%0 Journal Article
%A Blain, Hugues Alexandre
%A Bailon, Salvador
%A Cuenca Bescós, Gloria
%A Arsuaga, Juan Luis
%A Bermúdez de Castro, José María
%A Carbonell i Roura, Eudald
%T Long-term climate record inferred from early-middle Pleistocene amphibianand squamate reptile assemblages at the Gran Dolina Cave, Atapuerca, Spain
%D 2009
%@ 0047-2484
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/44370
%X The Gran Dolina cave site is famous for having delivered some of the oldest hominin remains of WesternEurope (Homo antecessor, ca. 960 ka). Moreover, the evidence of lithic industries throughout the longvertical section suggests occupation on the part of hominins from the latest early Pleistocene (levelsTD3/4, TD5, and TD6) to the late middle Pleistocene (level TD10). The Gran Dolina Sondeo Sur (TDS) hasfurnished a great number of small-vertebrate remains; among them some 40,000 bones are attributed toamphibians and squamates. Although they do not differ specifically from the extant herpetofauna of theIberian Peninsula, the overlap of their current distribution areas (¼ mutual climatic range method) inSpain can provide mean annual temperatures (MAT), the mean temperatures of the coldest (MTC) andwarmest (MTW) months, and mean annual precipitation (MAP) estimations for each sub-level, and theirchange can be studied throughout the sequence. Results from the squamate and amphibian studyindicate that during hominin occupation the MAT (10–13 ºC) was always slightly warmer than at presentin the vicinity of the Gran Dolina Cave, and the MAP (800–1000 mm) was greater than today in theBurgos area. Climatic differences between ‘‘glacial’’ and ‘‘interglacial’’ phases are poorly marked. Summertemperatures (MTW) show stronger oscillations than winter temperatures (MTC), but seasonalityremains almost unchanged throughout the sequence. These results are compared with those for largemammals, small mammals, and pollen analysis, giving a scenario for the palaeoclimatic conditions thatoccurred during the early to middle Pleistocene in Atapuerca, and hence a scenario for the hominins thatonce lived in the Sierra de Atapuerca.
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