Research paper
Taphonomy and chronology of the small mammal assemblage from the Cave of the Estrecho (Villares del Saz, Cuenca, Spain)
ÁNGEL CARMELO DOMÍNGUEZ GARCÍA
Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, José Antonio Novais, 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain. angelcdo@ucm.es
Corresponding author
CÉSAR LAPLANA
Museo Arqueológico Regional de la Comunidad de Madrid, Plaza de las Bernardas, s/n, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Spain. cesar.laplana@gmail.com
PALOMA SEVILLA
Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, José Antonio Novais, 12, 28040 Madrid, Spain. psevilla@geo.ucm.es
JUAN CARLOS GUISADO DI MONTI
Museo Histórico Minero Don Felipe de Borbón y Grecia (ETSIM de Madrid-Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), Ríos Rosas, 21, 28003, Madrid, Spain. jcguisado@lapisspecularis.org
MARÍA JOSÉ BERNÁRDEZ GÓMEZ
Museo Histórico Minero Don Felipe de Borbón y Grecia (ETSIM de Madrid-Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), Ríos Rosas, 21, 28003, Madrid, Spain. mjbernardez@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The Cave of the Estrecho (Villares del Saz, Cuenca) is a Holocene archaeo-palaeontological site virtually unknown. Over 970 fossil cranial remains of 14 small mammal taxa (rodents, lagomorphs, eulipotyphls, and chiropterans) have been studied. They were collected from the sedimentary package located at the cave entrance. A 14C-AMS performed on a bone gave a date of 2311-2154 years cal. BP for the small mammal assemblage. A taphonomic study shows high frequency of digestion (≥ 70%), achieving extreme digestion degree in the sample. Furthermore, coprolite fragments have been identified adhered to several dental and bone remains, as well as young rabbit digested teeth. Therefore, it can be asserted that the origin of this assemblage was predation by mammal carnivores, probably mustelids.
Key words: predation, coprolites, mammal carnivores, Holocene, Central Iberia.
How to cite: Domínguez García, Á.C., Laplana, C., Sevilla, P., Guisado Di Monti, J.C. & Bernárdez Gómez, M.J. 2019. Tafonomía y cronología de la asociación de micromamíferos de la Cueva del Estrecho (Villares del Saz, Cuenca, España). [Taphonomy and chronology of the small mammal assemblage from the Cave of the Estrecho (Villares del Saz, Cuenca, Spain)]. Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 34 (2), 241-256.
Received 12 December 2018, Accepted 11 June 2019, Published 31 December 2019
https://doi.org/10.7203/sjp.34.2.16114
(Spanish only)
