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THE PLEISTOCENE SITE OF COVA DEL RINOCERONT

(BARCELONA, SPAIN)

Joan DAURA LUJN & Montserrat SANZ BORRSGrup de Recerca del Quaternari, SERP Dpt. Prehistria, Histria Antiga i Arqueologia

Facultat de Geografia i Histria, Universitat de Barcelona, C/Montalegre, 6, 08001 Barcelona

Abstract: Cova del Rinoceront (Barcelona, Spain) is a prehistoric deposit, with a long stratigraphy about 11 meters, and a very widechronology from the Middle Pleistocene until the beginning of the Upper Pleistocene. In this karstic deposit there are abundant

remains of fossil vertebrates with a special interest for the reconstruction of the palaeoenvironmental picture of the northeast of theIberian Peninsula in the Mediterranean coast. There are also some stone tools that verify the older human presence. This is one of

the most important places to understand the environmental, human and animal evolution of the Quaternary in this area. Here wepresent the first results of the research.Keywords: Pleistocene, cova del Rinoceront, neandertal, fauna

Resum: Nous prsente les premiers rsultats de ltude dun nouveau gisement dans la cote Mditerranen (Barcelone, Espagne)dge Plistocne moyen et suprieur connu comme la Cova del Rinoceront. Il sagit dun remplissage karstique de plus 11 mdpaisseur, divis en diverses units stratigraphiques. La grotte du Rinoceront a prsente un registre palontologique trs riche en

restes du mammifres associes peux lments lithiques.

INTRODUCTION

The study of the site cova del Rinoceront, it is the resultof a research project (Els primers pobladors del Masssdel Garraf-Ordal i eix del Llobregat) centered in theMiddle and Upper Pleistocene in the WesternMediterranean coast, specifically, in the Garraf-Ordalcomplex. The main goal is to investigate the relationshipbetween humans and carnivores, as principal competitors.For a depth study of this aspect, we are conducting anarchaeological fieldwork program, working in differentdeposits, as cova del Coll Verdaguer and cova del Gegant(Daura et al. 2005) all in this area.

The most relevant site is cova del Rinoceront, apleistocene deposit, with a long stratigraphy with 11meters of sediments conserved and eight main levels anda very wide chronology from the Middle until the begin-ning of the Upper Pleistocene. In this karstic deposit thereare abundant remains of fossil vertebrates with a specialinterest for the reconstruction of the environmentalpicture of the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula in theMediterranean coast. There are also some stone tools thatverify the human presence in this deposit.

The archaeological excavations have been carried out bythe University of Barcelona since November 2002 andhere we present the first results from the excavations inthe level I. Nowadays, the complete study of the firstlevel is in progress, because the excavation has not yetfinished.

GENERAL FEATURES

The site of cova del Rinoceront is located inCastelldefels, 30 km to the south of the city of Barcelona(Spain) along the Iberian Mediterranean coast. Thiscavity is situated in an abandoned limestone quarry,known as ca nAymerich, in the forehills of the Garraf

Massif, just above the alluvial plain of the Llobregatriver, at a height of 25 m above sea level and at 600 mfrom the coast.

Garraf massif is a system inside the Catalan Coastalmountain range. In the south it is delimited by theMediterranean Sea and the alluvial plain of the delta ofLlobregat river, in the east by the final course of thisriver, in the north by the contact with the miocenedepression of Peneds, and in the west by the progressivecollapse of the massif. Garraf is formed mainly by aPaleozoic base and in the superior levels we find the unitsof Jurasic and Cretacicus with a very developed karst; itsmorphology has awaken the interest in paleontological,espeleological, geological and archeological fields.

Nowadays, the quarrys front allows to see the geologicalformation. In the oriental area there are the graylimestone units, characteristics of the Lower Cretaceous,but near the cave there are more complicate units resultsof a fault. The other side of this main fault ischaracteristic by the keuper margous, from the UpperTriasic, with yellowish and reddish coloration. In thewest there are the limestone from the southern facies ofthe fault and along it, Cova del Rinoceront was formed.

However, pleistocene fossils from the quarry and itssurroundings were known. The first discovery was aproboscidian pelvis found in a unknown site in the city ofCastelldefels (Almera, 1895, 1898). In the forties, thegeologists Llopis Llad and Sol Sabars discoveredanother cavity with a Pleistocene fauna in canAymerichs quarry, known as Altissench. Theyinformed the paleontologist J.F. de Villalta and M.Crusafont, who collected some fossils from this place too

(Villalta, Crusafont, 1950; Villalta, 1975). At present, thissite has disappeared totally through quarrying. Althoughit is known that some centro-european scientists boughtspecimens for their collections from the quarry workers.Nowadays only few fossils of this site are preserved in


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Fig. 22.1. Location of the Cova del Rinoceront (Barcelona, Spain)

the Institut Paleontolgic Dr. M. Crusafont (Sabadell)and in the Museu de Geologia de Barcelona. Theseremains are attributed to the Middle and Late Pleistocene(Villalta, Crusafont, 1950), although some researcherssuggest an older age (Estvez, 1976; Agust, 1988).Despite both the Pleistocene site and Cova del Rinocerontbeing in the same quarry, they are different deposits.

COVA DEL RINOCERONT

Cova del Rinoceront is one smooth slope, near a stream.The cavity is displayed as a section in the wall of canAymerichs quarry. The activities of this quarrydestroyed the morphology of the relief. In this way, wedo not know how was the original appearance of the covadel Rinoceront, and the quarry exploitation has destroyedthe entrance and a great part of the deposit.

The archaeological site discovery occurred four yearsago. Quarrying caused the destruction of a large part ofthe cova del Rinoceront and its filings, and crated avertical section of 11 meters. Erosion by rain led in 2002to the collapse of part of the sediments, where we havefound the archaeological remains for the first time. Thisdebris of the archaeological sediments, about 60 m3 wasrecovered and sieved between December 2002 and May2003.

The quarry activities make it possible to observe thevertical stratigraphical sequence of the cova del

Rinoceront. This section of the filling is 11 m high andvaries between 1,5 and 3 m wide. From this section, eightstratigraphic levels are recognized and numbered fromthe top to the bottom. At the moment, archaeologicalremains are present in all the section. In relevance, in

level III there are some rhinoceros bones and tortoisesremains.

The first intervention in the place was in the sedimentsfallen from the cova del Rinoceront. Of the recoveredmaterial, the most significant is the fragment ofmandibular branch of an adult rhinoceros and numerousdental pieces from two individuals, there are someextremities bones, and an occipital part of the skull of anadult rhino from the base of level III.

The rest of Mediterranean tortoises emphasize, wevedocumented 1025 pieces and also in number ofindividuals, a total of 11 (Daura et al. 2006). In addition,a great amount of artiodactyla has been recovered; thereare red deer, roe deer, fallow deer and goat, with a goodanatomical representation. We have recovered somefragments of posterior extremity of a great bovidae(Bos/Bison), with a difficult chronological attribution.The less numerous species are proboscidian, with andarticular bone, and carnivores (lynx and hyena),represented by teeth and phalanges.

By the taphonomical features, bones exhibit frequentfractures and marks produced by carnivores with rareanthropical marks. This first study suggests that theactivity of carnivores is the most important accumulativegenesis in the cave damage of the hominids activities.

In addition, in the fallen sediments eight lithical artefactshave been recovered. Although they are a few in

numbers, they represent a testimony of the presence ofthe hominids in the cave. Four of the objects are made ofquartz, three of flint and one of limestone, materials thatare available in the proximities of the deposit. The mostsignificant is a nucleus done by small pebble exploitation


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and it shows a well morphotechnical definition. Thehierarchical exploitation and the other characteristicsplace it in the technique Levallois (Daura et al. 2004).

The preliminary results of this intervention motived therestoration of the cave to guarantee the excavation of the

deposit and the security to access. This work was done bythe geotechnical and geological techniques in June 2003.

Tab. 22.1. Faunal remains from cova del Rinoceront

Carnivora Artiodactyla

Crocuta crocuta sp. Bos/Bison

Lynx pardinus Cervus elaphus

Ursus arctos Dama dama

Capreolus capreolus

Chiroptera Hemitragus sp.

Myotis sp. Capra sp.

Lagomorpha Proboscidea

Oryctolagus cuniculus Proboscidea indet.

Lagomorpha indet.

Chelonia

Rodentia Testudo hermanni

Arvicolidae indet.

Apodemus

Insectivora

Perissodactyla Talpa indet.

Stephanorhinus hemitoechus Erinaceus europaeus

STRATIGRAPHY: LEVEL I

From 2003 untill the present, most of level 1 wasexcavated. At this place the filling is about 3 m widemaximum and 3 m deep, resulting in an irregular surfaceof about 7 m2. The stratigraphic thickness of this unit isaround 1 m. The upper limit of level I was a flowstone(Ib1), that sealed all the deposit.

This flowstone presented a different crystallinity andpurity; moreover, in some areas of the cavity, the lowerparts flowstone cements some bones and sediment-logical material from the level I. The flowstones puritymade it an excellent sample for U-series dating, in thisway we have carried out some samples, analyzed byRamon Juli (Institut de les Cincies de la Terra JaumeAlmera, CSIC, Barcelona). At the moment, weve oneresult from the flowstone, one is 82.924 +4732 -4552years B.P, thus indicating an age 83 kya for the depositand for the level I.

The lower limit of level I is an accumulation ofsubangular limestone blocks of great size and with aconcave disposition in frontal view and slope at SElightly. The greatest blocks are accumulated in the

Fig. 22.2. Cova del Rinoceront site

exterior surface of the actual cave. These limestoneblocks of up to 60 cm with subangular morphologyreduced quantity and size southward. The coarse fractionis about 60 %, clearly dominated by the autochthonouslimestone and some speleothems coming from ceiling andwalls. Moreover, this package of level I characterize bythe gravel accumulation and a red clay matrix, colorranges from dark red (HUE10R3/6) to reddish yellow(HUE7.5YR7/6). In the interior part of the cave, gravelsare less, and in this area red clay dominates clearly. Thefacies distribution shows also that the entrance of thecova del Rinoceront cavity was to the north, where thecoarse clastic sediments are documented, whereastowards the SE-S the deposits change laterally to redclay. At the moment in the first level we have registeredabout 2.000 archaeological remains composed mainly byfauna.

From this level we have carried out dating samples fromthe sediments with bone accumulations. These are doneby Pedro Benitez and Asuncin Milln (Laboratorio dedatacin y radioqumica, Universidad Autnoma Madrid)who analyzed two samples from the level I (cova delRinoceront) for thermoluminiscense dating analysis bythe carbonated sediments. One of these results is86758 5097 years B.P. In conclusion, the level I isaround 86 kya (OIS 5).

MATERIALS: LEVEL I

Nowadays, the materials recovered from the level I aremainly represented by faunal remains, in less number


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Fig. 22.3. Plan site of level I bone assemblage

There are some coprolites and finally, few stone tools.Moreover, during the excavation we have documentedsmall bits of charcoal, distributed in all the surface of thislevel.

The faunal remains recovered from the level I arehomogeneous, as in the species represented as thetaphonomical characteristics. Up to the present moment,the large mammals assemblage is composed of seventaxa, which belongs, mainly, to the orders Artiodactylaand Carnivora. Artyodactila are represented mainly byred deer, fallow deer, bovine and goat, while Carnivoraare by brown bear and lynx. Although micromammals,chelonian, avian fauna, lagomorphs and herpetofauna arealso recovered in this level, their study is not included

here. Up to now the artiodactyls are represented about1.500 remains and with a NMI of 20, in contrastcarnivores are represented only by 79 remains and with aNMI of 4. The most abundant herbivores are red deer andfallow deer, while goat is less represented and finally,

there is the bovine with an only specimen, at the moment.With regard to carnivores the most represented is lynx,with 78 skeleton remains, and the less represented atthis level is the brown bear, by an isolated deciduoustooth.

The concentration of bones assemblage in level I is veryhigh and most of the skeletal elements are in contact withother elements. The groups of articulated elements are ina higher proportion, too. The articulations morefrequently preserved are those formed by tibia-tarsal-metatarsal-phalanges, humerus-radius/ulna, radius-carpal-metacarpal-phalanges and some articulatedvertebras. In relevance, and as a representative example,weve recovered 39 humerus from Artiodactyla in this

first level. All of them, except one, have the proximalepiphysis gnawed off by carnivores with a few markson the shaft. Despite of the fractures, these humerus arenot gnawed profusely. In front limbs, the proximalepiphysis of humerus and ulna and the distal epiphysis of


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Fig. 22.3. Materials from level I. Humerus with the proximal epiphysis gnawed off by carnivores (1-5).Humerus-ulna-radius of red deer; the proximal epiphysis of humerus and ulna and the distal epiphysis

of radius are clearly gnawed (6). Femur with gnawing damage (7)

radius are clearly gnawed off. The number of radiusdocumented in the first level is 38, a quantity similar atthe humerus. Although, the posterior extremityrepresentation is lower, with 35 tibias and 20 femurs. Inshort, larger part of the radius and tibia havent epiphysisbroken by carnivores, and the same for the metapodials.Moreover, in the unit I is rare the presence of long

bone cylinders. Finally, cranial elements are welldocumented in this first level, most identified are red deerand fallow deer, and in less number lynxs crania. Someof them have some parts consumed by carnivores, andothers have an absence of consume. Lynx remainspresents the same taphonomical features as theartiodactyla.


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