Large mammal taphonomy of the Middle Pleistocene hominid occupation at Treugol’naya Cave (Northern Caucasus)

Abstract

A taphonomic study was conducted of large mammal remains from the Middle Pleistocene site of Treugol’naya Cave. The site is located at an elevation of 1500 m above sea level near the town of Pregradnaya in the northwestern Caucasus region of Russia, and was excavated by Doronichev (Doronichev, V.B., 2000. Lower paleolithic occupation of the northern Caucasus. ERAUL 92, 67–77.) between 1986 and 2000. Large mammal remains were identified by Baryshnikov (Baryshnikov, G.F., 1993. Krupnye mlekopitayushchie ashelskoi stoyanki v peshchere Treugol’naya na Severnom Kavkaze. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta RAN 249, 3–47), and reflect predominance of red deer ( Cervus elaphus), bison ( Bison schoetensacki), and cave bear ( Spelaearctos deningeri). Less common taxa include goat ( Capra sp.), wolf ( Canis mosbachensis), rhinoceros ( Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis) and horse ( Equus altidens). Data were collected on weathering, breakage, surficial damage, skeletal-part frequencies, and age and season of death from the these remains, which are stored at the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. Analysis of the data revealed little evidence for accumulation of the large mammal remains by the hominid occupants of the cave. The carnivore remains probably represent natural mortality, while some of the ungulate remains were apparently accumulated by stream action. Most of the remaining ungulate remains were probably collected by carnivores.