A new study led by IPHES-CERCA redefines the TD10 unit of Gran Dolina (Atapuerca)
The research, published in the journal Catena, documents a high complexity of sedimentary processes and provides new insights into the landscape evolution on the slopes of Gran Dolina during the Middle Pleistocene
A research project led by scientists from IPHES-CERCA has reconstructed in high detail the sedimentary and paleoenvironmental evolution of the deposits at the entrance of the Gran Dolina cave, in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos). The study reveals a much more complex landscape dynamic than previously assumed and strengthens the role of geoarchaeology as a key tool to interpret ancient environments.
The research, published in the journal Catena, was led by Lila Warnitz, a predoctoral FI-AGAUR fellow at IPHES-CERCA, and Dr. Josep Vallverdú, senior researcher at the same institution. It involved collaboration with researchers from the Instituto de Arqueología-Mérida (CSIC-Junta de Extremadura), the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), the Universitat Rovira i Virgili and the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
The study focuses on unit TD10, a key sedimentary succession at the Gran Dolina site, known for its abundant archaeological remains from the Middle Pleistocene, corresponding to the end of the Acheulean and the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic.
Micromorphology and slope processes at the cave entrance
The study is based on microstratigraphic observations using sedimentology and soil micromorphology, both at microscopic and field scales, to reconstruct the formation of the cave entrance deposits. This area is especially sensitive to slope processes and preserves paleosols formed during periods of environmental stability.
"With this study, we have established a detailed sequence of soil and deposit formation linked to diverse climatic conditions, including periglacial periods, with the identification of the earliest occurrence of deep frozen soils (permafrost) during Marine Isotope Stage 12," explains Lila Warnitz. "Our research shows that the cave entrance was formed by highly variable slope deposits, with phases of erosion, stabilization (hiatuses), and sedimentary accretion."
The analysis allowed the subdivision of the TD10 unit into three subunits (TD10a, TD10b, and TD10c), each with specific sedimentary characteristics, and enabled correlations with Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) using Bayesian statistics based on available absolute dates. This helped link the deposits to global climatic fluctuations of the Middle Pleistocene.
A key contribution to European geoarchaeology
The research has important implications for understanding the archaeological contexts of Gran Dolina and, by extension, for reconstructing vanished plant communities from the observed paleosols on the site’s slopes.
"The results provide a robust foundation for fine stratigraphic correlations within the site and allow for a better interpretation of the environmental changes' impact on Middle Pleistocene human communities," says Josep Vallverdú.
"This type of integrative analysis is essential to understand how archaeological records are preserved in complex settings such as cave entrances. I began this research over 20 years ago (in 2005), and it was concluded once the TD10 exposures became fully accessible (in 2022)."
The study exemplifies the application of advanced geoarchaeological methodologies and consolidates IPHES-CERCA’s role as a reference center in stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental research applied to human evolution.
Reference
Lila Warnitz, David Manuel Martín-Perea, Andreu Ollé, Palmira Saladié, Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo, Marina Mosquera, Josep Maria Parés, Eudald Carbonell, Josep Vallverdú. Landscape evolution and chronostratigraphic correlations of the cave entrance depositional environments and paleosòls of the Gran Dolina unit TD10 (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain), CATENA, Volume 258