Multidisciplinary insights into Late Pleistocene-Holocene palaeoenvironment at the archaeo-palaeontological Loltún Cave site in Yucatán, Mexico

Abstract

Abstract A lack of well-dated archaeological and palaeontological sequences containing proxy-based palaeoenvironmental information has hindered the reconstruction of long-term human-biodiversity interactions in Mexico. Here, we re-evaluate the stratigraphy of the Huechil Chamber in Loltún Cave, a key Yucatán site whose archaeo-palaeontological sequence, dating from the Pleistocene to the Late Holocene, provides critical insights into the environmental conditions that shaped human settlement from near the onset of our species’ presence in this part of the world. Despite localised disturbances, the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary remains well-defined, confirming the site’s integrity and its potential for exploring human-megafauna relationships through time. Our multidisciplinary approach, which combines new excavations with the analysis of plant wax biomarkers, ZooMS, stable isotopes, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), magnetic susceptibility and 14 C AMS dating, provides a new, detailed palaeoecological and chronological framework for this region. Our data reveal a significant environmental shift between ~23 and ~16.4 cal kyr BP, characterised by a transition to a warmer, drier and windier climate, from a closed, humid landscape. This study provides a more precise basis for investigating the complex ecological and potential anthropogenic drivers of Late Pleistocene megafaunal dynamics in Neotropics.