Neanderthal shellfishing in the bay of Málaga, southern Spain.

Abstract

At the beginning of the 21st century and in the area of the northern coast of the central and, more particularly, western Mediterranean, the more or less frequent consumption of marine resources, mainly molluscs, by Neanderthal populations has been confirmed, conforming a cultural behaviour endorsed both by its geographical extension and by the maintenance over long periods of time of this practice (see e.g. Colonese et al. 2010; Cortés-Sánchez et al. 2011, 2019a). In the case of the Bay of Málaga, we find the earliest evidence of collection and consumption of this type of resource in a long sequence that spans, practically without interruption, from MIS 6 to MIS 3 (Cortés-Sánchez et al. 2011, 2019a-c). Two sites provide the most significant data (fig. 1). a) Bajondillo Cave (Torremolinos). The stratigraphic series Bj/19 to Bj/14 corresponds to the Middle Palaeolithic and represents different periods between MIS 6 and MIS 3. The archaeological sequence has 29 dates (14C, thermoluminescence and Uranium series). The dates obtained and the palaeoenvironmental records of the cave include isotopic, pollen, lithostratigraphic and sedimentological analyses, consistent with the palaeoclimatic conditions expected for the different stages (Cortés-Sánchez et al. 2011). b) Abrigo 3 of the Humo Complex (Málaga), an area composed mainly of Jurassic limestones located in the proximity of the coast in the eastern part of the bay of Málaga, with numerous rockshelters and cavities. The sedimentary series has been described by Ferre et al. (2004). The Mousterian levels in this site, 17b-26, have mainly provided 14C dates corresponding to MIS 3 (Ramos et al. 2012), which is the frame of the fauna that we will analyse from this site. On the other hand, the information on the autoecology and synecology of each species identified provides us with information on the changes in the dominant habitats and climates at any given time and, therefore, on the adaptation of Neanderthals to these changes.