Évolution des grands Carnivores au Plio Pléistocène en Afrique et en Europe occidentale

This paper provides an overview of current knowledge of Plio Pleistocene Carnivora from Africa and Europe. In Plio Pleistocene times, many genera extend their ranges in Africa and Eurasia but their evolution are quite distinct in the two continents. In Africa, the modern carnivoran guild of sub saharian Africa originated in the early Pleistocene when took place extinction of archaic species. The north African fossil record is far from complete until the middle Pleistocene. In the middle and late Pleistocene, the modern carnivoran guild is associated with other elements: the simian jackal Canis simensis and two species of ursids Ursus arctos and Ursus deningeri which evolved towards Ursus spelaeus. Western European carnivore faunas show due to migration a constant turn-over of the species. Among felids, Panthera schaubi described by Viret (1954) and attributed to the genus Puma by Hemmer et al. (2004), is morphologically close to the snow leopard Panthera (Uncia) uncia. Canis etruscus is the sister group pf the clade including wolf and coyote and Canis arnensis is close to the African jackals. Ursus deningeri appears in the early Pleistocene together with two arctoid forms Ursus rodei and Ursus dolinensis that may be synonymous to Ursus arctos. The genus Hyaena is present in Europe in the middle and late Pleistocene.     

Comparaison de l'expression de certains caractères crâniens sur les hominidés chinois du Pléistocène récent et de l'Holocène (grotte supérieure de Zhoukoudian, sites de Longxian et de Yanqing)

The human remains recovered from “Grotte supérieure de Zhoukoudian” are the best-preserved Late Pleistocene human fossils in East Asia. For decades, as the representative of the Late Pleistocene human in East Asia, the Upper Cave skulls have been playing important role in the research of origins of modern Mongoloids and American Indians. With the advance of the origin and evolution of modern humans, more attention has been paid to the details and the mechanisms for the late Pleistocene human evolution and the formation of modern human populations. Both the origin and diversification of modern humans have been stressed. Some studies further trigger the debaters on the Upper Cave Man concerning its evolutionary level and its role in the formation of modern human populations in East Asia. To further explore these problems, we examined and compared 12 non-metric features on the 3 Late Pleistocene Upper Cave skulls and 162 Holocene individuals earthed from two archaeological sites of North China (Longxian and Yanqing). Our results indicate that 8 on the 12 features have different expression patterns between Upper Cave Man and recent Chinese leading the authors to believe that more primitive expressions appeared on the Upper Cave Man than on recent Chinese populations. Based on these findings, some problems on the intragroup variation in Late Pleistocene and Holocene populations are discussed.     

Le bassin de l’homme du Pléistocène supérieur de Liujiang, Sud de la Chine : taille du corps, forme du corps et encéphalisation

The Late Pleistocene hominin fossil assemblage from Liujiang, South China include a fairly well-preserved cranium, a right os coxa, a complete sacrum, and other postcranial elements all belonging to a single individual. This rare discovery offers us a unique and singular opportunity in understanding this Late Pleistocene hominin's body proportion and relative cranial capacity (encephalization quotient [EQ]), and also pelvic morphology. Using the available right innominate and its mirror-imaged left side, we reconstruct Liujiang hominin's pelvis. Our analysis of the pelvis indicates that the Liujiang hominin has a very gracile and modern-like pelvic morphology. Indeed, all of the pelvic dimensions are smaller than those of other Pleistocene hominins. Moreover, the pelvic characteristics typical of Middle and Late Pleistocene hominins including Neanderthals cannot be identified in the Liujiang pelvis. In contrast, both Liujiang's metric and non-metric features indicate affinities to more recent human populations including our modern Chinese collections from Guangxi of south China. Further support of this assessment comes from the EQ value of 5.754 for Liujiang which is closer to Minatogawa 2 and modern Chinese populations than to Middle and Late Pleistocene fossil hominins. Our analysis of body shape shows that Liujiang has body proportion (i.e. body height relative to body breadth) typical of warm-adapted populations. Based on these findings, we reason that the modern physical characteristics of Liujiang may allude to a more recent geological age. Alternatively, its morphological “modernity” could also point to a much higher degree of skeletal variation within Late Pleistocene hominins in East Asia.     

Ostracodes et stratigraphie du néogène et du quaternaire méditerranéens

A stratigraphical chart of marine ostracoda from Lower Miocene to Recent is established. Selected species (approximatively 220) are those morphologicaly well characterized and known from different parts of the Mediterranean area. It appears that: • lower Miocene ostracodes are still poorly known; • specific diversity is high during the Tortonian and the Lower Messinian before the complete disappearance of marine Mediterranean species during the Upper Messinian évaporitic episodes; • during the early Pliocene, about half of the Upper Miocene marine species are reintroduced with the Atlantic waters; other species migrate for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea by the same way; • at the end of the Pliocene or at the beginning of the Pleistocene several species known in Mediterranean since the Middle Miocene or before, such as Cytherella sp. gr. transversa and Ruggieria tetraptera, as well some “nordic guests” such as Hemicythere villosa and Cythere lutea, appear. This work is an opportunity to confirme a Late Miocene age for the Neogene of Skyros (Aegean Sea), to assign the “Upper Pliocene” of Terquem to the Lower Pleistocene and to refute the existence of a pliocene psychrosphere.     

Introduction à l’étude du site de Longgupo

The site of Longgupo, discovered in 1984, is located south of the crossing of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze, in the eastern part of Chongqing Province. Situated on the limestone slope of the Miaoyu Valley, three excavation campaigns have been carried out since 1985. The first two seasons took place from 1985–1988 and 1997–1998, directed by W.B. Huang and the last campaign from 2003–2006 by E. Boëda and Y.M. Hou. After the first two campaigns, the presence of several bones, with an estimated age of 1.9 My, notably including a mandible fragment attributed to a hominid² and the discovery of more than 20 lithic artifacts incited not only great interest in the scientific community, but controversy as well since these data contradicted diffusion models of the first hominids out of Africa. Paleoanthropological data often being privileged over other data, including lithic artifacts, the anthropic nature of the site was contested. Yet the few artifacts from the initial excavations irrefutably demonstrate their manufacture by humans, in particular those in exogenous stone. To definitively re-establish the authenticity of this site by applying the latest investigative methods, a new Franco-Chinese campaign was organized. The objective of the 2003–2006 field seasons focused on understanding and analysis of the archaeological data in their geomorphological and stratigraphic contexts.     

L’approvisionnement en matières premières lithiques au Pléistocène inférieur et moyen dans la Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos (Espagne)

This paper summarizes the latest studies on lithic raw material raising that are currently undertaken within the Sierra de Atapuerca research project. During the past two years, several works have provided new petrographical and technological data, contributing to the knowledge of the kinds of materials exploited by the Atapuerca hominids, as well as the areas where those materials were raised. The sites yielding this information are Gran Dolina (Lower and Middle Pleistocene) and Galeria (Middle Pleistocene), both located in the Trinchera del Ferrocarril archeopaleontological complex.     

Biochronologie mammalienne du Quaternaire du Maroc atlantique, dans son cadre régional

Recent researches conducted in Morocco in the frame of the “Programme Casablanca” provide a firm ground to set up a biochronology of the Pliocene and Pleistocene based upon the succession of Mammalian faunas, thanks to the occurrence of well-dated landmarks, and despite very scarce absolute datations. The site of Lissasfa, dated to the Miocene-Pliocene boundary by rodents, testifies to important exchanges with Europe. That of Ahl al Oughlam yielded more than 100 vertebrate species. The evolutionary stages of its rodents, carnivores, bovids, Kolpochoerus, as well as the absence of Equus, allow us to refer it to the late Pliocene, at ca. 2.5 Ma. The Thomas and Oulad Hamida quarries in Casablanca cut through a unique succession of marine and continental levels going back to the lower Pleistocene, yielding the earliest evidence of human presence in Morocco. Later stages of this human occupation are documented by the Middle Pleistocene levels of these quarries, and by several other sites, most of which are also located in the Rabat-Casablanca region, thus confirming the importance of this coastal area in human history. However, the first chapter of this history in North-western Africa, at present illustrated by the sites of Aïn Hanech and Mansourah in Algeria, remains poorly documented in Morocco.     

Apport des grands mammifères de la grotte du Vallonnet (Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes, France) à la connaissance du cadre biochronologique de la seconde moitié du Pléistocène inférieur d'Europe

The large mammals of Vallonnet cave, found into a level contemporary of Jaramillo event, are characteristics of the second half of the Lower Pleistocene. Some differences with the faunas of Fuente Nueva 3 and Barranco Leon, in Spain, which datation is the middle of the Lower Pleistocene, show that Vallonnet is younger. On the other hand, the differences are clear with Soleilhac faunas, which datation is the beginning of the middle Pleistocene.     

La faune préhistorique de la région de Jungwon en Corée et la relation entre l'Homme et l'Animal

The Jungwon region, developed under the calcites deposit, contains 6 caves and 1 rock-shelter where we can find many animal bones. During the middle Pleistocene, some warm animals lived here and the number of species was increased in the course of the upper Pleistocene. In the upper Pleistocene, the young and old deer have been hunted as the main prey and they have been transported into the occupation area of prehistoric people. The cut-marks on the bones and the existence of bone tools reveal us their mode of subsistence.     

Les faunes de grands mammifères de la Caune de l'Arago (Tautavel) dans le cadre biochronologique des faunes du Pléistocène moyen italien

The fossiliferous levels of Caune de l'Arago supply a useful tool to investigate the relationships between faunal renewals and climate changes in a restricted area during the Middle Pleistocene. On the other hand the Italian fossil assemblages of the middle Galerian testified changes of palaeoenvironmental conditions. A biochronologic and palaeoecologic comparison among large mammalian faunas of these quite different Mediterranean regions have been performed in the aim to value possible vicariance of taxa and differences of faunal renewal dynamic during the Middle Pleistocene. After the results of our analysis we can correlate the faunal assemblages from the “Complexe moyen, ensemble stratigraphique I”, “Complexe moyen, ensembles stratigraphiques II and III”, “Complexe supérieur, sols A and B” of Caune de L'Arago sedimentary succession with the Italian Isernia (middle Galerian), Fontana Ranuccio (late Galerian) and Torre in Pietra (early Aurelian) faunal units (FUs) respectively. The French faunal assemblages were characterised by the absence of browsers and, conversely, by the presence of boreal taxa, mainly grazers, that were rare or never occurred in Italy. Accordingly, at no one Italian faunal complex, as expected, we can find any indication of continental cold climatic condition as showed by the faunal complexes of the Caune de l'Arago. Nevertheless, the major climate changes characterising the Middle Pleistocene can be detected in both regions. During the span time of Isernia FU, the temperature was at its lowest and arid conditions prevailed, whereas during the following Fontana Ranuccio FU humidity and temperature increased, as is more evident in central Italy local faunas. Moreover, after the similarity analysis, the Visogliano local fauna (North-Eastern Italy) was more related to the French than to the Italian ones. During the late Middle Pleistocene (Torre in Pietra FU) a moderate faunal reconstruction can be detected in both regions. The renewal was linked to climatic modifications taking place in the Mediterranean area approximately around OIS 11/OIS 10 transition, when interstadials became progressively milder and average humidity increased.     

Nouveau matériel de Leptobos (Smertiobos) crassus (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) du Pléistocène inférieur à Renzidong (Chine de l’Est)

New remains of Leptobos (Smertiobos) crassus have been identified among the fossils excavated from a new early Pleistocene site at the Renzidong in Anhui Province, Eastern China. It is a Leptobos bearing frontal appendices with a simple curvature and its distal part turns higher than the other species of the subgenus. The present study shows that the first appearance of Leptobos in China is in the zone equivalent to the European MNQ 16b, later than its first appearance in Western Europe (MNQ 16a); and the genus Leptobos can serve as index fossil of the lower Pleistocene in China (2.5-0.78 Ma, Chinese definition).     

La gestion du quartz au Pléistocène moyen et supérieur. Trois exemples d’Europe Méridionale

Quartz is one of the main lithic resources employed along the Pleistocene for the manufacturing of tools. The abundance in all kind of environments leads to its frequent presence in archaeological sites. In spite of its suitability for knapping, the scarcity of specific researches on quartz industries has led to a view of this raw material as a second-rate resource, only used when flint was not available in the surroundings. Quite in opposition to this prejudice, the familiarity with the petrological and mechanical properties of the different varieties of quartz has led the Middle/Upper Pleistocene groups to a rational and differential exploitation of the available resources. There is a distinct selection of the varieties attending to the purposes of the exploitation and configuration. The patterns of exploitation of the cores are very standardized, based on longitudinal extractions and documenting the bipolar flaking technique. Moreover, when the raw material is of good quality, more sophisticated reduction methods such as the discoidal or the Levallois may be employed. On the other hand, for the purposes of configuration a clearly differential management of the raw material is attested: thus quartz is used for the small products (denticulates, side-scrapers, notches), while other stones (quartzite, porphyry and others) are devoted to the manufacturing of those tools demanding a more complex control of the elaboration (bifaces, cleavers, etc.). Either acting as the main lithic resource or as a complement to other raw materials, we can observe through the technological analysis of these lithic collections the great conceptual complexity depending on the needs to be fulfilled. Raw material quality allowing, the state-of-the-art technology of knapping can be applied to the quartz and, therefore, we should not understand its use as a consequence of environmental constrictions but rather as a result of the variability of the procurement strategies and management of lithic resources among the prehistoric communities.     

Les Ostracodes et le Quaternaire d’Aigion (golfe de Corinthe, Grèce)

The Upper Pleistocene and the Holocene of Aigion have delivered an abundant microfauna with 35 ostracode species. The Pleistocene from Aigion borehole generally provides Ostracodes from oligohaline environment with Cyprideis torosa, Candona angulata and Tyrrhenocythere amnicola while, in the Holocene, marine infralittoral species dominate with Cytheridea neapolitana, Carinocythereis whitei, Loxoconcha ovulata and Cytherois frequens. The marine sedimentation occurred at depth from some meters to some tens of meters. In the Aghios Constantinos section, the lagoonal marls are characterised by Euxinocythere schuldtae and a dwarf species of Xestoleberis. Then, a drastic environmental change occurs around the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary and presumably affected the whole Corinth gulf.     

Le peuplement humain en Eurasie : l’Asie centrale montagneuse et les piémonts sous-himalayens du Plio-Pléistocène à l’Holocène, origines, évolution humaine et migrations

During the years 1996 and 1997, a team of the Laboratory of Prehistory, National Museum of Natural History, Paris, and of the Departments of Archaeology, Karachi and Peshawar University, Pakistan, leads the first prehistoric field investigation in the District of Chitral, Hindu Kush, close to the Wakhan Corridor (the Amu Daria course in the Pamir). Problematics are the origins and the becoming of the Epipaleolithic/Neolithic hunters-gatherers known in the Pamir Plateau and the Gissar Range, the lithics tradition of which share common roots with the Sub-Himalayan Soanian tradition (Mode 1). A second field investigation has been conduced in the North West India, where Soan developed from Early Pleistocene, in the Frontal Range of the Siwaliks and Himachal Pradesh during the years 2003, 2005 and 2006 in cooperation with the Department of Archaeology and Museums of Punjab, India. New discoveries in both countries support new hypothesis for the understanding of human evolution in Asia and Homo sapiens origins.     

L'hominidé du Pléistocène supérieur en Corée

Since the middle of 1970s, one rock-shelter, six caves and one open archaeological site have yielded several hominid fossils. Among them, fossils from Yonggok, Mandal, Sangsi and Hungsu cave sites are useful to reconstruct the general shape of the Upper Pleistocene Hominids in Korea. The main study of this paper is to focus on the reconstruction of the general shape of the upper Pleistocene hominids, and to examine the cause of cranial changes from the late upper Paleolithic to Mesolithic period in Korea. Biomechanical principles are also applied to reconstruct the social activity of the upper Paleolithic man in Korea. In addition, it is assumed that main proponent of Paleolithic cultures in Korea might be Homo sapiens rather than any other species. Based on the anatomical characteristics of skull, the axillary border of the scapular and the midshaft of the femur, general appearance of Homo sapiens during the Pleistocene in Korea could be reconstructed.     

Perturbateurs endocriniens et contamination orale : l’intestin oublié

Endocrine disruptors are a diverse group of compounds of natural origin (phytoestrogens and mycotoxins) or chemicals (phthalates, bisphenols, parabens or pesticides) that could create an imbalance in the homeostasis of the hormonal system, primarily in the signaling pathways involving sex steroids and thyroid hormones. Animal studies have extensively documented deleterious effects on the body, on reproductive function, metabolic and cerebral functions, particularly when exposure begins during fetal and neonatal life. If the oral contamination is a major route of contamination by these agents, a hormonal imbalance in the digestive functions has rarely been taken into account. In particular, estrogen receptors are expressed abundantly in the intestine, from the fetal stage, where endocrine disruptors, mainly xenoestrogens, are likely to have an effect. This article presents a review of known effects of xenoestrogens on gut barrier function, from the perinatal period through adulthood. Although the aetiology of diseases of the digestive system is complex and still poorly understood, clinical data contribute to the present chronic use of steroids in women (oral contraception, hormone replacement therapy) as risk factors in the development or activity of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, where xenoestrogens may act as cofactors.     

Les Cervidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) du Pléistocène supérieur-Holocène ancien de la région du Parc National Serra da Capivara (Piauí, Brésil)

The Upper Pleistocene/Lower Holocene fossil-bearing sites of the Serra da Capivara National Park Region have yielded three cervid species: Mazama gouazoubira, M. americana and Blastocerus dichotomus, all currently living in South America, the two first in the region. A grand total of more than one hundred remains demonstrates the presence of Mazama gouazoubira in seven sites, mainly the Toca das Moendas, the Toca do Serrote do Artur, the Toca da Cima dos Pilão. This small species shows, since the Upper Pleistocene, a conspicuous tendency to reduce the average dimensions of its teeth and long bones. From the taller M. americana, only a dozen of remains were found in four sites, mainly the Sitio do Meio. In all of these it is sympatric with M. gouazoubira. It differs from this last one by its cheek teeth and its limb bones size and proportions. The oldest site where the species is known is Tarija (Bolivia, Middle Pleistocene) and it does not show any significant changes in size and proportions between recent and fossil samples. Sixteen remains of the large B. dichotomus were found in five sites, mainly the Toca das Moendas and the Toca da Barra do Antonião. The species is a rare fossil, but is frequently figured in the rock art painting of the region, where it is presently unknown.     

Le site de Longgupo dans son environnement géologique et géomorphologique

On a regional scale, Longgupo is found within a karstic landscape of fenglin-ouvala developed in the Triassic limestones of the Yangtze platform. After several seasons, it is now possible to define and propose a scenario for the formation of the site. During one of the intense karstification phases during the Cretaceous or early Tertiary, karstic conduits were created deep in the substratum. In concert with these deep flows and by karstic collapse, a cave was created. With the start of Himalayan uplift during the Oligocene and Miocene, the beginning of fluvial cutting was reflected by the partial erosion of the upper sandstone formations and the creation of the Miaoyu Valley. This action opened the cave, which would later be occupied by the hominid groups that interest us here. Probably at the end of the Tertiary, the cave, open at the bottom of the valley slope and facing upstream, began to be filled with alluvial deposits from the valley. The basal deposits (C III 10 of the current stratigraphic sequence, levels 20-13 of the first sequence) begin with black clays; at the Plio-Pleistocene transition, deposits become clearly alluvial, increasingly marked by reworking of surface and karstic clays and by systematically coarser contributions. During the deposition period of archaeological complexes III/III’ (previously levels 12-6), karstic collapse appears to have still been active. During the Lower Pleistocene sensu lato, the coarse nature of the deposits becomes accentuated. The material of complex II (previously levels 5-2) is a deposit that is clearly heterometric and coarse, composed at the end mainly of gravels, pebbles and more or less rounded blocks in a clayey matrix. At the conclusion of this new stage, the cave was entirely filled and, purely and simply, disappeared from the landscape. As the valley deepened during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene, the Longgupo slope underwent profound changes, the last of the limestone blocks disappeared from the slope limit and the archaeological site was protected by the coarse breccias that carpeted the slope. The main cause for the sedimentation processes at the site of Longgupo is the hydrosystem of the Miaoyu he, although injections of karstic type sensu stricto cannot be excluded. All of the arguments effectively support alluvial deposition: pebbles, an alternation of coarse and clayey beds, systematic and repeated granulometric decrease. But the stratigraphic disposition was disturbed by deformations due to gravity and karstic origins; the alluvial sediments, rendered plastic by the high proportion of clayey beds, were deformed by gravity (deformation of beds, faults, slopes) following the direction of the slope and by karstic collapse along the two limestone walls north and south of the sites (in sub-parallel faults to the south and by circular aspiration to the north). To this is added a calcitic consolidation of the upper levels that made it difficult to excavate complex C II. The stratigraphic disposition of the archaeological levels at Longgupo is now well understood. It has thus been possible to collect samples for absolute dating, to be published soon.     

Pléistocène moyen et inférieur dans le Latium (Italie centrale)

Explorations and diggings of the Italian Institute of Human Palaeontology in Latium from 1950 to 2005, have brought out the following composite sequence: (1) for upper-middle Pleistocene of northern Latium: Travertine, gravels Acheulian-Mousterian transition, Riss. Homo (femur), Elephas antiquus, Hippopotamus, Bubalus murrensis, with upper Acheulian artefacts. (2) In middle Latium, middle Pleistocene: Volcanoclastic K-Ar 360 Ky. Below: Lower Acheulian complex and bone artefacts. Homo, Inuus, Elephas antiquus, Ursus deningeri, Dama clactoniana. Volcanic ash with Zelkowa, Buxus: caucasian flora. Hot pyroclastic flow about 15 m (50 feet) thick between 520 and 530 Ky. Limno-tuffite with Taxodiacea flora Lower-middle Pleistocene choppers artefacts below volcanic limit of 700 Ky. Southern Latium, lower Pleistocene: travertine reed Phragmites fragments. Ceprano hominid calvarium 800-900 Ky old. Gravel with chopper artefacts. Red sand with Unio shells. Lower palaeolithic gravelly sand, with very rough choppers artefacts, at Arce, Colle Marino, Colle Pece localities; at Castro dei Volsci chopper, assemblage is more evolved. Unconformity. Yellow sand layer with middle Villafranchian Anancus arvernensis and Mammuthus meridionalis fauna.     

Restes humains dans les sédiments du Pléistocène inférieur de la région d'Orce et de Cueva Victoria (sud-est de l'Espagne)

This paper describes the human remains and other evidence of human presence (lithic artifacts) located in the early Pleistocene deposits of Orce and Cueva Victoria (SE Spain). We also discuss the age of those sites.