Paleobiological and taphonomic analysis of a site with cold-adaptedfauna in Iberia: Baio (zestoa, Gipuzkoa, northern Iberianpeninsula)

Abstract

The study of cold-adapted faunas in Iberia is of great interest for paleontologists because this peninsula represents the southernmost limit of distribution in western Europe of species such as mammoths, reindeer and woolly rhinoceros. Additionally, the direct dating of paleontological assemblages can provide important information regarding the paleoecology of Paleolithic humans. This study aims to study the fossil assemblage recovered on the surface of the Baio cave (Zestoa, Northern Iberia), which includes cold-adapted species remains.This site has yielded an assemblage that includes herbivores, carnivores and a small number of rodents. The radiocarbon dating of a reindeer and a red deer remains has yielded chronologies consistent with the Châtelperronian and Late Aurignacian occupations in the area, indicating a diachronic accumulation. Taphonomic observations suggest carnivores as the main accumulation agents, with a minimal human contribution, and the probable accumulation of some remains due to natural causes and/or the cave acting as a natural trap.This new evidence contributes to the existing record from other sites, such as Ekain and Mainea, suggesting severe climatic pulses during the transition from the Middle Paleolithic to the Upper Paleolithic, which coincides with a complex pattern of Neanderthal extinction and the replacement by modern humans.