El Cierro Cave (Level C/D)
Basic information
Sample name: El Cierro Cave (Level C/D)

Reference: E. Alvarez-Fernandez, J. Bécares, J. F. J. Pardo, A. Agirre-Uribesalgo, D. Alvarez-Alonso, M. T. Aparicio, I. Barrera-Mellado, P. Carral, R. P. Carriol, M. Cubas, M. Cueto, K. Douka, M. Elorza, M. J. Fernândez-Gómez, S. Gabriel, N. García-Ibaibarriaga, M. J. Iriarte-Chiapusso, C. Llave, A. Maestro, S. Martín-Jarque, R. Portero, Suârez-Bilbao, Tarriño, and Teira. 2020. Palaeoenvironmental and chronological context of human occupations at El Cierro cave (northern Spain) during the transition from the late Upper Pleistocene to the early Holocene. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 29:102138 [ER 3797]
Geography
Country: Spain

State: Asturias



Coordinate: 43° 27' 26" N, 5° 6' 20" W
Coordinate basis: stated in text

Time interval: Late Pleistocene

Section: 3797

Unit number: 3

Unit order: above to below

Max Ma: 0.01319

Min Ma: 0.0126

Age basis: radiocarbon (calibrated)

Geography comments: "El Cierro Cave (Fresnu, Ribadesella, Asturias) is located in the north-central region of Iberia, at 83 m above sea level, about 2 km from the coast and 3.5 km from the mouth of the River Sella".
"A total of eight AMS radiocarbon dates have been obtained from the transitional levels at El Cierro". The five dates from Levels C-D range from 13,190 to 12,600 cal. BP.

Environment
Lithology: claystone

Taphonomic context: bird accumulation,cave,human accumulation,midden

Archaeology: stone tools

Habitat comments: "Levels D, C and B of El Cierro represent shell-midden deposits. Level C is a whitish shell-midden, with abundant osseous remains of vertebrates and invertebrate shells joined by calcium carbonate with zones containing very little matrix and others where it is more abundant. Level D is a carbonated deposit that laterally displays dark detritic material cemented with carbonates".
"A total of 104 lithic remains has been recorded; 85 in the Azilian (Levels C-D) and 19 in the Mesolithic period (Level B). The assemblage is primarily human accumulated, with the small vertebrate remains having derived through natural deaths or by predation and deposition by owls or diurnal birds of prey".

Methods
Life forms: rodents,ungulates,birds,fishes,crustaceans,clams,snails,other invertebrates

Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash

Sample size: 6566 specimens

Years: 1977 - 1979, 2014 - 2016

Sampling comments: "Current research restarted in 2014 to study the remains found in the 1970s, and re-sample the "shell-midden" deposits (Levels D, C and B). The fauna and archaeological materials surveyed includes both those excavated between 1977 and 1979, and from the 2014 to 2016 fieldwork".
"The volume sampled for the Azilian Level C/D was c. 2,500 cm3 in the latter seasons. As the levels were rich in carbonates, the concretion containing the remains was broken up and the sediment was floated in water and then sieved through screens down to a 0.4 mm mesh size".

Metadata
Sample number: 4132

Contributor: Benjamin Carter

Enterer: Benjamin Carter

Created: 2023-02-27 11:54:24

Modified: 2023-04-28 03:28:59

Abundance distribution
34 species
8 singletons
total count 6566
geometric series index: 56.1
Fisher's α: 4.693
geometric series k: 0.7687
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.1912
Shannon's H: 0.5246
Good's u: 0.9988
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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