Análisis de los cambios paleoambientales del Pleistoceno superior final-Holoceno a partir del estudio de micromamíferos en la cova Colomera (Sant Esteve de la Sarga, Lleida)

Abstract

The sensitive adaptation of the small mammals to habitats and climates make them an optimum material for the study of palaeoenvironmental changes. Moreover, in the Cova Colomera’s case, that its records goes from Late Pleistocene to Bronze Age, it allows us to see the climatic and landscape evolution that happened during these periods in the occidental limit of northwestern Catalonia. We have achieved this by applying the Habitat Weigthings method in our sample. That is, the distribution of the species represented in relation to their optimum habitat as well as the distribution of these same species in each archaeological level. This has permitted us to observe the differences between the species of the Pleistocene and those of the Holocene, showing the change from rigorous climatic conditions at the end of the Pleistocene to more mild ones during the Holocene. Keywords: small mammals, Cova Colomera, palaeoenvironmental and Habitat Weigthings