Un site mésolithique de chasse à l'aurochs (La Montagne, Sénas, Bouches-du-Rhône)

With its high frequencies of aurochs remains, both in number of remains and in individuals, the open-air site of La Montagne (Sénas, Bouches-du-Rhône) is an exception for the Mesolithic of south-east France. A study of the list of fauna and the distribution of the anatomical elements of the aurochs suggests that the site of La Montagne functioned as a kill site with in situ processing of the carcasses. The inhabitants practiced specialised aurochs hunting comparable to that of the Mousterian/Magdalenian sites or even American Indian kill sites. A new statistical study based on mixture analysis indicates that the inferior molars can be used to determine the sex ratio. This combined with age estimates, gives a tentative population structure for the aurochs killed.