## 6 Conclusions  
The rock-magnetism analysis allows us to discern three different magnetic components present in the cave sediments in the upper infill of Gran Dolina, namely units TD7 to TD10: magnetite, goethite, and hematite. The relative concentration variations along the profile are thought to reflect climatic changes during the sediment deposition in the cave. In particular, we suggest a shift from warm to cold climatic conditions from units TD6 to TD7, characterised by a decrease in magnetic susceptibility, a lower concentration of magnetite including SP particles. A similar pattern is observed in the middle-upper part of unit TD9, where we noticed among the lowest values of bulk susceptibility--decrease of magnetite-- and the presence of goethite. These observations suggest a cold environment with relatively high moisture in order to account for the production of high coercivity component. Last, we tentatively assign units TD9 and TD10 to the MIS11 stage (also suggested in [13; 23; 24; 25]),  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline
**Unit** & **ESR/U-Series (ka) [17]** & **TL and IRSL (ka) [28]** & **U-Series TIMS (ka) [63]** & **ESR-OB (ka) [29]** & **TT-OSL (ka) [62]** \\ \hline TD10 & 372 \(\pm\) 33 & 244 \(\pm\) 26 & 301 \(\pm\) 40 & \\  & 430 \(\pm\) 59 & 458 \(\pm\) 39 & \\ \hline TD9 & & 480 \(\pm\) 130 & 418 \(\pm\) 113 & 544 \(\pm\) 94 \\  & & 427 \(\pm\) 267 & 565 \(\pm\) 56 \\ \hline TD8 & 602 \(\pm\) 52 & 820 \(\pm\) 140 & 520 \(\pm\) 129 & \\  & & & 473 \(\pm\) 26 & \\  & & & 525 \(\pm\) 26 & \\ \hline TD7 & & 960 \(\pm\) 140 & 734 \(\pm\) 128 & \\  & & & 852 \(\pm\) 144 & \\ \hline TD6 & & & 856 \(\pm\) 75 \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 5: Dstation of upper sedimentary infill of the Gran Dolina cave obtained by different methods.  
which agrees with previous interpretation of the stratigraphic record [27; 53]. Ongoing research on both chronology and rockmagnetism will help further interpret the fossiliferous and archaeological units in terms of the climatic shifts during the Quaternary.  
Conceptualization, methodology, software, S.D., J.M.P. and F.M.-H.; validation, J.M.P. and F.M.-H.; formal analysis, investigation, S.D.; resources, data curation, J.M.P. and F.M.-H.; writing--original draft preparation, S.D.; writing--review and editing, S.D., J.M.P. and F.M.-H.; visualization, supervision, J.M.P. and F.M.-H.; project administration, funding acquisition, J.M.P. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was funded by Spanish Grant PID2021-122355 NB-C33 and PID2021-123092 NB-C22, financed by MCIN/ AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE.  
Not applicable.  
We would like to thank the Fundacion Atapuerca and the Junta de Castilla y Leon for continuous support to the research in the Atapuerca archaeological sites. A personal acknowledgement to the researchers [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] (IPHES), for making possible sampling in this part of Gran Dolina and their patience during field work. Constructive comments by two anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.