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

Abstract

Adaptation to Late Pleistocene climate change is an oft‐cited potential contributor to Neanderthal disappearance in Eurasia. Accordingly, research on Neanderthal behaviour – including subsistence strategies, mobility, lithic technology, raw material procurement and demography – often focuses on linking changes observable in the archaeological record to specific phases of climate and environmental change. However, these correspondences are often tenuous because palaeoclimatic and archaeological records are rarely available on the same scale. In Iberia, a critical location for understanding the demise of Neanderthals, some research indicates that Neanderthal populations were unable to recover from environmental degradations known as Heinrich Events, while other studies suggest that enclaves of Neanderthal populations survived for several millennia longer in refugial zones. Here, we present a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction study using analysis of δ13C and δ18O of herbivore tooth enamel recovered from two Mousterian deposits at Lapa do Picareiro, a site located in Portuguese Estremadura. We then use these data, combined with other site‐based palaeoenvironmental indicators, to assess whether central Portugal acted as a refugium during periods of unfavourable climate, and to test whether Neanderthals in Portuguese Estremadura reorganised their mobility strategies after severe climate episodes.

Ecosystem productivity affected the spatiotemporal disappearance of Neanderthals in Iberia

“…Ecosystem productivity fluctuated in both the Mediterranean and Eurosiberian regions, but in the Mediterranean areas these oscillations were more minor. This stability is supported by different palaeoenvironmental records revealing that the Mediterranean belt was less affected by MIS 3 cooling events than the Eurosiberian region 13 , 15 , 45 . Furthermore, the more stable evolution of NPP may become essential for our understanding of structural continuity in the herbivore guild composition in the Mediterranean region throughout the Late Pleistocene 46 , 47 , as well as the megafauna extinctions in northern latitudes during the Late Quaternary.…”

“…Likewise, in central areas of Iberia, the disappearance of the Mousterian and the delayed colonization by AMHs have been connected with climatic deterioration and worsening environmental conditions 1 , 12 . Conversely, the longer Mousterian persistence in southern latitudes has been linked to more stable climatic conditions 13 – 15 , although their ecosystems productivity was lower than in the Eurosiberian region 16 – 18 .…”

Creating frames of reference for chert exploitation during the Late Pleistocene in Southwesternmost Iberia

“…Southern and Western Iberia have often been considered key areas to understanding technocultural transitions from the Middle Paleolithic to the end of the Upper Paleolithic. As territories located at the western tip of the European continent and with a generally stable climate even during the coldest periods punctuating the Late Pleistocene, these have been regarded as some of the most significant glacial refugia in Europe [1][2][3][4]. For this reason, Southwestern Iberia has frequently been at the center of some of the most debated topics regarding Late Pleistocene human adaptations [5][6][7].…”

“…Neanderthals occupied the European continent for more than 300.000 years and are thought to have disappeared while modern humans arrived on the territory [6,[8][9][10][11]. The last territory where Neanderthal populations seemed to exist was Southern Iberia, around c. 37 thousand years ago [7], or perhaps even earlier [1,6,12]. This region is key to understanding how Neanderthals survived until such a later chronology, the degree and types of interaction those populations may have had with modern humans [6,7], and how and why they eventually went extinct [13,14].…”