Unravelling the Taphonomic Stories of Bird Bones from the Middle Pleistocene Layer VIII of Grotte Vaufrey, France

Abstract

In recent years, several studies have significantly changed our knowledge concerning the use of birds by Neanderthals. However, what remains to be clarified is the geographical and chronological variability of this human behaviour. The present case study provides new information on this topic/debate. The Grotte Vaufrey was discovered during the 1930s and was excavated during different periods. Work carried out by J.-P. Rigaud during the 1980s motivated many multidisciplinary studies in the cave, but accurate studies were not focused on avian remains. In this work, we provide new data on the bird remains from layer VIII (MIS 7), which is the richest among all the sequences and which has an important Mousterian component. Corvids are predominant in the assemblage and are associated with medium-sized birds and small Passeriformes, among others. Most of the remains present modern fractures, which hinder taphonomic interpretation. However, some alterations associated with raptor or mammalian carnivore activities, together with the anatomical representation and age profile, suggest a non-human accumulation of the majority of the bird remains, especially in the case of corvids that naturally died in the cave. However, at least some bones show evidence of anthropic activity, suggesting the occasional use of large- and medium-sized birds by human populations.

Accumulation agents and bird assemblages: The case of the TE9d level at Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain)

“…On the other hand, no carnivorous mammal activity has been identified neither in terms of depressions, perforations, or gnawing. Not only works on bird remains from archeological sites have been considered (Rufà & Laroulandie, 2021;Rufà et al, 2016Rufà et al, , 2017Laroulandie, 2000;Lloveras, Garcia, et al, 2018;Lloveras et al, 2020), but also neo-taphonomic studies of bird-accumulating mammalian carnivores (Arilla et al, 2020;Krajcarz & Krajcarz, 2014;Laroulandie, 2000;Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al, 2016;Rufà & Laroulandie, 2020).…”

“…Carnivores such as foxes and lynxes also accumulate bird bones in the cavities they use as dens (Krajcarz & Krajcarz, 2014;Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al, 2016). These kind of accumulations have been documented at different archeological sites, such as Grotte Vaufrey (Rufà & Laroulandie, 2021) or Arbreda Cave (Lloveras et al, 2020;Lloveras, Garcia, et al, 2018).…”

Bone aerophones from Eynan-Mallaha (Israel) indicate imitation of raptor calls by the last hunter-gatherers in the Levant

“…www.nature.com/scientificreports/ Taphonomic analyses. Each bone was examined under a light microscope (magnification 10-40×) and a Dino-Lite AD-7013MZT digital microscope (magnification 30-250×) for surface modifications caused by abiotic and biotic processes, such as carnivores, raptors, rodents, roots and human predation [69][70][71] . We have distinguished the technical traces from others, characteristic of gnawing, but also perforations, tearing and depressions caused by insects or the beaks, claws, teeth and talons of scavengers or birds of prey [72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81] .…”

Taphonomy and Palaeoecology of Quaternary Vertebrates: Advances in Fossil and Experimental Studies

“…Rufà and Laroulandie [29] presented the taphonomic history of the bird assemblage of Grotte Vaufrey in France (Middle Pleistocene). The faunal spectrum, as well as anatomical representation, digestion traces, and tooth/beak/claw marks, pointed to a non-human accumulation for most of the assemblage.…”