The Upper Pleistocene brown bear (Carnivora, Ursidae) in the Zagros: Evidence from Wezmeh Cave, Kermanshah, Iran

International audience While bears (Ursidae) are well represented in Western Europe and the Caucasus during the Pleistocene, bear remains from this period are rare in Southwest Asia. Only a limited number of sites, both natural and archaeological, have yielded evidence of brown bear (Ursus arctos Li...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annales de Paléontologie
Main Authors: Monchot, Hervé, Mashkour, Marjan, Biglari, Fereidoun, Abdi, Kamyar
Other Authors: ORIENT ET MÉDITERRANÉE : Textes, Archéologie, Histoire (OM), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Équipe Mondes sémitiques (OM-MS), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements (AASPE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Center for Paleolithic Research, National Museum of Iran, Shiraz University (Shiraz University )
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2020
Subjects:
Brown bear
Ursus arctos
Skeletal representation
Ageing
Biometry
Zagros Mountain
[SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences
Online Access:https://shs.hal.science/halshs-03959763
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annpal.2019.102381
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Summary:International audience While bears (Ursidae) are well represented in Western Europe and the Caucasus during the Pleistocene, bear remains from this period are rare in Southwest Asia. Only a limited number of sites, both natural and archaeological, have yielded evidence of brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758). Skeletal remains for this species are often represented by a limited number of elements. The discovery of 192 remains identified as brown bear in Wezmeh Cave (Kermanshah Province, Iran) is exceptional. This paper presents a detailed description of the Wezmeh osteological assemblage, which confirms that U. arctos was already present in Zagros during the Upper Pleistocene.

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