Neanderthal last stand? Thoughts on Iberian refugia in late MIS 3

Abstract

The history of the idea of Neanderthal/Mousterian refugia on the Iberian Peninsula over the past three decades is reviewed. Despite the recent re‐datings of several key sites that have cast doubt on late survivals, it continues to seem to be the case that Aurignacian (sensu lato) industries appeared relatively early in northern Spain, but not in southern Spain or Portugal. Although arguments for extremely late survival in Gibraltar are questioned, new information from sites in Murcia and a more conservative reading of the Gorham's Cave record seem to support the thesis of late Middle Paleolithic survival and late early Upper Paleolithic arrival in the south. Major problems continue to be the lack of either Neanderthal or Cro‐Magnon human remains of late Middle Paleolithic or early Upper Paleolithic age in Iberia and the ambiguity of the Châtelperronian record in northern Spain.

Neanderthal coexistence with Homo sapiens in Europe was affected by herbivore carrying capacity

“…The replacement of Neanderthals by H. sapiens was a complex process that differed substantially between regions, which led to the use of the “mosaic” term to describe this biological and cultural transition ( 6 , 7 , 30 , 31 ). However, framing this mosaic poses substantial challenges, including the scarcity of the archaeological record, uncertainty in some associations between techno-complexes and species, and precision issues in establishing accurate chronologies.…”

“…In Europe, one of the first species that became extinct after the arrival of H. sapiens was Homo neanderthalensis. Rather than a rapid and straightforward replacement of Neanderthals by H. sapiens, the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition (MUPT) was characterized by a mosaic of cultural and biological landscapes lasting several thousand years (6)(7)(8). Ancient DNA studies showed that our species and Neanderthals interbred (9) and, therefore, coexisted in some regions (10)(11)(12); nonetheless, in other areas of Europe, Neanderthals were quickly replaced by H. sapiens or even disappeared a few millennia before their arrival (13)(14)(15).…”

Complexity in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition in Peninsular Southern Europe and application of refugium concepts

“…The transition is complex and mosaic‐like, with chronological overlap observed between transitional industries and few direct associations between human fossils and late Mousterian, transitional and Initial Upper Paleolithic assemblages (e.g. Davies, 2007; Straus, 2020/this Special Issue), though in this paper, we use the associations assumed in the literature (e.g. Benazzi et al ., 2011; Hublin, 2015; Hublin et al ., 2020).…”

“…Complicating the matter further, unfortunately, is the fact that Iberia (particularly Portugal) has very limited archeological records that force models and hypotheses for the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition to be based upon a handful of sites. In addition, the lack of human fossils associated with Late Mousterian, Châtelperronian and Aurignacian industries leaves open the question about their makers, as there are no human fossils associated with these lithic assemblages (Straus, 2018, 2020/this Special Issue).…”

Neanderthal palaeoecology in the late Middle Palaeolithic of western Iberia: a stable isotope analysis of ungulate teeth from Lapa do Picareiro (Portugal)

“…Late Neanderthal survival is increasingly questioned as reevaluations of radiocarbon dates point to much older ages (e.g. Wood et al, 2013;Higham et al, 2014;Cunha et al, 2019), and as discoveries of possible early Aurignacian sites may place modern humans in southern Iberia several millennia earlier than previously known (Haws et al, 2020;Cortés-Sánchez et al, 2019), if modern humans were its maker (see Straus, 2020). Furthermore, it is unlikely that the fate of Neanderthals was determined solely by climate, as Neanderthals lived through 300 000 years of successful adaptations to constantly changing environments (Finlayson 2004).…”