Entre néandertaliens et carnivores : Quelle(s) origine(s) pour les accumulations de renne à la grotte de Vergisson IV (Saône-et-Loire) ?

Résumé En

The Vergisson IV site, excavated in 1961 by J. Combier, is a small cave where human occupations, mainly attributed to the Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 3-4), have been found. Zooarchaeological, taphonomic and paleontological analyses were carried out on the remains of reindeer, which is the taxon that dominates the faunal assemblage. The objective is therefore to answer several questions: What is the composition of the reindeer populations in the archaeo-sequence? Which are the main agents participating to the reindeer bone assemblage? Is it possible to demonstrate a mixed carnivorous and human occupation within the cave? What are the subsistence behaviour of human occupations and the function of this Middle Palaeolithic site? This Master 2 project is a continuity of the research done in Master 1, which provided initial biochronological and paleoecological results based ona paleontological approach of reindeer assemblage. Moreover, the taphonomic analysis tends to confirm the hypothesis of a mixed occupation (Human-Carnivore) of the site. Indeed, the bone surfaces show a large number of carnivores modifications, indicating their involvement as bone destructor and/or collector agent. However, anthropogenic activities (cutting marks, percussion marks, etc.) are also present, which have to be specify.