RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article T1 Fire and brief human occupations in Iberia during MIS 4: Evidence from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Spain) A1 Mallol, Carolina A1 Hernández Gómez, Cristo M. A1 Mercier, Norbert A1 Falguères, Christophe A1 Carrancho Alonso, Ángel A1 Cabanes, Dan . A1 Vidal-Matutano, Paloma A1 Connolly, Rory A1 Pérez, Leopoldo A1 Mayor, Alejandro A1 Ben Arous, Eslem A1 Galván, Bertila K1 Arqueología K1 Archaeology K1 Prehistoria K1 Prehistoric peoples AB There is a relatively low amount of Middle Paleolithic sites in Europe dating to MIS 4. Of the few thatexist, several of them lack evidence for anthropogenic fire, raising the question of how this periodof global cooling may have affected the Neanderthal population. The Iberian Peninsula is a key areato explore this issue, as it has been considered as a glacial refugium during critical periods of theNeanderthal timeline and might therefore yield archaeological contexts in which we can explorepossible 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) witha stratified deposit containing Middle Palaeolithic remains. We present absolute dates that framethe 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 alsopresent archaeostratigraphic evidence of recurrent, functionally diverse, brief human occupation of therock shelter. Our results suggest that Neanderthals occupied the Central Mediterranean coast of theIberian Peninsula during MIS 4, that these Neanderthals were not undergoing climatic stress and theywere habitual fire users. PB Springer Nature SN 2045-2322 YR 2019 FD 2019-12 LK http://hdl.handle.net/10259/6110 UL http://hdl.handle.net/10259/6110 LA eng NO This research was funded by a Leakey Foundation General Grant, Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovationand Universities Projects HAR2008-06117/HIST and HAR2015-68321-P, Junta de Castilla y León-FEDERProject BU235P18, the LabEx Sciences Archéologiques de Bordeaux (LaScArBx ANR-10-LABX-52) and ERCConsolidator Grant ERC-CoG-2014. Archaeological excavations at Abric del Pastor are supported by theArchaeological Museum of Alcoy and the Government of Valencia Cultural Heritage Department. DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos RD 21-nov-2024