Les Pradelles (level 9)
Basic information
Sample name: Les Pradelles (level 9)
Sample aka: Marillac
Reference: S. Costamagno, L. Meignen, C. Beauval, B. Vandermeersch, and B. Maureille. 2006. Les Pradelles (Marillac-le-France, France): A mousterian reindeer hunting camp. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 25:466-484 [ER 3979]
Geography
Country: France
Coordinate: 45° 44' N, 0° 26' E
Coordinate basis: based on nearby landmark
Time interval: Late Pleistocene
Unit number: 9
Unit order: above to below
Ma: 0.0576
Age basis: thermoluminescence
Geography comments: "at Marillac-le-Franc (in the Department of Charente)" (coordinate based on Marillac-le-Franc)
layer 9 is also called "facies 2b"
a "burnt flint from this lithofacies was TL-dated to 57.6 ± 4.5 ka" (Garralda et al. 2020)
layer 9 is also called "facies 2b"
a "burnt flint from this lithofacies was TL-dated to 57.6 ± 4.5 ka" (Garralda et al. 2020)
Environment
Lithology: breccia
Taphonomic context: cave,human accumulation
Archaeology: stone tools
Habitat comments: "a collapsed gallery within a karst system" meaning a "sinkhole" or "collapsed karstic cave" according to Garralda et al. (2020)
"clast-supported limestone deposits associated to a clayey matrix" meaning a breccia (Garralda et al. 2020)
there are "cut marks on more than half of the long bone fragments" of reindeer, incating "primary butchery" on the site, so this is a hunting accumulation
there are 444 "lithic tools" in layer 9
"clast-supported limestone deposits associated to a clayey matrix" meaning a breccia (Garralda et al. 2020)
there are "cut marks on more than half of the long bone fragments" of reindeer, incating "primary butchery" on the site, so this is a hunting accumulation
there are 444 "lithic tools" in layer 9
Methods
Life forms: carnivores,primates,ungulates
Sampling methods: quarry
Sample size: 894 specimens
Years: 1967 - 1980, 2001
Sampling comments: "Although a Neanderthal mandible was discovered in 1939 (Ragout and Balout, 1942), it was not until 1967 that the site was subjected to a real scientific excavation. This fieldwork, carried out by Vandermeersch, went on until 1980. New excavations have been undertaken by Maureille and A. Mann since 2001"
the site stratigraphy was apparently developed by Vandermeersch, so the earlier collections are apparently not included here
the site stratigraphy was apparently developed by Vandermeersch, so the earlier collections are apparently not included here
Metadata
Sample number: 4392
Contributor: John Alroy
Enterer: John Alroy
Created: 2023-12-04 11:27:03
Modified: 2023-12-04 00:27:03
Abundance distribution
8 species
1 singleton
total count 894
geometric series index: 11.7
Fisher's α: 1.211
geometric series k: 0.3848
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.1944
Shannon's H: 0.4689
Good's u: 0.9989
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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Register
| Panthera spelaea | 1 | |
| Canis lupus | 3 | 43 kg carnivore |
| Crocuta spelaea | 8 | |
| Bovidae indet. | 39 | |
| Bos or Bison | ||
| Rangifer tarandus | 800 | 69 kg browser |
| Cervus elaphus | 2 | 104 kg |
| Equus ferus | 39 | 422 kg |
| "Equus caballus germanicus" | ||
| Homo neanderthalensis | 2 | |
| see Garralda et al. 2020): this does not include two teeth of an associated individual because the other five teeth are from the underlying layer 10 | ||