Research paper
Palaeoecology and biochronology based on the rodents analysis from the Late Pleistocene/Holocene of Toll Cave (Moià, Barcelona)
MÓNICA FERNÁNDEZ-GARCÍA
Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Av. Catalunya, 35. 43002, Tarragona, Spain. monica.fernandez.garcia.90@gmail.com
Corresponding author
JUAN MANUEL LÓPEZ-GARCÍA
Secione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi di Ferrara. C.so Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara, Italy. lpzjmn@unife.it
Universitat Rovira i Virgili. Av. Catalunya, 35. 43002, Tarragona, Spain.
ABSTRACT
In this paper we present the chronological, environmental and climatic data obtained by analysing the remains of rodents collected from the water-screened sediments of Levels 2 and 3 of the Sector Entrada of Toll Cave (Moià, Barcelona), one of the caves belonging to the karstic system called the Coves del Toll. From these levels a total of 216 rodent remains have been recovered, corresponding to 10 rodent species. The biochronological results indicate a Late Pleistocene/Holocene chronology (<35 ka BP); Level 3 is Pleistocene (>13 ka BP), and Level 2 is probably Holocene (<13 ka BP). The palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental data denote an open wet forest with lower temperatures and higher precipitation than nowadays for this region. Level 3 could be correlated with the Last Glacial Maximum (18 ka BP), while Level 2 may belong to the Preboreal period (11.5-9.5 ka BP). From a comparison of our results with the data obtained from other sites in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula with a similar chronology, we can infer two transitional phases for this period. Finally, a comparison with studies of Teixoneres Cave allows us to deduce the climatic and environmental evolution of the area around Toll Cave between the Middle Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeolithic/Neolithic. It can be asserted that Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans lived in similar climatic and environmental conditions.
Keywords: Rodentia, biochronology, palaeoenvironment, palaeoclimate, Late Pleistocene/Holocene.
How to cite: Fernández-García, M. & López-García, J.M. 2013. Palaeoecology and biochronology based on the rodents analysis from the Late Pleistocene/Holocene of Toll Cave (Moià, Barcelona). Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 28 (2), 227-238.
Received 31 October 2012, Accepted 09 April 2013, Published 31 December 2013
https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.28.2.17856
