Biochronological data for the middle pleistocene site of Grotte de la Carrière (Lachambre karstic complex, Corneilla-De-Conflent, Eastern Pyrenees, Southern France) inferred from the small-mammal assemblage

• Published in: Quaternaire
• Main Authors: López‑García, Juan Manuel, Luzi, Elisa, Furio, Marc, Susanna, Ivette, Llenas, Manel, Madurell‑Malapeira, Joan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Association française pour l’étude du quaternaire 2016
• Subjects: biochronologie; Arvicolinae; Pléistocène moyen; Pyrénées-Orientales; biochronology; Middle Pleistocene; Eastern Pyrenees; archeo; geo; Découverte; Elefante; Microtus arvalis
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/quaternaire/7601

The Embullà Mountain, located between the municipalities of Ria and Corneilla-de-Conflent (Eastern Pyrenees), possesses a large karstic complex with more than 20 caves situated at different altitudinal levels. Lachambre Cave, with more than 26 km of galleries, is the largest of these. The research carried out by the authors since 2011 has led to the discovery of several Middle to Late Pleistocene sites. Grotte de la Carrière is one of these newly discovered sites. The first paleontological survey, undertaken in May 2015, led to the unearthing of more than 2000 large- and small-vertebrate remains in eight different stratigraphical layers. The small-mammal assemblage from the richest layer of the sequence (layer 4) includes at least two insectivores (Talpa europaea and Sorex sp.) and eight rodents (Microtus arvalis, Microtus agrestis jansoni, Iberomys brecciensis, Clethrionomys glareolus, Pliomys coronensis, Apodemus gr. sylvaticus-flavicollis, Allocricetus bursae and Sciurus sp.). This association is very similar to other Middle Pleistocene sites in southern France, such as Caune de l'Arago and Grotte du Lazaret, as well as being similar to other Iberian Middle Pleistocene sites, such as Gran Dolina (TD10), Galeria and Sima del Elefante (TE18-19) in the Sierra de Atapuerca. These data suggest an approximate age for Grotte de la Carrière - layer 4 of between 220 and 450 ka. The chronology proposed on the basis of the micromammal assemblage also coincides with the large mammals recovered and identified from this layer, mainly composed of the species Ursus deningeri, Panthera fossilis and Canis mosbachensis. La montagne d’Embullà, située entre les municipalités de Ria et Corneilla-de-Conflent (Pyrénées-Orientales) possède un grand complexe karstique avec plus de 20 grottes disposées sur plusieurs niveaux, la Grotte de Lachambre étant la plus grande avec plus de 26 km de galeries. Les recherches faites par les auteurs depuis 2011 ont permis la découverte de plusieurs sites du Pléistocène moyen et supérieur. La ...