Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS
Pervobytnaia arkheologiia. Zhurnal mezhdistsiplinarnykh issledovanii
Prehistoric Archaeology. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies
Pervobytnaia arkheologiia. Zhurnal mezhdistsiplinarnykh issledovanii
Prehistoric Archaeology. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

Baryshnikov G. F. Fauna of the Paleolithic site of Ilskaya in the Northern Caucasus, Russia

Download Look on elibrary.ru

Zoological Institute RAS, 1 Universitetskaya emb., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia [g_baryshnikov@mail.ru

Abstract. For the first time, the results of the study of paleontological materials obtained during all the years of excavations of the Middle Paleolithic site of Ilskaya are present. The fauna includes 24 species of mammals and 3 species of birds. Bone remains of steppe bison Bison priscus dominate (up to 86%). The presence of mammoth Mammuthus intermedius, horse Equus taubachensis, deer Megaloceros giganteus, water vole Arvicola cf. chosaricus makes it possible to correlate the lower layers of the site with the late stage of the Khazar theriocomplex of Eastern

Europe (Eem — early Weichselian). Cuon alpinus, Ursus kudarensis, Capreolus capreolus, Capra sp., characteristic of the mountains of the Southern Caucasus, and steppe species Vulpes corsac, Equus hydruntinus, Saiga tatarica, Bison priscus, Spalax microphtalmus, indicating the predominance of open landscapes in the vicinity of the site, were found. The site is located at the narrowing of the river valley, which contributed to the accumulation of bone remains. It is assumed that a part of the bone assemblage was deposited here as a result of the recurring natural deaths of

mammoths and bison that drowned during floods, while the other part consists of the remains of animals hunted by Neanderthals. The latter is reconstructed primarily from the mortality profile of bison dominated by prime-age adults, and is supported also by both the high degree of fragmentation of fresh bone and the rarity of traces of carnivore modification.

Keywords: Ilskaya site, Northern Caucasus, Late Pleistocene, Middle Paleolithic, fauna, large mammals, zooarchaeology.

Received 11.10.2022, accepted 02.11.2022.

DOI: 10.31600/2658-3925-2022-2-52

For citation: Baryshnikov G. F. Fauna of the Paleolithic site of Ilskaya in the Northern Caucasus, Russia. Prehistoric Archaeology. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. 2022 (2), 5–52. (in Russ.). DOI: 10.31600/2658-3925-2022-2-52

References:

Baigusheva V.S., Titov V.V. 2021. Late Middle — Early Late Pleistocene mammoths from the Lower Don River Region. Quaternary 4, 5. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat4010005.

Barlow A., Paijmans J.L. A., Alberti F., Gasparyan B., Bar-Oz G., Pinhasi R., Foronova I., Puzachenko A., Pacher M., Dalén L., Baryshnikov G., Hofreiter M. 2021. Middle Pleistocene genome calibrates a revised evolutionary history of extinct cave bears. Current Biology 31, 1771–1779.

Baryshnikov G.F. 1979. Teriofauna i pozdnepleistotsenovye landshafty Gornogo Prikuban’ia. Vestnik Leningradskogo universiteta 12, 53–62 (in Russian).

Baryshnikov G.F. 1986. Pleistotsenovye volki (rod Canis) Bol’shogo Kavkaza. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta AN SSSR 149, 33–52 (in Russian).

Baryshnikov G.F. 1995. Pleistotsenovyi krasnyi volk, Cuon alpinus (Carnivora, Canidae) iz paleoliticheskikh stoianok Bol’shogo Kavkaza. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta RAN263, 92–120 (in Russian).

Baryshnikov G. 2003. Mammuthus primigenius from the Crimea and the Caucasus. Deinsea 9, 41–56.

Baryshnikov G. 2006. Late Pleistocene arctic fox (Alopes lagopus) from Crimea, Ukraine. Quaternary International 142–143, 208–217.

Baryshnikov G.F. 2007. Semeistvo medvezh’i (Carnivora, Ursidae). St. Petersburg: “Nauka” Publ. (in Russian).

Baryshnikov G.F. 2020. Krupnye mlekopitaiushchie kudarskoi pleistotsenovoi fauny Kavkaza. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta RAN. Prilozhenie 9.

Baryshnikov G.F., Cherepanov G.O. 1985. Ptitsy Bol’shogo Kavkaza epokhi paleolita i mezolita. Ornitologiia 20, 139–160 (in Russian).

Baryshnikov G.F., Golovanova L.V. 1989. Mlekopitaiushchie must’erskoi stoianki Matuzka na Kubanskom Kavkaze. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta AN SSSR 198, 3–55 (in Russian).

Baryshnikov G., Hoffecker J. 1994. Mousterian hunters of the northwestern Caucasus: Preliminary results of recent investigations. Journal of Field Archaeology 21, 1–14.

Baryshnikov G., Potapova J. 1992. Paleolithic birds of the Crimean Peninsula, USSR. Science Series Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 36, 293–305.

Baryshnikov G., Hoffecker J., Burgess R. 1996. Palaeontology and zooarchaelogy of Mezmaiskaya Cave (northwestern Caucasus, Russia). Journal of Archaeological Sciences 23, 313–335.

Behrensmeyer A. 1978. Taphonomic and ecologic information from bone weathering. Paleobiology 4, 150–162.

Bibikova I.I. 1975. O smene nekotorykh komponentov fauny kopytnykh na Ukraine v golotsene. Biulleten’ Moskovskogo obshchestva ispytatelei prirody (otdel biologicheskii) 53, 67–72 (in Russian).

Binford L.R. 1985. Human ancestors: changing views of their behavior. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 4: 292–327.

Bocherens H., Hofman-Kamińska E., Drucker D.G., Schmölcke U., Kowalczyk R. 2015. European bison as a refugee species? Evidence from isotopic data on Early Holocene bison and other large herbivores in northern Europe. PLoS One 10, e0115090.

Buck L.T., Stringer C.B. 2013. Having the stomach for it: a contribution to Neanderthal diets? Quaternary Science Reviews 96, 161–167.

Cherdyntsev V. V. 1969. Uran-234. Moscow: “Atomizdat” Publ. (in Russian)

Cirilli O., Machado H., Arroyo-Cabrales J., Barrón-Ortiz C. I., Davis E., Jass Ch. N., Jukar A.M., Landry Z., Marín-Leyva A. H., Pandolfi L., Pushkina D., Rook L., Saarinen J., Scott E., Semprebon G., Strani F., Villavicencio N.A., Kaya F., Bernor R.L. 2022. Evolution of the Family Equidae, Subfamily Equinae, in North, Central and South America, Eurasia and Africa during the Plio-Pleistocene. Biology 11(9): 1258. https://doi. org/10.3390/biology11091258.

Diedrich C.G. 2009. Late Pleistocene Hystrix (Acantion) brachyura Linnaeus, 1758 from the Fuchsluken Cave near Saalfeld (Thuringia, Germany) — A porcupine and hyena den and contribution to their palaeobiogeography in Europe. The Open Paleontology Journal 2: 1–9.

Dubrovo I.A. 1966. Sistematicheskoe polozhenie slona khozarskogo faunisticheskogo kompleksa. Biulleten’ Komissii po izucheniiu chetvertichnogo perioda 32, 63–74 (in Russian).

Eisenmann V. 1981. Étude des dents jugales inférieures des Equus (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) actuels et fossils. Palaeovertebrata 10, 127–226.

Eisenmann V., Baryshnikov G. 1995. Equus cf. taubachensis et E. hydruntinus de la grotte de Prolom 2 (Crimee, Ukraine). Bulletin du Muséum national d’histoire naturelle. Serie 4, 16 (sector C (2–4)), 329–347.

Eisenmann V., Mashkour M. 1999. The small equids of Binagady (Azerbajan) and Quazvin (Iran): Equus hemionus binagadensis subsp. nov. and E. hydruntinus. Geobios 32, 105–122.

Enloe J., David F., Baryshnikov G. 2000. Hyenas and hunters: Zooarchaeological investigations at Plolom II Cave, Crimea. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 10, 310– 324.

Foronova I.V., Zudin A.N. 1986. Glavnyi podkhod k issledovaniiu filogenii iskopaemykh slonov linii Archidiskodon — Mammuthus Severnoi Evrazii. In: Arkhipov S.F. (ed.). Biostratigrafiia i paleoklimaty pleistotsena Sibiri. Novosibirsk: “Nauka” Publ., 6–31 (in Russian).

Gimranov D., Kosintsev P., Baryshnikov G.F. 2021. Variability of the lower incisors in the cave bears (Carnivora, Ursidae) from the Caucasus and Urals. Comptes Rendus Palevol 20, 539–553.

Golovanova L.V. 1993. Ob istorii odnoi must’erskoi kul’tury na Severnom Kavkaze. Vtoraia Kubanskaia arkheologicheskaia konferentsiia. Krasnodar, 24–27 (in Russian).

Gromov V. I. 1948. Paleontologicheskoe i arkheologicheskoe obosnovanie stratigrafii kontinental’nykh otlozhenii chetvertichnogo perioda na territorii SSSR (mlekopitaiushchie, paleolit). Trudy Instituta geologicheskikh nauk AN SSSR 64 (in Russian).

Gromova V. 1932. Die Fauna einer mittelpaläolithischen Station Ilskaja im nördlichen Kaukasus. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta AN SSSR 1, 305–345 (in Russian).

Gromova V. 1937. Novye nakhodki pozdnechetvertichnoi fauny mlekopitaiushchikh na Severnom Kavkaze. Doklady AN SSSR 16, 351–352 (in Russian).

Gromova V. 1949. Istoriia loshadei (roda Equus) v Starom Svete. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo instituta AN SSSR 17 (in Russian).

Hoffecker J., Baryshnikov G., Potapova O. 1991. Vertebrate remains from the Mousterian site of Ilskaya 1 (Northern Caucasus, USSR): New analysis and interpretation. Journal of Archaeological Science 18, 113–147.

Hoffecker J., Cleghorn N. 2000. Mousterian Hunting Patterns in the Northwestern Caucasus and the Ecology of the Neanderthals. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 10, 368–378.

Iudin V.G., Iudina E.V. 2009. Tigr Dal’nego Vostoka Rossii. Vladivostok: “Dal’nauka” Publ. (in Russian).

Ivanova I.K. 1982. Iskopaemyj chelovek i ego kul'tura. In: Krasnov I.I., SHancer E.V. (eds.). Stratigrafiya SSSR. T. 14. Chetvertichnaya sistema. Polutom 1. Moscow: “Nedra” Publ., 382–412 (in Russian).

Kahlke R.-D. 1995. Die Abfolge plio-/pleistozäner Säugetierfaunen in Thüringen (Mitteldeutschland). Cranium 12, 5–18.

Kobakhidze E.I. 2022. Industriia stoianki Il‘skaia 1 v Prikuban‘e (po materialam raskopok N.D. Praslova 1963 i 1967–1969 godov). Pervobytnaia arkheologiia. Zhurnal mezhdistsiplinarnykh issledovanii 1, 28–69 (in Russian).

Kuz‘mina I. E. 1997. Loshadi Severnoi Evrazii ot pliotsena do sovremennosti. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta RAN273 (in Russian).

Kuz’mina I. E., Mashchenko E.N. 1999. Vozrastnye morfologicheskie izmeneniia cherepa i skeleta detenyshei mamonta Russkoi ravniny. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta RAN275, 51–120 (in Russian).

Lazarev P.A. 2008. Krupnye mlekopitaiushchie antropogena Iakutii. Novosibirsk: “Nauka” Publ. (in Russian).

Leshchinskiy S.V., Burkanova E.M. 2022. The Volchia Griva mineral oasis as unique locus for research of the mammoth fauna and the late Pleistocene environment in Northern Eurasia. Quaternary Research 109, 157–182.

Liubin V.P. 1989. Paleolit Kavkaza. In: Boriskovskii P.I. (ed.). Paleolit Kavkaza i Severnoi Azii. Leningrad: “Nauka” Publ., 7–142 (in Russian).

Livraghi A., Fanfarillo G., Dal Colle M., Romandini M., Peresani M. 202. Neanderthal ecology and the exploitation of cervids and bovids at the onset of MIS4: A study on De Nadale cave, Italy. Quaternary International 586, 24–41.

Lister A.M. 1987. Giant deer and giant red deer from Kent’s Cavern, and the status of Strongyloceros spelaeus Owen. Transactions and Proceedings, Torquay Natural History Society 19, 189–198.

Lister A.M. 1996. Taxonomy and evolution of Eurasian mammoths. In: Shoshani J., Tassy P. (eds.). The Proboscidea. Evolution and Palaeoecology of Elephants and their Relatives. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 203–213.

Marean C.W. 1998. A critique of the evidence for scavenging by Neandertals and early modern humans: new data from Kobeh Cave (Zagros Mountains, Iran) and Die Kelders Cave 1 Layer 10 (South Africa). Journal of Human Evolution 35: 111–136.

Massilani D., Guimaraes S., Brugal J.-Ph., Bennett E.A., Tokarska M., Arbogast R.-M., Baryshnikov G., Boeskorov G., Castel J.-Ch., Davydov S., Madelaine S., Putelat O., Spasskaya N., Uerpmann H.P., Grange Th. and Geigl E.-M. 2016. Past climate changes, population dynamics and the origin of Bison in Europe. BMC Biology 14, 93.

Nesmeianov S.A. 1999. Geomorfologicheskie aspekty paleoekologii gornogo paleolita. Moscow: “Nauchnyi mir” Publ. (in Russian).

Otcherednoi A.K., Nehoroshev P.E., Vishnyatsky L.B., Voskresensakaya E.V., Southon J.R., Hoffecker J.F. 2022. Radiocarbon dating Rozhok I, a Middle Paleolithic openair site in southern Russia. Radiocarbon 64, 153–170.

Ratajczak-Skrzatek U., Shpansky A.V., Stefaniak K., Orlinska D., Cyrek K., Sudoł-Procyk M., Kovalchuk O. 2022. Upper Pleistocene remains of Bison priscus Bojanus, 1827 from Biśnik Cave (Middle Palaeolithic) and their significance for stratigraphy and palaeoecology. Quaternary Internation 633, 170–182.

Rusanov B.S. 1968. Biostratigrafiia kainozoiskikh otlozhenii Iuzhnoi Iakutii. Moscow: “Nauka” Publ. (in Russian).

Russo G., Starkovich B.M., Leder D., Terberger T. 2021. New insights on late Neanderthal subsistence strategies and settlement dynamics in the southern Harz, Germany. PaleoAnthropology 1, Poster Presentation Number 29, Session 2.

Shchelinsky V.E. 2012а. O vozraste Il’skoi must’erskoi stoianki. Kratkie soobshcheniia Instituta arkheologii 227, 46–58 (in Russian).

Shchelinsky V. E. 2012б. Ob Il’skoi must’erskoi stoianke. Stratum plus 1, 69–110 (in Russian).

Shchelinsky V.E., Kulakov S.A. 2005. Il’skaia must’erskaia stoianka (raskopki 1920-kh — 1930-kh godov). St. Petersburg: “Evropeiskii dom” Publ. (in Russian).

Shchelinsky V.E., Ocherednoi A.K., Titov V.V., Tesakov A.S., Kolesnik A.V., Danil’chenko A. Iu., Hoffecker J.F., Souton J., Zubova A.V., Moiseev V.G., Kul’kov A. M., Kolobova K.A., Voskresenskaya E.V., Romashchenko N.I., Zorov Iu. N., Zeniuk D.A. 2022. Rannii i srednii paleolit Priazov’ia: sovremennoe sostoianie issledovanii. Rostov-na-Donu: “IuNTs RAN” Publ. (in Russian).

Sher A.V. 1997. An early Quaternary bison population from Untermassfeld: Bison menneri sp. nov. In: Kahlke R.-D. (ed.). Das Pleistozän von Untermassfeld bei Meininger Thüringen. Teil 1. Monograpien des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseum Mainz 40, 101–180.

Shipman P., Bosler W., Davis K.L. 1981. Butchering of giant geladas at an Acheulian site. Current Anthropology 22, 257–268.

Sikes S.K. 1971. The Natural History of the African Elephant. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

Skinner A.R., Blackwell B.A. B., Martin S., Ortega F., Blickstein J.I. B., Golovanova L.V., Doronichev V.B. 2005. ESR dating at Mezmaiskaya Cave, Russia. Applied Radiation and Isotopes 62, 219–224.

Soffer O. 1994. Ancestral lifeways in Eurasia — the Middle and Upper Paleolithic records. In: Nitecki M., Nitecki D. (eds.). Origins of Anatomically Modern Humans. New York: Plenum Press, 101–119.

Starkin A.V. 1988. Nekotorye otlichitel’nye cherty tarannoi kosti zubra i bizona. Vestnik zoologii 2, 77–79 (in Russian).

Stepanchuk V. N. 2006. Nizhnij i srednij paleolit Ukrainy. Chernovtsy: "Zelena Bukovina" Publ. (in Russian).

Stiner M.C. 1994. Honor Among Thieves: A Zooarchaeological Study of Neandertal Ecology. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Terlato G., Livraghi A., Romandini M., Peresani M. 2019. Large bovids on the Neanderthal menu: Exploitation of Bison priscus and Bos primigenius in northeastern Italy. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 25, 129–143.

Vereshchagin N.K. 1959. Mlekopitaiushchie Kavkaza. Moscow; Leningrad: “Izd-vo AN SSSR” Publ. (in Russian).

Vereshchagin N.K. 1971. Berelekhskoe “kladbishche’ mamontov. Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta AN SSSR 72, 5–50 (in Russian).

Vereshchagin N.K. 1981. Morfometricheskoe opisanie mamontenka. In: Vereshchagin N.K., Mikhel’son V. M. (eds.). Magadanskii mamontenok. Leningrad: “Nauka” Publ., 52–80 (in Russian).

Vereshchagin N.K., Baryshnikov G.F. 1980. Mlekopitaiushchie predgornogo severnogo Kryma v epokhu paleolita (po kukhonnym ostatkam iz peshcher Chokurcha, Starosel’e i Mamat-Koba). Trudy Zoologicheskogo instituta AN SSSR 93, 26–49 (in Russian).

Voorhies M.R. 1969. Taphonomy and population dynamics of an Early Pliocene vertebrate fauna, Knox County, Nebraska. University of Wyoming Special Contributions to Geology Special Paper 1, 1–69.