Middle Palaeolithic Cave Taphonomy: Discerning Humans from Hyenas at Arcy‐sur‐Cure, France

Abstract

Recent excavations at the Grotte du Bison, Arcy-sur-Cure, demonstrate essential continuity in industrial succession from the late Mousterian into the Châtelperronian. The faunal assemblage, however, demonstrates considerable occupation by hyenas and bears in alternation with that by humans in the underlying Mousterian levels. This demonstrates one of the fundamental problems of cave stratigraphies. The archaeological record of the Middle Palaeolithic rarely presents unambiguous associations and spatial configuration. A substantial proportion of the Middle Palaeolithic archaeological record has been investigated in cave mouth and rock shelter sites. Cave taphonomy most often results in complex palimpsests of depositional history, mixing debris from prehistoric human occupations with those from other processes, both geological and faunal. Spatial analysis may be one way of deciphering portions of complex depositions. Data from one Middle Palaeolithic level of the Grotte du Bison are presented here to illustrate the potential for discerning differential activity and occupation areas resulting from Neanderthals, hyenas and other animals. Signatures of associations of bone fragments with other classes of material recovered from recent excavations are offered to identify those portions of the palimpsest attributable to human activities.

When wildcats feed on rabbits: an experimental study to understand the taphonomic signature of European wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris)

“…On archaeological sites, assemblages dominated by non-ingested remains are the most likely to be encountered, however; results may vary depending on the relative proportion of remains derived from scats. In fact, archaeological assemblages most often result in complex palimpsests of depositional history, mixing debris from prehistoric human occupations with those from other processes, both geological and faunal (Enloe 2012). The use of the reference data obtined in this study and others of the kind, is one way of deciphering portions of complex depositions.…”

Unraveling a Neanderthal palimpsest from a zooarcheological and taphonomic perspective

“…These studies have more frequently been conducted from technological and geoarcheological 3 approaches, and rarely the faunal remains have been considered. (Audouze and Enloe 1997;Enloe 2012;Vaquero et al 2007Vaquero et al , 2012aHovers et al 2011;Rosell et al 2012;Machado et al 2013;Machado and Pérez in press;Bargalló et al in press).…”

Un outil en os à usages multiples dans un contexte moustérien

“…Les facteurs taphonomiques restreignent souvent l'analyse tracéologique des restes osseux. À cet effet, soulignons l'alternance d'occupations entre l'hyène des cavernes et les Néandertaliens attestée à la grotte du Bison (Enloe, 2012). Ce phénomène engendre une forte altération de l'ensemble des restes fauniques par l'action de l'hyène, en plus de celles attribuables aux autres carnivores tels le loup et le renard.…”