Taxonomie du grand canidé de la grotte du Vallonnet (Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes, France)

The large canid of Vallonnet cave belongs to Xenocyon lycaonoides. Its remains are similar to the Xenocyon from Untermassfeld in Germany. X. Lycaonoides, and evoluated form of the Xenocyon genus, is characteristic of the second half of the Lower Pleistocene. The genus Xenocyon may be the ancestor of both Cuon and Lycaon.     

Étude taphonomique, paléoécologique et archéozoologique des faunes de grands mammifères de la seconde moitié du Pléistocène inférieur de la grotte du Vallonnet (Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes, France)

Vallonnet cave (Alpes-Maritimes, France) provided archaic lithic tools together with a big amount of large mammals of the end of lower pleistocene. At the crossing of diverse ecological niches in time and space, three main levels and within them several smaller units were distinguished. The poorly mineralized bones witnessed a huge diagenetic fragmentation. The presence of the animals in the cave seems to be linked to the reasons of their death. The exhaustive and systematic observation of the bones, like the bears probably used to die inside the cave. Some other carnivores especially hyenas, used the cave as a nursery. Man also occupied the cave and had an activity mainly on large cervid bones and on some other species as well. The very progressive deposit gave a way for carnivores and porcupine to gnaw the bones on the ground before their burial. The succession of actions (man, carnivores and porcupine) on the same bones is characteristic on Vallonnet large mammals bones.     

Pléistocène moyen et inférieur dans le Latium (Italie centrale)

Explorations and diggings of the Italian Institute of Human Palaeontology in Latium from 1950 to 2005, have brought out the following composite sequence: (1) for upper-middle Pleistocene of northern Latium: Travertine, gravels Acheulian-Mousterian transition, Riss. Homo (femur), Elephas antiquus, Hippopotamus, Bubalus murrensis, with upper Acheulian artefacts. (2) In middle Latium, middle Pleistocene: Volcanoclastic K-Ar 360 Ky. Below: Lower Acheulian complex and bone artefacts. Homo, Inuus, Elephas antiquus, Ursus deningeri, Dama clactoniana. Volcanic ash with Zelkowa, Buxus: caucasian flora. Hot pyroclastic flow about 15 m (50 feet) thick between 520 and 530 Ky. Limno-tuffite with Taxodiacea flora Lower-middle Pleistocene choppers artefacts below volcanic limit of 700 Ky. Southern Latium, lower Pleistocene: travertine reed Phragmites fragments. Ceprano hominid calvarium 800-900 Ky old. Gravel with chopper artefacts. Red sand with Unio shells. Lower palaeolithic gravelly sand, with very rough choppers artefacts, at Arce, Colle Marino, Colle Pece localities; at Castro dei Volsci chopper, assemblage is more evolved. Unconformity. Yellow sand layer with middle Villafranchian Anancus arvernensis and Mammuthus meridionalis fauna.     

Les industries lithiques préoldowayennes du début du Pléistocène inférieur du site de Dmanissi en Géorgie

The lithic industry discovered at the Dmanissi site, in Georgia is dated to between 1.81 and 1.7 Myrs and is in association with a rich faunal assemblage composed of large Quaternary vertebrates, as well as several hominid fossils attributed to Homo georgicus, and attests to the human presence on the border of Europe at the beginning of the Lower Pleistocene. The material taken into account in this study was excavated from 1991 to 1999 and comprises 4446 lithic pieces coming from Beds I through VI of the site. The assemblage is very homogenous from the base to the top of the deposits and shows no significative evolutionary tendencies. The lithic material includes a high proportion of whole pebbles (33.8% of the assemblage) coming from two nearby rivers, the Mashavera and the Pinezaouri. They are essentially of fine and coarse grained volcanic tuff, basalt, but also of rhyolite, granite, quartz, as well as other volcanic and metamorphic rocks. Pebbles used for percussion, shaping or debitage were chosen according to their petrographic nature, their morphology and their size. Whole pebbles with percussion marks situated on their extremities or with isolated removals showing convexe edges, are abundant (1.3% of the assemblage). Other pebbles showing percussion marks on a flat face, were used as anvils. Broken pebbles and pebble fragments are very numerous (30.4% of the assemblage). These often show percussion marks on their cortical surfaces. Fractures are generally related to violent percussion as the pebbles were used for striking instruments, or as they were intentionally broken. Some fractures may have been caused accidentally during flaking. Pebble tools represent 4.8% of the lithic assemblage and 10% of the industry, excluding whole and fractured pebbles. These include essentially the primary choppers (pebbles with isolated concave removal negatives) (6% of the industry and 60.1% of the pebble tools), choppers showing continuous cutting edges without a point (2.1% of the industry and 21.2% of the pebble tools). Chopping-tools are very rare (0.8% of the industry and 8.7% of the pebble tools). Although choppers without pointed cutting edges were made using very few removals (3.3 on average), they usually present a regular cutting edge and seem relatively standardised. Cores are well represented (5% of the industry, excluding whole and broken pebbles). They are characterized by a low degree of exploitation and by a frequence of cortical striking platforms. Cored knapped on a single face are most frequent, representing nearly half of the pieces (42.3%), while bifacial cores are present in smaller proportions (34.2%) and multifacial cores are rare (6.3%). Non-modified flakes are very numerous and usually of small size and intentional retouch is absent. On the other hand, the cuttingedges of many the pieces; broken pebbles, pebble tools, cores and flakes, show irregular micro-retouch and irregular retouch such as isolated notches or with continuous or overlapping configuration, sometimes associated with localised crush marks which appear to have been caused by intensive use and heavy working of the pieces. A total of 31.3% of the non-modified flakes show irregular retouch on their cutting edges. One of the main characteristics of the Dmanissi industry appears therefore to be the obtaining of flakes, most often of small size, to be used without modification. The technological and typological characteristics of the lithic industry from Dmanissi allow to attribute the assemblage to a "Pre-Oldowayen" cultural horizon (Lumley de et al., 2004), characterized by the absence of small retouched tools, which appears in East Africa from 2.55 Myrs ago. This cultural horizon is present at the border of Europe, at Dmanissi, around 1.81 Myrs ago and in Western Europe, on the shores of the Mediterranean, at Barranco León about 1.3 Myrs ago and at Fuente Nueva 3 about 1.2 Myrs ago. The lithic industry from the Dmanissi site seems anterior to the Oldowan cultural horizon, characterized by the presence of standardized small retouched tools, which appears in East Africa around 1.8 Myrs ago and emerges in Mediterranean Europe around 800?000 years ago.     

Restes humains dans les sédiments du Pléistocène inférieur de la région d'Orce et de Cueva Victoria (sud-est de l'Espagne)

This paper describes the human remains and other evidence of human presence (lithic artifacts) located in the early Pleistocene deposits of Orce and Cueva Victoria (SE Spain). We also discuss the age of those sites.     

La macrofaune du Pléistocène supérieur d’El Harhoura 2 (Témara, Maroc) : données préliminaires

The El Harhoura 2 cave is situated in the commune of El Harhoura in the Temara region (Morocco). The entrance faces west, towards the ocean, around 200 m away from the current shoreline and about 16 m above sea level. The stratigraphy has currently 11 levels numbered from top to bottom. Level 1 is attributed to the early Neolithic. The archaeological material from level 2 places it within the Upper Palaeolithic (Iberomaurusian). Levels 3 to 11 are assigned to the Middle Palaeolithic (Aterian). Since 1977, a surface of 37 m² has been excavated, yielding particularly abundant remains of a large mammal fauna study in this paper.     

Les grands mammifères du Villafranchien supérieur des travertins du Bassin de Denizli (Sud-Ouest Anatolie,Turquie)

The large mammals from travertine deposits in the Denizli basin include the following species: Archidiskodon meridionalis meridionalis, Equus cf. altidens s. l., E. cf. apolloniensis, Stephanorhinus cf. etruscus, Metacervoceros rhenanus, Cervalces (Libralces) ex gr. minor-gallicus, Palaeotragus sp., Bovinae gen. and sp. indet. This association resembles those from the late Villafranchian of Southern and Eastern Europe, and, to some extent, fromWestern Asia, and could be older than 1.2 Ma.     

Comparaison de l'expression de certains caractères crâniens sur les hominidés chinois du Pléistocène récent et de l'Holocène (grotte supérieure de Zhoukoudian, sites de Longxian et de Yanqing)

The human remains recovered from “Grotte supérieure de Zhoukoudian” are the best-preserved Late Pleistocene human fossils in East Asia. For decades, as the representative of the Late Pleistocene human in East Asia, the Upper Cave skulls have been playing important role in the research of origins of modern Mongoloids and American Indians. With the advance of the origin and evolution of modern humans, more attention has been paid to the details and the mechanisms for the late Pleistocene human evolution and the formation of modern human populations. Both the origin and diversification of modern humans have been stressed. Some studies further trigger the debaters on the Upper Cave Man concerning its evolutionary level and its role in the formation of modern human populations in East Asia. To further explore these problems, we examined and compared 12 non-metric features on the 3 Late Pleistocene Upper Cave skulls and 162 Holocene individuals earthed from two archaeological sites of North China (Longxian and Yanqing). Our results indicate that 8 on the 12 features have different expression patterns between Upper Cave Man and recent Chinese leading the authors to believe that more primitive expressions appeared on the Upper Cave Man than on recent Chinese populations. Based on these findings, some problems on the intragroup variation in Late Pleistocene and Holocene populations are discussed.     

Évolution des grands Carnivores au Plio Pléistocène en Afrique et en Europe occidentale

This paper provides an overview of current knowledge of Plio Pleistocene Carnivora from Africa and Europe. In Plio Pleistocene times, many genera extend their ranges in Africa and Eurasia but their evolution are quite distinct in the two continents. In Africa, the modern carnivoran guild of sub saharian Africa originated in the early Pleistocene when took place extinction of archaic species. The north African fossil record is far from complete until the middle Pleistocene. In the middle and late Pleistocene, the modern carnivoran guild is associated with other elements: the simian jackal Canis simensis and two species of ursids Ursus arctos and Ursus deningeri which evolved towards Ursus spelaeus. Western European carnivore faunas show due to migration a constant turn-over of the species. Among felids, Panthera schaubi described by Viret (1954) and attributed to the genus Puma by Hemmer et al. (2004), is morphologically close to the snow leopard Panthera (Uncia) uncia. Canis etruscus is the sister group pf the clade including wolf and coyote and Canis arnensis is close to the African jackals. Ursus deningeri appears in the early Pleistocene together with two arctoid forms Ursus rodei and Ursus dolinensis that may be synonymous to Ursus arctos. The genus Hyaena is present in Europe in the middle and late Pleistocene.     

La Grotte des Félins, site paléolithique du Pléistocène supérieur à Dar Bouazza (Maroc)

In the continental sediments filling a cave that developed in Middle Pleistocene deposits near Casablanca, Morocco, a very rich mammal fauna from the last climatic cycle was discovered. It was associated with a Middle Palaeolithic poor and atypical lithic assemblage manufactured on blocks and pebbles. The lower fossiliferous layer contained abundant carbonized remains of felids. Unfortunately, the site was destroyed by quarrying before adequate excavations could be carried out.     

L’industrie lithique du site Pléistocène inférieur de Pirro Nord (Apricena, Italie du sud) : une occupation humaine entre 1,3 et 1,7 Ma

The site of Pirro Nord (also known as Cava Pirro or Cava Dell’Erba) is known in literature since the 1970's of the last century as a palaeontological site, of which the mammalian fossil association constitutes a reference (local) fauna for the European latest Villafranchian. This fossil association is also known for the occurrence of some African elements. During the 2005, a lithic industry has been found in three karst fissures, together with the typical elements of the Pirro Nord vertebrate assemblage. The biochronological assessment based on the vertebrate assemblage attributes it to a time interval bracketed between 1.3 Ma and 1.7 Ma. Thus the site of Pirro Nord represents the oldest human occupation of Europe so far known. The lithic assemblage, attributable to the Mode 1, is constituted by three cores and seven flakes, and is made only on flint. Lithic artefacts have been found in stratigraphic context during the preliminary surveys of the three fissures, that they will be the object of systematic excavations in the years to come.     

Un nouveau Bovini dans la faune du Pléistocène supérieur d’Algérie

During the study of the Quaternary Maghrebian bovines in 1985, the review of the Bovini (aurochs and buffalos) found in Upper Pleistocene sites of Algeria showed that in comparison with most of the African bovine assemblage the attribution of genus Pelorovis to the species antiquus was inappropriate. The biometric and cladistic data revealed a close kinship with genus Syncerus. Later, other authors’conclusions confirmed its relevance. The antique buffalo of the Aterian site of the Phacochoeri has all the characteristics of genus Syncerus, but is different in that it shows a certain number of specific characteristics described in this article.     

Le bassin de l’homme du Pléistocène supérieur de Liujiang, Sud de la Chine : taille du corps, forme du corps et encéphalisation

The Late Pleistocene hominin fossil assemblage from Liujiang, South China include a fairly well-preserved cranium, a right os coxa, a complete sacrum, and other postcranial elements all belonging to a single individual. This rare discovery offers us a unique and singular opportunity in understanding this Late Pleistocene hominin's body proportion and relative cranial capacity (encephalization quotient [EQ]), and also pelvic morphology. Using the available right innominate and its mirror-imaged left side, we reconstruct Liujiang hominin's pelvis. Our analysis of the pelvis indicates that the Liujiang hominin has a very gracile and modern-like pelvic morphology. Indeed, all of the pelvic dimensions are smaller than those of other Pleistocene hominins. Moreover, the pelvic characteristics typical of Middle and Late Pleistocene hominins including Neanderthals cannot be identified in the Liujiang pelvis. In contrast, both Liujiang's metric and non-metric features indicate affinities to more recent human populations including our modern Chinese collections from Guangxi of south China. Further support of this assessment comes from the EQ value of 5.754 for Liujiang which is closer to Minatogawa 2 and modern Chinese populations than to Middle and Late Pleistocene fossil hominins. Our analysis of body shape shows that Liujiang has body proportion (i.e. body height relative to body breadth) typical of warm-adapted populations. Based on these findings, we reason that the modern physical characteristics of Liujiang may allude to a more recent geological age. Alternatively, its morphological “modernity” could also point to a much higher degree of skeletal variation within Late Pleistocene hominins in East Asia.     

Récentes découvertes de restes d'Hominidés fossiles en Chine du Sud

After the discovery of the controversial hominids and artefacts at the Longgupo site, three Early Pleistocene sites in the southern valleys of the Changjiang (Yangtze) were excavated from 1998 to 2000 in order to test the hypothesis that the hominids exist in China before 2 Ma. Three cheek teeth of Meganthropus palaeojavanicus, more than six hundreds pieces of artefacts of Mode 1 technology and thousands pieces of mammal fossils of Villafranchian age were unearthed in situ at the Longgudong Site in Hubei Province. More than 120 pieces of artefacts of Mode 1 technology and seven thousands pieces of mammal fossils of Villafranchian age were unearthed in situ at the Renzidong Site in Anhui Province. Although no new materials of hominids and artefacts were unearthed at the Yuanmou Man Site at Danawu in Yunnan Province, new materials of mammalian fauna confirm the horizon yielding the Yuanmou Man fossils is of the Early Pleistocene. These new discoveries imply that the appearance of hominids in China is very likely before 2 Ma. If the new report of 3 Ma artefact from Yuxian of the Nihewan Basin in northern China can be confirmed, it will be a strong support for the Continuity Theory.     

La gestion du quartz au Pléistocène moyen et supérieur. Trois exemples d’Europe Méridionale

Quartz is one of the main lithic resources employed along the Pleistocene for the manufacturing of tools. The abundance in all kind of environments leads to its frequent presence in archaeological sites. In spite of its suitability for knapping, the scarcity of specific researches on quartz industries has led to a view of this raw material as a second-rate resource, only used when flint was not available in the surroundings. Quite in opposition to this prejudice, the familiarity with the petrological and mechanical properties of the different varieties of quartz has led the Middle/Upper Pleistocene groups to a rational and differential exploitation of the available resources. There is a distinct selection of the varieties attending to the purposes of the exploitation and configuration. The patterns of exploitation of the cores are very standardized, based on longitudinal extractions and documenting the bipolar flaking technique. Moreover, when the raw material is of good quality, more sophisticated reduction methods such as the discoidal or the Levallois may be employed. On the other hand, for the purposes of configuration a clearly differential management of the raw material is attested: thus quartz is used for the small products (denticulates, side-scrapers, notches), while other stones (quartzite, porphyry and others) are devoted to the manufacturing of those tools demanding a more complex control of the elaboration (bifaces, cleavers, etc.). Either acting as the main lithic resource or as a complement to other raw materials, we can observe through the technological analysis of these lithic collections the great conceptual complexity depending on the needs to be fulfilled. Raw material quality allowing, the state-of-the-art technology of knapping can be applied to the quartz and, therefore, we should not understand its use as a consequence of environmental constrictions but rather as a result of the variability of the procurement strategies and management of lithic resources among the prehistoric communities.     

Les gisements de Galería,Gran Dolina TD10 et Ambrona (le Complexe Inférieur) : trois modèles technologiques dans le deuxième tiers du Pléistocène moyen

In Europe, the second third of the middle Pleistocene is a key period in which the human settlement is increased, the occupied habitat multiplies, the use of fire begins, the Mode 2 generalizes, Mode 3 begins and the method of exploitation levallois develops. At this moment the occupations of Galería, Gran Dolina and Ambrona are developing. These three deposits of the north Plateau have a very complete archaeological record and a very long development in time, thus they represent three technological different models. These sites represent three technological different models that are determined by the quality of the raw materials that were used, the control and the safety of the sites, how many time it was spend in the knapping, the characteristics of the edges, they functionality and the cultural traditions.     

Les vagues de peuplements humains au Pléistocène inférieur et moyen dans le bassin de la Loire moyenne, région Centre, France. Apports de l’étude des formations fluviatiles

Evidence of earliest human settlements had been searched in the alluvial formations laid down in the Middle Loire Basin. Many stepped sheets deposited during the successive interglacial-glacial quaternary cycles are studied in four valleys of the Loire tributaries: the Creuse, Indre, Cher and Loir rivers. These sandy remnants are systematically dated, using the Electron Spin Resonance method applied on bleached fluvial quartz. Five settlements which contain very Early Palaeolithic industries with Mode 1 technology were occupied during the Lower Pleistocene. About eighty sites with hand-axe assemblages are observed in Middle Pleistocene remnants; nine of these are described in this paper. The results theorize that the geographical center of France (47°N) would be reached by two influxes of human populations with an interval around 400 years, because major climatic pejorations, particularly at the end of the Lower Pleistocene. These two populations produced lithic industries with many differences in supply of raw materials and in techniques of striking. Not any typologic link had been observed joining the two industrial unities.     

La grotte de Santa Ana (Cáceres, Espagne) et l'évolution technologique au Pléistocène dans la Péninsule ibérique

The excavations carried out in the cave of Santa Ana (Cáceres, Spain), cave of the karstic network of the “Calerizo” of Cáceres, enabled us to know the existence, in stratigraphy, of the three lito-techniques modes which characterize the industrial development of lower and middle Pleistocene in the Iberian Peninsula. On standby of new research, the results obtained until now permit us two work out a diachronic assumption of technical evolution. In the Iberian Peninsula, there are only two karstic systems where we can fallow this technological development; one is the “Sierra de Atapuerca” (Burgos) and the other is the “Calerizo de Cáceres” (Cáceres).     

Réévaluation de la présence humaine au Pléistocène inférieur dans le Sud de l'Espagne

The Early Pleistocene locality at Venta Micena (Orce, Guadix-Baza basin, province of Granada, Spain) has provided four fossil remains - skull fragment VM-0, and long bone diaphyses VM-1960, VM-3691, and VM-12000 - which have been tentatively attributed to the hominids. Although several methodologies have been used to ascertain the human affinities of these specimens - including anatomical, morphometric and immunological analyses - the results obtained have not been conclusive, instigating a persistent debate. A taphonomic approach is used here for estimating the probability that a taxon the size of Homo sp. (~ 50 kg) could be represented in the fossil assemblage by four bone fragments and no tooth remain. A least-squares regression analysis between the percentage of teeth and the body mass estimated for each taxon of large mammals (N = 20) predicts a raw abundance of six teeth for Homo sp. in the assemblage. Given that up to the present moment no tooth remains attributable to the hominids has been unearthed during systematic excavations in the Venta Micena quarry, which has provided more than 15,000 fossils of large mammals, this argues strongly against the possibility that the three bone specimens could belong to Homo sp. The phalanx CV-0 from the Early Pleistocene site of Cueva Victoria (Cartagena, Spain) has also been attributed to the genus Homo. The taxonomic assignment of this specimen is biased, however, because it was not compared with Theropithecus oswaldi, the only primate species actually recorded from this karstic locality. A comparative anatomical and morphometric analysis of fossil and modern specimens of Theropithecus suggests that CV-0 can be attributed to T. oswaldi. As a result, Cueva Victoria does not contribute additional information concerning the first human settlements in Europe. By these reasons, apart from the paleoanthropological and archaeological findings from Atapuerca (TD lower levels and Sima del Elefante), the rich archaeological assemblages from Barranco León and Fuente Nueva-3 in Orce, dated 1.3-1.2 Myrs, which include fourteen hundred stone tools of Oldowan technology, constitute at present the only unequivocal evidence of human presence in Southeast Spain during Early Pleistocene times.     

Biostratigraphie des brachiopodes et âge carixien (Pliensbachien inférieur) des calcaires à grands bivalves en Algérie occidentale

Recent researches on the Lower Jurassic of Western Algeria allow to establish a lithostratigraphic standard correlating the different members and formations developed in the Ouarsenis and Tlemcen Mountains, the Oran High Plains, the Nador and Ksour Mountains. The position of the large bivalve limestones (= Lithiotis limestones) is well established in the different lithologic successions. This facies is widespread in Western Algeria where it is interbedded with brachiopod marker beds, indicating short periods of maximum flooding. The large number of collected brachiopods are distributed into four “faunas” (assemblages) ranging from the Late Sinemurian (= Lotharingian) to the Early Pliensbachian (= Carixian). These faunas have been dated by the age of the species that they have in common with the NW european and western tethyan provinces. These chronological data are confirmed by rare ammonites. All these results evidence the age of the large bivalve facies in Western Algeria. They are contained in the Middle to Late Carixian (Demonense and Dilectum Zones). This datation is in conformity with that known from the Eastern High-Atlas (Bou Dahar). Consequently, the large bivalves cannot be considered as “markers for the unique Domerian” as it has been too often asserted. The palaeontological part of our study shows that the multicostate Zeilleriids (several Tauromenia species from the Late Sinemurian to the Early Carixian) are older than the multicostate Terebratulids (Hesperithyris species from the Middle to Late Carixian).