Reviewing the chronology and palaeoenvironment of the early hominin occupation of Vallparadís EVT7 (Barcelona, Spain): Reply to Lozano-Fernández et al. (Quat. Int.)

Abstract

The article by Lozano-Fernández et al. (2015) revises the chronological range and paleoenvironmental inferences for unit EVT7 at Vallparadís, based on a micromammal sample slightly larger than the original one published in Martínez et al. (2014). However, in this new chronological and paleoenvironmental interpretation, the virtually identical results (0.95-0.98 Myr and predominant humid landscape) for the site published in Martínez et al. (2014) are omitted. Furthermore, they claim an age of ca. 1.2 Myr for unit EVT7 at Vallparadís, attributing this chronology to the archaeological team who excavated the site. However, this proposal is not in accordance with the date close to the upper boundary of the Jaramillo subchron (ca. 0.9 Myr), which this team has defended in their articles. Thus, the results and conclusions presented by Lozano-Fernández et al. (2015) do not revise previous studies, but rather confirm the interpretations drawn from the sample analyzed by Martínez et al. (2014).