Relationship between Magdalenian subsistence and environmental change: The mammalian evidence from El Mirón (Spain)

During the Magdalenian, roughly 20–13 ka cal BP, intensive human occupation of the El Mirón cave coincided with Oldest Dryas and the climate amelioration of Bölling-Allerod (Pleniglacial GS-2a; interstadials GI-1e, 1d, 1c, 1b, 1a). The evolution of small mammal assemblages throughout the stratigraphic sequence displays a pattern similar to those of pollen, geological, and other studies elsewhere in the Cantabrian region. During the Magdalenian there was a climatic recovery, indicated by the first record in the stratigraphic sequence of small mammals living in forested habitats, such as dormice. At the end of the Magdalenian, there was an important diminishment of species of small mammal, especially those living in meadow habitats, at the beginning of the Younger Dryas cold period. Surprisingly, the small mammals living in forest habitats maintained or even further increased in numbers.Tardiglacial use of El Mirón cave coincided with several climate oscillations whose impact on hunting decisions is still debated. This environmental variability during the Late Glacial has been indicated by different proxy records (palynological, geological, etc.) throughout the Cantabrian Region. However, the exact timing and intensity of these changes is unclear due to the lack of continuous, rich archaeological sequences with many radiometric determinations. El Mirón Cave sequence fills this gap in the record, and this paper presents a detailed reconstruction of the development of biotopes around the site based on its micromammal assemblages. It shows an interesting trend of increasing forest-related species (notably dormice) during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition that was preceded by a significant peak of wooded biotopes towards the end of the Pleniglacial, during Heinrich event 1. This pattern can be correlated with the strategy of subsistence that was developed as shown by the macromammalian faunas in the search for any relationship that can shed light on the type of economy adopted by Magdalenian populations in terms of their reaction to resource availability.