Mousterian levels of El Castillo cave (Puente Viesgo, Cantabria, Spain): an archaeozoological study. Luret M., Burke A., Bernaldo de Quiros F.Besse M. (2014). In. UISPP Burgos 2014.

UISPP 2014 Burgos 1-7 September

Mousterian levels of El Castillo cave (Puente Viesgo, Cantabria, Spain) An archaeozoological study LURET Mathieu¹

BURKE Ariane²

BERNALDO DE QUIROS Fédérico³

BESSE Marie¹

¹ Laboratoire d’archéologie préhistorique et anthropologie, Institut Forel, Section science de la terre et de l’environement,Université de Genève, Suisse. ² Département d’anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Canada. ³ Départamento de historia, Facultad de filosofìa y letras, Universidad de léon, Espagne.

AL

El Castillo

TAXONOMY

LEVEL 21

FRANCE

Madrid

POR TU G

El Castillo cave is of particular archaeological significance because human occupation of the cave spans the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition. Here, we present the analysis of faunal remains attributed to the Mousterian occupation of the cave, which includes level 21, dated to 69300 ±9100 BP (average date, Rink and al., 1997), and level 20, dated to 43300 ±3800 BP (GifA92506). The faunal remains under analysis were recovered during excavations conducted by V. Cabrera Valdès and F. Bernaldo de Quiros between 1980 and 2004 (ed. Cabrera Valdès, Bernaldo de Quiros, Maíllo Fernandez, 2006). The faunal assemblage for level 20 comprises N 40297 remains of which 10.1% were identified (anatomically and/or taxonomically) to element and taxon; the level 21 assemblage comprises N 35940 remains, of which 6.7% were identified. This research was carried out in the context of our PhD thesis project, “Paleo-environment and subsistence behaviours of the last Neanderthals and early modern humans: taphonomic fauna study of El Castillo cave (Spain)”*.

LEVEL 20

Red deer (C. elaphus) is the dominant species in levels 20 and 21, Rupicapra rupicapra Rupicapra rupicapra followed by large Bovidae, horse, chamois, roe deer and rhinoceros. 1 2 Carnivores are poorly represented (N = 9 bones) (Figure 1; 2). Capreolus capreolus Capreolus capreolus Dicerorhinus sp. Dicerorhinus sp. RED DEER

p.

ss

Cervus elaphus

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Bos sp.

Eq

p.

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The skeletal distribution of red deer bones is the same in both levels (Figure 3; 4). There is an over-representation of cranial parts (teeth), fore- and hind-limbs and metapodials. The axial skeleton, shoulder and pelvic girdles, basipodes and phalanges are under-represented. Age profiles established using dental remains for levels 21 (MNI=33) and 20 (MNI=88) indicates that the cave was occupied between Spring and Fall.

Bos sp. Cervus elaphus

TAPHONOMIC

5

N = 29

7

The presence of impact scars on shaft fragments and the breakage patterns of first and second phalanges confirm the consumption of marrow. Although butchering marks are rare (Figure 7; 10) between 12% (level 20) and 13% (level 21) of bones are burned. No additional traces of a bone industry have been identified in the present study and these Mousterian levels.

200 100

6

8

* Financial support: Swiss National Science Foundation SNF (Grant 143415) Bourse Augustin Lombard

G

N = 49

CONCLUSION

A comparison between levels 20 and 21 revealed no significant differences in patterning although these levels are well-separated stratigraphically and potentially by as much as 13000 years.. This suggests that these two distinct Neanderthal occupations represent a stable subsistence strategy, with a focus on Red deer. Futur directions that this research will take include careful consideration of the environmental context of the two levels, their chronology and a comparison with the overlying level (level 18), dated to 36200 ±4100 BP (average date, Rink and al., 1996).

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HUMAN ACTIVITIES

300

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Fo le H re s in -li d- m lim bs Ba b sip s od es M et ap od e s Ph al an ge s

A

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al s

Sk

0

ul l

50

400

ke

100

500

ll

150

NISP = 1601

al s

NISP = 545

600

Sk u

200

4

700

A xi

3

250

Most of the bones are highly fragmented which may reflect intentional bone breakage by humans for marrow exploitation. The presence of hard-hammer impacts on shaft fragments and the breakage patterns (longitunal) of first and second phalanges (below) confirms this hypothesis (Figure 8; 9). We also note that the epiphyses of long bones are not preserved (Figure 5; 6). Virtually all of the bone surfaces are well preserved (≈70%). The absence of taphonomic traces attributable to carnivores (and the small number of carnivore remains) suggests therefore that neither level results from carnivore activities.

9

10