Citation
Torres Pérez-Hidalgo, Trinidad José
(1997).
The carnivore remains from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site(Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain).
"Journal of Human Evolution", v. 33
(n. 2-3);
pp. 155-174.
ISSN 0047-2484.
Abstract
Remains of carnivores from the Sima de los Huesos site representing at least
158 adult individuals of a primitive (i.e., not very speleoid) form of Ursus
deningeri Von Reichenau 1906, have been recovered through the 1995 field
season. These new finds extend our knowledge of this group in the Sierra de
Atapuerca Middle Pleistocene. Material previously classified as Cuoninae
indet. is now assigned to Canis lupus and a third metatarsal assigned in 1987 to
Panthera cf. gombaszoegensis, is in our opinion only attributable to Panthera sp. The
family Mustelidae is added to the faunal list and includes Maites sp. and a
smaller species. The presence of Panthera leo cf. fossilis, Lynxpardina spelaea and
Fells silvestris, is confirmed. The presence of a not very speloid Ursus deningeri,
together with the rest of the carnivore assemblage, points to a not very late
Middle Pleistocene age, i.e., oxygen isotope stage 7 or older. Relative
frequencies of skeletal elements for the bear and fox samples are without major
biases. The age structure of the bear sample, based on dental wear stages, does
not follow the typical hibernation mortality profile and resembles a catastrophic
profile. The site was not a natal or refuge den. The hypothesis that the
site was a natural trap is the most plausible. If the Sima de los Huesos
functioned as a natural trap (without an egress out), the human accumulation
cannot be attributed to carnivore activities and must be explained differently.