Radiocarbon Evidence of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic Transition on the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

In the present paper we systematically evaluate the radio-metric database underlying the Middle to Upper Palaeolithctransition in southwestern Europe.The different modelswhich attempt to explain the demographical processes un-derlying this transition rely to a large degree on radiocar-bon chronology. We observe that: 1) with increasing age,dates on bone samples show large offsets against those oncharcoal, often underestimating these for several thousandyears BP and; 2) there is no proof for a persistence of MiddlePalaeolithic industries into the time of the earliest Aurigna-cian in SW Europe. These data contradict the “Ebro- Fron-tier” model that distinguishes Late Middle Palaeolithic in-dustries in the SW of the Iberian Peninsula from earlyAurignacian ones in the NE. On the contrary, our data 3)imply a model of interregional shifts of populations contract-ing during severe cold and arid phases and expanding underwarmer, interstadial conditions, raising ideas on a regionalin situ development of the SW European Aurignacian out ofLatest Middle Palaeolithic industries made by Neanderthalssome 40.0 kyr cal BC