Cova del Rinoceront (Castelldefels, Barcelona): A terrestrial record for the Last Interglacial period (MIS 5) in the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula

Daura, J. et al© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. The Cova del Rinoceront, a site in NE Iberia, contains a thick sedimentary fill preserving a faunal archive from the penultimate glacial and the the last interglacial periods. Layers I to III have been dated to between 74 and 147ka, coinciding with MIS 5a to 5e, a period poorly represented in the Mediterranean terrestrial record. The results from Cova del Rinoceront are of broader interest for the reconstruction of ecological dynamics during warm stages and the understanding of the evolution and geographical variation of several taxa. The palaeoecological evidence suggests a landscape dominated by mixed wooded vegetation with mild climatic conditions, slightly more humid than today. Several vertebrate taxa, including Haploidoceros mediterraneus, Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis and Glis glis, are documented for the first time in the early Upper Pleistocene of Europe, showing that these species persisted across the region for longer than previously thought. In addition, the recovery of a small lithic assemblage indicates human presence in the surroundings of the site. The 11m-thick stratigraphic section also provides an ideal setting in which to compare several geochronological methods. U-Th dating of the flowstones that cap the deposit, of speleothems formed along the cave walls, and of speleothems buried by the deposit at different elevations provides minimum and maximum ages of 74 and 175ka, respectively, for the accumulation. The ages obtained by luminescence, electron spin resonance (ESR), amino acid racemisation (AAR), palaeomagnetism and U-series dating of bone are in good agreement with each other and are stratigraphically consistent. This well-dated faunal succession presents a unique opportunity to assess changes in the Pleistocene fauna of the Mediterranean coast over an interval of more than 100ka.This paper is an output of the archaeological research project El Plistocé Superior a la costa central catalana: paleoambients i ocupació dels neandertals (2014/100639) sponsored by Servei d'Arqueologia i Paleontologia e Generalitat de Catalunya (G.C.) and Castelldefels City Council. Sampling and laboratory analyses were funded by Catalan (2014SGR-00108) and Spanish (HAR2011-26193, HAR2011-26193, CGL2010-18616, CGL2012-38358, CGL2012-38434-C03-03 and CGL2013-48441-P) MICINN Projects. J. Daura has been supported by a postdoctoral grant (Juan de la Cierva Subprogram JCI-2011-09543), J.M. López-García by a postdoctoral fellowship (2011BP-A00272) from the G.C. a grant co-funded by the European Union through the Marie Curie Actions of the 7th Framework Program for R.D. We are also grateful to R. Alvarez (UB) for lithics'photos. J. Mangope, Williams College, prepared and measured the ESR sample. D. Lawrence, Wadsworth Laboratories of the New York State Public Health Service provided access to the source for the ESR irradiations. Funding for the ESR spectrometer came from NSF grant ILI 9151111; other funding was provided by Williams College. L.Arnold and M. Demuro were supported by MINECO grant G2010- 16821, Australian Research Council Future Fellowship F130100195, and Marie Curie International Reintegration grant PIRG08-GA-2010-276810. Thanks to the Paleomagnetism Laboratory of Barcelona (CCiTUB-CSIC) where the paleomagnetic analyses were carried out.Peer Reviewe

Cova del Rinoceront (Castelldefels, Barcelona): a terrestrial record for the Last Interglacial period (MIS 5) in the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula

The Cova del Rinoceront, a site in NE Iberia, contains a thick sedimentary fill preserving a faunal archive from the penultimate glacial and the the last interglacial periods. Layers I to III have been dated to between 74 and 147ka, coinciding with MIS 5a to 5e, a period poorly represented in the Mediterranean terrestrial record. The results from Cova del Rinoceront are of broader interest for the reconstruction of ecological dynamics during warm stages and the understanding of the evolution and geographical variation of several taxa. The palaeoecological evidence suggests a landscape dominated by mixed wooded vegetation with mild climatic conditions, slightly more humid than today. Several vertebrate taxa, including Haploidoceros mediterraneus, Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis and Glis glis, are documented for the first time in the early Upper Pleistocene of Europe, showing that these species persisted across the region for longer than previously thought. In addition, the recovery of a small lithic assemblage indicates human presence in the surroundings of the site. The 11m-thick stratigraphic section also provides an ideal setting in which to compare several geochronological methods. U-Th dating of the flowstones that cap the deposit, of speleothems formed along the cave walls, and of speleothems buried by the deposit at different elevations provides minimum and maximum ages of 74 and 175ka, respectively, for the accumulation. The ages obtained by luminescence, electron spin resonance (ESR), amino acid racemisation (AAR), palaeomagnetism and U-series dating of bone are in good agreement with each other and are stratigraphically consistent. This well-dated faunal succession presents a unique opportunity to assess changes in the Pleistocene fauna of the Mediterranean coast over an interval of more than 100ka.Fil: Daura, J.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Sanz, M.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Julià, R.. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra Jaume Almera; EspañaFil: García Fernández, D.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Fornós, Joan J.. Universidad de las Islas Baleares; EspañaFil: Vaquero, M.. Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Institut Català  de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social; EspañaFil: Allué, E.. Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Institut Català  de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social; EspañaFil: López García, J. M.. Università di Ferrara; ItaliaFil: Blain. H. A.. Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Institut Català  de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social; EspañaFil: Ortiz, J. E.. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; EspañaFil: Torres, T.. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid; EspañaFil: Albert, R. M.. Universidad de Barcelona; España. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats; EspañaFil: Rodríguez Cintas, A.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Sánchez Marco, Antonio. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Cerdeño Serrano, Maria Esperanza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Skinner, A. R.. Williams College; Estados UnidosFil: Asmeron, Y.. University of New Mexico; Estados UnidosFil: Polyak, V. J.. University of New Mexico; Estados UnidosFil: Garcés, M.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Arnold, L. J.. University of Adelaide; AustraliaFil: Demuro, M.. University of Adelaide; AustraliaFil: Pike, A. W. G.. University of Southampton; Reino UnidoFil: Euba, I.. Institut Català d'Arqueologia Clàssica; EspañaFil: Rodríguez, R. F.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Yagüe, A. S.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Villaescusa, L.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Gómez, S.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Rubio, A.. Universidad de Barcelona; España. Universidad de Granada; EspañaFil: Pedro, M.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Fullola, J. M.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Zilhão, João. Universidad de Barcelona; España. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats; Españ

Cova del Rinoceront (Castelldefels, Barcelona): a terrestrial record for the Last Interglacial period (MIS 5) in the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract not availableJ. Daura, M. Sanz, R. Julià, D. García-Fernández, J.J. Fornós, M. Vaquero, E. Allué, J.M. López-García, H.A. Blain, J.E. Ortiz, T. Torres, R.M. Albert, À. Rodríguez-Cintas, A. Sánchez-Marco, E. Cerdeño, A.R. Skinner, Y. Asmeron, V.J. Polyak, M. Garcés, L.J. Arnold, M. Demuro, A.W.G. Pike, I. Euba, R.F. Rodríguez, A.S. Yagüe, L. Villaescusa, S. Gómeza, A. Rubio, t, M. Pedro, J.M. Fullola, J. Zilhã

Cova del Rinoceront (Castelldefels, Barcelona): a terrestrial record for the Last Interglacial period (MIS 5) in the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula

The Cova del Rinoceront, a site in NE Iberia, contains a thick sedimentary fill preserving a faunal archive from the penultimate glacial and the last interglacial periods. Layers I to III have been dated to between 74 and 147 ka, coinciding with MIS 5a to 5e, a period poorly represented in the Mediterranean terrestrial record. The results from Cova del Rinoceront are of broader interest for the reconstruction of ecological dynamics during warm stages and the understanding of the evolution and geographical variation of several taxa. The palaeoecological evidence suggests a landscape dominated by mixed wooded vegetation with mild climatic conditions, slightly more humid than today. Several vertebrate taxa, including Haploidoceros mediterraneus, Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis and Glis glis, are documented for the first time in the early Upper Pleistocene of Europe, showing that these species persisted across the region for longer than previously thought. In addition, the recovery of a small lithic assemblage indicates human presence in the surroundings of the site. The 11 m-thick stratigraphic section also provides an ideal setting in which to compare several geochronological methods. U–Th dating of the flowstones that cap the deposit, of speleothems formed along the cave walls, and of speleothems buried by the deposit at different elevations provides minimum and maximum ages of 74 and 175 ka, respectively, for the accumulation. The ages obtained by luminescence, electron spin resonance (ESR), amino acid racemisation (AAR), palaeomagnetism and U-series dating of bone are in good agreement with each other and are stratigraphically consistent. This well-dated faunal succession presents a unique opportunity to assess changes in the Pleistocene fauna of the Mediterranean coast over an interval of more than 100 k

Cova del Rinoceront (Castelldefels, Barcelona): a terrestrial record for the Last Interglacial period (MIS 5) in the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula.

[eng] The Cova del Rinoceront, a site in NE Iberia, contains a thick sedimentary fill preserving a faunal archive from the penultimate glacial and the the last interglacial periods. Layers I to III have been dated to between 74 and 147 ka, coinciding with MIS 5a to 5e, a period poorly represented in the Mediterranean terrestrial record. The results from Cova del Rinoceront are of broader interest for the reconstruction of ecological dynamics during warm stages and the understanding of the evolution and geographical variation of several taxa. The palaeoecological evidence suggests a landscape dominated by mixed wooded vegetation with mild climatic conditions, slightly more humid than today. Several vertebrate taxa, including Haploidoceros mediterraneus, Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis and Glis glis, are documented for the first time in the early Upper Pleistocene of Europe, showing that these species persisted across the region for longer than previously thought. In addition, the recovery of a small lithic assemblage indicates human presence in the surroundings of the site. The 11 m-thick stratigraphic section also provides an ideal setting in which to compare several geochronological methods. UeTh dating of the flowstones that cap the deposit, of speleothems formed along the cave walls, and of speleothems buried by the deposit at different elevations provides minimum and maximum ages of 74 and 175 ka, respectively, for the accumulation. The ages obtained by luminescence, electron spin resonance (ESR), amino acid racemisation (AAR), palaeomagnetism and U-series dating of bone are in good agreement with each other and are stratigraphically consistent. This well-dated faunal succession presents a unique opportunity to assess changes in the Pleistocene fauna of the Mediterranean coast over an interval of more than 100 ka