Cervidae antlers exploited to manufacture prehistoric tools and hunting implements as a reliable source of ancient DNA.

Antler is one of the primary animal raw materials exploited for technical purposes by the hunter-gatherer groups of the Eurasian Upper Palaeolithic (UP) all over the ecological range of deers, and beyond. It was exhaustively employed to produce one of the most critical tools for the survival of the UP societies: hunting weapons. However, antler implements can be made from diverse deer taxa, with different ecological requirements and ethological behaviours.

Erratum: Under the Skin of a Lion: Unique Evidence of Upper Paleolithic Exploitation and Use of Cave Lion (Panthera spelaea) from the Lower Gallery of La Garma (Spain).

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Microclimate, airborne particles, and microbiological monitoring protocol for conservation of rock-art caves: The case of the world-heritage site La Garma cave (Spain).

Cave heritage is often threatened by tourism or even scientific activities, which can lead to irreversible deterioration. We present a preventive conservation monitoring protocol to protect caves with rock art, focusing on La Garma Cave (Spain), a World Heritage Site with valuable archaeological materials and Palaeolithic paintings. This study assessed the suitability of the cave for tourist use through continuous microclimate and airborne particles monitoring, biofilm analysis, aerobiological monitoring and experimental visits.

Environment-driven control of fungi in subterranean ecosystems: the case of La Garma Cave (northern Spain).

Airborne microorganisms can cause important conservation problems in caves with Paleolithic art and therefore the knowledge of cave aerodynamic is essential. La Garma Cave (Cantabria, Spain), an exceptional archaeological site with several levels of galleries interconnected and two entrances, presents a complex atmospheric dynamics. An approach including aerobiological sampling together with microclimate monitoring was applied to assess the factors controlling the origin of airborne fungi.

Comment on "U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art".

Hoffmann (Reports, 23 February 2018, p. 912) report the discovery of parietal art older than 64,800 years and attributed to Neanderthals, at least 25 millennia before the oldest parietal art ever found. Instead, critical evaluation of their geochronological data seems to provide stronger support for an age of 47,000 years, which is much more consistent with the archaeological background in hand.

Under the Skin of a Lion: Unique Evidence of Upper Paleolithic Exploitation and Use of Cave Lion (Panthera spelaea) from the Lower Gallery of La Garma (Spain).

Pleistocene skinning and exploitation of carnivore furs have been previously inferred from archaeological evidence. Nevertheless, the evidence of skinning and fur processing tends to be weak and the interpretations are not strongly sustained by the archaeological record. In the present paper, we analyze unique evidence of patterned anthropic modification and skeletal representation of fossil remains of cave lion (Panthera spelaea) from the Lower Gallery of La Garma (Cantabria, Spain).