Early Pleistocene palaeoenvironments at the time of the Homo antecessor settlement in the Gran Dolina cave (Atapuerca, Spain)

A warm and humid climate, with temperatures up to 3.1°C higher during summer than present-day levels, characterized the Gran Dolina cave at Atapuerca around 0.8 million years ago when Homo antecessor inhabited the region. This study estimates that rainfall was also significantly higher (+407.2 mm) and primarily occurred in spring and autumn. The environment featured humid meadows and riparian woody habitats, suggesting a savannah-like corridor along the Ebro valley facilitated the recolonization of high inland plateaus by Homo antecessor after glacial periods. Researchers applied mutual climatic range and habitat weighting methods to herpetofaunal assemblages to reconstruct these palaeoenvironments.

BLAIN, H.-A., CUENCA‐BESCÓS, G., BURJACHS, F., LÓPEZ‐GARCÍA, J. M., LOZANO‐FERNÁNDEZ, I., & ROSELL, J. (2013). Early Pleistocene palaeoenvironments at the time of the Homo antecessor settlement in the Gran Dolina cave (Atapuerca, Spain). Journal of Quaternary Science, 28(3), 311–319. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2622