Publication Date

Winter 2021

Abstract

In Iberia, potentially the last place where Neanderthals survived, the demographic breakdown of small, loosely connected populations seems to have been a significant driver their demise. Human responses to the climatic fluctuations of the Late Pleistocene, particularly Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, could be an explanation for the decreases in Neanderthal population size during this time; it may be that habitat fragmentation and environmental instability contributed to a demographic breakdown, resulting in small, secluded Neanderthal populations that remained for some time in refugia, even after the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Europe some 40,000 years ago. In this dissertation, I use ecological theory to evaluate whether Portuguese Estremadura (central Portugal), an understudied Iberian region with several key Middle Paleolithic sites, was a refugium for late Neanderthals. I use stable isotopes to reconstruct vegetation cover, moisture levels, and temperatures of multiple late Neanderthal occupations at Lapa do Picareiro (Portuguese Estemadura), one of a handful of sites on the Iberian Peninsula with end-dates for the Middle Paleolithic, ~45-42ka cal BP.

Keywords

Neanderthals, Middle Paleolithic, Stable Isotopes analysis, paleooecology

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Anthropology

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Anthropology

First Committee Member (Chair)

Emily Lena Jones

Second Committee Member

Lawrence Guy Straus

Third Committee Member

Sherry Nelson

Fourth Committee Member

Nuno Bicho

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