Publication: Magnetic properties of cave sediments at Gran Dolina site in Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain)
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2021-05-19
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Elsevier
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Abstract
We report new rock magnetic results from a cave in the ?Sierra de Atapuerca? (Burgos, North of Spain), that is one of the most important archaeological and palaeontological sites of Lower to Middle Pleistocene in Europe. Our samples are taken in cave sediments of Gran Dolina Cave. Rock magnetic analyses allowed us to determine changes in grain size, composition, and concentration in both cave-entrance and cave-interior sediments. Generally, the cave-entrance sediments are characterized by a high concentration of magnetic minerals while the cave-interior presents a more variable concentration. Because rock magnetic properties, in particular the iron oxides, are affected by environmental factors (such as the intensity of physical and chemical weathering) they offer an important reconstruction proxy for better understanding the paleoenvironmental conditions at the time the earliest hominins began to migrate into Europe. The main goal of this study is to identify magnetic proxies that help to better reconstruct the environmental conditions of this archaeological and palaeontological site.
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© 2021 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. Access and permission to collect samples in Atapuerca was granted by Junta de Castilla y Leon. We thank the Fundacion Atapuerca for continuous support of this research. Financial support for this work was also obtained from Junta de Castilla y Leon and from MINECO Grant CGL2017-89603-R (JMP). We thank two anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions and comments, which improved the clarity and content of the manuscript, and editor Thijs van Kolfschoten for his efforts and patience.