THE BEARS OF THE AZÉ 1 CAVE (AZÉ, Saône-et-Loire, France) AND THEIR EVOLUTION

International audienceBetween 1990 and 1994, excavations by R. Villeneuve in Azé 1 led to the discovery of a gallery parallel to the Azé 1 cave, the Galerie des Aiglons, as well as the complete skeletons of several bears in the gallery joining these two caves (Azé 1-6). It was possible to carry out a rather complete morphometric study of two of these bears, Bear N°2, a female, and an adjacent bear cub, despite the extensive concretion of the remains requiring painstaking removal which nevertheless could only be partial. As a result, an individual of Ursus spelaeus ladinicus was identified, the most recent bear species found at Azé 1. The dating remains imprecise, but based on the general evolution of the cavity, it lies between the end of isotopic stage OIS.6 and the upper limit of 14C-AMS (about 50 ka), at the latest, stage OIS.4. The bear from Azé which had previously provided a mtDNA analysis came from a group of remains in proximity to Bear N°2. This bear belongs to haplogroup A, as does the sequence of bears at Conturines (Italy) which is precisely Ursus spelaeus ladinicus