Species of the genus Martes in the northwest of the Russian Plain in the Holocene

Abstract

The problem of a sable (M. zibellina) and a pine marten (M. martes) potential cohabitation in the northwest of Eastern Europe was resolved using methods of multidimensional data analysis for the first time. The skulls (n = 48) and mandibles (n = 194) of representatives of the genus Martes from ten archaeological sites of the middle Holocene (Neolithic camps) and late Holocene (Iron Age settlements) of Onega Lake region and upper reaches of Western Dvina River region were studied. 18 complete skulls and large fragments of skulls were identified morphologically as M. martes remains. 42 mandibles of M. martes from eight middle and late Holocene sites of Western Dvina River region and two mandibles of M. zibellina from two middle Holocene sites of Onega Lake region were identified using discriminant analysis methods (8 – 15 metrical characters in each model).