Taphonomy of the small vertebrate accumulations of El Harhoura 2 cave (Morocco): palaeoecological and archaeological implications - HAL-SHS - Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société Accéder directement au contenu
Poster De Conférence Année : 2010

Taphonomy of the small vertebrate accumulations of El Harhoura 2 cave (Morocco): palaeoecological and archaeological implications

Résumé

Small vertebrate remains found in archaeological context can provide important information on the evolution of biodiversity and palaeoenvironments of a precise geographical region, as well as on the origin and the history of the deposits. However, very few studies are specifically dedicated to small fossil vertebrates in North Africa, especially for the end of the Quaternary period. El Harhoura 2 is located in the region of Rabat-Témara (Morocco), a geographical zone of major interest with regard to understanding the Prehistory of North Africa. This cave was occupied by several human occupations corresponding to Middle Palaeolithic (Aterian), Upper Palaeolithic (Iberomaurusian) and Neolithic cultures. This site has also yielded abundant small vertebrate remains, which allowed us to realize the first comprehensive taphonomic and palaeoecological study for a North African archaeological site by considering rodents, insectivores, amphibians and reptiles altogether. The taphonomic study shows that the major cause of accumulation is predation (several types of predators occurred along the stratigraphy), and that no transport by water occurred. Only local bioturbations (roots, burrows) were observed, and other post-predation biases appear weak. Thus palaeoenvironmental reconstructions can be proposed in parallel to the archaeological data. We also discuss particular limits of our results and interpretations, due to an important lack of taxonomical, ecological and taphonomical knowledge in North Africa.
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Dates et versions

hal-02986062 , version 1 (02-11-2020)

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  • HAL Id : hal-02986062 , version 1

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Emmanuelle Stoetzel, Christiane Denys, Roland Nespoulet, Mohamed Abdeljalil El Hajraoui. Taphonomy of the small vertebrate accumulations of El Harhoura 2 cave (Morocco): palaeoecological and archaeological implications. 11ème colloque de l'International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ), Aug 2010, Paris, France. 22, p. 616-635, 2012, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. ⟨hal-02986062⟩

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