Landscape evolution during the Middle and Late Pleistocene in the Madrid Basin (Spain): Vegetation dynamics and human activity in the Jarama-Manzanares rivers (Madrid) during the Pleistocene

Organic geochemical evidence of human-controlled fires at Acheulean site of Valdocarros II (Spain, 245 kya)

“…Sapidus 84,85 indicates the necessary presence of flowing water and humidity. Our biomarkers analyses, combined with previous studies 42,43,83 , can infer that the environment at Valdocarros II was probably surrounded by woodland and riverside vegetation, probably few shrubs and few grasses.…”

“…Biomarkers from Valdocarros build upon earlier reconstructions of the Jarama Basin 33,[41][42][43] suggesting (paleo) environmental and climatic conditions exerted a direct influence on regional hominin behaviours. Valdocarros II itself harboured occasional large woody plants, such as conifers, and based on pollen spectra, most trees occurred on river edges 42 .…”

“…Previous work in the Jarama Basin focussing on Valdocarros time suggests that climate and vegetation changes documented in that period correlate with modern climate and vegetation characteristic of the central Iberian Peninsula Meseta 41,42 . According to the herpetofauna of the site, the climate during Valdocarros was an oceanic climate through cool periods and a Mediterranean climate through the warm periods, with an of + 3 °C and -1 °C respectively, compared to the present 43 .…”

The interaction between large mammals and Acheulean tools during the Middle Pleistocene in the Manzanares valley (Madrid, Spain): new evidence for Santa Elena and Oxígeno sites

“…This hypothesis is supported by the presence of different species that predominate in different environments or that can alternate between open and closed environments, and vice versa. This is the type of landscape suggested by the pollen analyses carried out in different points of the CTB, pine forest and local forest with Mediterranean taxa (evergreen type Quercus and Oleaceae), Mesophilic (Betula, Castanea, Corylus and evergreen type Quercus), riverside woodland (Alnus, Salix and Ulmus), several types of thicket (Ericaceae, Rosaceae and Cistaceae), herbaceous (Asteraceae, Poaceae and Chenopodiaceae) and continuous presence-although in low percentages-of aquatic taxa (Cyperaceae, Epilobium, Juncaceae, Myryophillum, Nymphaceae, Ranunculaceade and Typha) (Gil-García et al 2019), which fit in the palaeoenvironmental demands considered typical of the species identified among the small mammals, Erinaceus europaeus, Crocidura russula, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, Eliomys quercinus, Apodemus sp., Cricetulus (Allocricetus) bursae, Arvicola aff. sapidus, Microtus cabrerae and Microtus duodecimcostatus (Sesé et al 2011a, b) and the herpetofauna, with toads (Pelobates cultripes, Bufo bufo, Bufo calamita), frogs (Pelophylax perezi), turtles, lacertid (Timon lepidus, Psamamodromus cf.…”

“…Evidence indicates that humans had primary access to the consumption of megafauna (Yravedra et al 2010) and that their environment exploitation patterns could have been defined by itinerant routes in a familiar landscape and by the recurrent use of specific places, for example, for the consumption of megafauna meat (Yravedra et al 2019b). In this regard, the species identified in Oxígeno and Santa Elena reflect a mixed environment of open spaces, of wet meadows and of wooded riverside areas, associated with a fluvial environment, as is deduced from the associations of pollens, small mammals and herpetofauna identified in different sites of the river Manzanares area (Álvarez Catalán et al 2009;Sesé et al 2011a, b;Blain et al 2013Blain et al , 2019Laplana et al 2015;Gil-García et al 2019). At certain times of the year, mainly during drier seasons, those conditions could have favoured the concentration of fauna in this environment (Panera et al 2015;Yravedra et al 2019b).…”