title: The chronology of the earliest Upper Palaeolithic in northern Iberia: New insights from L'Arbreda, Labeko Koba and La Viña.
abstract: Since the late 1980s, northern Iberia has yielded some of the earliest radiocarbon dated Aurignacian assemblages in Western Europe, probably produced by anatomically modern humans (AMHs). This is at odds with its location furthest from the likely eastern entry point of AMHs, and has also suggested to some that the Châtelperronian resulted from cultural transfer from AMHs to Neanderthals. However, the accuracy of the early chronology has been extensively disputed, primarily because of the poor association between the dated samples and human activity. Here, we test the chronology of three sites in northern Iberia, L'Arbreda, Labeko Koba and La Viña, by radiocarbon dating ultrafiltered collagen from anthropogenically modified bones. The published dates from Labeko Koba are shown to be significant underestimates due to the insufficient removal of young contaminants. The early (c.44 ka cal BP [thousands of calibrated years before present]) Aurignacian chronology at L'Arbreda cannot be reproduced, but the reason for this is difficult to ascertain. The existing chronology of La Viña is found to be approximately correct. Together, the evidence suggests that major changes in technocomplexes occurred contemporaneously between the Mediterranean and Atlantic regions of northern Iberia, with the Aurignacian appearing around 42 ka cal BP, a date broadly consistent with the appearance of this industry elsewhere in Western Europe.
authors.affiliation: Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, 1 Mills Road, Canberra 0200, Australia; Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, United Kingdom. Electronic address: rachel.wood@anu.edu.au.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: Research Team on Prehistory (IT-622-13), University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Tomás y Valiente Street, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arrizabalaga
authors.affiliation: School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, University of Maryland, College Park, 4102 Jiménez Hall, University of Maryland, MD 20742-4821, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Camps
authors.affiliation: Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, 1 Mills Road, Canberra 0200, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fallon
authors.affiliation: Research Team on Prehistory (IT-622-13), University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Tomás y Valiente Street, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain; IKERBASQUE Research Professor, University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU), Tomás y Valiente street, 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
authors.forename: M-J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Iriarte-Chiapusso
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, AD Hope Building, Canberra 0200, Australia.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat de Girona, pl. Ferrater Mora 1, 17071 Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maroto
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Historia, Universidad de Oviedo, c/Teniente Alfonso Martínez, s/n, 33011 Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de la Rasilla
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Historia, Universidad de Oviedo, c/Teniente Alfonso Martínez, s/n, 33011 Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Santamaría
authors.affiliation: Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat de Girona, pl. Ferrater Mora 1, 17071 Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Soler
authors.affiliation: Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat de Girona, pl. Ferrater Mora 1, 17071 Girona, Spain.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Soler
authors.affiliation: Monrepos Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, Schloss Monrepos, D-56567 Neuwied, Germany; Aranzadi Sciences Society, Zorroagagaina 11, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Villaluenga
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, United Kingdom; Keble College, Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3PG, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: T F G
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Higham
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001106:Archaeology; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry*; D002910:Chronology as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008322:Mammals; D055110:Radiometric Dating; D013030:Spain
keywords: Aurignacian; Châtelperronian; Gravettian; Mousterian; Pleistocene; Radiocarbon; Western Europe