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Central Iberia around the Last Glacial Maximum: Hopes and Prospects

DOI:10.3998/jar.0521004.0071.406
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Manuel Alcaraz-Castaño at University of Alcalá
Manuel Alcaraz-Castaño
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The currently most widely accepted model of population dynamics in Southwest Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum depicts the Iberian Peninsula as a human refugium. However, this refugium was generally thought to be limited to the coastal areas of Iberia, while the interior lands of the Spanish plateau were explicitly excluded as areas of significant human settlement. According to what we have termed the “crossing-area model,” these inner territories supposedly had no Solutrean settlements, only ephemeral visits corresponding to the passage of hunter-gatherers en route between the more favored coastal areas. In this paper we test the validity of this model in light of new data from several sites in Central Iberia, namely from the Madrid Basin and the southeastern foothills of the Central System mountain range. We conclude that the crossing-area model does not explain the current data and therefore should be reassessed. Consequently, we propose to open up new avenues of research aimed at approaching the central region of Iberia in its own cultural and ecological terms.
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565
Journal of Anthropological Research, vol. 71, 2015
Copyright © by The University of New Mexico
http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/jar.0521004.0071.406
565
CENTRAL IBERIA AROUND
THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM
Hopes and Prospects
Manuel Alcaraz-Castaño
Área de Prehistoria, Universidad de Alcalá (Madrid), C/ Colegios 2, 28801,
Alcalá de Henares Spain. Email: manuel.alcaraz@uah.es
 : Crossing-area model, Solutrean, Protosolutrean, Central Iberia, Spanish
Plateau, Las Delicias, Peña Capón
The currently most widely accepted model of population dynamics in Southwest
Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum depicts the Iberian Peninsula as a
human refugium. However, this refugium was generally thought to be limited to
the coastal areas of Iberia, while the interior lands of the Spanish plateau were
explicitly excluded as areas of signifi cant human settlement. According to what
we have termed the “crossing-area model,” these inner territories supposedly
had no Solutrean settlements, only ephemeral visits corresponding to the passage
of hunter-gatherers en route between the more favored coastal areas. In this paper
we test the validity of this model in light of new data from several sites in Central
Iberia, namely from the Madrid Basin and the southeastern foothills of the
Central System mountain range. We conclude that the crossing-area model does
not explain the current data and therefore should be reassessed. Consequently,
we propose to open up new avenues of research aimed at approaching the central
region of Iberia in its own cultural and ecological terms.
H,    of the Iberian Peninsula, a large upland
plateau (the Meseta) divided in two by the Central System range, have been
depicted as being nearly depopulated during the Late Pleniglacial or Marine
Isotopic Stage (MIS) 2, and especially during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM).
This is in contrast to the common consideration of the Iberian coastal areas as
being part of a southwestern European human refugium during the harshest
periods of the last glacial cycle (Jochim 1987). The idea of a totally or virtually
depopulated Meseta was widely assumed during most of the twentieth century,
and it was articulated as a model during the 1990s. In this paper we fi rst discuss
the validity of this model in light of very recent data from the central area of the
plateau (referred to here as Central Iberia), corresponding to the Madrid Basin
and the southeastern foothills of the Central System mountain range (Figure 1;
also see Straus 2015: fi g. 1, this issue). Then we propose new hypotheses and
avenues of research to study human-environment interactions in Central Iberia
around the LGM.1
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
566
THE CROSSING-AREA MODEL FOR THE LGM
SETTLEMENT OF CENTRAL IBERIA
The idea of a mostly uninhabited Iberian plateau during the coldest stages of
the Upper Paleolithic was fi rst put forth by Breuil and Obermaier (1913:15).
Since then, other scholars have insisted that the harsh environmental and climatic
Figure 1. Location of Solutrean sites subject to modern studies in the Madrid basin
(Manzanares and Jarama valleys) and the edge of the south-eastern foothills of the Central
System range (Central Iberia). (map modifi ed from Alcaraz-Castaño et al. 2015: fi g. 1)
1: El Sotillo, 2: Santiago, 3: El Cojo, 4: Martínez, 5: Valdivia, 6: Nicasio Poyato,
7: Las Delicias, 8: Puente de los Tres Ojos, 9: Valdocarros, 10: Peña Capón
567
CENTRAL IBERIA AROUND THE LGM
conditions of this interior and upland region were the main factors behind the
lack of permanent settlements during the MIS 2 and the LGM (Corchón 1997;
Davidson 1986; Sauvet and Sauvet 1983; Straus 1991; see Delibes and Díez
2006). During the 1960s, some Spanish authors highlighted the bifacial industries
found in the Manzanares Basin (Madrid) in the early twentieth century as showing
a focus of Solutrean settlement in Central Iberia (Almagro 1960). However,
these bifacial industries have been widely dismissed, mainly because they were
collected without stratigraphic control and their cultural attribution is confusing
(Alcaraz-Castaño et al. 2012), including possible assignment of at least some to a
leaf-point Mousterian (see Freund 1952).
The currently most widely accepted interpretation of the LGM occupation
of Central Iberia was proposed by Straus et al. (2000), based on previous
interpretations (e.g., Straus 1991). These workers accepted some Upper Paleolithic
presence in the interior of Iberia prior to the Magdalenian, but it was interpreted as
“occasional uses of or ephemeral visits to the less oceanic parts of the Peninsula
during the LGM sensu lato” (Straus et al. 2000:561). The authors proposed that
sites such as Olga Grande and Cardina in the Côa Valley (Portugal), Peña Capón
in the upper Tagus Basin (Guadalajara), and El Sotillo in the Manzanares Valley
(Madrid) do not refl ect actual settlement of these territories, just the passage
of humans across these “less favored areas” (Straus et al. 2000:562; see also
Straus 2012). We term this interpretation of the population dynamics of inner
Iberia during the LGM “the crossing-area model.” The basis of this model can be
summarized as follows:
1. Data corresponding to the LGM in the Iberian plateau are limited to a
few sites.
2. These data denote occupations of short duration, as refl ected in low
density and single-layered sites.
3. The interpretation of the interior sites as evidence of population
movements between the coastal areas of Iberia can explain the typological
and stylistic similarities between Solutrean stone tools and graphic
expressions (rock and portable art) of the Cantabrian, Mediterranean,
and Atlantic territories.
4. Climate and environment in the upland regions of the Iberian plateau
were too harsh during the LGM to allow for permanent human settlement.
In our view, the main strengths of the crossing-area model are as follows:
1. Its basic claims are in consonance with an interpretation assumed in the
Spanish literature for more than a century.
2. Until recently the model’s shortcomings have been few and problematic.
Sites such as Peña Capón, although more recently excavated than the
Manzanares Valley sites mentioned above and containing undoubtedly
Solutrean industries, also lacked modern studies and chronometric
dates (Alcolea et al. 1997b). Furthermore, the presence of some rock
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
568
art depictions assigned on stylistic grounds by some specialists to the
Solutrean in Central Iberia (Alcolea et al. 1997a) has been widely
considered to be proof not necessarily of permanent human settlement in
this area, just of occupations of undetermined duration.
3. The vast majority of Upper Paleolithic sites discovered in Central Iberia
during the recent decades are Magdalenian—in other words, post-LGM
(Jarama II, Enebrales, El Monte and Estebanvela, among a few others;
see Cacho et al. 2012).
Recent studies of Iberian population dynamics during the Upper Paleolithic have
not been able to contradict this model (Schmidt et al. 2012) and even have explicitly
supported it on the basis of paleoclimate simulations (Burke et al. 2014:44).
NEW DATA FOR NEW HYPOTHESES
Although until very recently the crossing-area model has reasonably explained the
archaeological record of Central Iberia, it is our position that some new data enable
us to call it into question. These data come basically from two sites located in the
Tagus River basin: Las Delicias, a classic open-air site in the Manzanares Valley
(Madrid) that has recently been reexcavated, and Peña Capón, a rockshelter near
the southern foothills of the Central System range (Sorbe Valley, Guadalajara),
where recent analyses of lithic and faunal materials have been conducted.
Geoarchaeological, chronometric, and paleoecological information from these
sites allow us to explore a number of new hypotheses concerning the settlement
of Central Iberia during Solutrean times. They also suggest that the crossing-area
model was biased by the poor quantity and quality of data available from the
interior regions of Iberia.
Las Delicias and the Solutrean in the Manzanares Valley
Las Delicias is one of numerous sites that were excavated in the middle and lower
Manzanares Valley (Madrid) at the beginning of the twentieth century (Alcaraz-
Castaño et al. 2012). Although it was traditionally assigned to the Lower or Middle
Paleolithic, recent excavations in two multilayered areas of the site (Sectors I and
II) have shown that its lithic collections mostly consist of thinning or bifacial
reduction fl akes, as well as foliate preforms abandoned at different stages of the
reduction process (Figure 2). Together with geomorphological, lithostratigraphic,
chronometric, and palynological results, these data have shown Las Delicias to
be a Solutrean lithic workshop consisting of a palimpsest of occupations focused
on the production of foliate pieces. OSL dates have given minimum ages for this
processes of 18.2 ± 1.3 ky  (Sector I, level IIb) and 12 ± 0.8 ky  (Sector II,
level 3b) (Alcaraz-Castaño et al. 2015).
Both sectors excavated at Las Delicias consist of multilayered archaeological
deposits (Figure 2); both show most of the phases of the bifacial chaîne opératoire,
including procurement; and both yielded high artifact densities. These traits are
not typical of sites corresponding to simple, ephemeral visits or places that were
569
just used occasionally, as predicted by the crossing-area model; rather, they denote
some degree of intensive and recurrent use of the surrounding territory.
Las Delicias is the fi rst Solutrean site in the Manzanares Valley to be
excavated with modern methods that has archaeological deposits in secure
stratigraphic position and yielded chronometric and paleoenvironmental data.
This has rekindled the importance of the bifacial assemblages recovered in the
unsystematic excavations on the Manzanares terraces during the early twentieth
century as proofs of the Solutrean occupation of the valley. According to modern
reanalyses (Baena and Carrión 2002; Martínez de Merlo 1984), most of these
assemblages are undoubtedly Solutrean. Furthermore, recent salvage excavations
in the area have revealed other Solutrean evidence (Tapias et al. 2012). In sum, at
least eight Solutrean sites (and probably more) can be currently recognized in the
Figure 2. A: Bifacial preforms abandoned in the middle-fi nal stages of the reduction
process (1–3), and bifacial reduction fl akes (4–6) from Las Delicias–Sector I, level IIc.
B: Stratigraphic profi le from Las Delicias–Sector I. C: Vertical distribution of lithic
fi ndings in Las Delicias–Sector I deposit. Level IIc contained 1,210 lithic items in
10 sq. m (modifi ed from Alcaraz-Castaño et al. 2015: fi gs. 4, 8, 9, and 10).
CENTRAL IBERIA AROUND THE LGM
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
570
Manzanares Valley, in an area of around 5.5 square km (Figure 1). Moreover, in
the nearby Jarama River valley (Figure 1), a laurel leaf point was identifi ed among
the lithics from a late-nineteenth-century excavation at the site of Valdocarros
(Baena and Carrión 2002), thus widening the area of Solutrean settlement in the
Madrid Basin. As is the case with Las Delicias, most of these sites are focused
on fl int procurement and knapping activities and hence can be considered to have
been lithic workshops (Baena and Carrión 2002). However, in some of them,
such as El Sotillo, Nicasio Poyato, Martínez, and El Cojo, the signifi cant number
of retouched tools (Figure 3) reveals that foraging and consumption activities
also took place there. Altogether, these data suggest that the Manzanares Valley
functioned as an organized territory for human activity during the Solutrean.
In fact, for a recurrently frequented lithic workshop that includes evidence of
the procurement of the raw material—as is the case of Las Delicias—the most
parsimonious interpretation is that the toolmakers were also exploiting the biotic
resources of the surrounding environment.
Peña Capón and the Solutrean in the Upper Tagus Basin
Peña Capón is a northwest-oriented rockshelter (861 m above sea level) in a
limestone formation close to the southeastern foothills of the Central System in
the upper Tagus Basin (Sorbe Valley, Guadalajara). It was discovered in 1970
and was the object of a preliminary publication in the late 1990s (Alcolea et
al. 1997b). Recently, a more in-depth study of the lithics and faunal remains,
including the radiocarbon dating of several bone samples, was conducted. This
study, centered on the Protosolutrean layer, also documented the oldest examples
of pre-Magdalenian portable graphic art from the Iberian interior (Alcaraz-
Castaño et al. 2013).
The archaeological deposit of the rockshelter comprises, from top to bottom
(Figure 4), a surface level (1) containing mixed Magdalenian and Upper Solutrean
materials, including shouldered points; a Middle Solutrean level (2) with laurel
leaf points; a Protosolutrean level (3) with Vale Comprido points; and a level
containing undiagnostic lithic products produced mostly on quartz, from which
a date in the range of the Gravettian was obtained. Radiocarbon dates and some
lithic artifacts from each layer are shown in Figure 4. Both the lithics and the
fauna from the Proto- and Middle Solutrean occupations point to the use of Peña
Capón as a residence and hunting camp (Alcaraz-Castaño et al. 2013).
The sequence of Peña Capón has no parallel in Central Iberia up to the
present time, and hence it is of paramount importance to testing the crossing-area
model. The recurrent use of the site by hunter-gatherers during several episodes of
the MIS 2, including the LGM, is not proof of an ephemeral use of the rockshelter;
indeed it suggests the contrary at least during one part of the LGM. Furthermore,
although no other Solutrean sites have been found so far in this area of the upper
Tagus Basin, in the nearby rock art sites of El Reno and El Cojo caves (both 9 km
from Peña Capón), and also in Los Casares cave (76 km away), several examples
of arguably pre-Magdalenian depictions—probably of Solutrean age on stylistic
grounds—have been described (Alcolea and Balbín 2013). Therefore, we propose
571
Figure 3. Retouched tools and foliate points (mostly fi nished or broken in the very last
phase of production) from Solutrean sites of the middle and lower Manzanares Valley.
1–6: El Sotillo (after Martínez de Merlo 1984: fi gs. 9 and 11). 7–8: Nicasio Poyato (after
Baena and Carrión 2002: fi gs. 4.21 and 4.23). 9–10: Martínez (after Conde et al. 2000: fi g.
1 and pl. I). 11–13: El Cojo (after Baena and Carrión 2002: fi gs. 4.14 and 4.26), and 14:
Puente de los Tres Ojos (after Tapias et al. 2012: fi g. 7).
CENTRAL IBERIA AROUND THE LGM
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
572
that Peña Capón was not the product of an isolated occasional visit to this region,
but rather was part of an organized settlement during Solutrean times. In fact,
the presence of a sequence comprising Magdalenian, Upper Solutrean, Middle
Solutrean, Protosolutrean, and perhaps Gravettian occupations suggests that these
territories were in use by hunter-gatherers during a prolonged period of time. This
should lead researchers to study this area of Central Iberia on its own cultural and
ecological terms, and not necessarily as a subsidiary region of the coastal areas.
HOPES AND PROSPECTS
For the fi rst time, we now have solid data (geoarchaeological, chronometric,
technological, and paleoecological) on the LGM settlement of Central Iberia. Both
Figure 4. A. Lithics and dating results from the Peña Capón sequence. B. Photo from
the 1970 excavation of the Peña Capón stratigraphic sequence. Archaeological levels
are highlighted in white; the dark line separates the disturbed layer 1 from the rest.
1: “Mediterranean-type” shouldered point, 2, 4–6: laurel leaf points, 3: “Cantabrian-type”
shouldered point (after Alcolea et al. 1997b: fi g. 8.7), 7–8: Vale Comprido points, 9:
endscraper on a wide blade with inverse fl at retouch, 10: carinated bladelet core made on
quartz, 11: retouched bladelet, 12: notch on a hyaline quartz fl ake.
573
the Manzanares Valley and the upper Tagus Basin have evidence that confi rms
previously ambiguous data on the Solutrean settlement of Central Iberia, hence
enabling us to question the crossing-area model. These data can be summarized
as follows:
1. In the middle and lower Manzanares Valley, an important cluster
of Solutrean sites revealed both specialized workshops showing an
intensive and recurrent exploitation of the surrounding lithic resources as
well as related occupations with evidence of foraging and consumption
activities.
2. Near the southeastern foothills of the Central System is evidence of
a prolonged sequence of human settlement, starting probably in the
Gravettian and including at least Protosolutrean, Middle Solutrean, Upper
Solutrean, and Magdalenian occupations. The material expression of this
settlement is thus far only represented in the Peña Capón rockshelter, but
the entire sequence has reliable parallels in the regional rock art.
Together, these data enable us to suggest a regional development of Upper
Paleolithic technocomplexes in Central Iberia, including Late Pleniglacial times.
Together with other Solutrean evidence in more peripheral areas of inner Iberia,
such as those of the open-air Côa Valley sites (Portugal) (Aubry et al. 2012),
possibly Maltravieso cave (Extremadura) (Canals et al. 2010), or even El Palomar
cave (Albacete, Castile–La Mancha) (Córdoba and Vega 1988) and the open-air
site of Valverde (interior Galicia) (Lombera et al. 2012), the Central Iberia data
suggest the existence in these interior territories of more organized and permanent
LGM settlements than previously thought.
Therefore, in our view the time has come to question the role of the
Iberian plateau as a mere crossing-area during the coldest stages of the Upper
Paleolithic, and instead to approach these inland territories on their own cultural
and ecological terms. Population breakdowns in large areas of the plateau during
particular climatic crises should not be ruled out, and contacts with other regions
of Iberia should be addressed. However, current data do not point to understanding
the interior Solutrean settlement as exclusively related to the sporadic passage of
people between the coastal areas of the peninsula. Other explanations must be
considered to place this record in the context of the Iberian Solutrean, such as
mutual contacts or exchanges with groups from other regions. In fact, long-distant
exchange has been posed as a possible explanation for the presence of lithic raw
materials from the northern Meseta and the Central System in several Solutrean
(and Gravettian) sites of the Côa Valley (Aubry et al. 2012).
Nonetheless, although results derived from the new Central Iberia research
imply a considerable increase with respect to previous knowledge, and in our
view they are consistent enough to question the crossing-area model, they are
still insuffi cient and too problematic to build new models of human-environment
interactions in these territories. This is especially evident in the case of available
chronometric and paleoecological data, which are too scarce to propose fi ne-
CENTRAL IBERIA AROUND THE LGM
JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH
574
grained correlations between population dynamics and climatic and environmental
variations in Central Iberia. Peña Capón yielded only one radiocarbon date per
level, and those dates were obtained on bones from the 1970 excavation (see
Alcaraz-Castaño et al. 2013). Similarly, in Las Delicias only one OSL measurement
per excavated sector has been obtained, and they have to be taken as minimum
ages, with one being far younger than the Solutrean. Although these results allow
us to propose a preliminary timeframe for the Solutrean of Central Iberia between
23.9 ± 0.3 ky cal 14C  (the date for the Protosolutrean layer of Pena Capón) and
˃18.2 ± 1.3 ky  OSL (the most reliable minimum age for the Middle or Upper
Solutrean of Las Delicias – Sector I [see Alcaraz-Castaño et al. 2015]), stronger
chronological data are obviously needed to build a reliable regional sequence. In
the same sense, the only paleoecological data for the LGM settlement of Central
Iberia are the palynological results obtained from Las Delicias deposits, which
could be related only to the very last phases of the Solutrean time range and not to
the time of the production or abandonment of the lithics recovered at the site (see
Alcaraz-Castaño et al. 2015 for discussion).
Therefore, it is our epistemological responsibility to assume the uncertainty
of these data and thus limit our discussion on the LGM human-environment
interactions in Central Iberia to a number of hypothetical questions: (1) Were the
Solutrean occupations of Central Iberia related to relatively favorable episodes
within the otherwise harsh conditions of the LGM? (2) Were they favored by
the existence of ecological refugia? Or (3) do they just refl ect the adaptability of
Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers to harsh environments?
We propose that, in order to answer these questions, research should be
directed at the following objectives:
1. Since karstic environments in the Iberian plateau are few compared with
the coastal areas of the peninsula, archaeological fi eld surveys should
be focused on locating open-air sites. These surveys face a number
of diffi culties (see Arrizabalaga et al. 2014), especially in urban areas
(notably Madrid, its suburbs and surrounding cities). In the Manzanares
Valley, the number of Solutrean sites destroyed as a consequence of
urban development and construction is undoubtedly high. However,
other fl uvial contexts of inner Iberia are yet to be explored.
2. In order to test hypothetical contacts between Solutrean hunter-gatherers
from the interior and those from the coastal areas, it is important to search
for the lithic raw materials exploited in sites such as Peña Capón and Las
Delicias in the Cantabrian, Portuguese, and Mediterranean assemblages.
Studies of lithic raw material sources and human mobility—especially
including least-cost path analyses, such as those developed for the sites
of the Côa Valley—are an excellent basis for this research (Aubry and
Mangado 2006; Aubry et al. 2012, 2015).
3. As mentioned above, we need more reliable data from the currently
known Solutrean sites and collections. In this regard, it is of paramount
importance to re-excavate the key site of Peña Capón, which will
575
enable us to study the site formation processes as well as to acquire new
samples for chronometric and paleoecological analyses. Although access
to this site presents signifi cant diffi culties since it is often underwater
(see Alcaraz-Castaño et al. 2013), we are currently trying to solve them.
We hope that some of these objectives can be accomplished very soon. At
least some of them will be addressed in a research project in which the author,
together with other researchers, is currently involved. This project, “Testing
Population Hiatuses in the Late Pleistocene of Central Iberia: A Geoarchaeological
Approach,” is focused on the study of population dynamics in Central Iberia
during the Late Pleistocene. Of course, research in other areas of inner Iberia, and
especially on the northern Meseta, where no Solutrean evidence is known thus far,
is also urgently needed.
NOTE
This work was presented in the session “The Human Settlement of Western Europe during
the Last Glacial Maximum” of the XVII World UISPP Congress held at Burgos (Spain).
I wish to thank Prof. L. G. Straus for his invitation to participate in this session, and also
for his constructive comments on the manuscript of this paper. I also thank Prof. Dr. Gerd-
Christian Weniger for his cooperation. Part of the writing of this paper was done in the
Neanderthal Museum (Germany), supported by a Marie Curie Intra European Fellowship
within the 7th European Community Framework Programme. The text was lightly edited
by L. G. Straus.
1. I am grateful to my colleagues at Las Delicias and Peña Capón for their work, and
especially to Drs. Javier Alcolea, Rodrigo de Balbín, Manuel Santonja, and Javier Baena
for their helpful comments. I have used the word “we” in this paper to acknowledge their
input, but any errors in interpretation are my own.
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... Sin embargo, la posibilidad de que la escasez de evidencias sobre ocupaciones humanas en el interior peninsular durante la última glaciación refleje no tanto la realidad poblacional prehistórica como un sesgo en la tradición investigadora, ha estado siempre presente entre la comunidad científica. Desde hace ya más de dos décadas, numerosos investigadores han señalado que la tradicional escasez de proyectos de investigación sobre el Paleolítico Reciente en la meseta, en comparación con la extensa y prolija tradición investigadora arraigada en las regiones cantábrica, mediterránea y atlántica, puede ser el factor principal detrás de la imagen de una "meseta desolada" durante buena parte del Paleolítico Medio y, especialmente, del Superior (Balbín-Behrmann y Alcolea-González, 1992;Alcolea-González et al., 1997;Ripoll, Cacho y Municio, 1997;Utrilla y Blasco, 2000;Aubry et al., 2002Aubry et al., , 2020Aubry et al., , 2021Alcolea-González y Balbín-Behrmann, 2003;Delibes y Díez, 2006;Fullola y Zilhão, 2009;Cacho et al., 2010;Alcaraz-Castaño et al., 2013, 2017bAlcaraz-Castaño, 2015, 2016Aubry, 2015;Rivero, Bécares y Álvarez-Fernández, 2021). A esta idea fundamental se une el hecho de que en las tierras del interior las formaciones kársticas son relativamente menos numerosas que en las regiones costeras, lo que supone una mayor dificultad para localizar yacimientos del Pleistoceno Superior, que muy probablemente se encuentren en contextos al aire libre, mayoritariamente fluviales (Navazo y Carbonell, 2014;Alcaraz-Castaño, 2015;Aubry et al., 2020;Zilhão, 2021). ...
... Desde hace ya más de dos décadas, numerosos investigadores han señalado que la tradicional escasez de proyectos de investigación sobre el Paleolítico Reciente en la meseta, en comparación con la extensa y prolija tradición investigadora arraigada en las regiones cantábrica, mediterránea y atlántica, puede ser el factor principal detrás de la imagen de una "meseta desolada" durante buena parte del Paleolítico Medio y, especialmente, del Superior (Balbín-Behrmann y Alcolea-González, 1992;Alcolea-González et al., 1997;Ripoll, Cacho y Municio, 1997;Utrilla y Blasco, 2000;Aubry et al., 2002Aubry et al., , 2020Aubry et al., , 2021Alcolea-González y Balbín-Behrmann, 2003;Delibes y Díez, 2006;Fullola y Zilhão, 2009;Cacho et al., 2010;Alcaraz-Castaño et al., 2013, 2017bAlcaraz-Castaño, 2015, 2016Aubry, 2015;Rivero, Bécares y Álvarez-Fernández, 2021). A esta idea fundamental se une el hecho de que en las tierras del interior las formaciones kársticas son relativamente menos numerosas que en las regiones costeras, lo que supone una mayor dificultad para localizar yacimientos del Pleistoceno Superior, que muy probablemente se encuentren en contextos al aire libre, mayoritariamente fluviales (Navazo y Carbonell, 2014;Alcaraz-Castaño, 2015;Aubry et al., 2020;Zilhão, 2021). Bajo estas premisas, y apoyado en una serie de evidencias preliminares que comentaremos enseguida, en 2018 el autor de este texto planteó, con la colaboración de un nutrido grupo de colegas, el proyecto de investigación colaborativo e interdisciplinar MULTIPALEOIBERIA. ...
... Entre ellas destacaba, en el momento del planteamiento del proyecto en 2018, la revalorización de la ocupación solutrense del valle del Manzanares madrileño (Baena y Carrión, 2002;Alcaraz-Castaño et al., 2012, 2017b, la acumulación de grafías rupestres de estilo pre-magdaleniense en las estribaciones del sistema central (Alcolea-González y Balbín-Behrmann, 2003), los nuevos datos y perspectivas de futuro en el yacimiento solutrense y pre-solutrense de Peña Capón (Alcolea-González et al., 1997;Alcaraz-Castaño et al., 2013), la identificación de materias primas silíceas de origen mesetario en los conjuntos líticos solutrenses y gravetienses de los valles del Côa y el Alto Sabor portugueses (Aubry et al., , 2016Gaspar et al., 2015), las ocupaciones plenigaciares, incluyendo momentos de clima riguroso, detectadas en zonas limítrofes de la meseta, como el valle medio del Ebro (Utrilla et al., 2010) o las estribaciones septentrionales de la cordillera Bética (Córdoba y Vega, 1988;Garate y García-Moreno, 2011;Peña, 2013), así como nuevos indicios y dataciones recientes para contextos musterienses tanto en la cuenca del Duero como la del Tajo (Díez et al., 2008;Silva et al., 2012;Navazo y Carbonell, 2014;Baena et al., 2015;Alcaraz-Castaño et al., 2017a;Kehl et al., 2018). Sin embargo, muchas de estas evidencias presentaban problemas y resultaban incompletas, tanto en lo referente a la aparición y asentamiento de los primeros humanos modernos (Alcaraz- Castaño, 2015Castaño, , 2016, como a las últimas ocupaciones neandertales registradas en el interior mesetario (Alcaraz- Castaño et al., 2017a;Wolf et al., 2018). Por ello, los objetivos fundamentales de MUL-TIPALEOIBERIA se orientaron a obtener evidencias de campo adicionales, tanto a partir de la localización de nuevos yacimientos como del estudio sistemático de muchos de los conocidos, que permitieran obtener una base de datos arqueológica, geológica, cronométrica y paleoecológica lo suficientemente amplia y sólida como para plantear nuevos modelos interpretativos. ...
MULTIPALEOIBERIA: hacia un nuevo escenario sobre las dinámicas de poblamiento y adaptaciones culturales de los últimos neandertales y primeros humanos modernos en el interior de la península ibérica
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  • Jun 2023
Históricamente, la península ibérica ha presentado un registro de gran relevancia para el conocimiento de las sociedades paleolíticas. Sin embargo, en lo referido a la primera ocupación de humanos modernos y la desaparición de los neandertales, dicho registro presenta un problema fundamental: la anómala escasez de evidencias en las amplias regiones del interior peninsular. El proyecto MULTIPALEOIBERIA, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación (ERC), asume que dicha escasez se debe a un déficit histórico de la investigación. Por ello, plantea la hipótesis de que la ocupación humana del interior de Iberia durante este periodo fue más compleja y duradera de lo asumido tradicionalmente, y tiene como objetivo principal obtener nuevos datos para contrastar las visiones clásicas. Se plantea como un macro-proyecto interdisciplinar y colaborativo aplicado a varios territorios de las dos submesetas ibéricas, y con la interacción entre cultura, ambiente y clima como marco de investigación fundamental. Su metodología implica la búsqueda de nuevos yacimientos, trabajo de campo en al menos 24 localizaciones arqueológicas, paleoecológicas o rupestres, un amplio programa de datación cronométrica, una detallada reconstrucción paleoambiental multi-proxy, así como el análisis de las estrategias tecno-económicas, simbólicas, de movilidad y uso del territorio de los últimos neandertales y primeros humanos modernos en el interior peninsular. Se espera que sus resultados presenten un alto impacto en temas como la potencial pervivencia tardía de neandertales en el sur de Europa, la naturaleza y cronología de la primera ocupación de humanos modernos de la península, o las adaptaciones culturales de cazadores-recolectores pleistocenos a contextos de rigurosidad climática y alto riesgo ecológico. En este artículo se presentan las hipótesis, objetivos, marco teórico-metodológico y primeros resultados de MULTIPALEOIBERIA.
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... Ello indica que la rigurosidad climática y el riesgo ecológico de las tierras mesetarias no fue un impedimento para la ocupación efectiva de algunas de sus regiones, como se había asumido. El registro arqueológico correspondiente a las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras del Paleolítico superior en las amplias regiones del interior de la península ibérica ha sido históricamente escaso (Straus et al. 2000;Delibes y Díez, 2006;Cacho et al. 2010;Alcaraz-Castaño, 2015, 2016. Esto ha provocado que durante años se asumiera que la ocupación humana del interior peninsular durante la última glaciación, correspondiente a los Estadios Isotópicos Marinos (MIS) 4, 3 y 2, entre 73.5 y 14.7 ka cal BP (kiloaños o miles de años calendáricos o calibrados antes del presente), y especialmente en la llamada Meseta central, se habría limitado a incursiones esporádicas y estacionales. ...
... ■ MANUEL ALCARAZ-CASTAÑO interiores, y las primeras publicaciones sobre los numerosos yacimientos con grafías y secuencias estratigráficas del valle del Côa portugués (ver referencias en Alcaraz-Castaño 2015-Castaño , 2016, en la última década del siglo XX el problema del poblamiento humano en la Meseta durante el Paleolítico superior comenzó a plantearse en otros términos. Así, aunque muchos autores seguían entendiendo que la ocupación verdaderamente organizada de gran parte del territorio mesetario comenzaba con el Magdaleniense, empezó a ser habitual que en los trabajos de síntesis se admitieran ocupaciones en algunas regiones interiores al menos desde el Solutrense(Ripoll et al. 1997;Straus et al. 2000Straus et al. , 2015Cacho et al. 2010). ...
... Así, aunque muchos autores seguían entendiendo que la ocupación verdaderamente organizada de gran parte del territorio mesetario comenzaba con el Magdaleniense, empezó a ser habitual que en los trabajos de síntesis se admitieran ocupaciones en algunas regiones interiores al menos desde el Solutrense(Ripoll et al. 1997;Straus et al. 2000Straus et al. , 2015Cacho et al. 2010). En todo caso, la mayoría de autores limitaban estas ocupaciones a asentamientos esporádicos y estacionales, cuando no a meros testimonios efímeros correspondientes al paso de poblaciones en tránsito entre las regiones litorales de la península (ver Alcaraz-Castaño 2015).De forma paralela, también comenzaron a ser numerosos los investigadores que señalaban que la escasez de yacimientos superopaleolíticos en el interior peninsular, más que reflejar la realidad poblacional prehistórica, en realidad podría ser una consecuencia de la escasez de proyectos de investigación desarrollados en estas regiones en comparación con la prolija tradición investigadora presente en las regiones cantábrica, mediterránea y atlántica.Esta idea, que considera además el hecho de que en la Meseta las formaciones kársticas son relativamente menos numerosas que en las regiones costeras, limitando así las posibilidades de localizar yacimientos del Pleistoceno superior, ha sido señalada en numerosas ocasiones hasta la actualidad (Balbín-Behrmann y Alcolea-González 1992;Alcolea-González et al. 1997;Ripoll et al. 1997;Delibes y Díez 2006;Aubry et al. 2002Aubry et al. , 2020Aubry et al. , 2021Alcolea-González y Balbín-Behrmann 2003;Fullola y Zilhão 2009;Cacho et al. 2010;Alcaraz-Castaño et al. 2013Alcaraz-Castaño 2015, 2016Aubry 2015;Rivero et al. 2021).Así, es precisamente la hipótesis de que el poblamiento del interior peninsular durante el Paleolítico superior fue más complejo, permanente y antiguo de lo que se ha creído tradicionalmente, la que inaugura la etapa de investigación que podemos considerar actual, y que por tanto guía buena parte de las investigaciones que se realizan hoy sobre esta problemática (Alcaraz-Castaño e.p.). Actualmente contamos con varios sitios que presentan datos arqueológicos, paleoecológicos y cronométricos que permiten asentar la idea de que el poblamiento humano en varias regiones del interior de Iberia fue más estable y recurrente de lo asumido tradicionalmente, incluyendo fases frías de la última glaciación. ...
La ocupación humana de la meseta ibérica durante el Paleolítico superior: avance lento pero seguro
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  • Feb 2023
Our knowledge of the first modern human settlement of inland Iberia has been historically scarce. During the last years, several research projects have dealt with this problem, and hence the scientific evidence related to this settlement is today far more solid than just ten years ago. The previous view depicting the Iberian plateau as a large desolate and deserted region until the retreat of the ice sheets has been overcome by other in which recurrent human occupations are documented during the Last Glacial Maximum and before. Albeit data from the Early Upper Paleolithic are today limited to the fringes of the northern plateau and some of them are problematic, recent evidence suggests that modern hunter-gatherers could have also settled in areas of central Iberia well before Solutrean times. Although most of the Upper Paleolithic sequences of the Iberian plateau are still composed of Magdalenian occupations, especially in the northern plateau, today there is sound evidence of recurrent and complex human settlements starting at least in the Gravettian. Some of them show palaeoecological and chronometric data that relate them to some of the coldest and driest episodes of the last glaciation, including Heinrich Stadial 2 (26.5-24.3 ka cal BP). This demonstrates that the harsh environments and ecological risk of the inland Iberian plateau did not prevent the settlement of Palaeolithic modern humans, as it had been previously believed.
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... However, it has traditionally been depicted as a marginal, sparsely populated macroregion due to its harsh ecological conditions compared to the coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula, especially during the cold phases of the last glacial period (Marine Isotope Stages 4 to 2) (see Alcaraz-Castaño, in press;Alcaraz-Castaño, 2015). ...
New data on chert catchment analysis in inland Iberia during the Late Pleistocene
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In this paper, we present the first results obtained after new fieldwork and laboratory studies of chert catchment sources during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in inland Iberia, a region that has been traditionally depicted as marginal and sparsely populated during the last glacial due to its harsh ecological conditions compared to the coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula. Our main aim is to determine the mobility strategies and social networks of the last Neandertals and first modern humans settled in inland Iberia and neighbouring regions, and eventually test the hypothesis that the last glacial human settlement in the Iberian hinterland was more dense and complex than previously thought. In this study, we focus on the cherts exploited at two archaeological sites: the Peña Cabra and Peña Capón rock shelters. These sites are located in the southeastern foothills of the Central System range, in the province of Guadalajara (Spain), and they have yielded a sequence of human occupations from the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, respectively. To obtain a detailed picture of the mobility patterns and catchment strategies of the hunter-gatherers settled at these sites, our fieldwork focussed on identifying chert outcrops that could have been frequented and exploited by them. After two field seasons, 22 chert outcrops from eight geological formations were identified and more than 300 samples were collected and analysed. We conducted textural, micropalaeonto-logical, petrographical and geochemical analyses, with the aim of comprehensively characterising the various rock resources available in the study area. Results have shown that different siliceous varieties were available in the area surrounding the sites and both Neandertals and modern humans could have provisioned there. Also, they suggest the potential existence of a network connecting the Tagus and Ebro valleys, but this is a working hypothesis to be tested with future research.
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... Los sedimentos del Seno A de la Cueva de los Casares contienen micromamíferos y constituyen un documento excelente para valorar la teoría sobre el poblamiento paleolítico del centro de la Península Ibérica durante el Pleistoceno superior y su influencia en la fauna. Multipaleoiberia engloba además a equipos de investigación de un conjunto de yacimientos del interior peninsular como Torrejones, Malia, Peña Capón, El Molino, todos ellos con un interesante registro de microvertebrados que empieza a estudiarse en el seno de este proyecto (Alcaraz-Castaño et al., 2015, 2017. ...
REAL ACADEMIA DE CIENCIAS EXACTAS, FÍSICAS, QUÍMICAS Y NATURALES DE ZARAGOZA ¿HUMANIDAD VS. BIODIVERSIDAD? UNA PERSPECTIVA CON ROEDORES FÓSILES DISCURSO DE INGRESO LEÍDO POR LA ACADÉMICA ELECTA
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  • Dec 2021
Es mi discurso de entrada a la Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas, Químicas y Naturales de Zaragoza en el que pretendo analizar la relación entre los seres humanos y la naturaleza, entendiendo por ésta a las comunidades de plantas, animales y el sustrato paisajístico en el que nos movemos los seres vivos, lo que técnicamente se denomina la biosfera, de la cual, por el pujo típicamente humano de destacar, hay una parte que denominamos antroposfera. Puede arrojar luz el análisis científico de la interacción entre humanos y comunidades de animales y plantas del pasado, algo de lo que se ocupan las disciplinas paleontológicas y arqueológicas, especialmente en el “corto” período geológico denominado Cuaternario. Como dice Erwin: los paleontólogos debemos analizar lo que origina la biodiversidad actual, no sólo catalogar fósiles; (Paleontologists must model the causes of biodiversity rather than simply cataloguing fossils, as they curate the only record of ecosystems undamaged by humans (Douglas Erwin, 2009).)
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... Menacho se encontrarían dentro de la variabilidad de algunas industrias del Pleistoceno superior final en la Península Ibérica, un período escasamente representado en las zonas interiores (Alcaraz-Castaño, 2015;Straus, 2018). Entre estas industrias destaca la documentada en el nivel 3 de la cueva del Esquilleu (Cantabria), con una cronología aparente en torno a 19 ka obtenida mediante radiocarbono, aunque algunas muestras proporcionaron resultados más recientes (Baena Preysler et al., 2012). ...
Contexto crono-estratigráfico y cultural del conjunto lítico de Base Menacho (cuenca del río Guadiana, Badajoz, España): primeros resultados
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2021
En este trabajo presentamos el conjunto lítico de Base Menacho (Badajoz, España), documentado en un nivel sedimentario que cubre los depósitos aluviales de la terraza fluvial T3 +10-20 m sobre el cauce actual del río Zapatón, subafluente del río Guadiana en el sector de las Vegas Bajas (Badajoz, España). El conjunto se compone de 46 elementos líticos incluyendo lascas, núcleos y configurados. No se han identificado elementos líticos carac-terísticos que permitan una atribución firme a los tecnocomplejos de Modo 2 o 3. Ya que los elementos líticos fueron documentados en arenas finas y no muestran evidencias aparentes de marcas de abrasión, asumimos de forma preliminar la ausencia de transporte (o muy limitado). Estas observaciones sugieren que el conjunto se encuentra en posición primaria. La datación por Resonancia Paramagnética Electrónica (ESR) de una muestra de cuarzo procedente del nivel arqueológico proporciona una edad del enterramiento de 19,2 ± 1,7 ka (1σ). Teniendo en cuenta todas las fuentes de incertidumbre relativas al resultado, esta datación numérica permite: 1) correlacionar a Base Menacho con el Pleistoceno superior final y en particular con el estadio isotópico (MIS) 2; 2) establecer indirectamente la cronología de una industria lítica cuyas características poco resolutivas son similares a otros conjuntos relativamente poco estudiados documentados en contextos fluviales de la Península Ibérica; y 3) situar a Base Menacho en el Paleolítico superior, un período con escasas evidencias arqueológicas en el interior de la Península Ibérica. Aunque estos resultados preliminares prometedores demuestran el potencial interesante del conjunto lítico de Base Menacho, reconocemos también la necesidad de realizar una excavación arqueológica en un futuro próximo, para aumentar el tamaño del conjunto y obtener una mejor comprensión de su variabilidad y de los procesos de formación del yacimiento.
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... Although no index fossils or significant technological strategies have been recognized in these levels, the absence of foliate armatures, the higher presence of quartz and bladelets as compared to levels 1-3 (Supplementary Dataset 5), and their chrono-stratigraphic position, allow us to securely relate them to pre-Solutrean human occupations (Fig. 10). Based on the assemblages from the 1972 excavation at the site (Supplementary Text S1), a Proto-Solutrean component with Vale Comprido points (level III) ( Supplementary Fig. S3), and a potentially Gravettian occupation (level IV) were described 20,25 . According to new radiocarbon determinations, these two levels (III and IV as defined in 1972) are currently dated to 25.6-24.9 ...
First modern human settlement recorded in the Iberian hinterland occurred during Heinrich Stadial 2 within harsh environmental conditions
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  • Jul 2021
As the south-westernmost region of Europe, the Iberian Peninsula stands as a key area for understanding the process of modern human dispersal into Eurasia. However, the precise timing, ecological setting and cultural context of this process remains controversial concerning its spatiotemporal distribution within the different regions of the peninsula. While traditional models assumed that the whole Iberian hinterland was avoided by modern humans due to ecological factors until the retreat of the Last Glacial Maximum, recent research has demonstrated that hunter-gatherers entered the Iberian interior at least during Solutrean times. We provide a multi-proxy geoarchaeological, chronometric and paleoecological study on human–environment interactions based on the key site of Peña Capón (Guadalajara, Spain). Results show (1) that this site hosts the oldest modern human presence recorded to date in central Iberia, associated to pre-Solutrean cultural traditions around 26,000 years ago, and (2) that this presence occurred during Heinrich Stadial 2 within harsh environmental conditions. These findings demonstrate that this area of the Iberian hinterland was recurrently occupied regardless of climate and environmental variability, thus challenging the widely accepted hypothesis that ecological risk hampered the human settlement of the Iberian interior highlands since the first arrival of modern humans to Southwest Europe.
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... Crucially, this reinforces the complex scenario of settlement and human-environment interactions emphasised by the growing discovery of sites from interior and so-called inhospitable regions of Iberia (e.g. Fernández Gómez & Velasco Ortiz, 2013;Alcaraz-Castaño, 2015;Yravedra et al., 2016;Alcaraz-Castaño et al., 2017). ...
Mobility and settlement strategies in southern Iberia during the Last Glacial Maximum: Evaluating the region’s refugium status
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The emergence and distribution of the Solutrean technocomplex in Western Europe is credited as a direct result of climatic changes associated with the Last Glacial Maximum. Across Iberia, spatial clusters of sites are considered to reflect the deliberate occupation of regional refugia which enabled human survival. In southern Iberia in particular, it is commonly thought that benign climatic conditions made it a regional refugium that was especially attractive for human settlement. However, this perspective has endured without a critical examination of its refugium status, thereby hindering a more comprehensive understanding of hunter-gatherer mobility and settlement in the region. Drawing on the relationship between lithic technology, land-use strategies and ecology, this paper tests the assumption that mobility and settlement strategies in southern Iberia conform to expectations of hunter-gatherer behaviour in an ecological refugium. This is achieved using statistical analyses of retouched stone tool assemblages which serve as a proxy for site function and related strategies of mobility. The results demonstrate a considerable use of logistical mobility strategies which likely sought to overcome problems arising from unevenly distributed resources. These findings undermine the refugium status of southern Iberia and question the validity of a ‘refugium’ concept for understanding the regional Solutrean record and beyond.
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... No indications of loess formation were found for the period of the global LGM (23-19 ka), thus, we expect less dry and less cold conditions in central Iberia during that time. This is in line with mild North Atlantic SSTs (Eynaud et al., 2009) and indications of recurrent human occupation due to temperate phases within and around the LGM in the northern part of the upper Tagus Basin (Alcaraz-Castaño, 2015;Yravedra et al., 2016;Alcaraz-Castaño et al., 2017). ...
Evidence for strong relations between the upper Tagus loess formation (central Iberia) and the marine atmosphere off the Iberian margin during the last glacial period
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  • Feb 2021
During glacial times, the North Atlantic region was affected by serious climate changes corresponding to Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles that were linked to dramatic shifts in sea temperature and moisture transfer to the continents. However, considerable efforts are still needed to understand the effects of these shifts on terrestrial environments. In this context, the Iberian Peninsula is particularly interesting because of its close proximity to the North Atlantic, although the Iberian interior lacks paleoenvironmental information so far because suitable archives are rare. Here we provide an accurate impression of the last glacial environmental developments in central Iberia based on comprehensive investigations using the upper Tagus loess record. A multi-proxy approach revealed that phases of loess formation during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 (and upper MIS 3) were linked to utmost aridity, coldness, and highest wind strengths in line with the most intense Greenland stadials also including Heinrich Events 3–1. Lack of loess deposition during the global last glacial maximum (LGM) suggests milder conditions, which agrees with less-cold sea surface temperatures (SST) off the Iberian margin. Our results demonstrate that geomorphological system behavior in central Iberia is highly sensitive to North Atlantic SST fluctuations, thus enabling us to reconstruct a detailed hydrological model in relation to marine–atmospheric circulation patterns.
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References
Article
  • Oct 2021
In this book, Jennifer French presents a new synthesis of the archaeological, palaeoanthropological, and palaeogenetic records of the European Palaeolithic, adopting a unique demographic perspective on these first two-million years of European prehistory. Unlike prevailing narratives of demographic stasis, she emphasises the dynamism of Palaeolithic populations of both our evolutionary ancestors and members of our own species across four demographic stages, within a context of substantial Pleistocene climatic changes. Integrating evolutionary theory with a socially oriented approach to the Palaeolithic, French bridges biological and cultural factors, with a focus on women and children as the drivers of population change. She shows how, within the physiological constraints on fertility and mortality, social relationships provide the key to enduring demographic success. Through its demographic focus, French combines a 'big picture' perspective on human evolution with careful analysis of the day-to-day realities of European Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer communities—their families, their children, and their lives.
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Late Pleistocene environmental dynamics and human occupation in Southwestern Europe
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This paper focuses on palaeoenvironmental conditions and climate variability during the Upper Late Pleistocene (c. 28,000–11,700 cal BP) in SW Europe (Iberian Peninsula) and their influence on human settlement patterns. All the palaeoenvironmental and archaeological sequences available for this period are analysed, together with a new palaeoenvironmental study related to a key deposit: Verdeospesoa mire (northern Iberian Peninsula). The multiproxy analysis (pollen, spores, non-pollen palynomorphs, magnetic susceptibility, organic content and macrocharcoal) of this sequence, with the support of six Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates, shows the climatic variability of that period, with some dry/cold and humid/temperate episodes. While in vast regions of central and northern Europe very few archaeological sites of this age are known, in the Iberian Peninsula no occupation gaps have been detected in all this period, supporting the idea of SW Europe as a glacial refugium for human groups during the worst periods of the Upper Late Pleistocene.
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Late Pleistocene Refugia in Europe
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Full-text available
  • Jan 1987
In the archaeological record of Paleolithic Europe, southwestern France stands out as a region of exceptional richness and complexity, known for its abundance of sites, detailed sequence of archaeological cultures, and rich inventory of parietal and portable art. In order to explain the extraordinary developments in this area, attention must be given to the unique combination of factors that set this region apart from the rest of western Europe. Some of these factors are local and will be mentioned briefly. Others, however, are regional, in that they may be discovered only by examining southwestern France in the context of a larger area. It is these latter factors that are the main focus of this discussion. Southwestern France will be viewed as a refugium for European populations during the last glacial maximum, and the implications of this view will be explored.
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Adaptation to Resources and Environments during the Last Glacial Maximum by Hunter-Gatherer Societies in Atlantic Europe
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Solutrean culture has been interpreted as a response to the Last Glacial Maximum in western Europe. However, to establish a link depends on our knowledge of the impact of global climatic changes at a local level and on the differential preservation and signifi cance of the record. The identifi cation of lithic sources, technology, function, and place of discard is an effective way to mitigate some of these biases and to improve our understanding of hunter-gatherer societies. We present the results of a study of fl int materials found in several rockshelters and open-air sites preserving Upper Solutrean lithic assemblages from France and Portugal, using a Geographic Information System. The network defi ned by a leastcost algorithm is considered a proxy for social and territorial reconstruction. Our goal is to identify recurrences and differences in Solutrean raw material network and management as compared with Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic assemblages in the same areas, considering environmental changes.
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Nuevos datos sobre el yacimiento paleolítico de Las Delicias: Un taller solutrense en el valle del Manzanares (Madrid, España)
Article
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  • Sep 2013
El yacimiento de Las Delicias (Madrid), conocido desde la excavaci?n practicada en el sitio por H. Obermaier y P. Wernert a finales de 1917, ha sido desde entonces uno de los referentes cl?sicos del Paleol?tico del valle del Manzanares, a pesar de las variadas interpretaciones que ha originado su problem?tica colecci?n industrial. Tras un an?lisis historiogr?fico de sus interpretaciones, presentamos aqu? un primer avance de los resultados obtenidos en un proyecto de investigaci?n sobre este yacimiento, iniciado en el invierno de 2008. Este proyecto, planteado a partir de la excavaci?n de parte de los dep?sitos cuaternarios a?n conservados en Las Delicias, se ha centrado en mejorar nuestro conocimiento geoarqueol?gico del yacimiento con el objetivo de resolver los interrogantes tradicionales que ?ste ha propuesto a la disciplina. El an?lisis tecnol?gico de la industria l?tica recuperada, junto con el estudio litol?gico y geomorfol?gico del dep?sito, permite situar en el Solutrense el yacimiento de Las Delicias. ?ste se convierte as? en el ?nico emplazamiento conocido en el entorno del Manzanares ?hallazgos aislados aparte? con industrias solutrenses en posici?n estratigr?fica bien definida y excavado con metodolog?a actual. Se apunta una primera discusi?n sobre las implicaciones de los resultados obtenidos en el debate sobre la ocupaci?n humana de la Meseta durante el tramo central del Paleol?tico Superior.The archaeological site of Las Delicias (Madrid, Spain) is known since the excavation conducted at the location by H. Obermaier and P. Wernert in the late 1917. It has been one of the classical references for the Palaeolithic of the Madrid region, despite the varied interpretations that have been posited to explain its problematic lithic assemblage. Following a historiographical analysis of the site?s interpretations, we present the results of a research project initiated in the winter of 2008. This project was centered in the excavation of part of the quaternary deposits still present in the area, and its main objective was to gain a better geoarchaeological understanding of the site?in order to solve the questions that it has traditionally posed to the discipline. The technological analysis of the lithics, together with the lithological and geomorphological analysis of the deposit, allows us to place Las Delicias in the Solutrean period. Thus, besides some isolated finds, this site becomes the only one in the Manzanares area containing Solutrean industries in a well-defined stratigraphic position and excavated with modern methods. We make some reflections on the implications of our findings for the discussion on the human settlement of Central Iberia during the middle part of the Upper Palaeolithic.
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The Human Occupation of Southwestern Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum: Solutrean Cultural Adaptations in France and Iberia
Article
The history of the hominin settlement of Europe has always been marked by range expansion and contraction in the face of interglacial-glacial cycles. The last major contraction occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and was manifested culturally in western Europe by the Solutrean technocomplex, during which the surviving human population was especially concentrated in favored areas of a refugium corresponding to southwestern and southeastern France and the Iberian Peninsula. This period was marked by signifi cant developments in technology (especially weaponry), social networking, and artistic expression. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge of the Solutrean phenomenon with special emphasis on settlement-subsistence systems and regional similarities and differences in material culture and responses to the climatic crisis of the LGM.
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