Orgnac 3 (level 1)
Basic information
Sample name: Orgnac 3 (level 1)
Reference: M.-H. Moncel, A.-M. Moigne, Y. Sam, and J. Combier. 2011. The emergence of Neanderthal technical behavior: new evidence from Orgnac 3 (level 1, MIS 8), southeastern France. Current Anthropology 52(1):37-75 [ER 3978]
Geography
Country: France
Coordinate: 44° 18' N, 4° 26' E
Coordinate basis: based on nearby landmark
Time interval: Middle Pleistocene
Age basis: zone
Geography comments: "on a plateau near the Rhône River valley... on the right-hand bank of the Ardèche River gorges" (coordinate based on the nearby town of Orgnac-l'Aven)
thought to be "about 300,000 BP" and in MIS 8 and there is a date of 298,000 ± 55,000 BP "on volcanic materials" (method unclear) on the immediately underlying level 2, but the age assignment is primarily based on mammal biochronology
thought to be "about 300,000 BP" and in MIS 8 and there is a date of 298,000 ± 55,000 BP "on volcanic materials" (method unclear) on the immediately underlying level 2, but the age assignment is primarily based on mammal biochronology
Environment
Lithology: claystone
Taphonomic context: cave,human accumulation
Archaeology: stone tools
Habitat comments: an "open air site... formed from the progressive opening of a cave"
"stony red clays mixed with large blocks from the collapsed ceiling"
the bones are intensely broken and weathered, and some are "Burned or heated"
the assemblage is thought to be accumulated through hunting and there are cut marks on three bovid and five equid long bones
there are "more than 50,000 artifacts" of stone
"stony red clays mixed with large blocks from the collapsed ceiling"
the bones are intensely broken and weathered, and some are "Burned or heated"
the assemblage is thought to be accumulated through hunting and there are cut marks on three bovid and five equid long bones
there are "more than 50,000 artifacts" of stone
Methods
Life forms: carnivores,ungulates
Sampling methods: quarry
Sample size: 652 specimens
Years: 1959 - 1972
Sampling comments: a 10 cm thick layer "excavated from 1959 to 1972 by Jean Combier" in an area of 53 m2
small mammals including rabbits are presented but not described or counted
small mammals including rabbits are presented but not described or counted
Metadata
Sample number: 4391
Contributor: John Alroy
Enterer: John Alroy
Created: 2023-12-04 10:38:29
Modified: 2023-12-03 23:38:29
Abundance distribution
10 species
1 singleton
total count 652
geometric series index: 12.8
Fisher's α: 1.676
geometric series k: 0.5190
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.6208
Shannon's H: 1.3000
Good's u: 0.9985
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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Register
| Canis lupus | 3 | 43 kg carnivore |
| †Ursus deningeri | 1 | |
| Sus scrofa | 20 | 54 kg herbivore |
| Cervus elaphus | 92 | 142 kg browser-grazer |
| †Dama clactoniana | 12 | 62 kg |
| valid, see van der Made et al. (2023) | ||
| Capreolus capreolus suessenbornensis | 11 | 22 kg browser |
| "Capreolus suessenbornensis": see Valli (2010) | ||
| †Hemitragus bonali | 2 | |
| Bovidae indet. | 133 | |
| Bos or Bison | ||
| †Equus steinheimensis | 366 | |
| possibly valid, see Boulbes and van Asperen (2019) | ||
| †Stephanorhinus hemitoechus | 12 | |