Rôle et origine des grands carnivores dans les accumulations naturelles : le cas des loups (Canis lupus) de l'Igue du Gral (Sauliac-sur-Célé, Lot, France)

• Main Authors: Castel, Jean-Christophe, Coumont, Marie-Pierre, Boudadi-Maligne, Myriam, Prucca, Audrey
• Other Authors: Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements (AASPE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire méditerranéen de préhistoire Europe-Afrique (LAMPEA), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC), De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2010
• Subjects: Lot; Midi-Pyrénées; France; Europe occidentale; Sauliac-sur-Célé; Igue du Gral; Tardiglaciaire; Pléistocène supérieur; taphonomie; aven; carnivore; herbivore; mammifère; paléontologie des vertébrés; éthologie; loup; [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory; Aven; Le Cerf; Renne; Canis lupus; renne
• Online Access: https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00586694; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00586694/document; https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00586694/file/Role_et_origine_des_grands_carnivores_dans_les_accumulations_naturelles.pdf

Role and origin of large carnivores in natural accumulations. The case of wolves (Canis lupus) from the pleistocene trap of Igue du Gral (Sauliac-sur-Célé, Lot, France).- The Igue, or pit-fall, du Gral has yielded abundant Latest Glacial faunal remains. The largest sequence is dominated by reindeer and horse, followed by a smaller number of bison associated with a diverse variety of other species. The red deer occupies a level at the top of the deposit. The archaeological evidence indicates that the species identified fell into the aven-trap through its current opening without any human intervention. In the zone currently under excavation, wolf is the only numerically abundant carnivore. This species played a significant taphonomic role in the back of the principal gallery since it is responsible for the destruction or modification of numerous bone remains. The first hypothesis we proposed was that the canids accidentally fell into the cavity without being killed. They would then have consumed other animals that had fallen in within the same interval of time. Later, we observed that wolves make up a large proportion of the MNI, which led us to suspect the existence of another entrance, now hidden, through which they could have regularly entered and exited the cavity. Through detailed analysis of diverse criteria, (carnivores activities, diversity of ungulates and carnivores, percentage of consumed carcasses, wolf mortality profile, ingested bones, fractures, cannibalism, intensity of destructions, anatomical connection frequencies and spatial organisation) we attempt to determine how the bones of wolves came to be mixed with those of the herbivores that fell into the aven-trap. L'Igue du Gral est un aven qui livre une importante faune du Tardiglaciaire avec plusieurs milliers de restes taxonomiquement et anatomiquement déterminés. La majeure partie du remplissage, épais de 5 mètres, est dominée par le renne, le cheval et le bison. Le cerf occupe un niveau au sommet du remplissage. Les différents indices ...