title: Chronological and environmental context of the first hominin dispersal into Western Europe: The case of Barranco León (Guadix-Baza Basin, SE Spain).
abstract: The early Pleistocene site of Barranco León (Guadix-Baza Basin, SE Spain), dated to 1.4 Ma (millions of years ago), records the oldest hominin occurrence in Western Europe, as evidenced by the discovery of one tooth and thousands of Mode 1 stone tools. In this paper a detailed analysis of the microvertebrate content of the D1 and D2 units from this site is presented. The early Pleistocene in the Guadix-Baza Basin is characterized by a sharp climatic deterioration, which possibly impeded the settlement of this region by the early hominin population from the southern Caucasus. Shortly afterwards, when the climatic conditions were again favorable, a hominin presence is suddenly evidenced at the units D1 and D2 of Barranco León. According to the microvertebrate analysis of these units, the mean annual temperature at the time of deposition was significantly higher than 13 °C, with prevalent humid conditions. However, although most of the species were inhabitants of water edges, an open landscape was present in the vicinity of the lake. The data reported here clearly support the idea that the early hominin occupation of Europe was strongly constrained by climatic and environmental conditions, rather than by physiography or cultural factors.
authors.affiliation: ICREA, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain; IPHES, Institut català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, c/ Marcel·lí Domingo s/n (Edifici W3), Campus Sescelades, E-43007, Tarragona, Spain; Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, E-43002, Tarragona, Spain. Electronic address: Jordi.agusti@icrea.cat.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Agustí
authors.affiliation: IPHES, Institut català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, c/ Marcel·lí Domingo s/n (Edifici W3), Campus Sescelades, E-43007, Tarragona, Spain; Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, E-43002, Tarragona, Spain.
authors.forename: Hugues-Alexandre
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Blain
authors.affiliation: IPHES, Institut català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, c/ Marcel·lí Domingo s/n (Edifici W3), Campus Sescelades, E-43007, Tarragona, Spain; Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, E-43002, Tarragona, Spain.
authors.forename: Iván
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lozano-Fernández
authors.affiliation: IPHES, Institut català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, c/ Marcel·lí Domingo s/n (Edifici W3), Campus Sescelades, E-43007, Tarragona, Spain; Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, E-43002, Tarragona, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Piñero
authors.affiliation: Departament de Geologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193, Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: Oriol
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Oms
authors.affiliation: Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Edifici ICP, Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, E-08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furió
authors.affiliation: Geoterna S.L., C/Juvenal, n°36 baixos local 1, E-08206, Sabadell, Spain; Laboratori d'Arqueozoologia, Edifici M Facultat de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, C. so Ercole I d'Este, 32, I-44100, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: López-García
authors.affiliation: IPHES, Institut català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, c/ Marcel·lí Domingo s/n (Edifici W3), Campus Sescelades, E-43007, Tarragona, Spain; Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, E-43002, Tarragona, Spain.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sala
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D002980:Climate; D004777:Environment; D005580:Fossils / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D015186:Hominidae / Q000502:physiology*; D008322:Mammals / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D010163:Paleontology; D013030:Spain
keywords: Amphibians; Early Homo; Early Pleistocene; Fish; Insectivores; Out of Africa; Paleoclimate; Reptiles; Rodents