Dental microwear texture analysis of deer and large bovids from Combe Grenal (Dordogne, France): what does it tell us about Neandertal subsistence strategies?

International audienceLarge bovids and cervids constituted major components of the European Middle Paleolithic faunas, and hence a key resource for hominid populations. In paleoenvironmental reconstructions, red deer (Cervus elaphus) occurrence is considered as a tree-cover indicator while Bovinae (Bison priscus and Bos primigenius) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) occurrences are typically associated with open landscapes. However, insights into the ecology of extant ungulate populations attests of the relative ecological plasticity of these species, thus highlighting a reality that is much more complex. Exploring the feeding behavior of extinct ungulates constitutes a key to better apprehend the hunting strategies of past human populations as well as to characterize paleoenvironments and their variations through time. By reflecting what an animal has eaten during the last few days or weeks of its life, dental microwear textures of herbivores constitute a bridge between a population and its environment. Here we analyzed, via Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA), the diet of 59 Bos/Bison, 202 R. tarandus and 116 C. elaphus preyed by the Neanderthal populations that occupied Combe Grenal. Spanning MIS 6 to 3, this site is one of the most important Mousterian archaeo-sequences in southwestern France, characterized by an abundance of faunal remains (>12,000 remains) and ample variation in Paleolithic material culture.Results reveal that grazers and mixed-feeders are the most represented dietary categories for both large bovids and cervids along the sequence. These results shed light on the available resources and the structure of the vegetation in the habitats where these animals have been hunted, thus providing insights into Neanderthal hunting strategies at Combe Grenal during the period covered by this study. These results are discussed and compared with paleoenvironmental inferences already documented in the sequence for hunted prey and Neanderthal productions (lithic industries and pigment use)