New data on Late Pleistocene small vertebrates from northern France

Quaternary small vertebrate assemblages from northern France, and more generally from northwestern Europe, are poorly recognized, and studied less than those from more southern, Mediterranean areas. However, important sites of human occupation are often found in these northern areas, with significant issues related to the occupation of these sites by Neanderthals and previous humans, as well as faunal dynamics under climatic pressure. In this paper, we present preliminary results from the study of small vertebrate assemblages from two Late Pleistocene sites of northern France: Mutzig (Alsace) and Le Rozel (Normandy). Both are ancient rock-shelters that have been excavated recently and have yielded evidence of Neanderthal occupation, but in very different contexts: Le Rozel is located in a coastal area of northwestern France contemporaneous with a temperate period, while Mutzig is located at the foot of the Vosges mountains in northeastern France and was occupied during a cold period. Consequently, even if these two sites are chronologically close to each other, differences in faunal composition are observed and discussed in relation to the geographic, climatic and biochronological context, in comparing the results from small vertebrates with those from other disciplines (numerical dating, large mammals).