Geoarchaeology and Chronostratigraphy of the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic Transition at the Cave of La Guelga (Cangas De Onis, Asturias, Spain)

The cave of La Güelga (Asturias, Spain) is located in the eastern region of the Asturian Massif within the carboniferous limestone of the Calizas de Montaña. A small river runs through the cave, and this has formed several marks on the walls and terraces at the cave entrance. This cavity is large and has the morphology of a rock shelter. In one terrace, an Upper Pleistocene deposit containing archaeological and palaeontological remains from the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition has been excavated. These deposits have been AMS dated at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator unit (ORAU). Bones were pre-treated using the ultrafiltration protocol, which aims to purify the collagen selected for dating by removing contaminants. In many cases, dates on collagen processed in this way are significantly older than those where collagen has not been ultrafiltered. The new dates place the lower deposits from zone D between 55,710 – 44,940 yearscalBP, during MIS3c.