A palaeoecological interpretation of the lower–middle Pleistocene Cal Guardiola site (Terrassa, Barcelona, NE Spain) from the comparative study of wood and pollen samples

Abstract

The Cal Guardiola site, discovered during the construction of an office building in the centre of Terrassa (Province of Barcelona, NE Spain), is home to one of the richest deposits of lower–middle Pleistocene flora in the Iberian Peninsula. The site contains a large quantity of plant macroremains, including non-carbonised wood, in an exceptional state of preservation. In this work, 100 wood fragments were analysed along with 25 pollen samples and 2 coprolites, all from the same horizon. These remains revealed the presence of a mixed deciduous forest with significant numbers of Quercus (Quercetum mixtum). Thermophilous, meso-hygrothermophilous and river forest species were also present, including some taxa rarely recorded for the Pleistocene, e.g., the mesocratic group of species represented by Juglans, Carya and Platanus. Fossil wood of Aesculus was also identified; this is the first Pleistocene reference of this species in Iberia. In this open Mediterranean forest, several remarkable gymnosperms were present. For example, Pinus haploxylon-type pollen was identified, demonstrating the survival of this group of conifers during the lower Pleistocene in the Iberian Peninsula. Pollen of Taxodiaceae was also found — the first reference of this family for the Iberian Pleistocene-showing these taxa survived on the Peninsula until the lower–middle Pleistocene transition. Warm-temperate and humid conditions prevailed during this interval; clear indications of an interstadial episode were observed.