Paleoambiente y procesos de formación de un depósito paleolítico al aire libre: El yacimiento arqueológico de Mendieta (Sopelana, Bizkaia)

An urgent archaeological excavation on the Mendieta area (Sopelana, Biscay province) has evidenced the presence of lithic industry within an original stratigraphic context of possible lower Palaeolithic age. The materials containing the lithic industry exhibit stratigraphic and sedimentary features derived from fluvio-alluvial and pedogenic processes. The formation procedures of this open-air site took place under warm and humid palaeoenvironmental climatic conditions. This characterization supplies an important information in order to understand the genesis and location of the scarce open-air archaeological sites of lower Palaeolithic age present in the Cantabrian region.