Taphonomic Criteria for Identifying Iberian Lynx Dens in Quaternary Deposits

For decades, taphonomists have dedicated their efforts to assessing the nature of the massive leporid accumulations recovered at archaeological sites in the northwestern Mediterranean region. Their interest lying in the fact that the European rabbit constituted a critical part of human subsistence during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene. However, rabbits are also a key prey in the food webs of Mediterranean ecosystems and the base of the diet for several specialist predators, including the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus). For this reason, the origin of rabbit accumulations in northwestern Mediterranean sites has proved a veritable conundrum. Here, we present the zooarchaeological and taphonomic study of more than 3000 faunal and 140 coprolite remains recovered in layer IIIa of Cova del Gegant (Catalonia, Spain). Our analysis indicates that this layer served primarily as a den for the Iberian lynx. The lynxes modified and accumulated rabbit remains and also died at the site creating an accumulation dominated by the two taxa. However, other agents and processes, including human, intervened in the final configuration of the assemblage. Our study contributes to characterizing the Iberian lynx fossil accumulation differentiating between the faunal assemblages accumulated by lynxes and hominins

A Middle Palaeolithic wooden digging stick from Aranbaltza III, Spain

Aranbaltza is an archaeological complex formed by at least three open-air sites. Between 2014 and 2015 a test excavation carried out in Aranbaltza III revealed the presence of a sand and clay sedimentary sequence formed in floodplain environments, within which six sedimentary units have been identified. This sequence was formed between 137±50 ka, and includes several archaeological horizons, attesting to the long-term presence of Neanderthal communities in this area. One of these horizons, corresponding with Unit 4, yielded two wooden tools. One of these tools is a beveled pointed tool that was shaped through a complex operational sequence involving branch shaping, bark peeling, twig removal, shaping, polishing, thermal exposition and chopping. A use-wear analysis of the tool shows it to have traces related with digging soil so it has been interpreted as representing a digging stick. This is the first time such a tool has been identified in a European Late Middle Palaeolithic context; it also represents one of the first well-preserved Middle Palaeolithic wooden tool found in southern Europe. This artefact represents one of the few examples available of wooden tool preservation for the European Palaeolithic, allowing us to further explore the role wooden technologies played in Neanderthal communities

Who Killed the Small Mammals of Ittenheim (Northeastern France)?:an integrative approach and new taphonomic data for investigating bone assemblages accumulated by small carnivores

Abstract Small carnivores are susceptible to regularly accumulating small- to medium-sized mammal remains in both natural and archaeological sites. However, compared to nocturnal birds of prey, these accumulations are still poorly documented and are generally based on a limited number of samples, including those of relatively small size. Here, we present an analysis of European hamster remains from a rescue excavation at Ittenheim (Bas-Rhin, Grand-Est, France), which were recovered from an infilled burrow, three meters below the current surface. The remains are well preserved and exhibit large proportions of tooth marks. Comparisons with a new and existing reference collection combined with an analysis of all recovered faunal remains suggest the accumulation reflects the action of young red foxes. This is supported by the fact that, although these young individuals leave teeth mark, they do not necessarily consume all parts of medium-sized prey species, including the European hamster. Conversely, the remains of smaller rodents, such as microtine, show distinct patterns of digestion and tooth marks. Carnivore bone accumulations from scats are generally poorly preserved; however, our results demonstrate prey size plays a major role, both qualitatively and quantitatively, in skeletal representation, bone preservation, and bone surface modifications. The present paper underlines the need for more diversified taphonomic reference collections based on an integrative approach designed to evaluate multi-taxa accumulations

The Middle Palaeolithic occupation of Mar-Tarik, a new Zagros Mousterian site in Bisotun Massif (Kermanshah, Iran)

La première campagne de terrain de la mission franco-iranienne portant sur le Paléolithique a concerné une cavité perchée du massif de Bisotoun, région de Kermanshah (sud du Zagros, Iran) découverte en 1986. Les sept premiers cosignataires ont participé à la phase terrain (2004) qui a consisté en une étude globale et interdisciplinaire de la petite grotte de Mar Tarik dont le remplissage avait été malheureusement affecté par des travaux clandestins qui ont détruit l'essentiel du gisement à l'exception de lambeaux de sédiments indurés et conservés dans la salle du fond. Outre des témoignages de fréquentation ou d'occupations d'âge historique, protohistorique (Chalcolithique) qui ne sont pas décrits ici, les vestiges paléolithiques révèlent une homogénéité évidente, concernant uniquement (ou presque) le Moustérien du Zagros. Une datation U/Th d'un spéléothème antérieur au niveau moustérien a été rapporté au Dernier interglaciaire (OIS 5e). Il est possible de distinguer la faune post-paléolithique des vestiges pléistocènes par leur état de surface mais sans contexte stratigraphique et avec un faible échantillonnage, l'histoire des différents stocks de faune, qui est complexe, n'est pas aisée à établir. De même pour les restes humains attribuables à Homo sapiens sp. Un essai de datation 14C SMA sur un fragment d'os humain insuffisamment riche en collagène n'a pas donné d'estimation chronologique. L'industrie lithique montre une chaîne opératoire fractionnée typique d'un site de consommation secondaire avec faible activité de taille et importation d'outils déjà préparés, les outils retouchés représentant 44 % du total de l'industrie. La production est dominée par la méthode Levallois, difficile à identifier en cas de ravivages multiples. Les outils retouchés sont typiques du Moustérien du Zagros: racloirs, racloirs déjetés, convergents, pointes, outils à dos amincis. Une pierre en calcaire fin est gravée de lignes ou quadrillages géométriques, mais, sans provenance stratigraphique claire, son appartenance au Moustérien, bien que possible, n'est pas assurée

L’art de la grotte de la Mairie (Teyjat, Dordogne) dans son contexte magdalénien.

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La séquence paléolithique inférieur de la grotte Kozarnika (Nord-Ouest de la Bulgarie)

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Le site moustérien de la grotte du noisetier, Pyrénées centrales françaises: une bilan interdisciplinaire après dix ans de fouille.

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A late Neandertal femur from Les Rochers-de-Villeneuve, France

In 2002, a Neandertal partial femoral diaphysis was discovered at Les Rochers-de-Villeneuve (Vienne, France). Radiocarbon dated to ≈40,700 (14)C years before present, this specimen is one of the most recent Middle Paleolithic Neandertals. The diaphysis derives from an archeological level indicating alternating human and carnivore (mostly hyena) occupation of the cave, reinforcing the close proximity and probable competition of Middle Paleolithic humans with large carnivores for resources and space. Morphological aspects of the diaphysis and ancient DNA extracted from it indicate that it is aligned with the Neandertals and is distinct from early modern humans. However, its midshaft cortical bone distribution places it between other Middle Paleolithic Neandertals and the Châtelperronian Neandertal from La Roche-à-Pierrot, supporting a pattern of changing mobility patterns among late Middle Paleolithic Neandertals on the eve of modern human dispersals into Europe

Nouveaux éléments de chronologie relative et radionumérique à Cussac (Dordogne, France)

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