Fig 1.
Regional setting of Los Casares.
Location of Los Casares cave in the Iberian Peninsula (A) and in the Geologic map of the Guadalajara province (B). C: 3D view of Los Casares cave and the Linares and Valdebuitre valleys (Aerial photography and Digital Terrain Model—PNOA—from Instituto Geográfico Nacional de España).
Fig 2.
General plan of Los Casares cave showing Vestibule and Seno A areas.
Fig 3.
Main findings of the 1960’s excavations at Los Casares cave.
A: Mousterian artefacts. All come from level c of Seno A except for numbers 33, 34 and 36 (modified after [14]). B: Neandertal metacarpal found in square 8V’ of Seno A (bar is 5 mm) (modified after [17]).
Fig 4.
A: Los Casares cave and the narrowing of the Linares River downstream of the ‘Milagros’ valley. B: Entrance to the cavity. C: General view of Los Casares cave from the south. D: View of the Linares River valley from the cave’s entrance.
Fig 5.
View of the Seno A chamber prior to our fieldwork.
Profile 1R’ South produced by the 1960’s excavations and adjacent disturbed area are shown.
Fig 6.
Plan of the Seno A showing excavated areas in the 1960’s and in 2014–2015.
For the latter, archeological assemblages from level c are plotted. However, for the 1960’s excavations only lithic artefacts are plotted (after [14]), since no spatial recording of bone or charcoals were done.
Fig 7.
Stratigraphic sequence excavated in the 1960’s.
A: Stratigraphy described by Barandiarán in profile 1-R’ South (modified after [14]). B: Uncleaned profile 1-R’ South prior to our fieldwork. Post-depositional disturbance at the upper western part was easily recognized.
Fig 8.
Thin section scans of the flowstone of d0 at profile 3R under plain polarized light (A) and crossed polarizers (B).
C shows a scan of a calcite incrusted layer of d0 extracted from square 6-Q’. The lower image shows the three speleothem samples selected for Uranium/Thorium dating (D). Note the small sampling areas.
Fig 9.
Stratigraphic sequence and vertical distribution of items recorded in profile 3-R’.
Stratigraphic position of samples for pollen, phytolith, micromorphology and Uranium/Thorium dating is shown.
Fig 10.
Stratigraphic sequence and vertical distribution of items recorded in profile 2-O’ West.
Stratigraphic position of samples for radiocarbon and Uranium/Thorium dating is shown.
Fig 11.
Stratigraphic sequence and vertical distribution of items recorded in profile 1-O’ South and 1-O’ West.
Since some items could not be plotted in both views due to stratigraphic dip, topographic numbering of items has been included.
Fig 12.
Stratigraphic sequence and vertical distribution of items recorded in profile 6-Q’ North.
Fig 13.
Stratigraphic sequence and vertical distribution of items recorded in profile 8-W’ North.
Fig 14.
Stratigraphic sequence and vertical distribution of items recorded in profile 6-V’.
Stratigraphic position of two dated charcoals is shown.
Fig 15.
Additional views of stratigraphic sequence and vertical distribution of items recorded in profile 6-V’.
Fig 16.
Thin section scans from profile 3R including microstratigraphic subdivision of archeological levels and presumed former surfaces of the cave floor, compacted by trampling.
Thin sections on the left side were scanned using two polarization foils at 90° angle similar to crossed polarizers (XPL), while the other six were scanned without polarization foil (PPL).
Fig 17.
The profile of 1-O’ with location of sampling for micromorphology and scans of three thin sections including stratigraphy and compacted surfaces.
Fig 18.
The profile of 8-W’ with location of sampling for micromorphology and scans of three thin sections including stratigraphy and compacted surfaces.
Fig 19.
Selected areas of thin sections scanned under PPL and XPL conditions for illustration of some stratigraphic details on a larger scale.
The scale bar represents 10 mm. A and B show the prominent dark colored interface between levels b and c1 in profile 3R. Note the low degree of compaction above the interface and the high packings density below it. In the upper part, linear accumulation of charcoal and manganese indicate former surfaces. C and D include a local accumulation of bone fragments with abundant phosphate infillings. Phosphate also precipitated in the outer part of the limestone gravel on the left. E and F include the sequence from level a3 at the top over a4, b0 to b at the bottom with sublayers of thin section 5/1. Note the strong compaction and linear lamination of the central layer (b0) and the remnants of textural surface crusts near the bottom. G and H is a close up of the boundary between b2 (top 3 cm) and c (bottom cm) in profile 8W. Under crossed polarization foils, the intercalation between clay rich and sandy layers with small gravel is visible.
Table 1.
Uranium/Thorium dates obtained on speleothem samples collected at Los Casares cave—Seno A.
Table 2.
Radiocarbon dates obtained on charcoal samples collected at of Los Casares cave-Seno A deposit.
Fig 20.
Location of charcoal sample COL4208.1.1. in square 6-V’.
A: General view of the excavation of level c2 in square 6V’. B: Detailed view of a deer scapula and associated faunal and lithic remains. C: Charcoal remains collected for radiocarbon dating below the deer scapula.
Fig 21.
Percentage pollen diagram from Los Casares cave-Seno A site.
Fig 22.
PCA biplot from Los Casares cave-Seno A site showing ordination of samples and pollen taxa.
Table 3.
Microfaunal remains identified in Los Casares cave-Seno A.
Fig 23.
Distribution of small vertebrates identified in Los Casares cave-Seno A.
A: Percentage of identified taxa per stratigraphic layer. B: Distribution (#) of analyzed samples, identified taxa (S) and Minimum Number of individuals (MNI).
Fig 24.
Selected specimens from level c of Los Casares cave-Seno A.
A: m1d of Iberomys cabrerae. B: m1s of Pliomys lenki. C: m1d of Microtus arvalis juvenile (cement not drawn). D: m1d of Microtus agrestis (the lingual points of the salient angles are digested) E: M1s of Myotis sp. F: M3s of Arvicola sapidus. G: lower incisor of Sciurus vulgaris. H: M1d of Allocricetus bursae. The scale bar in each figure represents 1mm, except for figure G, where it is 2mm.
Table 4.
Wood charcoal identified in Los Casares cave-Seno A.
Table 5.
Main phytolith results.
Table 6.
Phytolith morphotypes identified in level c of Los Casares cave—Seno A.
Fig 25.
Microphotographs of phytoliths identified at level c Los Casares cave-Seno A.
Pictures were taken at 400x. A) Rondel short cell; characteristic of Pooideae grass subfamily; B) Saddle short cell characteristic of the Chlorodoideae grass subfamily; C) Crenate; phytolith characteristic of Pooideae grass subfamily (Gramineae); D) Elongate echinate from inflorescence of Poaceae (Gramineae).
Table 7.
Taxonomical representation of Los Casares cave-Seno A faunal assemblages.
Table 8.
Taxonomical representation of Los Casares cave-Seno A according to MNI.
Table 9.
Main bone alterations documented in level c.
Fig 26.
Mousterian lithic artefacts recorded in level c of Los Casares cave-Seno A according to the chaîne opératoire stages.
Note that stage I (Initialization) is totally absent.
Table 10.
Technological categories with respect to lithic raw materials identified at level c of Los Casares cave-Seno A.
Fig 27.
Mousterian lithic artefacts from level c of Los Casares cave-Seno A.
Sidescrapers (1,3,4 6–7), denticulate (2) and point (5). All artefacts come from the 1960’s excavations (curated in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid) except 3, which was recovered in our recent excavations. Item 7 is a sidescraper recycled into a core.
Fig 28.
Correlation of radiocarbon calibrated date COL 4208.1.1 with Greenland Interstadials against the NGRIP δ18O record [111–112].
U/Th sample 3 is shown as a terminus post quem for the Middle Paleolithic layers.
Fig 29.
Middle Paleolithic sites in interior Iberia dated to MIS 3.
Sites having yielded reliable chronometric dates are shown in black. Sites with uncertain results are numbered in red. For complete dating results and methods see [6, 9, 30, 132, 134–141, 145, 146]. Radiocarbon dates were calibrated using OxCal 4.3 [40] and IntCal13 [41]. OSL: Optically Stimulated Luminiscence. AAR: Aminoacid Racemization. AMS: Accelerator mass spectrometry.