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Cave No. 1 (Grottes du Mas des Caves)

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Site type:
Cave
Lat/Long:
43.68, 4.08
Country:
France
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Cave No. 1 yielded animal bones and carved stone objects dating from the boundary between Lower and Middle Paleolithic, about 350,000 years ago.

The cave contains a sequence 4.50 m thick, subdivided into 14 layers.

The fauna is very rich and includes many remains of carnivores (Cuon priscus, Hyaena prisca, Crocuta crocuta spelaea, Lynx spelaea, Lynx pardina, Felis spelaea) but also artiodactyls (Bos primigenius , Bison sp., Cervus elaphus) and perissodactyls (Dicerorhinus etruscus, Equus mosbachensis, Equus hydruntinus). Taphonomic analysis of faunal assemblages showed that hyenas had played an important role in their accumulation: the presence of gnawed, scratched, bitten, or ingested bones, opposition between complete bones corresponding to the meat-poor parts (metapods) and partially gnawed bones ("diaphyseal cylinders") corresponding to the rich parts (humerus and femur). The use of the cave as a den by hyenas is confirmed by the presence of numerous coprolites and bones of young individuals of this species.

The lithic industry in quartzite, flint, limestone or quartz includes tools on single pebbles, very rare bifaces, and tools on splinters (denticulates, scrapers). The Levallois debiting is attested.

The study of pump-overs within the lithic material has demonstrated the importance of the alterations related to the sliding of the deposits towards the bottom of the cavity. The carved stone objects would have been set up naturally by repetitive contributions from deposits initially formed outside the cave.