chronological and palaeoenvironmental context of human occupations at the buendía rockshelter...

Chronological and palaeoenvironmental context ofhuman occupations at the Buendıa rockshelter(Central Spain) during the late Upper Pleistocene ininland Iberia

IGNACIO DE LA TORRE,1* ROSA MARIA ALBERT,2,3 ETHEL ALLU�E,4,5 ESTEBAN �ALVAREZ-FERN�ANDEZ,6 M.TERESA APARICIO,7 ADRI�AN ARROYO,1 ALFONSO BENITO-CALVO,8 MARIA JOS�E GIL GARCIA,9 ELIAS L �OPEZ-ROMERO,10

NORAH MOLONEY,1 M.BLANCA RUIZ ZAPATA9 and PALMIRA SALADI�E4,5,111Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK2ICREA (Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies), Barcelona, Spain3(ERAAUB), Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain4IPHES, Institut Catal�a de Paleoecologia Humana i Evoluci�o Social, Tarragona, Spain5�Area de Prehist�oria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain6Departamento de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueologıa, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain7Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC, Madrid, Spain8CENIEH, Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain9Departamento de Geologıa, Geografıa y Medio Ambiente, Campus Universitario, Edificio Ciencias. Universidad de Alcal�a deHenares, Madrid, Spain

10Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, UK11GQP-CG, Grupo Quatern�ario e Pr�e-Hist�oria do Centro de Geociencias (uI and D73–FCT), Portugal

Received 23 December 2014; Revised 26 April 2015; Accepted 6 May 2015

ABSTRACT: This paper introduces the sequence of the Buendıa rockshelter (Central Spain), a multi-layeredsite with abundant lithic assemblages attributed to the Magdalenian. We present 18 new radiocarbon dates thatfirmly position the whole stratigraphy between 15 and 13 14C ka BP (18–16 cal ka BP), making the Buendıarockshelter an excellent palaeoenvironmental and archaeological archive for a very specific time span of thelate Upper Pleistocene. Available proxies include pollen, phytoliths, charcoal, molluscs, macromammals andother evidence of human occupation of the rockshelter, which enable the portrayal of a detailed picture ofBuendıa landscapes during the Late Glacial. These were generally characterized by an open landscape withsparse arboreal vegetation, in which pollen shows a dominance of Compositae in the herbaceous taxa and ofPinus among the arboreal taxa. Charcoal analysis also points to an abundance of Pinus sylvestris type, andphytoliths indicate the relevance of Poaceae. Marine and freshwater molluscs were mostly brought into the siteby humans, thus highlighting long-distance transport networks among Magdalenian hunter-gatherers betweenthe coast and inland Iberia. Climatic oscillations are observed across the stratigraphic sequence, and discussedin light of the archaeological evidence for the human occupation of inland Iberia.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

KEYWORDS: Iberia; Late Glacial; Magdalenian; Upper Palaeolithic.

Introduction

The Iberian Peninsula is well known for its wealth of lateUpper Pleistocene archaeological sequences. However,knowledge is biased towards the coasts, while data availablefor the interior of Iberia is much sparser. Such imbalance hastraditionally been attributed to less productive ecosystemsand harsher climatic conditions in inland Iberia during theLast Glacial, which would lead to a concentration of humansettlement along the coasts. This idea has been challenged inrecent years (e.g. Ripoll et al., 1997), and the scarcity of lateUpper Pleistocene inland sites is now attributed to a lack ofsystematic research. New investigations in the region havedemonstrated the abundance of late Upper Pleistocenerecords (Cacho et al., 2012; Utrilla et al., 2012), and theirpotential is now beginning to be unveiled.Within this new context, we present here the sequence of

the Buendıa rockshelter in central Spain. Although Buendıahas been known for several years (Cacho and P�erez, 1997),no archaeological excavations were conducted until 2005. Apreliminary report from our first season (de la Torre et al.,

2007) confirmed the presence of in situ archaeological units,but the sequence has remained unpublished until now.The goal of this paper is thus to introduce the previously

unreported sequence from Buendıa. This work aims toestablish a radiometric and palaeoecological framework tocontextualize the human occupations, while a full study ofthe archaeological assemblages will be published elsewhere.Analyses presented here include a study of the lithostrati-graphic sequence, and pollen, phytolith, charcoal, molluscand macromammal remains associated with the archaeolog-ical units, which are discussed in the context of newradiocarbon dates.

General setting

The Buendıa site (Castej�on, Cuenca, Spain) is located in thecentral–east region of Iberia (40˚2504.3700N, 2˚29050.3900W,WGS84), at 710m above sea level (a.s.l.) (Fig. 1). This areacorresponds to the Intermediate Depression (Tajo CenozoicBasin, Fig. 1B), where the main valley is drained by theGuadiela River. Around the site, detrital terraces form asequence of eight levels between þ50–53m and þ4�5mabove the Guadiela channel (Fig. 1C). No chronometric data

�Correspondence: I. de la Torre, as above.E-mail: [email protected]

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE (2015) 30(4) 376–390 ISSN 0267-8179. DOI: 10.1002/jqs.2791

are available for the Guadiela River detrital terraces, butfollowing the model developed for the Tajo River (P�erez-Gonz�alez, 1994), terraces between þ50–55 and þ20mwould correspond to the Middle Pleistocene, those betweenþ12 and þ7m to the Upper Pleistocene, and the level atþ4�5m and the floodplain to the Holocene.During fluvial downcutting, alternating resistant and softer

layers produced stair-step topography associated with tabulargeometries of the Palaeogene–Neogene layers (Fig. 1C). TheBuendıa rockshelter developed in a Palaeogene–Neogenedetrital unit, consisting of softer shales, and cementedsandstone channels (Fig. 2), which formed the resistantoverhang of the rockshelter.

The friable nature of the sandstones at both the bedrockand the overhang caused post-Pleistocene erosion of thearchaeological deposits, and the rockshelter is still undergo-ing intensive dismantling. Patches of archaeological depositsare preserved only in those areas that have remained partiallysheltered by the retreating overhang and bottom sandstones.

Materials and methods

Fieldwork

Excavations were conducted for seven field seasons between2005 and 2010. A relative coordinate system was set up with

Figure 1. (A) General location of Buendıa in the Iberian Peninsula: 1, Tajo Basin; 2, Central System; 3, Iberian Chain; 4, Montes de Toledo. (B)Regional position of Buendıa within the Tajo Basin, which is divided by the Altomira Range into the Madrid Basin and the IntermediateDepression (also named Loranca Basin). (C) Digital elevation model of the Guadiela River valley in the area of the Buendıa Rockshelter. Legend:1, Palaeogene–Neogene deposits; 2, detrital fluvial terraces; 3, glacis; 4, colluvial deposits; 5, valley floor deposits; 6, Guadiela River; F, mesas onevaporites including chert nodules. This figure is available in colour online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 30(4) 376–390 (2015)

LATE PLEISTOCENE HUMAN OCCUPATIONS AT THE BUEND�IA ROCKSHELTER 377

a total station that used the interior of the rockshelter as the‘North’ (non-geographical) of the excavation grid. Threesectors (Western, Central and Eastern) were distinguishedbased on the relative coordinate grid. Excavations focused ontwo areas, the Western and Central sectors. All archaeolog-ical items found during excavation were three-dimensionallypositioned with a total station, as were relevant features suchas large rocks and human-made structures. This protocol wasalso applied to dating and palaeoenvironmental sampling, aswell as to geological mapping, allowing for accurate spatialcontrol and correlation of sample provenance, lithostrati-graphic contacts and archaeological data.

Radiocarbon dating

Twenty-six bone, shell and charcoal samples were submittedfor radiocarbon dating to Beta Analytic, Inc. (n¼ 8) and to theOxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU) (n¼ 18), ofwhich eight were discarded by the latter due to low or noyield. Eighteen new radiocarbon dates were obtained fromarchaeological units spanning most of the stratigraphicsequence, including the bottom and top of the deposits. Thisdramatically improves radiometric control of the stratigraphy,previously known only from three preliminary radiocarbondates (Cacho and P�erez, 1997; de la Torre et al., 2007).Dating results will be presented below in conventionalradiocarbon years and as calibrated ages using OxCal 4.2(Bronk Ramsey and Lee, 2013).

Pollen

Thirty-six samples, covering the entire stratigraphy, were takenfor pollen analysis: 28 samples correspond to the CentralSector and eight to the Western Sector. Samples were treatedfollowing standard procedures (e.g. Moore et al., 1991), and

mineral–organic particle separation performed with a Thouletsolution (2.0 g cm�3) (Girard and Renault-Miskovsky, 1969).More than 200 palynomorphs per sample were analysed usinga microscope at magnifications of 400� and 600�. The pollenassemblage exceeds standard values of statistical reliabilityregarding the minimum number of grains in each sample andpresence of a taxonomic range of 20 different pollen typesapart from the dominant taxon (L�opez S�aez et al., 2003).Relative frequencies of taxa are presented using TILIA1 andTILIA GRAPH1 (© Eric C. Grimm).Aquatic vegetation and non-pollen microfossils (NPMs)

were excluded from the total when calculating percentages ofarboreal, shrub and herbaceous taxa. Pollen and NPM countsfollowed standard nomenclature (e.g. Moore et al., 1991).Pollen zones were obtained through the CONISS method(Grimm, 1987). The arboreal pollen/non-arboreal pollencurve was represented for the entire sequence apart fromsamples 12–19 in Buendıa’s Central Sector (pollen zone II.1)where, due to low pollen content and low taxonomicdiversity, only presence/absence of pollen taxa, rather thanpercentages, is reported.

Phytoliths

Ten sediment samples were collected for phytolith analysis,of which eight yielded positive results. Chemical extraction ofphytoliths and other siliceous minerals followed the method-ology of Albert et al. (1999), after which phytoliths wereconcentrated using heavy liquid separation. They wereanalysed morphologically and quantitatively under an opticalmicroscope at 200� and 400�. Morphological identificationof phytoliths was based on Albert et al.’s (2011) modern plantand soil reference collection, as well as on standard literature(e.g. Piperno, 2006). Where applicable, phytolith morphotype

Figure 2. (A) Synthetic stratigraphic section of the Buendıa Rockshelter. Legend: 1, Palaeogene–Neogene shale; 2, Palaeogene–Neogenesandstone (rockshelter overhang); 3, brecchias and microbrecchias, mainly composed of shale fragments; 4, orange sorted and laminated sands; 5,yellow sorted and laminated sands; 6, yellow poorly bedded and poorly sorted sands: 7, light grey, poorly bedded and poorly sorted sands andsilts; 8, blocks and clasts of sandstone; 9, allochthonous rounded clasts of quartzite; 10, major unconformities. (B) General view of the BuendıaRockshelter during excavation with position of stratigraphic units. This figure is available in colour online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.


378 JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE

terminology used the International Code for Phytolith No-menclature (Madella et al., 2005).

Charcoal

Most charcoals were collected by hand from individual archaeo-logical units during the excavation; sediment sieving fromseveral samples did not provide further material. A total of 366charcoal remains were studied taxonomically using an atlas ofwood anatomy (Schweingruber, 1990) and the reference collec-tion from the IPHES (Tarragona). Charcoals were identified usinga microscope with reflected light at 5, 10, 20 and 50�.

Macromammals

The analysis included 1630 bone fragments. The surface offragments >2 cm in size and all teeth and antlers wereinspected macroscopically and microscopically. Two types ofcut marks were recognized, namely slicing and chop marks.Tooth-marks were documented in the form of notches onfracture edges and scores. Identification of burned bones wasbased on colour and uniformity of cremation over the bonesurface (Asmussen, 2009).

Molluscs

The mollusc sample of Buendıa totals 28 remains. The focushere is on their taxonomic and ecological implications, whichwere identified using the malacology reference collectionsfrom the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales and theUniversity of Salamanca, and standard taxonomic lists (Con-solado Macedo et al., 1999; Gofas et al., 2011; Welter-Schultes, 2012).

Results

Stratigraphy and sedimentology

The Buendıa rockshelter is infilled with 4m of detritaldeposits that include autochthonous and allochthonous fa-cies. These have been divided into four stratigraphic units(AB-I/II, AB-III, AB-IV and AB-V) which are bounded byunconformities and lithostratigraphic changes (Fig. 2).Autochthonous facies include shale microbreccias and

breccias, laminated sands, poorly bedded and sorted sands,and fallen roof blocks and boulders. Microbreccias arecomposed mainly of subangular and angular soft shalefragments (Unit AB-I/II and Unit III), and are interpreted asthe result of cracking of the shale walls and sedimentationmainly by gravitational processes. Interbedded laminatedfacies are found in Unit AB-I/II and to a minor extent in UnitAB-IV, and are characteristic of Unit AB-III. In this unit,sorted, fine and medium sands show parallel and cross-lamination, which fill channel structures with gravel lags atthe bottom. In addition, poorly bedded and poorly sortedsand facies contain medium-grained sands and a silty claymatrix, interpreted as derived from granular disintegration ofthe sandstone overhang.Allochthonous facies consist of heterometric, polymict and

chaotic detrital materials, deposited by debris fall processesfrom the rockshelter dripline (Unit AB-IV) and, in Unit AB-V,by the colluviation of units AB-I/II, AB-III and AB-IV.

Archaeology

Deposits in the Western Sector are preserved over a largerarea than in the Central Sector, where erosion has severelyrestricted lateral distribution of deposits. The Western Sectorcontains the uppermost part of the sequence, where ten

archaeological units were documented. Two trenches weredug in the Central Sector to ensure sampling of the top andbottom of the stratigraphy. The upper trench yielded 11archaeological units in <1m thickness, and is characterizedby organic-rich, thin layers. The lower trench documented anin situ archaeological unit resting on top of the Mioceneshales (N33C), but also deposits that are partially affected bycolluvial processes (N31C), and a unit (N30C) that is entirelycolluvial.The overall quantity of archaeological items is considerably

large (n¼>138 000) (Table 1). Stone tools are predominant(c. 98%) over charcoal, bones, ochre and molluscs (Table 1).The presence of some bone tools and mollusc adornments,alongside the bladelet technology of the lithic assemblage,led to the attribution of all archaeological units to the UpperPalaeolithic. The radiometric evidence presented belowindicates that all these units documented at Buendıa corre-spond to one period only, the Magdalenian.

Radiocarbon chronology

Table 2 compiles radiocarbon ages for the Buendıa sequence.Beta-212777 is clearly a modern intrusion within the colluvi-al part of unit N31C, and OxA-28336 dates the age of deathof a Pecten spp. rather than the time of its collection andtransport to Buendıa. Apart from these two samples, theremaining dates (18 out of 20) consistently position theBuendıa deposits between 15 and 13 14C ka BP (Fig. 3A).ORAU reported low or no collagen in several bone samples,which could explain the consistently younger results for boneages than for charcoal ages. Ages become more clusteredwhen bone samples are filtered out, indicating that almost theentire sequence formed in only a few hundred years between15 and 14.5 14C ka BP (Fig. 3A).According to this interpretation, the lowermost archaeolog-

ical unit (N33C) was deposited around 15 14C ka BP, and thetop of the Central Sector around 14.8–14.5 14C ka BP. Mostof the Western Sector, which topographically and stratigraph-ically is higher than the Central Sector, would be placedwithin the same span around 14.8–14.5 14C ka BP. The onlyunit in the Western Sector that radiometrically points to alater age is N1W. This is consistent with stratigraphicobservations, as a considerably thick hiatus separates thislayer from the next unit beneath (N2AW). Unit N1W, whichcaps the archaeological sequence, would have been deposit-ed at 13.240� 55 14C ka BP. In summary, while the sequencespans approximately two millennia between 15 and 13.214C ka BP, most of the deposits were accumulated veryrapidly, probably in just a few centuries at 14.9–14.5 14C kaBP (Fig. 3).

Pollen

With the exception of those from pollen zone (PZ) II.1, the 36samples analysed show good pollen preservation and evi-dence of taxonomic diversity. As a whole, the entire Buendıasequence portrays an open environment with sparse arborealvegetation. Herbaceous taxa are dominated by Compositae(Asterorideae, Cichorioideae), followed by Chenopodiaceae,Poaceae, Plantago and Rumex. Pinus is the most abundantamong the arboreal taxa, followed by Quercus, Corylus,Betula and Salix. Shrubs are also scarce and include onlyEricaceae and Rosaceae. Some herbaceous taxa (Plantagoand Rumex) are also reported. In addition, the identificationof coprophile NPMs [Sordaria (T-55A), Sporormiella (T-113)and Podospora (T-368)] indicates the presence of mammalactivity throughout the deposits.



Overall, PZ I corresponds to an open landscape with ascattering of Pinus, Juniperus, and deciduous and evergreenQuercus. The bottom of the sequence (PZ I) shows highfluctuations in the arboreal component (Fig. 4). Such fluctua-tions are accompanied by an overall decrease of arborealtaxa (Quercus and Pinus) in favour of herbaceous taxa such

as Compositae (Asteroideae, Cichorioideae), Poaceae andChenopodiaceae. Pollen is not well preserved in PZ II.1, butPZ II.2 indicates a wider presence of Pinus, reduction andeventual disappearance of deciduous Quercus after its initialrise, and increase of Compositae (Asteroideae), alongside thepresence of Poaceae. Together, this evidence suggests cold

Table 1. Frequencies of archaeological items in Buendıa. Archaeological units are arranged following the stratigraphic order from bottom(N33C) to top (N1W) of the sequence.

Area (m2) Bone (%) Bone tools (%) Stone tools (%) Ochre (%) Molluscs (%) Charcoal (%) Total (n)

N1W 3.7 0.42 0.00 98.66 0.48 0.09 0.35 5656N2W 3.3 0.93 0.00 98.37 0.00 0.23 0.47 429N2AW 3.5 0.29 0.00 99.61 0.05 0.00 0.05 3825N2BW 4.0 0.26 0.01 99.51 0.02 0.03 0.18 11 416N2CW 4.1 0.10 0.00 99.77 0.00 0.04 0.08 40 520N3W 4.5 2.96 0.21 96.72 0.06 0.00 0.05 8385N4W 5.9 1.52 0.07 98.06 0.07 0.00 0.28 41 693S1N4W 0.2 1.94 0.00 97.84 0.00 0.00 0.22 464S3N4W 0.2 1.53 0.34 97.80 0.00 0.17 0.17 590S4N4W 0.1 5.17 0.00 94.83 0.00 0.00 0.00 58S5N4W 0.03 0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12N5W 0.5 1.26 0.00 98.31 0.04 0.00 0.39 2301N6W 0.4 0.70 0.00 98.80 0.10 0.00 0.40 2002N7W 0.4 0.44 0.00 99.35 0.02 0.01 0.17 8169N08C 0.3 10.61 0.00 72.73 1.52 0.00 15.15 66N09C 0.3 0.92 0.00 88.07 0.00 0.00 11.01 109N1CþN10T 2.6 3.76 0.00 90.41 1.25 0.00 4.58 2075N2C 0.3 5.08 0.00 91.37 1.02 0.00 2.54 197N3C 0.6 2.55 0.00 94.04 1.28 0.00 2.13 235N4C 0.5 3.14 0.00 94.03 1.26 0.00 1.57 318N5C 0.5 3.89 0.00 94.43 0.17 0.00 1.52 592N6C 0.3 4.09 0.00 94.09 0.00 0.00 1.82 220N7C 0.6 6.03 0.00 92.12 1.24 0.00 0.62 647N8C 0.5 10.83 0.00 82.50 3.33 0.00 3.33 120N30C 2.7 7.44 0.02 90.35 1.22 0.00 0.98 6321N31C 5.1 7.28 0.00 90.82 0.80 0.00 1.09 1373N33C 4.0 2.58 0.00 96.45 0.86 0.00 0.11 929Totals 49.08 1.36 0.04 98.10 0.15 0.02 0.33 138 722

Table 2. Radiocarbon ages available for the Buendıa archaeological units. Calibration at 1s using Oxcal 4.2 (Bronk Ramsey and Lee, 2013). Alldates are previously unpublished, apart from nos. 10 and 18 (de la Torre et al., 2007). Numbers 1 and 18 are clearly inconsistent with the otherdates: no. 1 dates the age of death of the shell, and not the time when it was collected and transported to Buendıa. No. 18 is a modern charcoalintrusive in the partially colluvial N31C archaeological unit. Radiocarbon ages from bone samples (nos. 19, 17, 6) are consistently younger thancharcoal (see also Fig. 4) irrespective of their stratigraphic position, and hence radiocarbon bone ages from Buendıa should be treated withcaution.

No. Level Sample Type Conventional radiocarbon age (14C a BP) Reference Calibrated date (OxCal 4.2) (cal a BP)

1 N1W N1W-931 Shell 32 270�170 OxA-28336 36 160�2002 N1W N1W-2563 Charcoal 13 240�55 OxA-29341 15 920�1003 N2BW N2BW-2402 Charcoal 14 515�55 OxA-28280 17 700�1004 N2CW N2CW-880 Charcoal 13 790�50 Beta-246578 16 680�1305 N2CW N2CW-7010 Charcoal 14 500�50 Beta-377746 17 680�1006 N3W N3W-921 Bone 13 410�55 OxA-28279 16 130�1007 N4W N4W-1239 Charcoal 14 515�55 OxA-28278 17 700�1008 N5W N5W-74 Charcoal 14 845�55 OxA-28277 18 050�909 N6W N6W-87 Charcoal 14 635�55 OxA-28276 17 820�9010 N1C N1C-401 Charcoal 14 840�50 Beta-212776 18 050�9011 N2C N2C-143 Charcoal 14 500�60 Beta-246579 17 680�10012 N3C N3C-105 Charcoal 14 660�60 OxA-29342 17 840�10013 N5C N5C-123 Charcoal 14 530�50 Beta-246580 17 710�10014 N6C N6C-65 Charcoal 14 595�55 OxA-28275 17 780�9015 N7C N7C-244 Charcoal 14 690�80 Beta-246581 17 870�11016 N8C N8C-113 Charcoal 14 830�50 Beta-246582 18 040�9017 N31C N31C-884 Bone 13 540�60 Beta-246577 16 320�11018 N31C N31C-150 Charcoal 210�40 Beta-212777 180�10019 N33C N33C-7 Bone 13 480�50 Beta-246576 16 230�10020 N33C N33C-25 Charcoal 14 960�60 OxA-29343 18 180�100



and dry conditions for PZ I, and PZ II.2. Above, PZ II.3 sawan increase of the arboreal component, including Oleaceae,Salix and evergreen Quercus.The higher part of the palynological sequence (Western

Sector) begins with a continuation of the wetter and warmerconditions of PZ II.3 (Fig. 5). PZ III sees an increase ofdeciduous Quercus and the presence of mesophytic taxa(Tilia, Betula), simultaneous with the retreat of Juniperus. Thispattern, added to the presence of riverside taxa (Alnus andSalix) and an increase of the shrub component (particularlyEricaceae), suggests a more temperate and wetter phase forPZ III than PZ I and PZ II.2. Colder and drier conditionsreturned in PZ IV.1, which shows features similar to PZ II.2,although with a more pronounced predominance of Pinusand herbaceous steppe taxa (Asteroideae, Poaceae), whereArtemisia dominate and reach highest values (40%) acrossthe sequence. The top of the sequence (PZ IV.2) is againcharacterized by temperate and wetter conditions, with adecreasing trend of steppe taxa and the sharp drop ofArtemisia moister conditions, despite the continued domi-nance of pines and junipers.

Phytoliths

Phytoliths are preserved at the bottom (unit N33C), top (N1C)and throughout (N8C–N4C) the Central Sector, and in thelower part of the Western Sector (N4w–N3W). The siliceouscomponent percentage is not high in any sample, and insome cases is <50% (Table 3). Density sorting of the siliceousfraction indicates a predominance of quartz (usually above

90%), probably from sands derived from erosion of therockshelter walls. The phytolith fraction in all cases is <1%.Given the low phytolith concentration (variable dissolution

percentage ranging between 9 and 40%), quantitative out-comes of a morphological study should be considered withcaution. The results show a predominance of Poaceae(Fig. 6A). Within this family, short cells and rondels of thesubfamily C3 Pooideae are most abundant (Fig. 6B). Thesample from the bottom of the sequence (N33C-157) alsocontains bilobulate phytoliths, which are common both in C4plants and in the giant reed (Arundo donax). Prickles typicalof Poaceae leaves were reported in most samples. However,few phytoliths from inflorescences have been identified, withthe exception of the N4C-161 sample (Fig. 6B). Their scarcitycan be explained either by an input of plants in the rock-shelter in winter (non-blooming period) or by dissolution (seeCabanes et al., 2011). The prevalence of Poaceae phytolithssuggests that grasses were readily available in the proximityof the rockshelter, and portray a relatively open landscape.With regards to woody plant phytoliths, the most common

morphologies are the parallelepipeds (common in bark),followed by those with irregular shapes. No characteristicmorphotypes that allow discrimination between gymno-sperms and angiosperms (e.g. Albert and Weiner, 2001) weredocumented.

Charcoal

The number of charcoal remains preserved is generally low(<100 fragments per level) (Fig. 6C; Table 4). The WesternSector contains the largest concentration, although this isprobably the result of the larger surface excavated in thisarea. In the upper part of the Central Sector, the presence ofcharcoal is low, with the exception of unit N1C. The lowerpart of the Central Sector also yielded few charcoals (n¼ 14),but higher taxonomic variability.Four taxa were identified, namely Pinus sylvestris type,

Juniperus sp., Salix sp. and Prunus sp. Undetermined coniferscould potentially belong to Pinus sylvestris type, the domi-nant taxa throughout the sequence. Pinus sylvestris typecorresponds to the anatomical section of mountain pinesPinus sylvestris, Pinus nigra and Pinus uncinata. At present, inthe area under study Pinus sylvestris grows between 1500and 1800m a.s.l. and Pinus nigra between 800 and 1500ma.s.l. (Blanco et al., 1998). In the Iberian Peninsula, the cold-adapted Juniperus (junipers) species are mostly J. communis(common juniper) and J. thurifera (Spanish juniper), whichhave a different biogeographical distribution; J. communisforms the undergrowth of open forests, whereas J. thuriferamay lead to the formation of Spanish juniper open forests(Blanco et al., 1998). Prunus (plums) comprises differentspecies in the Iberian Peninsula (see Blanco et al., 1998), buta fragment identified in archaeological unit N31C shows theanatomical characteristics of Prunus amygdalus type, whichis well documented in the Pleistocene (Bazile-Robert, 1980).

Macromammals

Most of the bone remains are <2 cm (82.1%), and thereforewere not considered for detailed analysis. Nevertheless, allremains were used for the study of cremation. There are 323bone fragments >2 cm and, in general, bone surfaces arepoorly preserved. Strong chemical corrosion and/or rootetching produced by plants affected 50.2% of specimens.Identified taxa include Cervidae (Cervus elaphus/Damadama), Equus sp. (probably Equus hydruntinus), Rupicaprarupicapra, Felis silvestris and Oryctolagus cuniculus (Table 5).These are animals of open, semi-open and closed habitats.

Figure 3. Uncalibrated (A) and calibrated (B) radiocarbon ages ofthe Buendıa archaeological units (see dates in Table 2). This figure isavailable in colour online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.



Figure 4. Pollen diagram from the Central Sector of the Buendıa rockshelter.



Figure 5. Pollen diagram from the Western Sector of the Buendıa rockshelter.



By far the best preserved anthropogenic modification ofbone is the colour change associated with cremation, whichis present in all archaeological units: 23.7% of the total boneassemblage (regardless of size) is burned. Among these,remains are mostly charred or calcinated (29.7 and 18.5%,respectively).

Molluscs

Across the entire sample (n¼ 28), 22 specimens correspondto marine molluscs, three are terrestrial and a further threeare freshwater (Table 6). Thirteen specimens (11 marine andtwo freshwater) show human modification (perforations andochre staining). Aspects concerning the use of molluscs asadornments will be presented elsewhere, while emphasis isgiven here to their palaeoecological implications.

Marine molluscs

With regards to bivalves (n¼11), the small size of the sevenfragments of Pecten sp. does not allow determination ofwhether they belong to P. jacobaeus (Mediterranean) or P.maximus (Atlantic). Four fragments have been attributed tothe family Pectinidae, either Mimachlamys varia or Telochl-amys multistriata. These two species are present along boththe Mediterranean and the Atlantic coasts (Consolado Mac-edo et al., 1999; Gofas et al., 2011).Seven of the gastropod specimens belong to Cyclope sp.,

either Cyclope neritea or Cyclope pellucida. Presently, bothlive along the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of southernIberia. The Buendıa specimens are small but do not preservethe original colour, although they all probably belong toC. pellucida. Homalopoma sanguineum is represented by asingle fragmentary specimen; this is a warm-loving snailpresently found at the Mediterranean coast as far as Gibraltar(Dantart and Luque, 1994), although it has been reportedin Portugal, the Cantabrian coast (Ortea Rato, 1977) and inthe French Atlantic coast (Dance, 1975). This shell fromN2CW constitutes the first evidence of Homalopoma sangui-neum in the Iberian Upper Palaeolithic south of the EbroRiver.Three fragments (which probably correspond to two sepa-

rate individuals) of Trivia sp. have been determined. Becauseof their poor preservation it is difficult to establish if theywere collected in the Atlantic (T. monacha, T. arctica) or inthe Mediterranean (T. mediterranea, T. monacha) (Gofaset al., 2011).

Freshwater molluscs

Two specimens of Theodoxus fluviatilis are perforated andochre-stained, and therefore were introduced as adornments.This species is present throughout Iberia (Welter-Schultes,

2012), lives in upper, clean waters of middle river courses,and is ice-intolerant. The only specimen of Melanopsispraemorsa shows no human modification. This gastropod is apolymorphic species that lives in the circum-Mediterraneanregion and is typical of clean waters between 13 and 25 ˚C(Welter-Schultes, 2012).

Terrestrial molluscs

Three specimens of Candidula camporroblensis with notraces of human modification were found in Buendıa. Thisspecies is endemic in the Iberian Peninsula and is typical ofsteppes between 700 and 1940m a.s.l.

Discussion

Human occupational dynamics

With >20 archaeological units in 4m of thickness, Buendıacontains remains of human occupation from the bottom tothe top of the sedimentary sequence, evidencing a recurrentpattern of visits to the site. Most units are thin layers (<5 cmthick) of lithic, bone and charcoal remains, which suggestshort-term occupations.As shown in Table 2, the entire archaeological sequence

accumulated very rapidly, probably in only two millenniabetween 15 and 13k 14C a BP. In fact, most occupationscould correspond to a considerably shorter period; wheninconsistent radiocarbon dates are removed from the chrono-metric model (Fig. 3), the results indicate that the bulk of theunits (N8C to N2BW) are clustered in just three centuries(14.8–14.5k 14C a BP). Given the usually much broaderradiometric context of the Upper Palaeolithic in inland Iberia,the high resolution of Buendıa provides an excellent opportu-nity to link human occupational dynamics with palaeoenvir-onmental proxies.

The Upper Pleistocene landscapes of Buendıa

The Buendıa pollen sequence yields evidence of diverseecosystems that included steppes, grasslands and, to a lesserextent, forested areas. The sequence is also characterized byhigh palynological variability as a response of vegetationecosystems to temperature and moisture fluctuations duringMarine Isotope Stage 2 (Fletcher et al., 2010). Dry and coldconditions at the bottom of the Buendıa sequence (PZ I andPZ II.2) support available data from the late Pleniglacial innearby regions such as Sierra de Gredos (Palacios et al.,2011).Subsequent climatic amelioration (PZ III) is dominated by

deciduous trees with the presence of Pinus, suggesting thatwetter conditions accompanied an increase in temperature,as previously documented in Iberia (Fletcher and S�anchezGo~ni, 2008).Return to dry and cold conditions (PZ IV-1) can potentially

be correlated with Heinrich Event 1 (HE1), as reported inother Iberian sequences (e.g. Gonz�alez-Samp�eriz et al., 2010;Vegas et al., 2010), and saw the disappearance of oak andresilience of juniper and pine trees. Pollen spectra portray acool and arid climate, with expansion of steppe taxa(especially Artemisia), maintenance of conifers, and lowpresence of temperate taxa and Mediterranean shrubs. Therelatively high percentages of first Corylus and then evergreenQuercus during this time interval in Buendıa are not consis-tent with the general arid climatic conditions during HE1. Wetentatively interpret these taxa as indicating refuge areas formeso-thermophilous trees in the region, associated withhigher water availability along river valleys. The warmer and

Table 3. Main quantitative results of the Buendıa phytolith study.AIF, acid-insoluble fraction.

SampleAIF(%)

Phytoliths per gramof AIF (estimated)

Phytolithmorphotypes

%Dissolution

N1C-1138 52.0 25.000 53 17.0N4C-161 30.5 46.000 126 15.1N5C-76 53.2 153.000 126 18.8N6C-64 48.6 68.000 47 40.4N8C-116 51.5 22.000 60 40.0N33C-157 62.0 65.000 153 9.1N4W-334 39.4 55.000 25 36.0N33W-1069 41.9 119.000 58 27.6



wetter episode of PZ IV.2 could correspond to the beginningof deglaciation, a process that was particularly fast insouthern Iberia (Cacho et al., 2006).In agreement with the pollen results, the predominance of

Poaceae within the phytoliths indicates an open forestedlandscape with abundant herbaceous plants from the C3subfamily Pooideae. Grasses could also be transported byhumans to the site, potentially complementing firewood byhelping to initiate and/or maintain fireplaces. Nonetheless, it

should also be borne in mind that Poaceae phytolithscommonly adhere to the bark as a contaminant (Albert andWeiner, 2001). Given that there is clear evidence of humaninput of firewood throughout the Buendıa sequence, theprevalence of Poaceae could thus be partially due to barkcontamination.The Buendıa charcoal assemblage shows a maximum of three

taxa per archaeological unit, and the relationship betweennumber of fragments and identified taxa is similar in all layers.

Figure 6. (A,B) Bar charts of Buendıa phytolith morphological results. (C) Number of charcoal remains per taxon in the Buendıa sequence. Thisfigure is available in colour online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.



Charcoals correspond most probably to the use of fuel byhumans visiting the rockshelter. Conifers (particularly Pinus ssp.and Juniperus sp.) dominated arboreal landscapes during mostof the Iberian Pleistocene (Uzquiano, 2012; Allu�e et al., 2013).Mountain range pines (Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra) werewidely distributed along the northern part of Iberia, whereasother pine species such as Pinus pinea and Pinus halepensis

predominated in the south. Results from Buendıa closely matchthe Early Magdalenian anthracological records from eastern andnorth-eastern Spain (Uzquiano, 2012; Allu�e et al., 2013).The Buendıa anthracological record shows continuous

availability of arboreal wood resources, indicating a well-established forest formation. The presence of Juniperus andPrunus might indicate more open and arid forests with shrubs.

Table 5. Anatomical and taxonomic distribution of identified remains (number of identified specimens) in the Buendıa sequence.

Taxa and Element N2BW N3W N4W S1N4W N5W N7W N07C N08C N1C N5C N30C N31C

CervidaeAntler 1Maxilar 1Mandible 1 1Isolated teeth 1 1 13 1 9 1Humerus 1Radius/ulna 1 1 1Femur 1 1 1 1Tibia 1 2 2MetatarsusProx. phalange 1Medial phalange 1

–R. rupicapraMandible 1Isolated teeth 1Humerus 1

–EquidaeIsolated teeth 4 1 7Metapodial 1 1

–Felis silvestrisIsolated teeth 1

Carnivora indetIsolated teeth 1

–Oryctolagus cuniculusMetapodial 1

–IctiofaunaVertebra 1

Table 4. Anthracological results from the Buendıa sequence.

Level Juniperus Pinus sylvestris type Pinus Prunus Salix Undetermined conifer Undetermined Total

N1W 6 1 7N2AW 1 1 2N2BW 8 7 4 19N2CW 10 10 7 27N3W 1 1N4W 55 24 10 89N5W 1 1 3 5N6W 2 1 1 4N7W 6 3 9N1C 1 87 1 1 9 1 100N2C 5 1 1 7N3C 5 5N4C 5 5N5C 3 1 4N6C 1 1N7C 1 1N8C 7 1 2 10N9C 1 3 1 5N31C 6 1 1 3 3 14N33C 1 1



These genera are only recorded in the Upper and LowerCentral Sector units, suggesting an environmental changebetween periods, which agrees with the pollen data. Salix is ariverside genus and was distributed along the water sourcesof riverside forests. Overall, this reflects a cold, dry period,but not extreme climatic conditions preventing the develop-ment of forest communities.The wide range of habitats of the macromammal species

represented in Buendıa precludes their use for palaeoenviron-mental purposes. Nonetheless, there is consistency in thepresence of Equidae (as expected from its geographical locationin an open valley and from the pollen and phytolith resultsindicating abundant grasses), and of Cervidae and Felis (indicat-ing proximity of wooded habitats, as also suggested by thepalynological and anthracological results). As discussed above,a significant fraction of the fossils show colour alterationsproduced by fire; the high frequency of small fragments ofburned bones could be related to the use of bones as fuel.With regard to the mollusc data, intolerance to low

temperatures by Theodoxus fluviatilis can be interpreted intwo ways; one possibility is that this freshwater molluscwas collected in a more temperate setting than Buendıa,potentially by the Mediterranean coast, and transformed byhumans into an adornment eventually transported to theinterior. One of the remains of T. fluviatilis derives fromunit N1W, where Cyclope sp. already shows the existenceof long-distance contacts with the Mediterranean. Thealternative hypothesis would be that the presence ofT. fluviatilis in Buendıa is a proxy for episodic ameliorationof temperatures in this central region of Iberia. T. fluviatilisis documented in N1W and N4W only, precisely where thepollen zones indicate a prevalence of warmer and wetterconditions than in the rest of the Buendıa sequence. Theother freshwater mollusc found at Buendıa, Melanopsispraemorsa, is documented in other late Palaeolithic Iberiansites and is presently distributed across the Mediterraneancoast, so a Levantine littoral provenance is most likely.Buendıa is within the present niche distribution of Candi-dula camporroblensis, which as a small snail is more cold-

tolerant than larger snails. This continental species has beenreported above 1900m a.s.l., and therefore is relativelyresilient to low temperatures. Nonetheless, the small samplereported at Buendıa precludes more precise palaeoclimaticconsiderations.

Implications for the human settlement of inlandIberia

The structure of the Buendıa archaeological record suggests arecurrent pattern of visits by Magdalenian groups whooccupied the site during short-term stays. Palaeoecologicalproxies also support this interpretation. For example, theassumption that some of the Poaceae phytoliths adhered tothe bark of trees as a contaminant indicates that wood wasbrought into the rockshelter and set alight immediately, thuspointing at short-term occupation. In addition, the absence ofinflorescence phytoliths from this family could be interpretedas evidence of human occupations during non-bloomingperiods (i.e. autumn–winter).Marine mollusc species such as Homalopoma sangui-

neum and Cyclope sp. were almost certainly collected atthe Mediterranean coast, the nearest location of which ispresently 211 km from Buendıa, although it would havebeen further away during the Upper Pleistocene. Chlamyssp., Pecten sp. and Trivia sp. probably also come from theMediterranean. Buendıa gastropods show perforations andprolonged use-wear, which may suggest that adornmentswere produced at the Mediterranean coast where they werecollected. Bivalves (Pecten, Chlamys) were not collected forfeeding purposes, and at least one of them was probablyused as an ochre container. While the extent of the foragingranges of these hunter-gatherers has yet to be ascertained,the presence of these marine molluscs as far inland asBuendıa indicates connections with the coast, either direct(i.e. long-distance mobility patterns of the Buendıa hunter-gatherers) or indirect (acquisition of marine shells viacontact with other Magdalenian groups). Either way, theevidence from Buendıa, alongside the mollusc adornments

Table 6. Molluscs identified in the Buendıa sequence.

Archaeological unit

N1W N2W N2BW N2CW N4Wþ S3N4W Total

Marine molluscsGastropodsCyclope sp. 1 6 7Trivia sp. 3 3Homalopoma sanguineum 1 1Subtotal gastropods 1 10 11BivalvesPecten jacobaeus/P. maximus 3 3 1 7Chlamys sp. 2 2 4Subtotal bivalves 3 2 5 1 11Total marine molluscs 4 2 15 1 22

–Terrestrial molluscs

Candidula camporroblensis 1 1 1 3Total terrestrial molluscs 1 1 1 3

–Freshwater molluscsTheodoxus fluviatilis 1 1 2Melanopsis praemorsa 1 1Total freshwater molluscs 1 1 1 3Total molluscs 5 1 3 16 3 28



from the slightly more recent Estebanvela site (Cacho et al.,2012), unequivocally points to long-distance dynamicsbetween the coast and inland Spain at the end ofGreenland Stadial 2.Tight clustering of radiocarbon dates within a narrow time

span should also be considered in light of the palaeoenvir-onmental proxies discussed above (Fig. 7). Both the age ofN33C and the dry and cold conditions identified in the lowerpart of the Buendıa sequence are consistent with an occupa-tion at the end of the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM), during aperiod when human settlement of inland Spain was almostexclusively constrained to a few sites in the Ebro Basin (Utrillaet al., 2012). Most human occupations at Buendıa areclustered in three centuries (14.8–14.5 14C ka BP), coincidingto a large extent with the milder conditions deduced frompalaeoenvironmental proxies in Buendıa (Fig. 7A), and poten-tially elsewhere in the Western Mediterranean (Fig. 7B). Thus,it could tentatively be suggested that human visits to therockshelter (and perhaps more broadly to this part of inlandSpain) were favoured by warmer conditions following theLGM.The pollen record between N2CW and N2AW (Fig. 5),

alongside evidence of a massive rock fall in N3W, indicate thereturn of cold and dry conditions, which potentially corre-spond to the beginning of the HE1 event (Fig. 7B). HE1 hasbeen described as a period of very severe conditions in theWestern Mediterranean (Fletcher et al., 2010). Although unitsN3W to N2AW indicate that hunter-gatherers occupied therockshelter during a cold period (Fig. 7A), it must also be ofsignificance that the most conspicuous archaeological hiatus

in the entire sequence of the site is placed precisely betweenN2AW and N1W. As such, this gap could be interpretedtentatively as an absence of human visits to the site due to thevery severe conditions of HE1. In the broader picture, thiswould be consistent with the overall lack of occupationidentified in inland Spain during this period (Cacho et al.,2012; Utrilla et al., 2012). In turn, the return of humanoccupations in N1W could be linked to the temperateenvironment observed in this level (Fig. 7A) and the milderconditions at the ‘glacial–interglacial transition’ (sensu Fletcheret al., 2010), and correlated with the post-16 cal ka BPincrease of settlement in the Ebro Basin (Utrilla et al., 2012)and Central Plateau (Cacho et al., 2012) associated with theUpper Magdalenian.

Conclusions

Recent years have seen considerable progress in our knowl-edge of the palaeoenvironmental and archaeological contextsof inland Spain during the late Upper Pleistocene. Despitethese advances, the study of human adaptations to changingenvironmental conditions during this period is still largelybased on the Cantabrian (e.g. Straus, 2005) and Mediterranean(e.g. Barton et al., 2013) archaeological evidence, and climaticreconstructions of the Western Mediterranean rely largely onhigh-quality palaeoenvironmental records from southern Iberia(e.g. Cacho et al., 1999; S�anchez Go~ni et al., 2002).In this context, the previously unreported Buendıa record

contributes to highlighting the importance of the late UpperPleistocene inland Iberian sequences, and constitutes an excellent

Figure 7. (A) Sagittal cross-section of archaeological units in Buendıa with location of pollen samples (dots), archaeological units (boxes) andradiocarbon dates. (B) Radiocarbon ages of Buendıa (calibrated dates for samples 2, 3, 5, 7–16 and 20 from Table 2) in the context of the WesternMediterranean climatic data of the Albor�an Core MD95-2043 (sea surface temperature by �Cacho et al., 1999; and ��P�erez-Folgado et al., 2003;and pollen data by ��Fletcher et al., 2010), and the palaeoclimatic curve of the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NGRIP) (��Andersen et al.,2006). TMF, temperate Mediterranean forest. This figure is available in colour online at wileyonlinelibrary.com.



opportunity for high-resolution analysis of a very specific timewindow immediately after the LGM. The large set of radiocarbondates discussed in this paper firmly positions the entire Buendıasequence between 15 and 13 14C ka BP (18–16k cal ka BP), witha cluster of dates (and probably also human occupations) in onlythree centuries at 14.8–14.5 14C ka BP.Palaeoenvironmental proxies consistently point to a pre-

dominance of open and semi-open habitats around Buendıa.Despite the narrow time span represented in the sequence,and the sampling and data limitations of the Buendıa record,several palaeoenvironmental oscillations are observed, whichpoint to the considerable climatic variability endured byMagdalenian hunter-gatherers visiting the site. In this paper,we have speculated that such climatic oscillations could haveplayed a role in the occupational cycles, with the bulk ofhuman visits to the site at 14.8–14.5 14C ka BP, roughlycoinciding with milder conditions. Conversely, the hiatusidentified close to the top of the Buendıa sequence couldpotentially be related to the widespread lack of humanoccupation in inland Iberia during the harshest periods ofHE1, after which climatic amelioration was conducive toreoccupation of the rockshelter.Regardless of the impact of climate changes on the

cyclicality of human occupations, the structure of the archaeo-logical record indicates that visits to Buendıa were short-term,and probably inserted within a highly mobile foraging pattern.Such a mobility pattern is also supported by the presence inBuendıa of marine mollusc adornments, which evidence theexistence of long-distance contacts between the coast and theinterior, and point to the complexity of foraging networks ofMagdalenian hunter-gatherers in inland Iberia.

Acknowledgments. Excavations in Buendıa were authorized andfunded by the Direcci�on General de Patrimonio y Museos (Juntade Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha). Funding for fieldworkfrom the Society of Antiquaries of London is also gratefullyacknowledged. Radiocarbon dates in ORAU were funded bythe NERC-AHRC National Radiocarbon Facility. We are alsograteful to the village of Castej�on, the participants in the2005–2010 excavations, Marıa Perlines, Concha Rodrıguez andJuan Manuel Mill�an. Our special thanks go to �Alvaro Martınezfor his continuous support during the fieldwork.

Abbreviations. . HE, Heinrich Event; LGM, Last Glacial Maximum;NPM, non-pollen microfossil; ORAU, Oxford Radiocarbon Accel-erator Unit; PZ, pollen zone.

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