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Étude archéozoologique et taphonomique des Lagopèdes des saules de la grotte magdalénienne des Églises (Ariège)

Véronique LAROULANDIE

fr Anthropozoologica 28 - Pages 45-54

Published on 01 June 1999

Taphonomical and archaeozoological studies of the willow grouse from the Magdalenian Grotte des Églises (Ariège, France)

The Magdalenian levels of the Grotte des Églises yielded an abundant but taxonomically poorly diversified faunal assemblage. Remains of birds, mainly Lagopus lagopus, are numerous. The remarkable state of preservation of the bones and the high integrity of the assemblage provided a good basis for the detailed taphonomical and archaeozoological analysis of the material. The aim of this paper is to discuss the validity and the relevance of criteria currently used to discriminate human from non-human accumulation of bird remains. The analysis of fragmentation and differential representation at Grotte des Églises and comparisons with material from other sites, especially with respect to cut-mark frequencies, show that food preparation practices (disarticulation and comsumption) can be quite variable in Upper Palaeolithic sites.


Keywords:

Willow grouse, Taphonomy, Archaeozoology, Fragmentation, Differential representation

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