Periodic Reporting for period 4 - MULTIPALEOIBERIA (Population dynamics and cultural adaptations of the last Neandertals and first Modern humans in inland Iberia: a multi-proxy investigation)
Reporting period: 2023-07-01 to 2025-06-30
Understanding how hunter-gatherer societies populated the landscapes of Europe during the Last Glacial is a crucial question of Palaeolithic Archaeology and Humane evolution. This general topic includes the investigation of different aspects of hunter-gatherer lifestyles, such as population dynamics, settlement and land-use patterns, mobility and techno-economic strategies, and human-environment interactions. MULTIPALEOIBERIA investigates these aspects during the Late Pleistocene (127,000 – 11,700 years ago) in an under-investigated area of southwest Europe. In the Iberian Peninsula, a key area for these topics due to its geographic position and ecological variability, classic interpretations on key problems in the field, including the Neandertal demise and the first settlement of the area by anatomically modern humans, have been historically biased by the poor quality of available evidence for its interior lands. Consequently, the Iberian hinterland has traditionally been depicted as a marginal and few populated region due to its harsh ecological conditions compared to the coastal areas, especially during the coldest stages of the last glaciation. Based on preliminary data suggesting that this picture could be wrong, the main hypothesis of MULTIPALEOIBERIA was the following: both the late Neandertal and early modern human settlement of interior Iberia were more stable and complex than previously thought, despite potentially harsh environmental and climatic conditions.
Thus, the project’s main aim was reconstructing population dynamics and human-environment-climate interactions of the last Neandertals and first modern humans in inland Iberia based on unprecedented evidence gathered by means of a macro-regional, interdisciplinary and collaborative investigation. The potential results were expected to significantly change our views on key biocultural and ecological processes of European prehistory, and the way human societies have dealt with challenging environments.
Thus, the project’s main aim was reconstructing population dynamics and human-environment-climate interactions of the last Neandertals and first modern humans in inland Iberia based on unprecedented evidence gathered by means of a macro-regional, interdisciplinary and collaborative investigation. The potential results were expected to significantly change our views on key biocultural and ecological processes of European prehistory, and the way human societies have dealt with challenging environments.
The work performed and achieved results, according to the project’s work packages (WPs), are as follows:
WP 1 (discover new sites): field surveys at different regions of the Tagus valley and, to a lesser extent, the Duero basin and the northern border of the Spanish plateau (see map below). The most relevant finds have been produced in the Sorbe valley, where at least 5 new Middle and potentially Upper Palaeolithic sites have been identified, and OSL dates on fluvial terraces have been obtained. Also, we have discovered a new Magdalenian site at the Charco Verde II rock shelter, which has yielded relevant data for the Last Glacial Maximum.
WP 2 (excavation, sampling and rock art recording): fieldwork campaigns at the sites of Peña Capón, Peña Cabra, Los Casares, El Reno and Charco Verde II. Also, we have collaborated with other research groups (mostly implementing radiocarbon dating, geomorphology, micromorphology, pollen and anthracological and techno-typological analyses) in the locations of Millán cave, Corazón cave, Marcenejas cave, Abrigo del Molino, Méndez Álvaro open-air site, Cañaveral open-air site, La Rebollosa open-air site, La Malia rock shelter, La Higuera cave, and Cueva Grande de Selas.
WP 3 (chronometric dating and Bayesian modeling): a total of 291 bone and charcoal samples, 31 sediment samples and 9 calcite crust samples have been collected for chronometric dating in 18 different archaeological sites. To date, we have obtained 158 radiocarbon dates, 8 OSL determinations and 4 Uranium-series dates.
WP 4 (palaeoecological analyses): Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions of several regions of inland Iberia from MIS 5 to MIS 2, based on pollen, anthracological, stable isotopes and phytolith analyses at 6 sites.
WP 5 (Techno-economic and symbolic studies): technological analyses of lithic assemblages from 6 sites, taphonomic and zooarchaeological studies from 4 sites and rock art recording in 6 sites. We have also conducted experiments on hunting techniques and production and use of lithic artifacts, as well as use-wear analyses of lithic artefacts.
WP 6 (Mobility and spatial analyses): studies on lithic raw material sourcing, mobility and social networks by means of textural, micropalaeontological and geochemical analyses of samples from 5 sites and a large number of outcrops across the Iberia and beyond. The results have shown unexpected far-reaching contacts and social networks ofnhunter-gatherers established in central Iberia during the Last Glacial Maximum.
WP 8 (Dissemination & communication): As of September 2025: 15 scientific papers, 8 book chapters and 17 conference proceedings, thus accounting for a total number of 40 publications (4 more are currently under review). 31 communications or lectures at international meetings, including conferences and workshops. The “II International MULTIPALEOIBERIA workshop”, held in Alcalá de Henares in May 2025, hosted 44 presentations and a volume edited by the PI will be published in late 2025 or early 2026.
In addition to social media, our work has been covered by a large number of TV, newspapers and radio station programs, including interviews to the PI and other team members. We have participated in 5 outreach activities, given 6 public lectures, and several University Masters programmes. We have contributed to the organization of a permanent exhibition in Tamajón (Guadalajara) and one temporal exhibition at the French National Museum of Prehistory (Les Eyzies-de-Tayac). Two PhD dissertations are currently ongoing, and two Master’s Thesis were completed in September 2025.
WP 1 (discover new sites): field surveys at different regions of the Tagus valley and, to a lesser extent, the Duero basin and the northern border of the Spanish plateau (see map below). The most relevant finds have been produced in the Sorbe valley, where at least 5 new Middle and potentially Upper Palaeolithic sites have been identified, and OSL dates on fluvial terraces have been obtained. Also, we have discovered a new Magdalenian site at the Charco Verde II rock shelter, which has yielded relevant data for the Last Glacial Maximum.
WP 2 (excavation, sampling and rock art recording): fieldwork campaigns at the sites of Peña Capón, Peña Cabra, Los Casares, El Reno and Charco Verde II. Also, we have collaborated with other research groups (mostly implementing radiocarbon dating, geomorphology, micromorphology, pollen and anthracological and techno-typological analyses) in the locations of Millán cave, Corazón cave, Marcenejas cave, Abrigo del Molino, Méndez Álvaro open-air site, Cañaveral open-air site, La Rebollosa open-air site, La Malia rock shelter, La Higuera cave, and Cueva Grande de Selas.
WP 3 (chronometric dating and Bayesian modeling): a total of 291 bone and charcoal samples, 31 sediment samples and 9 calcite crust samples have been collected for chronometric dating in 18 different archaeological sites. To date, we have obtained 158 radiocarbon dates, 8 OSL determinations and 4 Uranium-series dates.
WP 4 (palaeoecological analyses): Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions of several regions of inland Iberia from MIS 5 to MIS 2, based on pollen, anthracological, stable isotopes and phytolith analyses at 6 sites.
WP 5 (Techno-economic and symbolic studies): technological analyses of lithic assemblages from 6 sites, taphonomic and zooarchaeological studies from 4 sites and rock art recording in 6 sites. We have also conducted experiments on hunting techniques and production and use of lithic artifacts, as well as use-wear analyses of lithic artefacts.
WP 6 (Mobility and spatial analyses): studies on lithic raw material sourcing, mobility and social networks by means of textural, micropalaeontological and geochemical analyses of samples from 5 sites and a large number of outcrops across the Iberia and beyond. The results have shown unexpected far-reaching contacts and social networks ofnhunter-gatherers established in central Iberia during the Last Glacial Maximum.
WP 8 (Dissemination & communication): As of September 2025: 15 scientific papers, 8 book chapters and 17 conference proceedings, thus accounting for a total number of 40 publications (4 more are currently under review). 31 communications or lectures at international meetings, including conferences and workshops. The “II International MULTIPALEOIBERIA workshop”, held in Alcalá de Henares in May 2025, hosted 44 presentations and a volume edited by the PI will be published in late 2025 or early 2026.
In addition to social media, our work has been covered by a large number of TV, newspapers and radio station programs, including interviews to the PI and other team members. We have participated in 5 outreach activities, given 6 public lectures, and several University Masters programmes. We have contributed to the organization of a permanent exhibition in Tamajón (Guadalajara) and one temporal exhibition at the French National Museum of Prehistory (Les Eyzies-de-Tayac). Two PhD dissertations are currently ongoing, and two Master’s Thesis were completed in September 2025.
Results going beyond the state of the art:
1. Multi-proxy evidence gathered at Peña Capón and the newly discovered Charco Verde II rock shelter showed that Central Iberia was recurrently occupied by anatomically modern humans during the harshest periods of the last glaciation, including critical periods like Heinrich Stadial 2.
2. We have demonstrated, based on chronometric and archaeological evidence, the existence of Gravettian and Aurignacian occupations at different regions of Central Iberia. These findings constitute a significant breakthrough concerning population dynamics and land use of the first modern human societies inhabiting the Iberian Peninsula.
3. We have recorded the existence of long sequences of recurrent human occupations, from the Early to the Late Upper Palaeolithic. The Peña Capón sequence attest to the recurrent and virtually uninterrupted occupation of the site for at least 12,000 years, since the Early Upper Palaeolithic. At Los Casares it is confirmed the existence of a long-lasting symbolic tradition as shown by rock art expressions.
4. We have produced a precise chronological framework, associated to an unprecedented multi-proxy palaeoecological reconstruction of different regions of Central Iberia, between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago. This allows for an unprecedented understanding of how hunter-gatherers, both Neandertals and modern humans, interacted with ecological variability in the potentially risky environments of inland Iberia.
5. Results on raw material sourcing have shown that the region around Peña Capón was part of far-reaching social networks promoting the exchange of goods and information across unprecedently large distances during Solutrean times. These and other data suggest that the region functioned as an aggregation area for hunter-gatherers during the Last Glacial Maximum.
1. Multi-proxy evidence gathered at Peña Capón and the newly discovered Charco Verde II rock shelter showed that Central Iberia was recurrently occupied by anatomically modern humans during the harshest periods of the last glaciation, including critical periods like Heinrich Stadial 2.
2. We have demonstrated, based on chronometric and archaeological evidence, the existence of Gravettian and Aurignacian occupations at different regions of Central Iberia. These findings constitute a significant breakthrough concerning population dynamics and land use of the first modern human societies inhabiting the Iberian Peninsula.
3. We have recorded the existence of long sequences of recurrent human occupations, from the Early to the Late Upper Palaeolithic. The Peña Capón sequence attest to the recurrent and virtually uninterrupted occupation of the site for at least 12,000 years, since the Early Upper Palaeolithic. At Los Casares it is confirmed the existence of a long-lasting symbolic tradition as shown by rock art expressions.
4. We have produced a precise chronological framework, associated to an unprecedented multi-proxy palaeoecological reconstruction of different regions of Central Iberia, between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago. This allows for an unprecedented understanding of how hunter-gatherers, both Neandertals and modern humans, interacted with ecological variability in the potentially risky environments of inland Iberia.
5. Results on raw material sourcing have shown that the region around Peña Capón was part of far-reaching social networks promoting the exchange of goods and information across unprecedently large distances during Solutrean times. These and other data suggest that the region functioned as an aggregation area for hunter-gatherers during the Last Glacial Maximum.