Nomenclature and syntaxonomic notes on some high-rank syntaxa of the European grassland vegetation

We present descriptions of a new order (Ranunculo cortusifolii-Geranietalia reuteri and of a new alliance (Stachyo lusitanicae-Cheirolophion sempervirentis) for the herbaceous fringe communities of Macaronesia and of the southwestern Iberian Peninsula, respectively. A new alliance, the Polygalo mediterraneae-Bromion erecti (mesophilous post-cultural grasslands), was introduced for the Peninsular Italy. We further validate and typify the Armerietalia rumelicae (perennial grasslands supported by nutrient-poor on siliceous bedrocks at altitudes characterized by the submediterranean climate of central-southern Balkan Peninsula), the Securigero-Dasypyrion villosae (lawn and fallow-land tall-grass annual vegetation of Italy), and the Cirsio vallis-demoni-Nardion (acidophilous grasslands on siliceous substrates of the Southern Italy). Nomenclatural issues (validity, legitimacy, synonymy, formal corrections) have been discussed and clarified for the following names: Brachypodio-Brometalia, Bromo pannonici-Festucion csikhegyensis, Corynephoro-Plantaginion radicatae, Heleochloion, Hieracio-Plantaginion radicatae, Nardetea strictae, Nardetalia strictae, Nardo-Callunetea, Nardo-Galion saxatilis, Oligo-Bromion, Paspalo-Heleochloetalia, Plantagini-Corynephorion and Scorzoneret alia villosae. 

Las Comisiones del Mapa de España en la década de 1850

La necesidad de contar con un mapa de base científica que cubriera todo el territorio español llevó al Estado a crear en paralelo varias Comisiones con cometidos geodésicos, topográficos y cartográficos durante la década de 1850. La labor simultánea de estas Comisiones se prolongó hasta 1859, cuando se aprobó la Ley de Medición del Territorio, que las fusionó en un único organismo. Este artículo analiza aspectos técnicos de los trabajos que realizaron estas Comisiones a partir de la información contenida en algunos documentos que custodia el Archivo Topográfico del IGN. Las conclusiones que se extraen son que estas Comisiones acometieron operaciones geodésicas que resultaron cruciales en el establecimiento ulterior de la red de triangulación peninsular, realizaron mediciones topográficas que fueron reutilizadas veinte años después en el levantamiento del Mapa Topográfico Nacional, e idearon las características catastrales que fueron adoptadas durante todo el siglo posterior para el Catastro de España.

La Anunciación del Monasterio de Caleruega (Burgos): contextualización en la Baja Edad Media peninsular

La Anunciación del Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Caleruega, fundado por Alfonso X el Sabio, ha permanecido prácticamente olvidada por la historiografía nacional. Aislado tras los muros de la clausura, el grupo escultórico presenta una particularidad que, durante mucho tiempo, no fue analizada convenientemente: la Virgen está embarazada. La cantidad de ejemplos contabilizados de la misma naturaleza demuestra que esta clase de representaciones fue habitual, durante la Baja Edad Media, en algunos reinos de la península ibérica. Con un enfoque fundamentalmente iconográfico pero sin renunciar a otra clase de aproximaciones, el presente artículo pretende estudiar en profundidad la singularidad de la Anunciación calerogana que, al mismo tiempo, se convierte en el punto de partida para un análisis global de esta variante de la Salutación Angélica.

Strength of the Iberian intraplate lithosphere: Cenozoic deformations and seismicity

Previous studies about the strength of the lithosphere in the Iberia centre fail to resolve the depth of earthquakes because of the rheological uncertainties. Therefore, new contributions are considered (the crustal structure from a density model) and several parameters (tectonic regime, mantle rheology, strain rate) are checked in this paper to properly examine the role of lithospheric strength in the intraplate seismicity and the Cenozoic evolution. The strength distribution with depth, the integrated strength, the effective elastic thickness and the seismogenic thickness have been calculated by a finite element modelling of the lithosphere across the Central System mountain range and the bordering Duero and Madrid sedimentary basins. Only a dry mantle under strike-slip/extension and a strain rate of 10-15 s-1, or under extension and 10-16 s-1, causes a strong lithosphere. The integrated strength and the elastic thickness are lower in the mountain chain than in the basins. These anisotropies have been maintained since the Cenozoic and determine the mountain uplift and the biharmonic folding of the Iberian lithosphere during the Alpine deformations. The seismogenic thickness bounds the seismic activity in the upper–middle crust, and the decreasing crustal strength from the Duero Basin towards the Madrid Basin is related to a parallel increase in Plio–Quaternary deformations and seismicity. However, elasto–plastic modelling shows that current African–Eurasian convergence is resolved elastically or ductilely, which accounts for the low seismicity recorded in this region.

First Triassic tetrapod (Sauropterygia, Nothosauridae) from Castilla y León: evidence of an unknown taxon for the Spanish record

Several vertebrae of a sauropterygian specimen have been recovered in Fuencaliente de Medinaceli (Soria Province, Castilla y León, Spain). The remains come from Middle–Upper Triassic Muschelkalk Facies. This finding represents the first documented evidence of a Triassic tetrapod in Castilla y León. The vertebrae belong to Nothosaurus, a sauropterygian genus found in Europe, Middle East, North of Africa and China. This genus is poorly-known in the Iberian record. The new remains constitute the first evidence of the species Nothosaurus giganteus, or a related taxon, in the Iberian Peninsula. This study reveals the occurrence of at least two species of the sauropterygian Nothosaurus in the Spanish record.

Fossil associations from the middle and upper Eocene strata of the Pamplona Basin and surrounding areas (Navarre, western Pyrenees)

Fossil associations from the middle and upper Eocene (Bartonian and Priabonian) sedimentary succession of the Pamplona Basin are described. This succession was accumulated in the western part of the South Pyrenean peripheral foreland basin and extends from deep-marine turbiditic (Ezkaba Sandstone Formation) to deltaic (Pamplona Marl, Ardanatz Sandstone and Ilundain Marl formations) and marginal marine deposits (Gendulain Formation). The micropalaeontological content is high. It is dominated by foraminifera, and common ostracods and other microfossils are also present. The fossil ichnoasssemblages include at least 23 ichnogenera and 28 ichnospecies indicative of Nereites, Cruziana, Glossifungites and ?Scoyenia-Mermia ichnofacies. Body macrofossils of 78 taxa corresponding to macroforaminifera, sponges, corals, bryozoans, brachiopods, annelids, molluscs, arthropods, echinoderms and vertebrates have been identified. Both the number of ichnotaxa and of species (e. g. bryozoans, molluscs and condrichthyans) may be considerably higher. Body fossil assemblages are comparable to those from the Eocene of the Nord Pyrenean area (Basque Coast), and also to those from the Eocene of the west-central and eastern part of South Pyrenean area (Aragon and Catalonia). At the European scale, the molluscs assemblages seem endemic from the Pyrenean area, although several Tethyan (Italy and Alps) and Northern elements (Paris basin and Normandy) have been recorded. Palaeontological data of studied sedimentary units fit well with the shallowing process that throughout the middle and late Eocene occurs in the area, according to the sedimentological and stratigraphical data.

Revisiting the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous of the NW South Iberian Basin: new ages and sedimentary environments

The study of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous deposits (Higueruelas, Villar del Arzobispo and Aldea de Cortés Formations) of the South Iberian Basin (NW Valencia, Spain) reveals new stratigraphic and sedimentological data, which have significant implications on the stratigraphic framework, depositional environments and age of these units. The Higueruelas Fm was deposited in a mid-inner carbonate platform where oncolitic bars migrated by the action of storms and where oncoid production progressively decreased towards the uppermost part of the unit. The overlying Villar del Arzobispo Fm has been traditionally interpreted as an inner platform-lagoon evolving into a tidal-flat. Here it is interpreted as an inner-carbonate platform affected by storms, where oolitic shoals protected a lagoon, which had siliciclastic inputs from the continent. The Aldea de Cortés Fm has been previously interpreted as a lagoon surrounded by tidal-flats and fluvial-deltaic plains. Here it is reinterpreted as a coastal wetland where siliciclastic muddy deposits interacted with shallow fresh to marine water bodies, aeolian dunes and continental siliciclastic inputs. The contact between the Higueruelas and Villar del Arzobispo Fms, classically defined as gradual, is also interpreted here as rapid. More importantly, the contact between the Villar del Arzobispo and Aldea de Cortés Fms, previously considered as unconformable, is here interpreted as gradual. The presence of Alveosepta in the Villar del Arzobispo Fm suggests that at least part of this unit is Kimmeridgian, unlike the previously assigned Late Tithonian-Middle Berriasian age. Consequently, the underlying Higueruelas Fm, previously considered Tithonian, should not be younger than Kimmeridgian. Accordingly, sedimentation of the Aldea de Cortés Fm, previously considered Valangian-Hauterivian, probably started during the Tithonian and it may be considered part of the regressive trend of the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous cycle. This is consistent with the dinosaur faunas, typically Jurassic, described in the Villar del Arzobispo and Aldea de Cortés Fms.

Systematic review of Late Jurassic sauropods from the Museu Geológico collections (Lisboa, Portugal)

The Museu Geológico collections house some of the first sauropod references of the Lusitanian Basin Upper Jurassic record, including the Lourinhasaurus alenquerensis and Lusotitan atalaiensis lectotypes, previously considered as new species of the Apatosaurus and Brachiosaurus genera, respectively. Several fragmentary specimens have been classical referred to those taxa, but the most part of these systematic attributions are not supported herein, excluding a caudal vertebra from Maceira (MG 8804) considered as cf. Lusotitan atalaiensis. From the material housed in the Museu Geológico were identified basal eusauropods (indeterminate eusauropods and turiasaurs) and neosauropods (indeterminate neosauropods, diplodods and camarasaurids and basal titanosauriforms). Middle caudal vertebrae with lateral fossae, ventral hollow border by pronounced ventrolateral crests and quadrangular cross-section suggest for the presence of diplodocine diplodocids in north area of the Lusitanian Basin Central Sector during the Late Jurassic. A humerus collected from Praia dos Frades (MG 4976) is attributed to cf. Duriatitan humerocristatus suggesting the presence of shared sauropod forms between the Portugal and United Kingdom during the Late Jurassic. Duriatitan is an indeterminate member of Eusauropoda and the discovery of new material in both territories is necessary to confirm this systematic approach. The studied material is in according with the previous recorded paleobiodiversity for the sauropod clade during the Portuguese Late Jurassic, which includes basal eusauropods (including turiasaurs), diplodocids and macronarians (including camarasaurids and basal titanosauriforms).

New contributions to the native and alien flora in riparian habitats of the Cantabrian watershed (Northern Spain)

As a result of a floristic survey carried out in riparian habitats of northern Spain, new chorological data are provided for 9 alien and 6 native plant species. Some species are reported for the first time at regional scale, such as Carex strigosa, Helianthus x laetiflorus and Persicaria pensylvanica in Cantabria. Also noteworthy is the finding of naturalised populations of the North American grass Muhlenbergia schreberi at the Urumea river basin, which represents the second reference for the Iberian Peninsula.

Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, II Duque de Alba y su inventario de libros (1531): Una biblioteca patrimonial

Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo, que nació hacia 1460 y murió en 1531, lidera en Castilla el linaje de la casa de Alba en el tránsito de la Edad Media al Renacimiento. Primo carnal de Fernando el Católico, y colaborador íntimo de los Reyes, desarrolla una amplia labor de mecenazgo artístico y literario, de la cual son ejemplos relevantes los apoyos a poetas como Juan del Encina, Juan Boscán o Garcilaso de la Vega. A pesar de esta actividad, la crítica no se ha ocupado con detalle de este personaje por haberle eclipsado un tanto su nieto, el Gran Duque de Alba. Este artículo reproduce el inventario de la biblioteca de Don Fadrique (formado por los libros que fueron catalogados a su muerte), inédito hasta ahora y que nos muestra una rica biblioteca patrimonial de ciento ochenta y seis obras. Entre los libros religiosos encontramos biblias, tratados de oración y libros de horas; se hallan también algunos títulos indispensables de las tradiciones franciscana y dominica, que nos muestran a un personaje interesado en las nuevas corrientes devocionales de finales del siglo XV, en el escolasticismo y en las mujeres santas y visionarias del Medievo.

Enigmas monetarios en el derecho local. Los mencales y maravedís en los fueros castellanos

La historia de la moneda en la Castilla medieval ha estado siempre mediatizada por la convivencia no siempre armónica entre dos sistemas monetarios muy diferentes. Uno basado en la plata, de origen europeo, otro centrado en el oro, de raíces árabes. La necesidad de conectar y de establecer unas equivalencias entre ellos se convirtió pronto en una necesidad, máxime cuando las monedas de oro incrementaron sus variantes. En esta compleja situación aparecen mencales y maravedís citados conjuntamente en muchos fueros: Zorita, Uclés, Cuenca,... sin que su naturaleza quede del todo clara. Este artículo compara estas referencias y analiza las equivalencias que los unen. Como colofón al trabajo podemos afirmar que los maravedís citados en cada texto corresponden a monedas áureas de distinto peso y valor mientras el mencal es identificado con un ponderal de oro que los relaciona.

Incisión fluvial del río Darro durante el periodo 1890-2010 en el sector urbano de Granada (Alambra-Valparaíso, España) determinada a partir de fotografías históricas

En este trabajo se calcula la tasa media de incisión fluvial del río Darro (Granada, España) durante el periodo 1890-2010 en su tramo urbano (sector Alhambra-Valparaíso). Para ello se han utilizado fotografías históricas en las que aparece dicho río, a partir de las cuales se ha podido determinar la posición del cauce en el momento en el que se realizaron las fotografías. La comparación con los escenarios actuales de tales imágenes ha permitido determinar la diferencia de altura del cauce a través de medidas de cotas absolutas realizadas mediante teodolito. Esta metodología ha permitido estimar de modo cuantitativo un índice de encajamiento vertical medio del río de 1,05 cm/año para el periodo histórico considerado.

The Neolithic of El Niño cave (Ayna, Albacete) in the Sierra del Segura context

Since its excavation in the summer of 1973, El Niño cave has been considered a key site to understand the process of production economy and pottery technology introduction in South-eastern Iberian Peninsula, and especially to approach how such process could have affected people already settled in the Segura mountains. However, data from El Niño cave was very fragmentary, due to the lack of a broad study of Neolithic occupations of the site. In this paper, we present the analysis of pottery, lithic industry and faunal remains, as well as the existing dates from the site´s Holocene levels. The review of different evidence from the site allows suggesting that El Niño cave would have probably acted as a hunting and shepherding station, being a logistical site of larger places. However, limitations due to the fact that we are dealing with a 40- year-old excavation, prevent specifying how the process of Neolithic introduction in the Segura Mountains occurred.

The management of bone tools from the Bronze Age site of El Portalón of Cueva Mayor, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos

In this paper we analyze the set of Bronze Age bone tools recovered at the archaeological site of El Portalón of Cueva Mayor in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos). The Bronze Age cultural period is the best represented in the cavity and its study has forced us to unify the different excavation and stratigraphical criteria undertaken from the earliest archaeological excavations developed by J.M. Apellániz during the 70s until the excavations of the current research team (EIA) since 2000. We propose here for the first time a relationship between the initial system of “beds” used by Apellániz and our recent sedimentary sequence that recognizes eleven stratigraphic levels radiometrically dated from the late Upper Pleistocene to the Middle Age. Within the bone industry assemblage we recognize a large variety of utensils and ornamental elements, with native and allochthonous features, that make evident a regional as well as long distance relationships of these populations of the interior of the Iberian Peninsula during the recent Prehistory.

Las estatuas-menhir noroccidentales en contexto: conectividad y conexiones materiales durante el Bronce Tardío/Final

Este artículo analiza las estatuas-menhir noroccidentales que se distribuyen en el área comprendida entre los valles del río Duero y el río Miño, pero que descubrimientos recientes han extendido a regiones fuera de este área nuclear. Partiendo de tres aspectos claves para su interpretación (la cronología, su relación con el paisaje y su sentido iconográfico), se examinan las relaciones entre estas formas materiales y un paisaje socio-material de acción específico (las formas socio-materiales de interacción propias del Bronce final atlántico). Para ello, se tiene en cuenta diferentes conexiones materiales (presencia, encuentro, coexistencia, hibridación, etc.) que permiten contextualizar las estatuasmenhir dentro de un proceso histórico particular: la integración del noroeste de la península Ibérica en un contexto de relaciones mediterráneo-atlánticas, en la segunda mitad del II milenio a.C.