern Iberia)
This paper presents a multiproxy palaeoenvironmental study from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain), a rock shelter which has yielded evidence for Middle Palaeolithic human occupation. The sedimentary sequence has been analysed for lipid biomarker n-alkane abundances (ACL, CPI), compound specific leaf wax δH and δC, and bulk organic geochemistry (TOC, %N, %S), providing a record of past climate and local vegetation dynamics. Site formation processes have been reconstructed through the application of soil micromorphology. Analyses of anthracological, microvertebrate and macrofaunal assemblages from selected subunits are also presented here. Our data indicates that a variable climate marked by pr…
Applying the UDA‑ODA discrimination technique to a herpetological association: the case of the Middle Palaeolithic site of El Salt (Alcoi, Spain)
AbstractEl Salt (Middle Palaeolithic; Alcoi, Spain) is a key site for understanding the disappearance of Neanderthals in the eastern Iberian Peninsula, a process that is observed along its stratigraphic sequence. To improve our understanding of the palaeoclimatic context in which this process took place, we applied the UDA-ODA discrimination technique to the fossil herpetological assemblages from Stratigraphic Units (SU) Xb (52.3 ± 4.6 ka) and V (45.2 ± 3.4/44.7 ± 3.4 ka). This method is based in the application of an ecological criterion, the maximum altitude of each species on each Iberian range, to discern and remove those areas that do not meet their ecological requirements (UDA) from t…