000069947 001__ 69947
000069947 005__ 20190709135536.0
000069947 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1371/journal.pone.0180823
000069947 0248_ $$2sideral$$a105096
000069947 037__ $$aART-2017-105096
000069947 041__ $$aeng
000069947 100__ $$aAlcaraz-Castano, M.
000069947 245__ $$aA context for the last Neandertals of interior Iberia: Los Casares cave revisited
000069947 260__ $$c2017
000069947 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted
000069947 5203_ $$aIntroduction and objectives Although the Iberian Peninsula is a key area for understanding the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition and the demise of the Neandertals, valuable evidence for these debates remains scarce and problematic in its interior regions. Sparse data supporting a late Neandertal persistence in the Iberian interior have been recently refuted and hence new evidence is needed to build new models on the timing and causes of Neandertal disappearance in inland Iberia and the whole peninsula. In this study we provide new evidence from Los Casares, a cave located in the highlands of the Spanish Meseta, where a Neandertal-associated Middle Paleolithic site was discovered and first excavated in the 1960''s. Our main objective is twofold: (1) provide an updated geoarcheological, paleoenvironmental and chronological framework for this site, and (2) discuss obtained results in the context of the time and nature of the last Neandertal presence in Iberia. Methods We conducted new fieldwork in an interior chamber of Los Casares cave named ''Seno A''. Our methods included micromorphology, sedimentology, radiocarbon dating, Uranium/Thorium dating, palinology, microfaunal analysis, anthracology, phytolith analysis, archeo-zoology and lithic technology. Here we present results on site formation processes, paleoenvironment and the chronological setting of the Neandertal occupation at Los Casares cave-Seno A. Results and discussion The sediment sequence reveals a mostly in situ archeological deposit containing evidence of both Neandertal activity and carnivore action in level c, dated to 44, 899 +/- 42, 175 calendar years ago. This occupation occurred during a warm and humid interval of Marine Isotopic Stage 3, probably correlating with Greenland Interstadial 11, representing one of the latest occurrences of Neandertals in the Iberian interior. However, overlying layer b records a deterioration of local environments, thus providing a plausible explanation for the abandonment of the site, and perhaps for the total disappearance of Neandertals of the highlands of inland Iberia during subsequent Greenland Stadials 11 or 10, or even Heinrich Stadial 4. Since layer b provided very few signs of human activity and no reliable chronometric results, and given the scarce chronostratigrapic evidence recorded so far for this period in interior Iberia, this can only be taken as a working hypothesis to be tested with future research. Meanwhile, 42, 000 calendar years ago remains the most plausible date for the abandonment of interior Iberia by Neandertals, possibly due to climate deterioration. Currently, a later survival of this human species in Iberia is limited to the southern coasts.
000069947 536__ $$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/HAR2016-76760-C3-2-P$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/HAR2013-48784-C3-3-P$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/HAR2013-43701-P$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/CGL2012-38434-C03-01$$9This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 643410-OpenAIRE2020$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/643410/EU/Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe 2020/OpenAIRE2020$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/628179/EU/Testing population hiatuses in the Late Pleistocene of Central Iberia: a geoarchaeological approach/HIATUS LPLEIS IBERIA
000069947 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby$$uhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
000069947 590__ $$a2.766$$b2017
000069947 591__ $$aMULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES$$b15 / 64 = 0.234$$c2017$$dQ1$$eT1
000069947 592__ $$a1.164$$b2017
000069947 593__ $$aAgricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)$$c2017$$dQ1
000069947 593__ $$aMedicine (miscellaneous)$$c2017$$dQ1
000069947 593__ $$aBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (miscellaneous)$$c2017$$dQ1
000069947 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
000069947 700__ $$aAlcolea-Gonzalez, J.
000069947 700__ $$aKehl, M.
000069947 700__ $$aAlbert, R.M.
000069947 700__ $$aBaena-Preysler, J.
000069947 700__ $$ade Balbin-Behrmann, R.
000069947 700__ $$aCuartero, F.
000069947 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0001-5125-9651$$aCuenca-Bescos, G.$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza
000069947 700__ $$aJimenez-Barredo, F.
000069947 700__ $$aLopez-Saez, J.A.
000069947 700__ $$aPique, R.
000069947 700__ $$aRodriguez-Anton, D.
000069947 700__ $$aYravedra, J.
000069947 700__ $$aWeniger, G.C.
000069947 7102_ $$12000$$2655$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Ciencias de la Tierra$$cÁrea Paleontología
000069947 773__ $$g12, 7 (2017), e0180823[54 pp]$$pPLoS One$$tPloS one$$x1932-6203
000069947 8564_ $$s3907293$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/69947/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada
000069947 8564_ $$s106660$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/69947/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada
000069947 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:69947$$particulos$$pdriver
000069947 951__ $$a2019-07-09-12:05:02
000069947 980__ $$aARTICLE