Dealing with age. Prey mortality profiles at the Early Pleistocene sites of Orce (Granada, Spain)

Taphonomic studies conducted thus far at Orce sites (Guadix-Baza Basin, Granada, Spain) have not provided definitive conclusions regarding early human subsistence strategies. Recent research has neither confirmed nor ruled out early human access to the carcasses of animals recovered at these sites. To expand the available evidence, this study proposes a comparative analysis of mortality patterns at these Early Pleistocene locations, alongside published data on modern and fossil accumulations. Mortality patterns have been widely used to analyse aspects of human and animal populations, including subsistence strategies, seasonal variations, and ethology. These patterns consider the proportional representation of different age cohorts to infer the accumulation processes and causes of mortality in fossil communities. In that sense, mortality profiles from Venta Micena-3 and Venta Micena-4 align with their respective interpretations of Pachycrocuta brevirostris den and mortality scenario where carnivores preyed. Also, Barranco León and Fuente Nueva-3 show an admixture of different situations, though their respective sample sizes are not decisive. In conclusion, while the results of this study are coherent with previous interpretations, they prove to need further analyses to increase the sample and open potential scenarios relevant to the Early Pleistocene sites of Orce. Zoobank ID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5F55E469-38CC-46F4-8EFF-6A037E4D8B64

迄今为止针对西班牙格拉纳达省瓜迪克斯-巴扎盆地奥尔塞遗址开展的埋藏学（Taphonomic）研究，尚未就早期人类的生存策略得出明确结论。近期相关研究既未证实、也未排除早期人类获取该遗址出土动物遗骸的可能性。为扩充现有研究证据，本研究提出对这些早更新世遗址的死亡模式开展对比分析，并结合已发表的现代与化石堆积相关数据。死亡模式已被广泛用于分析人类与动物种群的多维度特征，涵盖生存策略、季节变化与行为学（Ethology）内容。此类模式通过考量不同年龄组的占比，推断化石群落的堆积过程与死亡成因。在此语境下，文塔米塞纳-3（Venta Micena-3）与文塔米塞纳-4（Venta Micena-4）的死亡年龄分布图，与二者各自针对短吻硕鬣狗（Pachycrocuta brevirostris）巢穴及食肉动物捕食致死场景的解读相契合。此外，巴兰卡莱昂（Barranco León）与富恩特新-3（Fuente Nueva-3）遗址则呈现多种场景的混合特征，不过二者各自的样本量尚不具备决定性意义。综上，尽管本研究结果与既有解读保持一致，但仍需开展进一步分析以扩充样本量，并探索与奥尔塞早更新世遗址相关的潜在场景。Zoobank标识符：urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5F55E469-38CC-46F4-8EFF-6A037E4D8B64