The technology of the European Upper Palaeolithic yielded abundant evidence of the use of composite projectile heads, in the form of osseous points on the side of which one or several (micro)lithic elements are attached. Yet, little experimental work has been devoted to testing and assessing the parameters of use of this type of composite tips. In this paper we present a pilot experiment with replicas of Magdalenian composite spear tips, made of an antler point with one or two rows of flint backed bladelets. Two series of replicas were manufactured after the lithic and osseous record of, respectively, the Lower Magdalenian from southwest France (c. 20-18 Ky cal BP) and the Upper Magdalenian of Pincevent in the Paris Basin (c. 15-14 Ky cal BP). The 34 experimental composite heads were hafted to spears that were then shot with a spearthrower at the carcasses of two young deer. The results provide some insight into the performance characteristics of the osseous and lithic components, both in efficiency and durability. Finally, possible improvements of the experimental protocol are discussed, as well as the implications of our results for the understanding of projectile point variability in the Upper Palaeolithic

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Previous morphological and isotopic studies indicate that LatePleistocene cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) diet ranged from mostly vegetarian to omnivory or even carnivory. However, such analyses do not provide information on seasonal diets, and only provide an average record of diet. A dental microwear analysis of 43 young and adult individuals demonstrate that, during the predormancy period, cave bears from Goyet (Late Pleistocene, Belgium) were not strictly herbivorous, but had a mixed diet composed of hard items (e.g., possibly bone), invertebrates (e.g., insects), meat (ungulates, small vertebrates), and/or plant matter (hard mast, seeds, herbaceous vegetations, and fruits). Therefore, our results indicate that cave bears at Goyet were generalist omnivores during the predormancy period, which is consistent with current data on the dietary ecology of extant bears during this season. These data also raise questions about the ecological role and causes of the extinction of cave bears.ate Pleistocene caves of Europe have yielded abundant fossils of the cave bear Ursus spelaeus, an extinct close relative of the brown bear, Ursus arctos, and the polar bear, Ursus maritimus (1-4). It is one of the best known extinct mammals, and demographic and stable isotopes analyses have shown them to have had a metabolism similar to that of extant bears. In particular, they went through a period of dormancy during the winter, giving birth and nursing their offspring during the dormancy, and maintained their body temperature without defecating or urinating, eating or drinking (5-8). Cave bear diet is more controversial. Dental traits (enlarged and multicusped molars, loss of the three anterior premolars, molarization of the fourth upper premolars, and rapidly occurring wear on the cheekteeth) suggest that cave bears fed on abrasive food (presumably plants) and were more engaged in herbivory than the other bear species (5, 9-11). Skull and mandible morphology of cave bears was interpreted in a similar way (12), but recently, it has been shown to correlate with omnivory or even carnivory among bears (13), which was supported by taphonomical evidence (11,14,15 Nutritional ecology of North American extant bears (polar bears excluded) indicates that they are generalist omnivores, yet their diets range from almost complete vegetarianism to carnivory depending on season, habitat, sex, and/or foraging behavior (12,(21)(22)(23)(24)(25). However, similar information on the variation of cave bear diet through time has rarely been provided.

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