Two complete skulls of Ursus deningeri, one recovered from the Middle Pleistocene site of the Sima de los Huesos in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain), and the other one from Petralona (Chalkidiki, ...Greece), were reconstructed through computed tomography. The cranial morphology of U. deningeri was analysed using dual “traditional” and geometric morphometric and compared to extinct and extant Ursidae (Ursus spelaeus, Ursus arctos, and Ursus americanus). The goal of this work was to explore the variation in skull morphology between these different taxa. The analysis presented here indicates that combined traditional and geometric morphometric methods could be useful for a taxonomic approach. In this preliminary study, in which only 2D information is used, it is possible to distinguish the three bear lineages presented here. U. deningeri occupies an intermediate position between the U. spelaeus and U. arctos, which supports an early evolutionary stage of U. deningeri within the cave bear phylogenetic lineage. This study establishes that genera of the Ursus can be differentiated based on cranial shape. Combined studies with computed tomography, traditional and geometric morphometrics of endocraneal remains will provide important new evidence about diet, taxonomical and biochronological studies.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Punctured extinct cave bear femora were misidentified in southeastern Europe (Hungary/Slovenia) as ‘Palaeolithic bone flutes’ and the ‘oldest Neanderthal instruments’. These are not instruments, nor ...human made, but products of the most important cave bear scavengers of Europe, hyenas. Late Middle to Late Pleistocene (Mousterian to Gravettian) Ice Age spotted hyenas of Europe occupied mainly cave entrances as dens (communal/cub raising den types), but went deeper for scavenging into cave bear dens, or used in a few cases branches/diagonal shafts (i.e. prey storage den type). In most of those dens, about 20% of adult to 80% of bear cub remains have large carnivore damage. Hyenas left bones in repeating similar tooth mark and crush damage stages, demonstrating a butchering/bone cracking strategy. The femora of subadult cave bears are intermediate in damage patterns, compared to the adult ones, which were fully crushed to pieces. Hyenas produced round–oval puncture marks in cub femora only by the bone-crushing premolar teeth of both upper and lower jaw. The punctures/tooth impact marks are often present on both sides of the shaft of cave bear cub femora and are simply a result of non-breakage of the slightly calcified shaft compacta. All stages of femur puncturing to crushing are demonstrated herein, especially on a large cave bear population from a German cave bear den.
The upper Pleistocene Ice Age spotted hyena remains (number of bones per species (NISP) = 206; minimum individual number (MNI) = 7 young, 12 adult) from the German Zoolithen Cave include the Crocuta ...crocuta spelaea (Goldfuss 1823) holotype skull, and all cranial and postcranial paratypes which were found in the 'cave bear bonebeds'. Those bones are on secondary positions in the vertical shafts especially of the central cave part, where they were redeposited due to quick flooding events of the Wiesent River at the final late Pleistocene. The young animal bones (NISP = 13%) indicate a natal/birth den site. Cannibalism within the hyenas is demonstrated by several skulls and few long bones. The scarcity of steppe megafauna hyena prey (NISP = 1%, woolly rhinoceros remains) and high amounts of damaged cave bear long bones (17%), similarly preserved at many other dens in Central Europe, indicate prey specialisation of hyenas (and other carnivores such as steppe lions, leopards and wolves) onto cave bear feeding in medium-high mountainous regions in the caves. This is the result of the rare mammoth steppe megafauna in such late Pleistocene boreal forest and cave-rich environments, which could have been hunted by the Zoolithen Cave hyenas only during migrations along the Wiesent River valley.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
a loose/broken stalagmite containing small fragments of cemented bones were collected from the Postojna Cave to investigate whether deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) can be determined. The study is ...complemented by the Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy - attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR) analysis in order to determine the alteration of the bones and to test whether this analysis can be used as an indicator of possible DNA preservation. In addition, geochemical analyses were conducted in order to determine whether the associated flowstone/stalagmite is suitable for elucidating the timing of bone thanatocoenosis and further palaeoenvironmental analyses. The organic matter (collagen) is poorly preserved. However, we succeeded in amplifying a 94 bp long fragment of the cytochrome b (Cyt b) gene of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for one sample, and in sequencing the amto that of the Cyt b of the cave bear (Ursus deningeri or Ursus spelaeus sensu lato). The uranium-thorium dating of the speleothem covering the bones revealed its thanatocoenosis occurred prior to 55 ka, most likely in the late marine isotope stage 4 or early marine isotope stage 3. High porosity and recrystallisation of the flowstone/stalagmite at this part of the cave prevent high-resolution palaeoclimatic interpretation; however, low-resolution stable isotope geochemistry suggests a steppe-like environment during the subsequent growth of the speleothem.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Stable isotope analyses provide one of the few means to evaluate diet of extinct taxa. However, interpreting isotope data from bone collagen of extinct animals based on isotopic patterns in different ...tissues of modern animal proxies is precarious. For example, three corrections are needed before making comparisons of recent hair and ancient bone collagen: calibration of carbon-13 variations in atmospheric CO ₂, different isotopic discrimination between diet–hair keratin and diet–bone collagen, and time averaging of bone collagen versus short-term record in hair keratin. Recently, Robu et al. Isotopic evidence for dietary flexibility among European Late Pleistocene cave bears (Ursus spelaeus). Can J Zool. 2013;91:227–234 published an article comparing extant carbon (δ ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ ¹⁵N) stable isotopic data of European cave bear bone collagen with those of Yellowstone Park grizzly bear hair in order to test the prevailing assumption of a largely vegetarian diet among cave bears. The authors concluded that cave bears were carnivores. This work is unfortunately unfounded as the authors failed to consider the necessary corrections listed above. When these corrections are applied to the Romanian cave bears, these individuals can be then interpreted without involving consumption of high trophic-level food, and environmental changes are probably the reason for the unusual isotopic composition of these cave bears in comparison with other European cave bears, rather than a change of diet. We caution researchers to pay careful attention to these factors when interpreting feeding ecology of extinct fauna using stable isotope techniques.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
The Caucasus is a key region for the study of hominid evolution and Neanderthal ecology. Taphonomic and zooarchaeological studies of sites from this region are few and only focused on sites at ...low-to-mid altitude zones with evidence of relatively intensive hominid occupation. This study focused on the taphonomic and zooarchaeological characteristics of a high-altitude site from the Upper Pleistocene – Hovk-1 Cave – looking at diachronic change in both natural and cultural processes which shaped the faunal assemblage. Results best fit a model in which the bones of most large mammals, mainly ungulates (wild goat, Capra aegagrus and red deer, Cervus elaphus) and cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) accumulated naturally through pitfalls, with minimal input from human or carnivore activity. This accumulation is characterized by a high frequency of complete ungulate and carnivore bones, a bear assemblage which is dominated by young-adults and a wild goat assemblage that includes juvenile and young-adult individuals. Our taphonomic reconstruction serves as a point of reference for comparative studies of palaeoenvironments and human subsistence patterns of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites in the Caucasus and broadens our perspective on hominid occupation and ecological adaptation in other high-altitude world regions.
► A high-altitude faunal sequence from the Upper Pleistocene of Armenia (MIS 5d-c – late MIS 4/early MIS 3) is analyzed. ► We use multiple lines of taphonomic data to distinguish natural from cultural formation processes within the cave site. ► Results show the cave functioned as a natural trap for bear (Ursus spelaeus) and ungulates (Capra aegagrus, Cervus elaphus). ► We use the natural sequence to assess hominid subsistence patterns at lower elevations in the Caucasus. ► We also explore implications for high-altitude exploitation by Upper Pleistocene hominids of Eurasia.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
ABSTRACT
Tischoferhöhle and Pendling‐Bärenhöhle near Kufstein, Tyrol, are among the only locations where remains of cave bear, Ursus spelaeus‐group, were found in the western part of Austria. One ...sample from each site was radiocarbon‐dated four decades ago to ca. 28 14C ka BP. Here we report that attempts to date additional samples from Pendling‐Bärenhöhle have failed due to the lack of collagen, casting doubts on the validity of the original measurement. We also unsuccessfully tried to date flowstone clasts embedded in the bone‐bearing sediment to provide maximum constraints on the age of this sediment. Ten cave bear bones from Tischoferhöhle showing good collagen preservation were radiocarbon‐dated to 31.1–39.9 14C ka BP, again pointing towards an age underestimation by the original radiocarbon‐dated sample from this site. These new dates from Tischoferhöhle are therefore currently the only reliable cave bear dates in western Austria and constrain the interval of cave occupation to 44.3–33.5 cal ka BP. We re‐calibrate and re‐evaluate dates of alpine cave bear samples in the context of available palaeoclimate information from the greater alpine region covering the transition into the Last Glacial Maximum, eventually leading to the demise of this megafauna.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Contributions to understanding the Neanderthals symbolism. In order to explain the behavior and cognitive capacity of the Neanderthal man researchers reported, through time, to several discoveries ...categories, mainly related to the technical evolution in the Mousterian. A distinct category is represented by the discoveries interpreted as proofs of symbolism, from among which the most frequently mentioned, are : ocher, fossils, mineralrocks and the cave bear cult. There were numerous debates regarding these aspects, especially since the presence of ocher or of fossil remains in Mousterian sites does not necessarily prove their symbolistic aspect, as they could have had various utilitarian functions. In this study we will present a few discoveries regarding symbolism in the Mousterian in Romania which have already entered the international scientific circuit. The focus will be on the modern analysis performed, which included optical fiber digital microscopy (20X/200X magnification) and computerized tomography which allows 3D reconstructions. The new discoveries brought significant contributions and direct evidence especially to the use of ocher with symbolic purposes by the Neanderthal man.
Cârciumaru Marin, Niţu Elena-Cristina, Nicolae Adrian, Ionuț Lupu Florin, Dincă Remus. Contributions to understanding the Neanderthals symbolism. Examples from the Middle Paleolithic in Romania. In: Annales d'Université "Valahia" Târgovişte. Section d'Archéologie et d'Histoire, Tome 17, Numéro 2, 2015. pp. 7-31.
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