Paleoecología Neandertalnuevas secuencias polínicas del Mediterráneo Ibérico

Abstract

Objectives 1. Produce new paleobotanical sequences in 7 significant deposits in the South, East and Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula (Cova del Bolomor, Cova de les Teixoneres, Cova del Toll, Cueva de las Ventanas, Cueva de la Carihuela, Abrigo 3 del Complejo del Humo and Vanguard Cave). 2. Investigate possible synchronic and / or diachronic connections between the human fossil record and the plant fossil record in Western Eurasia using the new sequences added to an information system containing paleobotanical, palaeoanthropological, archaeological, and geochronological data. 3. Investigate the chronology and paleoecology associated with the survival and disappearance of Neanderthals in the South of the Iberian Peninsula. 4. Deciphering the plant component and the dynamics of change during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene of the Iberian Peninsula. 5. Study the glacial refugia for the Iberian Peninsula during the Quaternary and their strategic influence on the survival of woody taxa. Methodology The palynological samplings were carried out on vertical stratigraphic profiles, as indicated by Girard (1975) for archaeological deposits. For each of the studied sites, a pollen diagram has been developed, which has been divided into two parts (AP and NAP). These palinograms show clusters of certain taxa, which help to better understand palaeoecological dynamics. The pollinic and non-pollinic palinomorphs are counted until reaching a Pollen Base Sum (total of pollen grains not including microfossils) of at least 200 pollen grains, except in cases in which the reading of all available material is not allows it. For the extraction of palynomorphs we follow the conventional chemical method (Delcourt et al., 1959; Dimbledy 1985), with the modifications proposed by Girard and Renault-Miskovsky (1969). We added to each sample one, two or three tablets of Lycopodium spores. After laboratory treatment, the samples were mounted on slides with the use of liquid paraffin. Palynological identification is made through conventional light microscopy (400x and 1000x) using a bridged comparison microscope and the reference palynomorph collection from the Department of Plant Biology of the University of Murcia. The data extracted from the pollen count are digitalised in Excel and are subsequently treated with Tilia Graph 1.7.16 in order to obtain pollen diagrams. Results/Conclusions 1. Palynological studies carried out in seven Iberian Pleistocene, archaeological sites, emblematic in terms of human and cultural evolution, are presented. These cave sites are Bolomor, Teixoneres, Toll, Vanguard, Abrigo 3 del Complejo del Humo, Las Ventanas and Carihuela. 2. Bio and geochronological correlations are established between the Neanderthal record and the fossil record of plants in Western Eurasia. 3. The chronology and paleoecology associated with the survival and disappearance of the last Neanderthal populations are discussed, a complex and temporarily transgressive phenomenon that takes place in Southern Iberia from MIS 3 onwards. 4. The existence of Pleistocene refuges with high woody diversity for the Iberian Peninsula and their strategic influence on the survival of forest ecosystems during the Quaternary stages is demonstrated.