Assessing Neanderthal occupation duration: Faunal evidence from sub-unit IIIb of Teixoneres Cave (Barcelona, Spain)

Abstract

Determining the duration of occupations at Middle Palaeolithic archaeological sites is essential to enhancing our understanding of Neanderthal behaviour and subsistence strategies. Identifying occupation length in these contexts presents significant complexity and is often ambiguous due to the palimpsest nature of the archaeological sites. This study examines faunal specimens from sub-Unit IIIb of Teixoneres Cave, focusing on both external and internal site areas, to estimate the duration of human occupations. Using zooarchaeological and taphonomic parameters, we evaluate the effectiveness of these methods for inferring occupation length. Our analysis shows that faunal remains—such as evidence of hunting, butchering, and carcass transport—are essential for reconstructing Neanderthal subsistence strategies and for understanding whether the site was used during one short-term occupation or across several distinct episodes over time. While certain results diverge from the features currently used in literature to define occupation duration, the spatial distribution of lithic artefacts, from sub-Unit IIIb at Teixoneres Cave support the hypothesis of short, repeated human occupations. This analysis focuses on applying and critically examining some of those theoretical assumptions, particularly those related to taphonomic and archaeozoological criteria. In this context, Teixoneres Cave serves as the dataset through which we test whether a real archaeological case supports the theoretical framework proposed in Lubrano et al. (2025). These findings contribute to ongoing discussions on the complexities of interpreting archaeological palimpsests and the methodological challenges involved in estimating the duration of Neanderthal occupations. Furthermore, the data place sub-Unit IIIb of Teixoneres within the broader framework of Middle Palaeolithic cave sites characterized by short-term human occupations in settings frequently utilized by large carnivores.