Grotte des Rhinocéros (lower set)
Basic information
Sample name: Grotte des Rhinocéros (lower set)
Reference: C. Daujeard, C. Falguères, Q. Shao, D. Geraads, J.-J. Hublin, D. Lefèvre, M. El Graoui, M. Rué, R. Gallotti, V. Delvigne, A. Queffelec, E. Ben Arous, O. Tombret, A. Mohib, and J.-P. Raynal. 2020. Earliest African evidence of carcass processing and consumption in cave at 700 ka, Casablanca, Morocco. Scientific Reports 10(4761):15 [ER 3843]
Geography
Country: Morocco
Coordinate: 33° 34' N, 7° 43' W
Coordinate basis: estimated from map
Formation: Oulad Hamida
Time interval: Middle Pleistocene
Max Ma: 0.72
Min Ma: 0.691
Age basis: ESR
Geography comments: "at Oulad Hamida 1 Quarry, an extension of the former Thomas III Quarry, located 1 km from the current Atlantic coast"
coordinate estimated from map in Fig. 1
"New combined ESR with U-series dating of seven bovid and rhinocerotid teeth from both lower and upper sets give ages of 720–690 ka and 548–522 ka" with exact values for the two units of 720 +/- 64, 691 +/- 75, 548 +/- 56, and 522 +/- 56 ka
coordinate estimated from map in Fig. 1
"New combined ESR with U-series dating of seven bovid and rhinocerotid teeth from both lower and upper sets give ages of 720–690 ka and 548–522 ka" with exact values for the two units of 720 +/- 64, 691 +/- 75, 548 +/- 56, and 522 +/- 56 ka
Environment
Lithology: sandstone
Taphonomic context: aeolian deposit,carnivore accumulation,cave,fluvial deposit,human accumulation,rodent accumulation
Archaeology: stone tools
Habitat comments: an original and current cave with "calcareous sandy materials divided into two main lithostratigraphic sets: the upper set (units 1 to 4) and the lower set (units 5 to 6)... The deposition of fine sediment by low energy processes (aeolian and runoff) is responsible for the good preservation" and this is not "a pitfall accumulation"
there is "a rich Acheulean lithic assemblage"
there are "carnivore tooth-marks (pits, scores, punctures, notches) and ingested remains... Porcupine tooth marks are also present in greater quantity in the lower set" plus some human-made "cut-marked specimens" and "percussion marks" in both stratigraphic units but "hominins were not the main agent of accumulation"
there is "a rich Acheulean lithic assemblage"
there are "carnivore tooth-marks (pits, scores, punctures, notches) and ingested remains... Porcupine tooth marks are also present in greater quantity in the lower set" plus some human-made "cut-marked specimens" and "percussion marks" in both stratigraphic units but "hominins were not the main agent of accumulation"
Methods
Life forms: carnivores,primates,rodents,ungulates,other small mammals
Sampling methods: quarry
Sample size: 580 specimens
Years: 2007 - 2009
Sampling comments: "discovered in 1991... Systematic excavations were performed in 1996 and pursued from 2005 to 2009" but the taphonomic analysis and specimen counts pertain only to the 2007 - 2009 excavations
Metadata
Sample number: 4199
Contributor: John Alroy
Enterer: John Alroy
Created: 2023-04-07 10:33:15
Modified: 2023-04-07 00:33:15
Abundance distribution
17 species
4 singletons
total count 580
geometric series index: 26.7
Fisher's α: 3.282
geometric series k: 0.7170
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.7548
Shannon's H: 1.7157
Good's u: 0.9931
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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Register
| Hystrix cristata | 18 | 12 kg |
| Felis sp. | 2 | |
| Panthera sp. | 1 | |
| Crocuta sp. | 8 | |
| plus 5 indeterminate hyaenas | ||
| †Schaeffia mohibi | 30 | |
| "Lupulella mohibi": see Valenciano et al. (2022) | ||
| †Ursus bibersoni | 2 | |
| Mellivora capensis | 3 | 7.7 kg carnivore-invertivore |
| †Ceratotherium mauritanicum | 108 | |
| †Equus cf. mauritanicus | 9 | |
| †Camelus thomasi | 1 | |
| †Gazella cf. atlantica | 164 | |
| Parmularius sp. | 205 | |
| compared to | ||
| Connochaetes sp. | 4 | |
| Pelorovis sp. | 18 | |
| compared to | ||
| Homo sp. | 1 | |
| †Theropithecus oswaldi | 1 | |
| Lagomorpha indet. | 5 | |