Le gisement Pléistocène moyen et supérieur d'Artenac (Saint-Mary, Charente) : premier bilan interdisciplinaire

Abstract

This initial interdisciplinaiy synthesis is the outcome of research carried out at Artenac since /993 in the context of scheduled excavations. Its purpose is to place the impressive sequence of animal and human occupations within the depositional and post-depositional history of the cavity. During part of the Middle and early Upper Pleistocene, the cave served in turn as a den for Bears and Felines, a natural trap for animals, a Hyena lair and a focus for human activities. While during the earlier phases traces of human occupation remain scarce, the upper layers of the cave testify that it was mainly occupied by human groups. These layers, ascribed to the Middle Palaeolithic, have numerous lithic and bone assemblages, as well as two Neanderthal skull fragments. This synthesis represents a crucial stage in our understanding of the particularly complex site formation processes at work in a karstic setting, and offers a general framework for the more detailed analyses that will be forthcoming.

Phylogeographic structure of the Common hamster (Cricetus cricetus L.): Late Pleistocene connections between Caucasus and Western European populations

“…Indeed, late Pleistocene fossils of this species have been reported from territories located south of the main Caucasus Range on the Black Sea coast and in more eastern areas, such as Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Imereti [ 53 – 56 ]. Fossils dated from the period at the end of the MIS-5 and the beginning of the MIS-4 epoch have been reported from southwestern France [ 57 ]. Thus, in the middle of the last glaciation period (Würm), the Common hamster’s range might have been continuous with the territory from modern southern France (where from hamsters might have extended their range to the northern region recently reported as the North phylogroup distribution area) to Caucasus ( Fig 5 ).…”

“…Indeed, Cricetus cricetus remains were often found together with broadly distributed and abundant species such as voles ( Microtus arvalis and M . agrestis ) and mouse ( Apodemus sylvaticus ) in Pleistocene deposits [ 48 , 49 , 57 , 64 ].…”

A Brief Note on the Presence of the Common Hamster during the Late Glacial Period in Southwestern France

“…Remains of this latter larger cricetid are almost entirely limited to the eastern part of France [7,[9][10][11], except for three sites in southwestern France, where hamster fossil remains have been observed: Artenac (Charente) in levels attributed to Marine Isotope Stage 5/4 [12]; Taillis-des-Coteaux (Vienne), where five post-cranial remains have been found in levels dated between 17.4 and 21.1 cal ky BP [13]; and Peyrazet (Lot) where three dental remains have been found in recent Laborian levels dated to ca 11.2 cal ky BP [14,15]. However, the remains from this last site were located in the upper part of the stratigraphy, not very far from the soil surface, at the limit between the two first layers.…”