El Mirón Cave, Cantabrian Spain: The Site and Its Holocene Archaeological Record

12: Holocene Biostratigraphy and Climatic Change in Cantabria: The Micromammalian Faunas of El Mirón Cave

| 205 | E l Mirón Cave, near Ramales de la Victoria on the northern edge of the Cantabrian Cordillera in eastern Cantabria, has a large mouth and moderate overall length. It is at an elevation of about 260 m above present sea level, 3°27' West of the Greenwich Meridian and 43°15' North (figures 12.1 and 12.2). Its favored location at a crossroads of valleys leading into Vizcaya and over the cordillera to Burgos but only about 20 km from the Holocene coastline, with its mouth facing due west, led to its having been utilized by humans ever since at least Mousterian times (Straus and González Morales 2001b). Until justafewyearsagoshepherdsusedthevestibuleasalivestockstable.AlthoughElMirónwas discovered scientifically at the beginning of the twentieth century, systematic excavations didnotbeginuntil1996.Eversincethen,underthedirectionofL.G.StrausandM.González Morales (2001a, b), a team of five to twenty-five students has been excavating in the cave for Chapter twelve holocene Biostratigraphy and Climatic Change in Cantabria The Micromammalian Faunas of el Mirón Cave Gloria Cuenca Bescós and Juan Carlos García Pimienta Translated by Lawrence Guy Straus Fig. 12.1. Location of El Mirón Cave on the Iberian Peninsula. Map by Gloria Cuenca. | 206 | Chapter Twelve Rodentia (12 species): Arvicola terrestris, A. sapidus, Microtus agrestis, M. arvalis, M. oeconomus, Chionomys nivalis, Clethrionomys glareolus, Terricola lusitanicus, Pliomys lenki, Apodemus sylvaticus-flavicollis, Glis glis, Eliomys quercinus Eulipotyphla (6 species): Talpa europaea, Sorex coronatus-araneus, Sorex “robust sp.,” S. minutus, Neomys sp., Crocidura russula Chiroptera: one large species, Myotis sp.; and one small species, Miniopterus sp. Carnivora: Mustela nivalis two months every summer. The main excavation areas have been near the front of the vestibule (the Cabin) and at its rear (the Corral). The Holocene sediments from the Cabin area were water-screened for the recovery of small archaeological and paleontological remains. Sorting of the screen residues involved separation of artifacts, vertebrates, and botanical remains, which were then prepared for study and curation (Straus and González Morales 2001a, b). This study presents the first results of our analyses of the micromammalian remains from the Holocene levels of El Mirón, namely from the Cabin area of the outer vestibule. At the time of writing this excavation area had reached a total depth of about 3 m, down to the early to mid-Magdalenian. during the course of the excavation some 14 Holocene-age levels and lenses were defined (Levels 1–10.1). Some of the lenses are in-fillings of pit features. For the effects of this study several of the minor lenses were grouped with their corresponding levels, but Level 3.5 (a channel fill posterior to deposition of Level 3) and Level 10.1 (a major, distinct stratum of Mesolithic age) were considered separately, as significant stratigraphic units in their own right. The wet-screening operation conducted on the deposits of Levels 1–10.1 by the El Mirón team provided an interesting collection of micromammals, which is the basis of the present study. In our laboratory at the University of Zaragoza we carried out the analyses of these fossils and prepared them for their long-term curation. We have identified remains of 21 species of micromammals from the Holocene assemblages of El Mirón (table 12.1). They are distributed among three orders: Rodentia, Eulipotyphla, and Chiroptera. Pragmatically, we group them together under the category of micromammals because of their small size. We can also add to this list some small carnivores pertaining to the Mustelid family, which, because of their small size, are also found in the microvertebrate samples from El Mirón, for which reason we also studied them in this context. Summaries of the whole El Mirón micromammalian sequence (including the Upper Paleolithic and terminal Middle Paleolithic levels) are presented in Cuenca Bescós et al. (2008, 2009). The complete faunal collection of micromammals from the Holocene levels of El Mirón is described as follows (see also tables 12.2 and 12.3): Fig. 12.2. Location of el Mirón Cave and other Paleolithic sites in the río asón valley. Map by L. g. straus, redrafted by ronald stauber. Holocene Biostratigraphy and Climatic Change | 207 | excavation area. This feature manifestly cut through at least Levels 3, 3.2, 4, and 5 and into the tops of Level 6 and even Level 7. Its relationship to the discontinuous patches that constitute...