Were human populations competing with carnivores along the Moroccan Atlantic coast during the Upper Pleistocene?

International audienceTaphonomic analyses of faunal remains from numerous Upper Pleistocene sites along the Moroccan Atlantic coast suggest that carnivores took a great part in the bone accumulations and modifications. The Grotte des Gazelles and Grotte des Félins near Casablanca and the sites of El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra located in the Témara region contain many mammal remains tooth-marked and/or semi-digested associated with carnivore remains and coprolites, but also with lithic industries. Why carnivores had such impact on faunal accumulations while the anthropogenic activities seem to have been sometimes anecdotic? What were the main carnivores in competition with humans for prey hunting and/or cave occupation? What were the modalities of niche partioning by the various predators and carrion eaters? Thanks to neotaphonomicreferentials and comparative analyses of some fossil assemblages, we aim to assess the taphonomic signatures of various possible carnivore agents. We will also test the hypothesis of climate and sea level shift influence on Moroccan Atlantic coastal occupations on a larger scale. Finally, we will compare our results on the Atlantic Moroccan carnivore occupations with some other data from Northwestern, Southern and Eastern Africa, in order to include them in the broader context of the African Upper Pleistocene