New paleoecological insights for the Late Pleistocene Neanderthal mountain occurrence at Buena Pinta Cave (Iberian Central System, Pinilla-del-Valle, Madrid, Spain)
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The Late Pleistocene sequence from the archaeological site of the Buena Pinta Cave (Pinilla del Valle, Madrid) has furnished the following ectothermic vertebrates: Salmo trutta , Alytes gr. A. obstetricans-almogavarii , Pelobates cultripes , Bufo spinosus , Epidalea calamita , Pelophylax perezi , Rana iberica , Testudines indet., Timon lepidus , Lacertidae indet. (large- and medium-sized), Anguis fragilis , Natrix maura , Coronella cf. C. austriaca , Colubridae/Psammophiidae indet., and Vipera cf. V. latastei . All these taxa are currently present in central Iberian Peninsula, with representation in the Lozoya Valley or its closest surrounding areas. The amphibians and reptiles suggest a quite similar to a much warmer climate (from +1.0 to +3.5 °C) than the present one, with a higher difference about modern values during the coldest month than during the warmest month. Annual rainfall was more abundant (from +9 to +397 mm) than today. Reconstructed landscapes suggest the predominance of humid environments throughout the sequence, primarily composed by open humid habitats (mainly comprised between 35.2 and 45.5 %) and woodland environments including medium scrublands to forest formations (27.3–40.0 %). Aquatic and peri-aquatic areas (9.5–20.5 %), such as rivers or ponds with riverside vegetation are also quite well represented, in accordance with one of the few fossil records of a water frog ( P. perezi ) in the Pinilla del Valle localities, and the very hypothetical occurrence of a terrapin in the Layer 2. In addition, the presence of brown trout ( Salmo trutta ) also supports the presence of a mature river characterized by cold/temperate and running waters. All these data suggest that the whole Late Pleistocene sequence of the Buena Pinta Cave may have occurred during a temperate to warm and humid period, more probably during the beginning of the Marine Isotope Stage 3 rather than during the end of the Marine Isotope Stage 4, as formerly suggested.
Source: Quaternary Science Reviews
Authors: Hugues-Alexandre Blain, César Laplana, Christian Sánchez-Bandera, Clara Mielgo, Ángel Blanco-Lapaz, Rafael Marquina-Blasco, Ana Fagoaga, Josep Francesc Bisbal-Chinesta, David Manuel Martín-Perea, Christophe Falguères, Tom Higham, Maria Blanca Ruiz Zapata, Maria José Gil García, Paloma Sevilla, Rosa Huguet, Belen Márquez, Alfredo Pérez-González, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Enrique Baquedano
Institutions: Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Universidad de Alcalá, Comunidad de Madrid, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Universitat de València, Universidade do Porto, Centro de Investigação em Ciências Geo-Espaciais, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Perpignan, Histoire Naturelle des Humanités Préhistoriques, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, University of Vienna, University of Oxford, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,920
OpenAlex ID: W4410724406