Natural-trap ursid mortality and the Kurtén Response

Journal of Human Evolution
Steve Wolverton

Abstract

Ursid mortality data have long been used to evaluate associations between cave-bear remains (Ursus deningeri and U. spelaeus) and hominin (Homo sp.) remains. Typically, such ursid assemblages produce mortality patterns that indicate that juvenile and old bears died during hibernation, a pattern that is used to suggest that humans and bears occupied the same caves at different times. However, a different kind of mortality pattern can also be used to suggest human influence on cave bears, particularly under circumstances when bears and humans compete for habitat. In particular, data from Lawson Cave and Jerry Long Cave, Missouri indicate that young-adult North American black bears (Ursus americanus) are prone to capture in natural-trap caves. Similar faunal data from Sima de los Huesos in Spain, where cave-bear and hominin remains are found in the same deposit, might also suggest that the bears died from falling into a natural trap. It is concluded that mortality analysis of ursid remains from caves is a useful tool with which to evaluate accumulation histories of cave deposits and relations between humans, artifacts, and cave-bear remains. In particular, ursid mortality data are relevant to the Kurtén Response, a hypothesis reit...Continue Reading

References

Aug 1, 1997·Journal of Human Evolution·J L ArsuagaN García
Aug 1, 1997·Journal of Human Evolution·P Andrews, Y Fernandez Jalvo
Apr 21, 1998·Journal of Human Evolution·M C Stiner
Jun 4, 2005·Science·James P NoonanEdward M Rubin

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Citations

Oct 16, 2015·Scientific Reports·Ericka N L'AbbéLee R Berger
Jun 20, 2017·Evolutionary Anthropology·Laurie R Godfrey, Kathleen M Muldoon

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