Luis Gibert Beotas

• Phd
• Professor (Associate) at University of Barcelona

Résumé Cet article est une description des restes fossiles humains fossiles trouvés dans les gisements de la région d’Orce et de Cueva Victoria (sud-est de l’Espagne). C’est aussi la description des autres témoins de la présence humaine trouvés dans ces gisements (comme par exemple l’industrie lithique) ainsi qu’une discussion autour de leurs âges....

Since 1983, the Orce skull has been a polemic piece. The last article which refuses the human affinity of VM-0 is based on the presence of a supposed coronalis suture in VM-0 situated at 40mm of lambda point (Moyà-Solà & Khöler 1997). This would imply that VM-0 belonged to a very small skull not possible in human genus. The present detailed x-ray s...

The Barranco de Orce (BO) section in the Baza basin (SE Spain) exposes several fossiliferous layers (O-1 to O-7) with Plio–Pleistocene micro- and macromammals. Biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic data from this and other sections in the basin have been extensively used to calibrate the Plio–Pleistocene chronology based on mammal biozonations....

In SE Spain, recent excavations in the Orce basin and at Cueva Victoria indicate presence of both hominids and hominid activity from the Plio-Pleistocene boundary and early Lower Pleistocene.

The Piedmont basin (NW Italy) records a Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) succession including a selenite gypsum deposit assigned to the Primary Lower Gypsum (PLG, MSC stage 1). Strontium isotope ratios are in the range of the PLG deposits of the Mediterranean area. Sulfate isotope compositions of vertically oriented selenite gypsum beds, in the lowe...

Located south of the Bolivian Altiplano at 3650m asl, the Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest (10,262 km 2) salt flat. Drill cores are the only means to access the sedimentary record underlies the salt pan. This contribution presents the study of a new core (E-036) drilled in 2015 by Yacimientos del Litio Bolivianos state company (YLB) at a depth...

The core chronology was established based on 40Ar/39Ar dating of sanidine phenocrysts in seven tuffs intercalated in the section and magnetostratigraphy. The results demonstrate a long and discontinuous sedimentary history from the middle Pliocene to the late Pleistocene. The study of this new core highlights the unusual complexity of the facies' a...

Age-calibration of hominin fossils and artifacts in the East African Rift is principally achieved through dating of associated volcanic-sedimentary strata. The dominant dating techniques for sites ≳100 ka are the 40Ar/39Ar radiometric dating method, magnetostratigraphy, and tephrostratigraphy. The 40Ar/39Ar technique relies on the occurrence of vol...

Fossil discoveries of early Australopithecus species from Woranso-Mille have played a significant role in improving our understanding of mid-Pliocene hominin evolution and diversity. Here, we describe two mandibles with dentitions, recovered from sediments immediately above a tuff radiometrically dated to 3.76 ± 0.02 Ma, and assess their taxonomic...

La cueva original estuvo habitada por hienas del Pleistoceno, dejando una importante acumulación de restos. Su registro fósil es excepcional por la gran diversidad de especies encontradas. Hasta el momento 105 especies de vertebrados han sido documentadas, siendo un lugar clave para la reconstrucción y migraciones de la fauna del Pleistoceno inferi...

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Simple Summary Two independent research groups led by Olivares (Spain) and Lowenstein (USA) investigated the immunological reactions of proteins extracted from the controversial Orce skull (VM-0), a 1.3-million-year-old fossil found at the Venta Micena site in Orce, Granada (Spain) and initially believed to come from an unidentified hominin. Work b...

The Piedmont basin (NW Italy) records a Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) succession including a selenite gypsum deposit assigned to the Primary Lower Gypsum (PLG, MSC stage 1). Strontium isotope ratios are in the range of the PLG deposits of the Mediterranean area. Sulfate isotope compositions of vertically oriented selenite gypsum beds, in the lowe...

Large volume of evaporites were deposited during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) across the Mediterranean. These evaporites are currently outcropping on land and are interpreted by seismic profiles beneath the Mediterranean floor. Biostratigraphic, magnetostratigraphic and astrochronologic data recovered from sediments below and above outcroppi...

Resumen: En las Cuencas Neógenas Béticas se encuentran algunas unidades evaporíticas relacionadas con sus procesos de continentalización durante el Tortoniense-Messiniense. Se ha realizado un estudio multidisciplinar en una de estas unidades evaporíticas, localizada en la Cuenca de Las Minas, Albacete. Dicha formación está compuesta por yesos, carb...

The Guadix-Baza Basin, in SE Spain, harbors hominin fossils and lithic artifacts dated to ca. 1.4–1.3 Ma, representing the first hominin habitat in the Iberian Peninsula and possibly in Western Europe. Recent palynological studies have described a high diversity of plant taxa and biomes existing in the basin at the time of hominin presence. However...

Fossiliferous deposits at Woranso-Mille span the period when Australopithecus anamensis gave rise to Australopithecus afarensis (3.8–3.6 Ma) and encompass the core of the A. afarensis range (ca. 3.5–3.2 Ma). Within the latter period, fossils described to date include the intriguing but taxonomically unattributed Burtele foot, dentognathic fossils a...

This study describes and interprets the mineral and facies assemblages of lacustrine shales that occurred in an ancient volcanic-related alkaline playa-lake, considering the importance of diagenetic pathways (calcification, dolomitization, borosilicate replacement, and silicification). Three laminated lithofacies (LF) have been differentiated in th...

The Las Minas Gypsum Unit consists of more than 100 m of alternations of gypsum, carbonates and marls in Las Minas Basin (Betic Cordillera). Although this unit has been previously described as lacustrine, a marine influence in the basin has been suggested. This study provides new geochemical and paleontological data supporting the marine influence...

At~3500 m above sea level in the Eastern Andean Cordillera, Quebrada Honda Basin exposes more than 300 m of middle Miocene sedimentary strata, developed on distal alluvial fan sediments interstratified with volcano-clastic deposits, overlying Paleozoic basement. These deposits are rich in exotic vertebrate fauna adapted to a wetter and warmer clima...

Quebrada Honda (QH) is among the best-characterized middle Miocene terrestrial vertebrate sites of South America, with >40 spp. (mainly mammals) documented. Our work clarifies its paleoenvironmental and geochronological context. The studied section (~180 m) can be divided into: (1) a lower unit of reddish mudstone and minor sandstone with basal all...

The Campo Coy basin contains an important evaporite succession , up to 350 meters thick of gypsum, including two gypsum units: lower and upper gypsum units. These are characterized by fine-grain laminated and selenitic primary gypsums and by nodu-lar-laminated and meganodular secondary gypsums. The geoche-mical study based on sulfate isotope compos...

Between the late Tortonian and the Middle Pleistocene, a shallow but large (up to 800 km2) lacustrine system existed in the Baza Basin. During the Early Pleistocene, the marginal area of this lake was occupied by humans that arrived from Africa. With 1.3 Ma, these fossils and archaeological finds represent the oldest evidences of humans in Europe....

Despite the scarcity of fossil specimens of Theropithecus oswaldi in Eurasia, its presence out of Africa attests to the great dispersal of this Papionini genus during the Early Pleistocene. In the present study, we analyze the buccal dental microwear of T. oswaldi (T. o. leakeyi) fossil specimens from Cueva Victoria (Southeastern Spain). This analy...

The basin of Baza is located in the central area of the Betic Range (SE Spain) with a catchment area of over 4000 km2. It contains a continuous and well preserved lacustrine sedimentary record from the Late Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene. The basin encloses numerous Miocene to Pleistocene mammal fossil sites that include some of the oldest homin...

A fossil hominin cranium was discovered in mid-Pliocene deltaic strata in the Godaya Valley of the northwestern Woranso-Mille study area in Ethiopia. Here we show that analyses of chemically correlated volcanic layers and the palaeomagnetic stratigraphy, combined with Bayesian modelling of dated tuffs, yield an age range of 3.804 ± 0.013 to 3.777 ±...

The Lorca and Fortuna basins are two intramontane Neogene basins located in the eastern Betic Cordillera (SE Spain). During the Late Tortonian ‐ Early Messinian, marine and continental evaporites precipitated in these basins as a consequence of increased marine restriction and isolation. Here we show a stratigraphic correlation between the evaporit...

Plain Language Summary Climate events characterized by a sudden temperature increase of up to 10 °C occurring in less than a few decades during the last glacial are recorded in Greenland ice cores. These abrupt warmings, the Dansgaard/Oeschger events, affected large regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The understanding of the regional response in p...

The sulfur-bearing limestones interbedded in the upper Miocene diatomaceous sediments (Tripoli Formation) of the Lorca Basin (SE Spain) are typified, as other Mediterranean coeval carbonate and gypsum deposits, by filamentous, circular and rod-shaped microstructures of controversial origin. These features have been interpreted both as fecal pellets...

South-eastern Spain is one of the driest regions in Europe and thus, prone to drought. Terrestrial climate records covering the late Glacial and Holocene from this area are sparse. Here, we present a flowstone record from Cueva Victoria, south-eastern Spain, which covers the late Glacial (15 ka) to the mid-Holocene (7 ka) including the Younger Drya...

To judge the role of the environment on the first appearance of humans in southern Europe requires fundamental understanding of the dynamics of Early Pleistocene regional environments in this area. The Orce region (Baza Basin) in southeastern Spain is well known for its important findings of artefacts attesting the presence of early Homo earlier th...

The Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) led to deposition of one of the youngest saline giant on Earth. The increasing restriction of the connections between the Mediterranean, the Atlantic Ocean and the freshwater Paratethyan basins resulted in the deposition of massive amounts of evaporites (gypsum, anhydrite, halite and potash salts) in shallow marg...

The poster is about the sulphur limestones that outcrop in the Tripoli Unit of the Lorca Basin. Here are present the most striking sedimentological features of these layers and some preliminary petrographic features that could allow to assert a gravitative origin for the precursor layers of the carbonates.

During the Tortonian the Betic Cordillera formed an archipelago of islands that emerged gradually within the Betic corridor. This strait was formed by a series of marine sea-ways and interconnected sedimentary basins that allowed the connection between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. The progressive rise of the Betic range produced the continen...

The late Miocene pre-evaporitic succession of the Lorca basin is characterized by alternations of marls, limestones and diatomites of the Varied Mb interbedded between the basinal marls of the Hondo Fm and the evaporitic unit of la Serrata consisting of gypsum and halite (Geel 1976, Montenat et al., 1990; García-Veigas et al., 1994; Rouchy et al.,...

The Woranso-Mille (WORMIL) area in the west-central Afar, Ethiopia, contains several Pliocene basalt flows, tuffs, and fossiliferous volcaniclastic beds. We present whole-rock major- and trace-element data including REE, and Sr-Nd-Pb isotope ratios from these basalts to characterize the geochemistry, constrain petrogenetic processes, and infer mant...

The Baza basin is a large Neogene intramontane basin in the Bétic Cordillera of southern Spain that formed during the Tortonian (late Miocene). The Bétic Cordillera was produced by NW–SE oblique convergence between the Eurasian and African Plates. Three seismic reflection lines (each 18 km long; vibroseis method) were acquired across the Baza basin...

DISPERSIONES HUMANAS EN EL PLEISTOCENO INFERIOR EUROPEO luís Gibert beotas*, franCesC ribot trafí, Carles ferràndez Cañadell , GarY r. sCott, alfredo iGlesias diéGuez, florentina sánChez lóPez, fernando González taPia Y maría lería morillo *Autor para correspondencia. lgibert@ub.edu (L. Gibert Beotas). Resumen En este trabajo se discute el signific...

Southeastern Spain has a large number of Late Neogene basins with substantial evaporitic deposits that developed under an overall NNW-SSE compressional regime related to the African-European tectonic plates collision. Located in the Betic Cordillera, they can be considered as marginal Mediterranean basins that became gradually isolated during the T...

KSD-VP-1/1 , a partial skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis , was excavated from Pliocene strata at Korsi Dora, 3.3 km southeast of the confluence of the Waki and Mille rivers in the northwestern part of the Woranso-Mille paleoanthropological research site. A tuff collected from ~2.7 m below the fossil horizon, at the bottom of a trench dug 25 m...

Australopithecus afarensis is the best-known and most dimorphic species in the early hominin fossil record. Here, we present a comparative description of new fossil specimens of Au. afarensis from Nefuraytu, a 3.330–3.207 million-years-old fossil collection area in the Woranso-Mille study area, central Afar, Ethiopia. These specimens include NFR-VP...

In Figure 3 (p. 38), the age of WM07/N-1 Tuff in the “Nefuraytu composite section” should read 3.373 ± 0.047 Ma.

Here, we present a terrestrial multi-proxy record of Late Quaternary environmental changes in the southern Iberian Peninsula covering approximately 30 ka. This sedimentary record originates from a saline playa lake (Laguna de Fuente de Piedra) hosted within a complex geological setting dominated by Triassic claystones and evaporites, Jurassic carbo...

Cueva Victoria has provided remains of more than 90 species of fossil vertebrates, including a hominin phalanx, and the only specimens of the African cercopithecid Theropithecus oswaldi in Europe. To constrain the age of the vertebrate remains we used paleomagnetism, vertebrate biostratigraphy and (230)Th/U dating. Normal polarity was identified in...

The localities of La Bullana 3 and La Bullana 2B (Valencia, E Spain) have yielded remains of Apodemus gorafensis, Paraethomys aff. abaigari, Stephanomys dubari, Apocricetus barrierei, Sciuridae indet. and Asoriculus cf. gibberodon the former, and Apodemus gorafensis, Paraethomys aff. abaigari, Stephanomys dubari, Apocricetus barrierei, Sciuridae in...

Middle Pliocene hominin species diversity has been a subject of debate over the past two decades, particularly after the naming of Australopithecus bahrelghazali and Kenyanthropus platyops in addition to the well-known species Australopithecus afarensis. Further analyses continue to support the proposal that several hominin species co-existed durin...

Resumen En Cueva Victoria se han encontrado dos tipos de primates, el papionino Theropithecus oswa/di y el hominino Horno sp. El primero se definió por un molar inferior deciduo; recientemente, el descubrimiento de 4 nuevos dientes ha per-mitido una clasificación más ajustada como Theropithecus T oswa/di /eakeyi. Los restos de homininos hallados ha...

In the Early Pleistocene locality of Cueva Victoria, the insectivores are represented by several fossil teeth, mandibles and skull fragments. In the present work, we describe and provide measurements of these fossils for the first time. Insectivores show a rather low taxonomic diversity in Cueva Victoria, with only two different species. Considerin...

Recently Toro-Moyano et al. (2013) reported a deciduous tooth from Barranco Leo´n (Spain; BL02-J54-100) and claimed it to be the oldest human fossil in Europe. In that paper, the authors suggest that a previously reported human molar fragment from the same site (BL5-0) was not human but a deciduous molar of Hippopotamus found out of stratigraphic c...

Recently Toro-Moyano et al. (2013) reported a deciduous tooth from Barranco Leo´n (Spain; BL02-J54-100) and claimed it to be the oldest human fossil in Europe. In that paper, the authors suggest that a previously reported human molar fragmentfrom the same site (BL5-0) was not human but a deciduous molar of Hippopotamus found out of stratigraphic co...

We studied 36 plates and bones from Cueva Victoria (Murcia), which belong to several individuals of a taxon of terrestrial turtle. From these remains, we would estimate the morphology of its caparace and plastron, and assign them to Chersine hermanni. We found no aquatic turtles, such as Mauremys leprosa or Emys orbicularis, which are typical speci...

At Cueva Victoria, two types of primates have been found, the papionin Theropithecus oswaldi and the hominin Homo sp. The former was initially identified by a deciduous molar; recently, the discovery of 4 new teeth has allowed a more accurate classification as T. T. oswaldi leakeyi. Of the second, only one intermediate phalanx of the V finger of th...

The last hydrocarbon discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean basin have generated a specific interest on organic rich sediments that pre-date the extensive evaporitic deposits originated during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC). Southeastern Spain has a large number of Late Neogene basins with substantial evaporitic deposits that developed under...

Evaporite successions may undergo significant lithostratigraphic changes laterally and vertically in tectonically-active basins. The Las Minas Gypsum, a lacustrine unit of Late Tortonian age and up to 160 m thick in the Las Minas-Camarillas basin (SE Spain), consists of a number of shallowing-upward cycles. Each cycle is made up of a lower interval...

Several outcrops with diatoms have been identified in the Neogene-Quaternary Baza basin. The most relevant two are located in the NE margin, in different lithostratigraphic units. Their diatom flora is dominated by Epithemia adnata and Epithemia turgida, a littoral epiphytic aquatic plants. These diatom assemblages are typical of fresh to slightly...

The Ventian land mammal age includes most of the Spanish faunas assigned to the biochronologic unit MN 13. It is correlatable with the Messinian, although it may include, in its latest part, Early Pliocene faunas. We propose that the Ventian begins with the fi rst occurrence of the Muridae genus Stephanomys (7 Ma, paleomagnetic dating from El Bunke...

The accurate timing of biogeographic dispersal can be determined by examining the age of fossiliferous strata on either side of a physical barrier. Here we show that African mammals migrated to Iberia and European mammals migrated to North Africa at the same time before isolation of the Mediterranean Sea during the Messinian. The fossil site of Ven...

South-eastern Spain has a large number of Late Neogene basins with substantial evaporitic deposits that developed under an overall NNW-SSE compressional regime as a result of African-European plate collision. Two main evaporitc units have been described, the older is Late Tortonian (8.5-7.2 Ma) and the younger is Late Messinian (6.0-5.3 Ma). Torton...

The Ventian land mammal age includes most of the Spanish faunas assigned to the biochronologic unit MN 13. It is correlatable with the Messinian, although it may include, in its latest part, early Pliocene faunas. We propose that the Ventian begins with the first occurrence of the Muridae genus Stephanomys (7 Ma, paleomagnetic dating from El Bunker...

Several outcrops with diatoms have been identified in the Neogene-Quaternary Baza basin. The most relevant two are located in the NE margin, in different lithostratigraphic units. Their diatom flora is dominated by Epithemia argus, Epithemia adnata and Epithemia turgida, a littoral epiphytic aquatic plants. These diatom assemblages are typical of f...

The weakening or non-existence of the Earth's magnetic field during a polarity transition is supposed to influence climatic conditions causing variations in, e.g., rainfall, weathering, or the amount of meteoric water infiltrating soils and rocks. Such variations can be monitored by the proxy record (stable and radiogenic isotope or elemental varia...

A superbly exposed similar to 5 km(2) slump is developed in middle Pleistocene lacustrine deposits of the Tecopa Basin (California, United States). A subhorizontal detachment (<1 degrees) with a single sheet similar to 8 m thick is displaced eastward nearly 100 m. The different parts of the slump are continuously exposed for more than 1 km, with ex...

Cueva Victoria is a karstic site rich in vertebrate remains. The magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic data indicate an Early Pleistocene age. The presence of Homo and Theropithecus makes Cueva Victoria a key site to understand the migrations routes of macromammals during the Early Pleistocene. As shown by several types of evidence, the cave wa...

Well-exposed soft-sediment deformation (SSD) structures occur in Tecopa paleolake beds largely composed of ash from the Bishop (760 kyr) and the Lava Creek (640 kyr) ultra-plinian eruptions. In both cases the SSD structures affected volcaniclastic deposits concentrated by overland flow from the surrounding topography into the lower slope and lake e...

For the first time unequivocal fossil remains of a green toad (Bufo viridis s.l.) are described in the Iberian Peninsula. The fossils come from the Cueva Victoria site, a late Early Pleistocene (ca. 1.1–1.2 Ma) karstic filling in semi-arid southeastern Spain (Murcia region). By extension, other remains from two other Early Pleistocene Spanish local...

Only one partial skeleton that includes both forelimb and hindlimb elements has been reported for Australopithecus afarensis. The diminutive size of this specimen (A.L. 288-1 ["Lucy"]) has hampered our understanding of the paleobiology of this species absent the potential impact of allometry. Here we describe a large-bodied (i.e., well within the r...

Terra Nova, 22, 172–179, 2010AbstractGiant load-type seismites, uncommon in the geological record, are described in Plio-Pleistocene lacustrine deposits of the Baza Basin (Betic Cordillera, S Iberia). Deformed beds of the marginal lacustrine and distal alluvial facies of the Baza palaeo-lake can be traced continuously for several kilometres. Soft-s...