The top of the Gran Dolina (Atapuerca, Spain) sequence: A zooarchaeological and occupational perspective

Middle Pleistocene unit TD10 of the Gran Dolina site is nearly four metres thick and is divided into four subunits (TD10.1, TD10.2, TD10.3, TD10.4). To date, the upper two subunits (TD10.1 and TD10.2) have been completely excavated and have been studied from zooarchaeological, taphonomic and occupational perspectives. The top of the sequence (Upper TD10.1), however, has not undergone these types of studies until now. In this paper we report the results of our analyses of the anatomical profiles, age, and the anthropogenic and carnivore-induced modifications in this assemblage. Methods employed to evaluate sequential scenarios (carnivore to hominin; hominin to carnivore; carnivore to hominin to carnivore) have led to contradictory results. We conclude that the formation of Upper TD10.1 is the product of the overlap of independent events (hominin only and carnivore only), with limited commensalism between the two agents. The type of accumulation is consistent with the characteristics of an accumulative palimpsest generated by different actors. Unlike those documented in the lower levels of TD10 (TD10.1BB and TD10.2BB), hominin occupations in this part of the sequence were very brief. This scenario completes the picture of the types of occupations that took place during the end of Middle Pleistocene at Gran Dolina. In short, level TD10 was the site of three types of occupation by Middle Pleistocene hominins: a kill/butchering site in TD10.2BB, a long-term residential camp in TD10.1BB, and finally, logistical and short-term occupations in Upper TD10.1.