Étude de la matière colorante de la grotte d'Arenaza (Galdames, Pays Basque, Espagne)

The present work completed the research that we have developed during the last years in the cave. The analysis of the painting matter has been made to recognize the anthropic origin of certain figures, to compare the natural iron oxide deposits with one of the paintings with the purpose of establishing the supply area, and to compare the pictorial matter of the different figures to characterize the technical process of the cave. Nineteen samples were taken, from the painted figures and from natural depots. The analysis made in the C2RMF have confirmed the anthropic origin of two figures and have shown the preparation of different pigments for a same painting.     

Nouvelles recherches sur l’identité culturelle et stylistique de la grotte Chauvet et sur sa datation par la méthode du C

The discovery of Chauvet cave, at Vallon-Pont-d’Arc (Ardèche), in 1994, was an important event for our knowledge of palaeolithic parietal art as a whole. Its painted and engraved figures, thanks to their number (425 graphic units), and their excellent state of preservation, provide a documentary thesaurus comparable to that of the greatest sites known, and far beyond what had already been found in the group of Rhône valley caves (Ardèche and Gard). But its study – when one places it in its natural regional, cultural and thematic framework – makes it impossible to see it as an isolated entity of astonishing precocity. This needs to be reconsidered, and the affinities that our research has brought to light are clearly incompatible with the very early age which has been attributed to it. And if one extends this examination to the whole of the Franco-Cantabrian domain, the conclusion is inescapable: although Chauvet cave displays some unique characteristics (like every decorated cave), it belongs to an evolved phase of parietal art that is far removed from the motifs of its origins (known from art on blocks and on shelter walls dated by stratigraphy to the Aurignacian, in France and Cantabrian Spain). The majority of its works are therefore to be placed, quite normally, within the framework of the well-defined artistic creations of the Gravettian and Solutrean. Moreover, this phase of the Middle Upper Palaeolithic (26,000–18,000) coincides with a particularly intensive and diversified local human occupation, unknown in earlier periods and far less dense afterwards in the Magdalenian. A detailed critique of the treatment of the samples subjected to AMS radiocarbon dating makes it impossible to retain the very early age (36,000 cal BP) attributed by some authors to the painted and engraved figures of Chauvet cave.     

Les faunes des sites du Pléistocène supérieur du Caucase méridional : Grotte de Saka?hia, Grotte d’Ortvala et Grotte du Bronze (République de Géorgie)

The paleontological analysis of the fauna from three Late Pleistocene localities in Southern Caucasus (Saka?hia, Ortvala, and Bronze cave) confirmed the presence of Ursus spelaeus, Canis lupus, Equus ferus, Rhinocerotidae, Cervus elaphus, Capreolus capreolus, Alces alces, Bison priscus, Capra caucasica, Ovis ammon and Sus scrofa. The study also permitted the identification of new taxa for these localities. There may be the presence of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) at Saka?hia, however it has not yet been confirmed. Moreover, remains of aurochs (Bos primigenius) were identified, in particular at Bronze cave where its abundance is exceptional. Indeed, Bos and Bison are generally very rare in Southern Caucasus. The analysis of the proportion of the different species in each locality revealed the two types of occupations of the caves, one dominated by hominids and the other by carnivores. At Saka?hia, where fauna is dominated by the presence of cave bear, the cave was seasonally occupied by Neanderthal groups. On the other hand, Bronze cave corresponds to a habitat of hunters, which occupied the site for longer periods.     

L’étude des conditions d’habitabilité des établissements préhistoriques : à propos des amas coquilliers mésolithiques de la région cantabrique occidentale (Nord de l’Espagne)

We show the methodology we followed in order to reliably estimate a factor that, to our judgement, is fundamental for the assessment of the characteristics of a prehistoric settlement: the conditions of exposure to the sun. This methodology is applied to the study of Mesolithic shell middens in the North of Spain, with the aim to introduce a new kind of information in the debate about the meaning of shell middens. Throughout this century, different ways to understand the behaviour these remains conceal have been proposed. Our thesis with regard to it, presented in this paper, is based on the observation of a series of variables, among which we can find the exposure to the sun the settlements undergo. We therefore show in the last part of the paper, how to join the information from the proposed analysis with the other data subsequent from the study of other variables such as the environmental conditions prevailing during the period of formation of the sites; the situation of the settlements; the location of the remains in the caves; the entity of the occupations; and the energy spent on the transportation of the aquatic resources from the coast towards the places where their rests are found nowadays. In short, we propound a methodology for the study of one of the variables that falls upon the habitability of a prehistoric settlement and we point out the contribution that the incorporation of an analysis of this kind means for the research of Mesolithic shell middens in the North of Spain.     

Espaces de réclusion et de rassemblement et expression graphique au Néolithique

Space is an inescapable data to analyse the schematic graphic expression in the Neolithic age and the practices, which are linked with it. A sign has meaning according to its place on the wall, in the shelter and in the area of decorated sites. We suppose that these painted shelters, and widely, the space where they are included, are visited during transition rites. Some of these sites have probably been used for persons in cloistered status. Others shelters are more areas for the gathering of an important group of men. We think that cloistering and gathering are adaptable with the diversity of environment. The Van Gennep's explanation of transition rites in three parts and the spatial analysis allow us to explain the transition and transformation of men on the decorated sites.     

Paleoecological and microenvironmental aspects of the first European hominids inferred from the taphonomy of small mammals (Sima del Elefante,Sierra de Atapuerca,Spain)

Unit TE9 of the Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain), where the remains of Homo sp. have been discovered (1.2–1.3 Ma), is also a level rich in small mammals. The taphonomic study of these small vertebrates sheds light on the landscape that provided the setting for the activities of these early hominids and allows us to describe what the cave was like during the formation of the level. Small mammal predators identified in the study indicate that during this period the Sierra de Atapuerca was part of a large biome consisting of semi-open riparian forests with meadows nearby. Postdepositional alterations reveal that the production of fossils took place outside the cave, being transported inside by water currents. During the formation of TE9, the cave presented conditions of high humidity, which made it difficult for hominids to establish occupations inside, although these conditions became somewhat less severe in TE9c, the sublevel where human remains are found.     

Natural-trap ursid mortality and the Kurtén Response

Ursid mortality data have long been used to evaluate associations between cave-bear remains (Ursus deningeri and U. spelaeus) and hominin (Homo sp.) remains. Typically, such ursid assemblages produce mortality patterns that indicate that juvenile and old bears died during hibernation, a pattern that is used to suggest that humans and bears occupied the same caves at different times. However, a different kind of mortality pattern can also be used to suggest human influence on cave bears, particularly under circumstances when bears and humans compete for habitat. In particular, data from Lawson Cave and Jerry Long Cave, Missouri indicate that young-adult North American black bears (Ursus americanus) are prone to capture in natural-trap caves. Similar faunal data from Sima de los Huesos in Spain, where cave-bear and hominin remains are found in the same deposit, might also suggest that the bears died from falling into a natural trap. It is concluded that mortality analysis of ursid remains from caves is a useful tool with which to evaluate accumulation histories of cave deposits and relations between humans, artifacts, and cave-bear remains. In particular, ursid mortality data are relevant to the Kurtén Response, a hypothesis reiterated in the recent literature that implicates human encroachment on ursid habitat (e.g., cave den sites) as a potential cause in cave-bear extinction.     

Brief Communication: Beyond the South African cave paradigm—Australopithecus africanus from Plio–Pleistocene paleosol deposits at Taung

Following the discovery of the “Taung Child” (Australopithecus africanus) in 1924 in the Buxton‐Norlim Limeworks near Taung, the fossil‐bearing deposits associated with the Dart and Hrdli?ka pinnacles have been interpreted as the mined remnants of cave sediments that formed within the Plio–Pleistocene Thabaseek Tufa: either as a younger cave‐fill or as contemporaneous carapace caves. When combined with the Plio–Pleistocene dolomitic cave deposits from the “Cradle of Humankind,” a rather restricted view emerges that South African early hominins derived from cave deposits, whereas those of east and central Africa are derived from fluvio‐lacustrine and paleosol deposits. We undertook a sedimentological and paleomagnetic analysis of the pink‐colored deposit (PCS) from which the “Taung Child” is purported to have derived and demonstrate that it is a calcrete, a carbonate‐rich pedogenic sediment, which formed on the paleo‐land surface. The deposit extends 100 s of meters laterally beyond the Dart and Hrdli?ka Pinnacles where it is interbedded with the Thabaseek Tufa, indicating multiple episodes of calcrete development and tufa growth. The presence of in situ rhizoconcretions and insect trace fossils (Celliforma sp. and Coprinisphaera sp.) and the distinctive carbonate microfabric confirm that the pink deposit is a pedogenic calcrete, not a calcified cave sediment. Paleomagnetic and stratigraphic evidence indicates that a second, reversed polarity, fossil‐bearing deposit (YRSS) is a younger fissure‐fill formed within a solutional cavity of the normal polarity tufa and pink calcrete (PCS). These observations have implications for the dating, environment, and taphonomy of the site, and increase the likelihood of future fossil discoveries within the Buxton‐Norlim Limeworks. Am J Phys Anthropol 151:316–324, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Étude taphonomique, paléoécologique et archéozoologique des faunes de grands mammifères de la seconde moitié du Pléistocène inférieur de la grotte du Vallonnet (Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes, France)

Vallonnet cave (Alpes-Maritimes, France) provided archaic lithic tools together with a big amount of large mammals of the end of lower pleistocene. At the crossing of diverse ecological niches in time and space, three main levels and within them several smaller units were distinguished. The poorly mineralized bones witnessed a huge diagenetic fragmentation. The presence of the animals in the cave seems to be linked to the reasons of their death. The exhaustive and systematic observation of the bones, like the bears probably used to die inside the cave. Some other carnivores especially hyenas, used the cave as a nursery. Man also occupied the cave and had an activity mainly on large cervid bones and on some other species as well. The very progressive deposit gave a way for carnivores and porcupine to gnaw the bones on the ground before their burial. The succession of actions (man, carnivores and porcupine) on the same bones is characteristic on Vallonnet large mammals bones.     

Rôle du gypaète barbu (Gypaetus barbatus) dans la constitution de l’assemblage osseux de la grotte du Noisetier (Fréchet-Aure,Hautes-Pyrénées,France)

Located in the Aure Valley (French central Pyrénées), the Noisetier cave opens at 825 m asl. This Middle Palaeolithic site has produced a Mousterian industry associated with a rich faunal assemblage. Bone remains are dominated by Chamois then Ibex and Red deer. Taphonomic analysis strongly suggests a human origin for the Ibex and the Red deer but questions arise for the Chamois. The chamois assemblage differed from the bones of both species by its low cut marks ratio. Semi-digested bones are particularly abundant. Differences are even more perceptible for skeletal portions. For Red deer and Ibex, long bone remains are mostly shaft portions whereas for Chamois, ends are the most abundant. Comparisons of the Noisetier cave bone assemblage with different present-day reference data leads to the conclusion that Chamois bones have mostly been accumulated by bearded vultures.     

La séquence anthracologique de la grotte du Parco (Alòs de Balaguer,Espagne) : paysages et gestion du combustible chez les derniers chasseurs-cueilleurs

The objective of this paper is to present the anthracological data of the Parco cave sequence. This cave, excavated since the last 25 years, shows a stratigraphic sequence from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Bronze age. The anthracological data that we are presenting correspond to the sequence corresponding to the Magdalenian and Epipaleolithic layers. The anthracological data show a dominance of Scots pine at the bottom and of junipers at the top of the deposit, suggesting a landscape transformation though time. From these results we discuss aspects related to the vegetal formations during this period. Moreover, this study has the intention of integration the anthracological record with the archaeological data already published concerning subsistence, technology and paleoecology to a better understanding to human behaviour during this period.     

Les restes humains de la grotte ornée paléolithique des Deux-Ouvertures (Ardèche,France)

The opening of the Deux-Ouvertures cave is on the left bank of the Ardèche River, just before the canyon exit on the land of the village of Saint-Martin d’Ardèche in the Southwest of France. Although it has been known since 1896, the deep part of one of the galleries was not discovered until 1985. The surface of this gallery was covered by animal bones, 90% of which belonged to Ursus spelaeus. In 2007, two osseous human fragments were discovered: the distal part of an adult humerus and the diaphysis of a radius belonging to a young individual. These two specimens are the topic of the present paper. Although the date of the humerus (34,440–33,730 cal BP) corresponds to the period when bears frequented the caves, the dates of the diaphysis of the radius (4410–4570 cal BP), found at the heart of the “decorated Paleolithic sector”, lead us to assume that it was transported there, perhaps deliberately. The study of the two human bones originating in the Deux-Ouvertures cave illustrates that the diaphysis of the radius, belonging to a young individual of the Neolithic period, does not exhibit any differences in comparison to modern radii. By contrast, the distal part of the adult humerus, although it is incomplete and altered, is the first example that has been dated in the Ardèche of adult human remains associated with a decorated Paleolithic cave. This specimen, aside perhaps from the width of its median column, is rather slender and does not present any significant difference in relation to other upper Paleolithic humeri.     

Nouvelle découverte dans le Nord-Ouest de Madagascar et répartition géographique des espèces du genre Palaeopropithecus

During the field-work of 2003 in the Narinda peninsula in the Province of Mahajanga (North-West of Madagascar), we found a Palaeopropithecus of large size in the new cave “Raulin Zohy”. This fossil differs in morphology and size from the remains coming from other sites of this area and belonging to a new yet undescribed species. This discovery proves that two species of this genus existed in the costal area of the Province of Mahajanga. This Palaeopropithecus attributed to maximus species allows a reconsideration of the geographical distribution of this subfossil lemur species, and asks an interesting question about the biogeography on the small new species.     

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.     

Magnetochronology and stratigraphy at Gran Dolina section, Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain).

The Atapuerca Site (Burgos, N. Spain) is an extensive archaeological site which has yielded numerous human fossil remains. The Gran Dolina section, one of the open-air excavations and subject of this study, consists of a sedimentary infilling of 18 m thickness in a gallery originated by karstification of the host Cretaceous limestones. In this paper we present new stratigraphic and paleomagnetic evidence for the age and the sedimentary environment of the karst infilling where the archaeological site is located. Paleomagnetic dating places the hominids (Aurora stratum) in the Matuyama reversed Chron, hence before 780 ka. We also report evidence for a short normal polarity event at the bottom of the section that we speculate as being Jaramillo or Kamikatsura. The early and well-constrained date of the Atapuerca archaeological site, its location in the cul-de-sac we know as Europe, its stratigraphic context, the abundant fossil remains and the stone tool industry make it one of the most important localities for the question of the earliest human occupation in Europe.     

Les colorants dans l’art pariétal et mobilier paléolithique de La Garma (Cantabrie,Espagne)

La Garma Cave is an Upper Palaeolithic site located ca 15 km from Santander (Cantabria, Spain). The lower gallery, which is accessible thanks to two wells, keeps paintings on the walls and numerous objects laying on the floor, objects made in bone or antler which are carved, engraved and painted. The analysis of more than 50 samples taken from the walls or the objects (37 red, 11 black, five yellow, two brown, one purple) takes part in the global project of the “chaîne opératoire” comprehension of the prehistoric painting activity. The analysis is aimed also to understand the organisation of La Garma cave, looking for the various steps of the decoration of the different rooms. The results bring to light the modulated realisation of the wall paintings: few figures were painted rapidly without any specific intention, the majority, on the other hand, were realised after a complex preparation of the painting matter with the use of specific paint pots.     

La séquence de Moulin Quignon est-elle une séquence archéologique ?

The sequence of the Moulin Quignon quarry yielded archaeological findings (faunal remains, artefacts) and some of them are well located in the stratigraphy thanks to Jacques Boucher de Perthes and colleagues. These remains are often used to attest the early age of the site and the human remains. Some bifaces have been found in close relationship to the human remains and, in particular, the mandible found in 1863. Thanks to the handwritten label put on the pieces and their deposit at the National Museum of Natural History (Paris), it is possible to study them again in relation with the sequence. The study concerns the rare faunal remains and the bifaces given, among others, by Boucher de Perthes to the Museum. The paleontological and technological analyses allow us replacing the lithic material among the north-western European data. The material is presented according to the historical context of his discovery.     

Living quarters of a living fossil—Uncovering the current distribution pattern of the rediscovered Hula painted frog (Latonia nigriventer) using environmental DNA

One of the greatest challenges of effective conservation measures is the correct identification of sites where rare and elusive organisms reside. The recently rediscovered Hula painted frog (Latonia nigriventer) has not been seen for many decades and was therefore categorized extinct. Since its rediscovery in 2011, individuals from the critically endangered species have been found, with great effort, only in four restricted sites. We applied the environmental DNA (eDNA) approach to search for new populations of the Hula painted frog in suitable aquatic habitats. We further used the eDNA data to classify the landscape factors associated with the species distribution and to predict its suitable habitats. We sampled 52 aquatic sites in the Hula Valley during the spring of 2015 and 2016 and amplified the samples with a species‐specific qPCR assay. DNA of the Hula painted frog was detected in 22 of the sites, all of which clustered within three main areas. A boosting classification model showed that soil type, vegetation cover and the current and former habitats are all key predictors of the frog's current distribution. Intriguingly, the habitat suitability models reveal a high affinity of the species to its long‐lost habitat of the historical wetlands. Our findings encourage a series of informed searches for new populations of this threatened frog and provide guidance for future conservation management programmes. In the era of global conservation crisis of amphibians, developing the eDNA approach, a reliable detection method for many critically endangered and elusive amphibians, is of particular importance.     

Rongements sélectifs des os par les porcs-épics et autres rongeurs : cas de la grotte Tianyuan, un site avec des restes humains fossiles récemment découvert près de Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien)

The Tianyuan cave near Zhoukoudian is among the most special localities in North China for its many porcupine gnawing marks on the bones, as is often the case acknowledged only in South China. But porcupines did not gnaw all the bones, that is gnawing is selective. Skulls, mandibles, tooth roots and long bones are frequently gnawed. The short bones are almost free from gnawing. The selection indicates that, for porcupines, bone gnawing is not only a necessity for attrition of incisors, but also a process of extracting nutrients from the marrow. Additionally, the porcupine gnawing marks can also be employed to determine the provenance of the fossils that were discovered by the local people before the systematic excavation. Those bearing porcupine tooth marks only appear in the upper assemblage. The other significance of the gnawing marks is to infer the habitant of the cave. The bones from the human fossil bearing layer have few tooth marks, which may represent a period of human occupation of the cave. In the upper assemblage, the gnawing marks appear frequently, it may indicate that porcupine and other rodents lived in the cave during this time span.     

Bat Community in a Cave From Eastern Brazil,Including a New Record of Lionycteris (Phyllostomidae,Glossophaginae)

A cave bat community from a semiarid region in eastern Brazil was studied during the dry season. A high diversity was observed, with thirteen species recorded. Except for Micronycteris minuta and Lionycteris spurrelli, these bats were also found in other Brazilian karstic areas. The commonest species were the hematophague Desmodus rotundus, the omnivore Carollia perspicillata, and the insectivore Natalus stramineus. The bats formed itinerant colonies, moving frequently inside the cave. L. spurrelli was previously known from Amazonia, usually associated with evergreen forests. The present record extends its range 1600 km to the south. A disjunct distribution explains some morphological differentiation between Amazonia and Olhos d'Água cave populations. The latter may be a relict of former continuous forest vegetation, which has been fragmented after the climatic optimum. Dispersion through the Cerrado forest gallery is also possible.