Study involving IPHES-CERCA reconstructs Ice Age climate in Galicia through the faunal record from Cova Eirós
The research, led by the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and involving IPHES-CERCA, has been published in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology and identifies the eastern Galician mountains as a climatic refuge for the last Neanderthals
Research carried out at the Cova Eirós archaeological site (Cancelo, Triacastela, Lugo), led by Hugo Bal García from the Grupo de Estudos para a Prehistoria do Noroeste – Arqueoloxía, Antigüidade e Territorio (GEPN-AAT) at the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and the Centro de Investigación Interuniversitario das Paisaxes Atlánticas e Culturais (CISPAC), with the participation of Xosé Pedro Rodríguez Álvarez (URV-IPHES-CERCA), has reconstructed the climate and landscape of eastern Galicia during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. The study concludes that this region acted as a stable climatic refuge for the last Neanderthals and the first Homo sapiens.
The research is based on the zooarchaeological analysis of Levels 3, 2 and 1 of the site, spanning a chronology between approximately 41,000 and 17,000 years ago. This sequence includes occupations by the last Neanderthals (Level 3) as well as several phases associated with the earliest Homo sapiens groups to reach northwestern Iberia (Levels 2 and 1), making it possible to compare how the environment evolved during this period and the conditions faced by these human populations.
By identifying more than 400 faunal remains belonging to at least 36 different species of large mammals and applying palaeoecological models, the research team reconstructed the vegetation surrounding the cave and estimated temperatures and precipitation during the different periods studied. The results reveal a Galicia that was significantly colder than today, with mean annual temperatures up to 3.6 °C lower than present. Despite these lower temperatures, annual rainfall remained relatively high, consistently exceeding 1,000 mm in all analysed levels. The data also show a gradual trend towards milder conditions and increased precipitation throughout the Ice Age, within a landscape combining woodland with extensive wet grasslands.
These findings identify the eastern Galician mountains as a potential climatic refuge, where favourable temperature, humidity and vegetation conditions supported hunter-gatherer communities throughout much of the Palaeolithic.
Financing
This research forms part of the project “Dinámicas poblacionales y tecnológicas durante el Pleistoceno final-Holoceno de las Sierras Orientales del Noroeste ibérico 2”, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU/AEI) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Archaeological excavations at Cova Eirós are supported by the Consellería de Cultura, Lingua e Xuventude of the Government of Galicia.
Bibliographic reference
Bal-García, H., Rey-Rodríguez, I., Fernández-Rodríguez, C., Díaz-Rodríguez, M., Ibáñez-Encinas, Á., Mosquera-Castro, T., de Lombera-Hermida, A., Rodríguez-Álvarez, X. P. i Fábregas Valcarce, R. (2026). Palaeoecological dynamics during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in Northwest Iberia: The Cova Eirós archaeological site. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 699, 114026.