Between two worlds: Cova Eirós and the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in NW Iberia

Abstract

Iberia, a natural cul-de-sac peninsula, plays a major role in the study of the Neanderthals demise and its eventual relationship with the spread of Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) in Europe. Th e site of Cova Eiros (Galicia, Spain), located in NW Iberia, contains Middle and Upper Palaeolithic levels, based on the cultural remains recovered at the site. No human remains directly associated with those levels were discovered yet. Th e available radiocarbon dates from the levels 2 (c. 35 ka cal BP, Early Upper Paleolithic) and 3 (c. 41 ka cal BP, Late Middle Paleolithic), point to a late survival of Neanderthal groups in North Iberia and to a relative quick arrival of the AMH, c. 35-36 ka cal BP, with respect to other territories of the Iberian Peninsula. Th e archaeological record shows clear diff erences between the Middle and the Upper Palaeolithic occupations, regarding raw-material acquisition, lithic technology and subsistence strategies. Th e location of Cova Eiros in the westernmost margin of the Cantabrian Rim and in the Atlantic Facade, makes this site a key place to understand the spread of the fi rst AMH and the progressive demise of Neanderthal populations.