2026-09-14T18:26:36Zhttps://riubu.ubu.es/oai/request

oai:riubu.ubu.es:10259/61102026-04-29T11:55:26Zcom_10259.4_2560com_10259_5086com_10259_2604col_10259.4_2561

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Mallol, Carolina author Hernández Gómez, Cristo M. author Mercier, Norbert author Falguères, Christophe author Carrancho Alonso, Ángel author Cabanes, Dan author Vidal-Matutano, Paloma author Connolly, Rory author Pérez, Leopoldo author Mayor, Alejandro author Ben Arous, Eslem author Galván, Bertila author 2019-12 There is a relatively low amount of Middle Paleolithic sites in Europe dating to MIS 4. Of the few that exist, several of them lack evidence for anthropogenic fire, raising the question of how this period of global cooling may have affected the Neanderthal population. The Iberian Peninsula is a key area to explore this issue, as it has been considered as a glacial refugium during critical periods of the Neanderthal timeline and might therefore yield archaeological contexts in which we can explore possible changes in the behaviour and settlement patterns of Neanderthal groups during MIS 4. Here we report recent data from Abric del Pastor, a small rock shelter in Alcoy (Alicante, Spain) with a stratified deposit containing Middle Palaeolithic remains. We present absolute dates that frame the sequence within MIS 4 and multi-proxy geoarchaeological evidence of in situ anthropogenic fire, including microscopic evidence of in situ combustion residues and thermally altered sediment. We also present archaeostratigraphic evidence of recurrent, functionally diverse, brief human occupation of the rock shelter. Our results suggest that Neanderthals occupied the Central Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula during MIS 4, that these Neanderthals were not undergoing climatic stress and they were habitual fire users. 2045-2322 http://hdl.handle.net/10259/6110 10.1038/s41598-019-54305-9 Fire and brief human occupations in Iberia during MIS 4: Evidence from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain)