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The Fauna from Shanidar Cave : Mousterian wild goat exploitation

in Northeastern Iraq
Mary A. Evins

Citer ce document / Cite this document :

Evins Mary A. The Fauna from Shanidar Cave : Mousterian wild goat exploitation in Northeastern Iraq. In: Paléorient, 1982, vol.
8, n°1. pp. 37-58;

doi : https://doi.org/10.3406/paleo.1982.4308

https://www.persee.fr/doc/paleo_0153-9345_1982_num_8_1_4308

Fichier pdf généré le 24/04/2018

Abstract
Reports on the faunal remains from the fourth and final archeological season at Shanidar Cave in
northeastern Iraq were presented in 1964 by Dexter Perkins, Jr. However, the first three field seasons
at Shanidar produced more sizable faunal collections, which have not previously been published. The
following paper summarizes results of a study of the macrovertebrate assemblage from the important
Mousterian levels excavated between 1951 and 1957, during which time the full vertical sequence of
cave deposits was excavated. Wild goat was the primarily exploited ungulate at Mousterian Shanidar.
The age profile of goats comprising the archeological sample appears to represent a pattern of
catastrophic mortality.

Résumé
Des rapports sur la faune recueillie au cours de la quatrième et dernière campagne de fouille dans la
grotte de Shanidar, en Iraq, ont été publiés en 1964 par Dexter Perkins, Jr. Cependant, les collections,
plus importantes, provenant des trois premières campagnes, n'avaient pas été étudiées. Cet article
présente un résumé des résultats obtenus grâce à l'étude de la faune des importants niveaux
mousiériens fouillés entre 1951 et 1957, lorsque la séquence verticale des dépôts de la grotte fut
entièrement explorée. La chèvre sauvage représente l'ongulé le plus exploité au cours du moustérien à
Shanidar. La courbe des âges des chèvres, établie à partir de l'échantillon archéologique, semble
prouver un cas de mortalité catastrophique.
 PALEORIENT vol. 8/1 1982

THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE :

MOUSTERIAN WILD GOAT EXPLOITATION

IN NORTHEASTERN IRAQ

M.A. EV1NS

ABSTRACT.
presented
have
Mousterian
awas
pattern
thenotprimarily
previously
ofin levels
catastrophic
1964
- Reports
excavated
exploited
bybeen
Dexter
published.
mortality.
onungulate
between
the
Perkins,
faunal
The
at1951
Jr.Mousterian
remains
following
However,
and 1957,
from
paper
Shanidar.
theduring
thefirst
summarizes
fourth
The
three
which
age
and
field
time
profile
results
final
seasons
thearcheological
offullgoats
a atstudy
vertical
Shanidar
comprising
of sequence
season
the produced
macrovertebrate
the
at ofShanidar
archeological
cave
moredeposits
sizable
Cave
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sample
infaunal
was northeastern
excavated.
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thetoWild
Iraq
important
represent
which
were
goat

RÉSUMÉ. - Des rapports sur la faune recueillie au cours de la quatrième et dernière campagne de fouille dans la grotte de Shanidar, en
Iraq, ont été publiés en 1 964 par Dexter Perkins, Jr. Cependant, les collections, plus importantes, provenant des trois premières campagnes,
n'avaient pas été étudiées. Cet article présente un résumé des résultats obtenus grâce à l'étude de la faune des importants niveaux mousiériens
fouillés entre 1951 et 1957 lorsque la séquence verticale des dépôts de la grotte fut entièrement explorée. La chèvre sauvage représente l'ongulé
le plus exploité au cours du moustérien à Shanidar. La courbe des âges des chèvres, établie à partir de l'échantillon archéologique, semble
,

prouver un cas de mortalité catastrophique.

Shanidar Cave (36°50'N, 44°13'E) is located in the

northeastern corner of Iraq in the district of Erbil, с
1 5 km from the Iraqi-Turkish border (Fig. 1 ). Situated at
an elevation of 745 m in the Baradost range of the
Zagros Mountains, the site lies at the interface of the
vegetational and climatic systems designated the Zagros
high mountain zone and the Iraqi hill zone(l). The cave
is corroded with a south-facing limestone scarp 42 m
above the bed of a seasonal stream that drains into the
Greater Zab River, 2 km south (2).
Excavations were carried out at Shanidar Cave by
R.S. Solecki in four seasons between 1951 and 1960.
Detailed reports following each field season presented
the site's stratigraphy and artifacts (3). Of especial
interest from the Shanidar excavations, in the context of
hominid inventories from throughout southwest Asia,
were the partial remains of nine Neanderthal skeletons
studied by both T.D. Stewart and E. Trinkaus (4). Other
Shanidar Cave paleobioiogical materials studied have
been the animal bones, analyzed and published by D.
Perkins, Jr., from the fourth season of excavation (5).

* I would like to thank Richard G. Klein. Department of

Anthropology. University of Chicago, and Richard H. Vleadow. Department
of Anthropology. Harvard University, for their careful, critical readings
of earlier versions of this report.
(1) ZOHARY 1973.
(2) SOLECKI 1979
(3) SOLECKI 1952. 1953. 1955. I960. 1961.
(4) STEWART 1977; TRINKAUS 1977. 1978. FIG. 1. - Approximate locations of Zagros sites with Mousterian
(5) PERKINS 1964a. 1964b. deposits that have been tested or excavated.

37
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
Most of the Shanidar Cave animal bones however, from
the first three field seasons, have not been formally
reported. The faunal remains from those first three
seasons were divided in the field into different categories
of material for separate analysis. H.A. Rehder studied
the mollusks (6). A report on the microfauna is
cur ently being prepared for publication by B. Hesse. The study
that follows concerns the macrofauna.
The macrofaunal collection from the early Shanidar
excavations was offered to me for analysis by
C.A. Reed. From that collection I selected for
examination the bone from the cave's Mousterian deposits,
which was the subject of a previous paper (7). The
purpose of the present paper is to make available the
data and analyses from the previous report.
CULTURAL STRATIGRAPHY
AND UPPER PLEISTOCENE CONTEXT
The Shanidar cave deposits constitute a well-known
culture-stratigraphic sequence of five major layers A,
modern to neolithic; Bl , protoneolithic ; B2, Zarzian; C,
:
Baradostian; D, Mousterian. Mousterian material
dominates the cave deposits vertically, indicated by
homogeneous Typical Mousterian (8) from bedrock at 13.25 m
up to the zone of contact with the Baradostian levels,
above 5 m depth. Only the upper 5 of the cave's 13-plus
meters can be dated by radiocarbon. A series of fifteen
assays has resulted in a set of dates ranging from
<200BP (W-662) in layer A to 46,900 ±1500 (GrN-
2527) and 50,600 ± 3000 BP (GrN-1495) in the
uppermost strata of layer D. Over 8 m of additional
Mousterian material lie undated beneath the 5 m of modern
through Mousterian deposits dated to roughly
50,000 years.
A meaningful climatic and chronological framework
for interpretation of the lower 8 m of Mousterian
deposit is not possible because a sedimentological analysis
was never carried out at Shanidar Cave (9). Certain
subsidiary evidence was gathered-seven soil samples
collected intermittently through the cave were utilized
for pollen analysis; five samples were submitted for
trace element study (10)-but the studies did not provide
comprehensive results. An outside date of 100,000 years
BP was offered for the beginning of the cave's
occupation, but any understanding of the chronology or
climatic successions concurrent with the Mousterian
occupations at Shanidar must be inferred.
Inference might best be founded on accepted pa-
leoenvironmental reconstructions which date the three
major warm phases at the base of the Upper Pleistocene
to the span between 130,000 and 70,000 years BP(1 1).
(6) In EVINS 1981, appendix С
(7) EVINS 1981.
(8) SOLECKI 1971 265.
(9) Cf. FARRAND 1975; BUTZER 1981.
:
(10) SOLECKI and LEROI-GOURHAN 1961.
(11) BROECKER and VAN DONK 1970; McINTYRE and RUD-
DIMAN 1972; BUTZER 1975; WOILLARD 1978.
38
Varying interpretations include all or only one or two
of the basal Upper Pleistocene warm phases in
definitions of the Last Interglacial (12), the issue concerning
which is relevant to the extent that the range of the Last
Interglacial affects the placement of the beginning of the
Last Glacial, which in turn is usually correlated with
the wide visibility of Mousterians. The issue has been
particularly confused by the dates variously assigned to
the third main warm phase (the Odderade of
northwestern Europe). Nevertheless, based on the best
available information to date, either 90/95,000 or 70/75,000
can be seen as a reasonable terminus point for basal
Mousterian at Shanidar.
With the upper levels of layer D dated by
radiocarbon to с 46,000 years BP, the suggested ranges then are
46-90/95,000 (50,000 years) or 46-70/75,000 (30,000
years). The short chronology might be considered more
acceptable for several reasons that are founded in
refinements of the dating of the Odderade and in examination
of the Shanidar site sections for probable rates of
sedimentation and because few Mousterian sites have been
identified beyond 75,000 years (13).
SORTING AND COUNTING OF THE FAUNAL
MATERIAL
In line with the excavation strategy at Shanidar Cave
of digging arbitrary levels or spits of 6 in. (15 cm) in
seasons I and II and 25 cm in season HI, I chose to
examine the fauna in horizontal units of с 1 m depth.
There exist 7.5 meters of unquestionably Mousterian
deposit in the cave, from c. 5.75 m below datum to
bedrock at с 13.25 m. All the macrofaunal material
from all the excavation units between those depths were
studied. The excavation units from the three seasons
were grouped together as precisely as possible into a
vertical series of 7 horizontal study units of
ap roximately 1 m each, or, for the uppermost and lowermost
units, approximately 1 .25 m each.
Above the 5.75 m depth level of cave deposit, other
Mousterian horizons were excavated-of perhaps as
much as 1.5 m in places-but it was not always possible
to distinguish between excavation units from
Mousterian pockets and those from Baradostian or Mousterian-
Baradostian mixed deposits at 4.25-5.75 m. Therefore,
in order to completely bypass the problem of mixture
and to assure that the faunal material studied derived
only from Mousterian contexts, I chose to exclude the
4.25-5.75 m zone from this study sample, even though
some of the excavation units from that zone were
purely Mousterian in content.
The Mousterian sample studied here, then, is the
macrofaunal bone from seasons I -1 1 1 at Shanidar Cave,
from all deposits beginning at the depth of 5.75 m and
terminating at bedrock, at с 13.25 m.
(12) WOILLARD 1978 14.
(13) TRINKAUS and HOWELLS 1979.
:

The macrofaunal bone is now in Field Museum of
Natural History in Chicago where my study principally
took place. In the field, the faunal remains had been
designated as either identifiable or unidentifiable bone,
and all material considered to be unidentifiable had been
discarded. All the other bone, thought to be taxonomi-
cally "identifiable", had been saved for study, and every
piece-including every tiny "identifiable" bone
fragment-was individually labeled with a field
catalogue number before shipment from Iraq. Because the
collection had been sorted in such a manner and each
bone so carefully labeled, I decided to treat each
specimen as identifiable and not separate bone fragments into
further piles of unexamined "unidentifiable" bone.
Consequently, all bones labeled with catalogue numbers
in the field were given individual specimen numbers by
me in the laboratory. Even pieces I later classified as
Unidentified Bone were given specimen numbers.
The exceptions to this procedure were those few
instances when a bone was not labeled with a field
number. When I began my study, bones from different
excavation units, layers, and even different sites were
frequently found mixed together in the same boxes,
with misleading paper tags included. In order to re-sort
the collection, I adhered strictly to the field catalogue
information recorded on each faunal specimen. Since
almost all pieces had been well labeled in the field,
properly placing them into their original provenience
units was not difficult. Those few pieces that were
unlabeled were removed from the stratified Shanidar
Cave material, were boxed as "unprovenienced" bone,
and were not identified or analyzed. (Those unlabeled
pieces that were obviously broken parts of labeled, pro-
venienced bones were glued to their original bone and
the joined fragments were considered as a single
specimen.)
Each provenienced bone or bone fragment was
identified to the lowest possible taxonomie level. As a
convention for sorting and identifying, ribs, vertebrae
(not including atlas and axis), and fragmentary cranial
pieces (including small mandibular fragments without
teeth and posterior mandibular pieces-from angle of
mandible to coronoid and condylar processes) that were
taxonomically diagnostic to the level of order but not to
species were separated into such categories as Large
Artiodactyl, Medium Artiodactyl, Small Carnivore, etc.
Of necessity, extremely fragmentary pieces of other
elements were also placed in these categories when genus
could not be ascertained but when order was evident.
All other unidentifiable mammalian bone and teeth,
usually very fragmented, were counted, weighed, and
grouped as Large, Medium, or Small Mammal.
Fragments that could not be identified to class were counted
as Unidentified Bone.
Relative frequencies of species were estimated based
on counts of minimum number of individuals (MNI) for
each taxon. MNI counts are considered convenient
comparative measures of archeological bone and are in
no way suggestive of actual numbers of individual
animals present. Final minimum number counts reflect the
most commonly occurring left or right body part, such
39
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
as distal humérus, intermediate carpal, or M(, in each
species category. In cases where separation into lefts
and rights was not sufficient for calculating MNI for
that element, as for third phalanges, totals were divided
by a number appropriate for the body part and the
species. In those situations, no attempt was made to
match comparably sized parts and thus to raise the
minimum counts. For example, 4 very different-sized
goat left third phalanges were still divided by 4, giving a
goat MNI of 1 The tallies represent strictly
mathematical addition and appropriate-element-number division.
.
Fused and unfused epiphyses, however, of
homologous bones of any species were assumed to come from
different individuals, and thus the MNI count for any
one element is a number that represents the sum of the
maximum number of fused lefts or rights plus the
maximum number of unfused lefts or rights of that
element. The same principle was involved when
calculating MNI based on teeth. The most commonly
occurring left or right, upper or lower tooth constituted
the MNI count for a species. And in the case of goat/
sheep, erupted M3's (and P4's of course) were assumed
to come from different individuals than dP4's(14).
THE MOUSTERIAN MACROFAUNAL
COLLECTION
The macrovertebrate species identified from the
Mousterian levels and the final counts by which each
taxon is represented at each level are presented in
Table 1 Body parts constituting the skeletal remains of
each species are detailed in Tables 2-6. Table 7
.
summarizes the osteometric data derived from measurements
made on many of the bone specimens.
Measurements made on the ulnar carpal and fused
proximal radius specimens of Shanidar wolf (Canis
lupus) were compared to those made on homologous
skeletal elements of modern wolf and jackal (Canis
aureus) from Iraq and Iran in Field Museum. Certainly
outside of the jackal ranges, both Shanidar specimens lie
at the extreme upper ends of the size ranges of the
present-day wolf populations measured. No comment
can be made about the size range of Pleistocene Zagros
wolves, however, with only one specimen in each
element category.
Turnbull(15) has documented size reduction of red
fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Iraq from terminal Pleistocene to
the present using archeological faunal collections from
Palegawra (large) and Jarmo (smaller) and modern
specimens from Iraq (smallest). Turnbull's
measurements, however, were made on complete tooth rows,
and no such complete mandibular or maxillary denti-
(14) The tables in SILVER 1969 297-8. as well as my study of
caprine dentitions at Field Museum, were taken as bases for this
•.
assumption.
(15) TLRNBULL in press, table 41.
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
TABLE 1
Number of bones Iminimum number of individuals by which the various taxa are represented in the Mousterian levels of Shanidar Cave.
Mousterian levels
13.25-12 11-12 10-11 9-10 8-9 7-8 5.75-7m Totals
Canis lupus, wolf - - - - 2/1 - 2/1
Vulpes vulpes, red fox - - 1/1 - 42/2 4/1 1/1 48/5
Pulpes sp. red/sand/Blanford s fox — — — — 1/1 — — 1/1
Ursus arctos, brown bear — - — — 3/1 1/1 1/1 5/3
,

'
Carnivora — general
small - - - - - 5/1 - 5/1
medium - - - - 1/1 - - 1/1
Sus scrofa, wild boar 1/1 - 1/1 - 1/1 3/1 2/1 8/5
Cervus elaphus, red deer - - - 1/1 - 3/1 2/1 6/3
Capreolus capreolus , roe deer .... — — — 3/2 — — — 3/2
Cf. Bos primigenius , aurochs — — — — 1/1 — — 1/1
Gazella subgutturosa , goitered qazelle — — — 1/1 — — — 1/1
Capra aegagrus, wild goat 2/1 - 1/1 5/1 11/2 32/5 14/3 65/13

•
Ovis arnmon orientalis , wild sheep . . — — — 1/1 — — 1/1 2/2
Capra/Ovis, qoat/sheep 16/ L 8/1 24/2 115/9 180/10 564/25 150/7 1,057/55
Artiodactyla — general
medium - - 3/1 2/1 3/1 30/6 14/2 52/11
large - - - 3/1 - 1/1 2/1 6/3
Mammalia — aeneral
small - - 1/1 - - 2/1 - 3/2
medium - - - 1/1 3/1 37/2 33/1 74/5
large - - - - - 1/1 - 1/1
Testudo graeca, tortoise 7/1 2/1 7/2 18/2 15/2 60/6 57/2 166/16
Unidentified - - - - 1/1 3/1 - 4/2

TABLE 2
Number of bones I minimum number of individuals per skeletal element for the carnivores in the various Mousterian levels of Shanidar Cave.
Layers not listed are ones in which no carnivore remains occurred. Skeletal elements not listed are ones that do not occur in any level.
Brown bear
8-9 7-8 5.75-7m 8-9m 8-9 7-8 5.75-7m
i

Braincase fragments 1/1

Maxillary dentition 3/1
Mandibular dentition 1/1 6/1
Axis 1/1
Other vertebrae . . 9/1
Ribs 2/1
Scapula 1/1
Humérus 2/1
Radius 2/1
Ulna 3/2
Carpus
Femur 1/1
Tibia 1/1 1/1
: j ,

Calcaneum 1/1
Metapodia 5/1 1/1 1/1 1/1
Phalanges 6/1 1/1
!

* Small carnivore
t Medium carnivore

TABLE 3
Number of bones /minimum number of individuals per skeletal element for boar, deer, aurochs, and gazelle in the various Mousterian levels of
Shanidar Cave.
Lavers not listed are ones in which no suid, cervid, bovine, or antilopine remains occurred. Skeletal elements not listed are ones that do not occur in any
level.
Red deer
13.25-12 10-11 9-10 7-8 5.75-7m
1

Upper 2/2
Incisorspremolars 2/1 1/1
. . 1/1
Lower premolars 1/1
.

Lower molars - - 1/1

Indeterminate me 1/1
1/1 -
Metatarsus 1/1
.
.

40

tions were available in the Shanidar collection which
could be compared. Therefore, sets of measurements
were taken of postcranial elements of Iraqi and Iranian
fox specimens in Field Museum for comparison with
measurements made on complete skeletal elements
represented twice in the excavated sample-calcaneum,
ulna, and distal tibia. As in the case of wolf, the
individuals in each element category are at the upper end of
the present-day ranges, but the archeological examples
are too few in number with respect to the populations
from which they were derived to attribute the size
differences to any cause other than chance.
Nevertheles , all of the red fox specimens in the Upper
Pleistocene deposit, measured and unmeasured, are
qualitatively more robust than the entire collection of modern
comparatives, and a size difference of some sort is
implicit.
The one exception is a Shanidar fox specimen, a
fused calcaneum, that is markedly smaller than the
other Shanidar example and most of the modern
comparatives, and the possibility exists that it is not red fox
but is another species, a possibility that calls for
consideration especially in view of the generally larger
Pleistocene variety of red fox. Other species of fox known
from Iraq and Iran are sand fox (Vulpes ruppelli) and
Blanford's fox (Vulpes сапа), both of which are little
foxes. Of those, only one sand fox specimen is available
at Field Museum for measurement. For all elements, the
sand fox individual is smaller than the red fox
comparatives, but again, without additional examples its range
of size variability cannot be ascertained. In the cases of
the calcaneum and ulna measurements, the lowermost
ranges of modern red fox are very close to those of sand
fox.
Kurtén (16) notes the great variability in size of living
brown bear (Ursus arctos) populations and the
significant sexual dimorphism within any population. The
brown bear M2 from Shanidar measures among the
larger of the Near Eastern species from the early Upper
Pleistocene but still smaller than most of the Pleistocene
brown bear of Europe, if the single molar specimen
were to be compared to Kurtén's data. Once again,
however, the small sample precludes its being taken as
representative of the population from which it was
derived, particularly since size ranges of brown bear are
known to be so variable.
For all the carnivores, only one bone-a brown bear
first phalanx-is an unfused specimen.
As described earlier, loose ribs and vertebrae were
classified only to taxonomie order. All the elements
designated Small Carnivore are probably from red fox.
I was unable to identify the species of one proximal
first phalanx even though the bone is probably species
diagnostic. The size range is about that of wolf to small
bear, and the proximal morphology is distinctive-not
squared off like canids nor ovoid like ursids. Various
felids were examined but none was appropriate.
Therefore, the bone was designated Medium Carnivore.
(16) KURTÉN 1965.
41
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
One of the few species represented in the bottommost
cave deposits, wild boar (Sus scrofa) appears to have
been a regular dietary component. Present not only at
Shanidar, boar is also found in the faunas of Zagros
Mousterian assemblages from Bisitun, Warwasi, and
Tamtama, although not at Hazar Merd(17). Of the suid
specimens at Shanidar, all postcranials are fused.
Unfortunately the three molar specimens cannot be used for
size comparison with Flannery's (18) pig data because
they are too fragmentary to measure or to fully identify.
Wear on the teeth is minimal; all specimens are newly
erupted, from young adult individuals. None of the
postcranial bones exhibits indications of butchering or
burning.
Compared to both red deer (Cervus elaphus) and
Persian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica), the large cer-
vid remains were all referred to the species red deer,
based on size of the archeological specimens. Red deer
constituted the major ungulate species in the faunas of
Bisitun and Tamtama. Other faunas with red deer
components but in much lower percentages include those
from Hazar Merd; Palegawra(19); Asiab, Sarab, and
the other Kermanshah Valley sites (20); Jarmo, Karim
Shahir, and Matarrah (2 1 ). Small samples of red deer
turn up at most sites throughout the Zagros range, but
only rarely is the species the major vertebrate staple. In
the Shanidar collection, neither the fused, partial
proximal first phalanx nor the five isolated teeth were
appropriate for measurement. None was affected by fire or
cutting tools.
Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is rarely found in
southwest Asian archeological sites. A few specimens
were found at Jarmo. Bókónyi (22) identified only one
proximal metacarpal of roe deer in all of the material
from the Kermanshah Valley (at Sarab). Bókónyi refers
to Suberde, Can Hasan III, and Shanidar as the only
other sites with roe deer components. Bókónyfs
reference to Shanidar cites Perkins 1964b. Although Perkins
in that article (23) placed roe deer on the list of identified
species, his 1964a paper (24) stated that "no identifiable
Roe Deer remains were recovered, but it is possible that
some long bone fragments are included in the Ovis/
Capra sample." The specimens recovered among the
fauna from the first through third seasons confirm the
presence of roe deer at Shanidar.
The roe deer P2 was measured (Table 7), but the
other teeth are deciduous and were not measured. No
pieces exhibit butchering or burning.
Only one bone, an incisor, may have derived from
wild ox (Bos primigenius). It is not possible that the
incisor is cervid; the morphology is completely inappro-
(17) BATE 1930a; COON 1951 TLRNBULL 1975.
(18) FLANNERY 1961.
:
(19) TLRNBULL and REED 1974.
(20) BÓKÓNYI 1977.
(21) STAV1PFLI in press.
(22) BÔKÔNYI 1977 29.
(23) PERKINS 1964b: 1565.
:
(24) PERKINS 1964a: 568.
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
priate. Nor is it probable that the tooth derives from
large wild goat; the size is too great, and the
morphology of the incisor is not caprine. Aurochs is the best
suggestion, but it is difficult to verify the presence of a
species on the basis of one incisor. The Palegawra
aurochs were available for comparison but there are no
incisors in that collection. Other species of cattle
supported the identification.
A fused, complete second phalanx is the only bone
clearly attributable to goitered gazelle (Gazella subguttu-
rosa). The small second phalanx is morphologically bo-
vid and cannot be referred to roe deer. Gazelle was not
found in Perkins's fourth season sample, and there was
support for the idea that Shanidar at 745 m was not
properly positioned for plains hunting. Lay's (25)
observations of gazelle distribution through many Zagros
mountain valleys suggest other possibilities. Gazelles are
reported from Zagros archeological sites at significantly
higher altitudes than Shanidar: Palegawra at 990m;
Hazar Merd at 1,200 m-, Bisitun at 1,300 m; Tamtama
at 1 ,500 m. Clearly gazelle was not a major economic
resource at Shanidar, but limited hunting of the species
in neighboring valley bottoms was an occasional
possibility.
16 18 2G 22 24 26 2B 30 32 34 36 mm
Greatest length of the peripheral (obaxial) half
FIG. 2. - Medium bovid fused second phalanges from the Mouste-
rian levels of Shanidar Cave.
The measured specimen represented on the lower left is gazelle: all
other specimens are goat/sheep. (Measurements after VON DEN
DRIESCH 1976 96-7)
:
Although the one second phalanx is the only firm
1.
indication of the species, it is not impossible that a very
few of the extremely fragmented postcranial bones or
smallest teeth (deciduous incisors or worn M,'s)
classified goat/ sheep may be instead from gazelle.
Wild sheep (Ovis ammon orientally) is identified on
the basis of two specimens-a fused third phalanx and
an unfused distal metapodial condyle. Neither bone
shows evidence of being affected by fire or butchering.
The topic of wild sheep introduces a major result of
this study-that wild goat (Capra aegagrus) was the
primary animal hunted at Shanidar and that sheep was
relatively unimportant, either because the latter species
(25) LAY 1965 70. 225.
:
42
was not culturally selected for or because it was not
locally available in great numbers. The 2 sheep
specimens are contrasted to the 65 specimens of goat
(Tables 1 and 4) (26).
Among the elements classified wild goat, seven
pieces (1 1 % ) are calcined, carbonized, or otherwise affected
by fire. One element (distal humérus) (2 % ) was cut by
a butchering tool ; two other elements (distal metapodial,
ulnar carpal) (3 %) exhibit possible butchering marks.
Fusion data are summarized in table 10.
The most important information to be derived from
the specimens of the eight skeletal elements constituting
the wild goat category and from the specimens of the
composite goat/sheep category is (1) that the Shanidar
goat remains were derived from a wild goat population
with great variability in size; (2) that despite extremes,
which are dramatic in size and which influence an
understanding of the population as a whole, most of the
individuals in the archeological sample are moderately
sized; (3) but that there exist individual goat specimens
of such extreme size that they reach very near the
measurement ranges of cattle or large deer and they
affect the archeological goat sample statistically in such
a way that makes the sample appear to have abnormal
variability for a single population.
The above points are illustrated in figure 4, which
plots the measurable specimens of the four most
commonly occurring goat skeletal elements-third phalanx,
distal metapodial, and the ulnar and intermediate car-
pals. Clustering of moderately sized individuals in the
smaller range of sizes is visible in most of the scatters,
particularly for specimens of the third phalanx and the
intermediate carpal. Although there is a continuum, of
sorts, of single individuals approaching the individual of
greatest size, there is also a "bottomheaviness" created
by smaller individuals. And this bottomheaviness can be
supplemented, particularly in the case of the third
phalanges. (Eight additional goat third phalanges exist that
were too broken to measure and that should be
(26) Identification of and differentiation between sheep and goat
were made using 8 caprine skeletal elements and associated characters
Third phalanx slipper shaped vs. elongated-triangle shaped
:
morphology of the plantar surface.
2. Distal metapodial metric ratio derived by dividing the
measurement of the base of the smaller, lateral condyle by the measurement of
:
the rim of the larger, medial condyle. Values of 63 % or above indicate
sheep; below 63 %, goat.
3. Calcaneum form of its facet for articulation with the astragalus.
4. Ulnar carpal almost square facet for articulation with the
: :
intermediate carpal vs. thin, rectangular facet.
5. Intermediate carpal short, squat facet for articulation with the
ulnar carpal vs. very long, thin facet.
:
6 Distal humérus; morphology of the medial epicondyle.
7. Petrous temporal morphology of the medial surface.
8. Horn core length of extension of the cornual sinus cavity.
:
Several other diagnostic elements can also be used for distinguishing
:
sheep from goat bones, but those elements either did not exist in this
collection, were too fragmentary to be used, or were qualitatively
unemployable. Thus, the categories wild sheep and wild goat are made
up of 8 body parts only. The composite category goat/ sheep is
comprised of all other caprine body parts (except those assigned to Medium
Artiodactyl) plus a very few of the 8 diagnostic elements that were too
fragmented for generic differentiation.
 THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
TABLE 4
\umber of bones /minimum number of individuals per skeletal element for goat and sheep in the various Mousterian levels of Shanidar Cave.
Lavers not listed are ones in which no caprine remains occurred. Skeletal elements not listed are ones that do not occur in anv level.

3.2Í-12 1>!2
l

68 69 %
Sheep
FIG. 3. - Shanidar Cave goats and sheep represented by measurements of the smallest diameter of the lateral condyles (m) of distal metapodia
and greatest diameter of the medial condyles (n) expressed as percentages (m In).
When m is less than 63 % of n, the metapodial is considered to have come from goat; when m is more than 63 % of n, sheep (HOLE. FLANNERY
and NEELY 1969 271-2).
:

represented mostly in the lower left-hand corner of the
scatter). It is not possible to make supportable
statements about the sex of the population since no well-
preserved skeletal index of sex is available in any
number upon which to base conclusions, but the tendency
toward homogeneity among small-sized individuals in
the scatters could suggest that those clusters refer to
females in the population.
The largest specimens of goat third phalanx were
intact enough to measure and are good examples of the
extreme sizes of goat within this assemblage. The two
third phalanges between 46 and 49 mm in length are
unusually large phalanges. And yet another specimen is
even larger, 53.7 mm, which clearly approaches the
range of larger ungulates. Generally, however, the cases
of singularly large goat specimens in the Shanidar
collection are difficult to cite because they do not occur in
large numbers and because they are frequently broken
and thus are not represented among the measured
examples. Also, they are found quite often among the
undifferentiated caprine elements and consequently have
been categorized goat/ sheep. I have not used size as an
indicator of genus, even for the limited number of
extremely large specimens called goat/ sheep, but I
assume that these largest specimens derive from large
male goats in every instance. The variability in size
evident within the Shanidar goat population is
interesting to document but is not unpredictable since great
sexual dimorphism in weight and stature is
characteristic of present-day (or recent historic) wild goats,
especially so among populations in the Zagros-Taurus
region, where fully grown males are reported 30 % to
60 %, or more, taller at the shoulder than females (27).
After arriving at an understanding of the material
classified strictly as goat, the next concern is to evaluate
the extent to which the composite goat/ sheep category
is constituted more by goat than sheep. One avenue
toward understanding is to compare the strictly goat
scatters in figure 4 with the distributions of composite
goat/ sheep elements in figures 2 and 5. The scatters of
specimens in both categories tend to reflect the same
general pattern-of greater numbers of moderately sized
individuals and singular, outstanding specimens of
unusually great size.
(27) COUTURIER 1962 625.
:

43
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
Third Phalanx
14
о о
■оо «с
пS .22 Ю-
25
® SBAS
Iсо
— г — г и — — г т~ —' — —
32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 mm

1
1
i

i
1
i

(Greatest) diagonal length of the sole

Distal Metapodial, Fused
14 -

• •£ 13-
• Wild goat
H
"° _ 12-H ©Wild sheep

со
IO~

18 19 20 21 22 23 mm
(Greatest) diameter of medial condyle
Ulnar Carpal
20-
Depth
19

18-
ÛQ.Ф
17 Length
16-

15-

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 mm
Length
Intermediate Carpal
: 12-
Greatest Smallest
~ length length
to I H
15
16 17 18 19 mm
Greatest length
FIG. 4. - Ranges of size variability of archeological goat and sheep specimens from the Mousterian levels of Shanidar Cave.
(Third phalanx DLS measurement after VON DEN DRIESCH 1976 101 distal metapodial measurements after HOLE, FLANNERY and NEELY
1969 271)
:
: ;

44
 THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE

But among the goat/sheep specimens, are there
distinctive morphological differences that would divide the
material into two separate populations ?
The skeletal element that calls for further
examination is the first phalanx. The subjective "loose" (sheep)
vs. "tight" (goat) fit of the sagittal groove of the
proximal extremity does not hold true for the Shanidar
material, which seems to represent an inverted situation.
Most of the caprine first phalanx specimens in the
collection are goat and most of the proximal first
phalanges are heavy, cumbersome, and bulbar. Smaller
phalanges are more delicate and more precise in
appearance, but their overall proximal morphology is that of
the larger phalanges. A case cannot be made for the fit
of the proximal extremity's being dense, compact, and
tight.
There are, however, two exceptions. At least two
proximal first phalanges look somewhat different from
the others. They are well formed and "tight" with a
marked flange on the peripheral side of the plantar
surface. Insofar as the phalanges are different from all
the other specimens, they may possibly derive from
sheep. They are the smallest two of the proximal first
phalanges represented in the upper scatter of figure 5.
Proximal End, Fused
22-,
20-
f 18-
.0 16-
■Z
.:' * Goat/sheep and particularly goat are probably the
ř 14-
12-
Similarly, at least two distal first phalanges may
differ in appearance from most of the other caprine
distal first phalanges. These two specimens are among
the very smallest in the lower figure 5 cluster.
Table 1 suggests that the sheep to goat ratio may be
as much as 1 to 6 or 7, based on the MNI count.
Number of bones in the collection produces about a 1
to 33 relationship. Ascertaining the precise percentage is
not possible of course, but clearly sheep are very poorly
represented in the caprine assemblage. After handling
the collection, I would suggest that sheep are included
in much smaller numbers than the MNI calculations
indicate. Wild goat was by far the most hunted ungulate
at Mousterian Shanidar and was the primary meat
staple. In each of the goat/ sheep scatter diagrams, the
largest points probably refer to large male goat, but
most of the smaller points probably refer to goat as
well.
For the generic category goat/sheep, the minimum
number for individuals estimate of 55 is based on teeth.
Using postcranial elements only, the MNI count would
be 18. See table 4 for a breakdown of caprine MNI
counts by body part and table 10 for postcranial fusion
data.
Twenty-three bones (2 %) of the goat/ sheep sample
have been burned-especially phalanges, carpals, tarsals,
and distal metapodia. Other elements burned include
ulna, scapula, mandible, and teeth. Fifteen pieces (1 %)
exhibit possible butchering marks. Those possibly
marked are first and second phalanx, astragalus, fourth
carpal, distal tibia, ilium, and mandible.
Goat, sheep, gazelle, and roe deer are the genera
subsumed by the classification Medium Artiodactyl.
major taxa represented.
One vertebra (2 %) is burned; one vertebra (2 %)
has butchering marks one vertebra (additional 2 % ) has
possible butchering marks. Thirteen vertebral fragments
;

10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 mm
Depth are un fused.
Wild boar, aurochs, red deer, and large wild goat are
the main genera constituting the composite category
Distal End Large Artiodactyl. Very Large Artiodactyls were being
22 harvested at Shanidar, although some genera only
infrequently.
,

No bones of Large Artiodactyl are unfused.

Mammalian bone fragments that could not be
identified to taxonomie order were grouped into class
categories on the basis of size, as either Small, Medium, or
Large Mammal. As Table 1 indicates, only Medium
• 14- Mammal contains a large amount of bone. The size of
Bd animal considered to be in the category Medium
Mammal ranges from goat through roe deer and can include
Dd carnivores such as wolf and most of the larger cats.
12 14 16 18 Most Medium Mammal fragments, however, probably
(plontor view) derive from the caprines, particularly wild goat.
(Greatest) depth
FIG. 5. - Measured first phalanges of goat /sheep from the Ylous- Five pieces (7 % ) of Medium Mammal bone have
terian levels of Shanidar Cave. been affected by fire. The Large Mammal bone and
(Proximal end measurements after VON DEN DRIESCH 1976 97). eleven pieces of Medium Mammal bone are unfused.
.-

45
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
TABLE 5
Number of bones I minimum number of individuals per skeletal element for medium and large artiodactyls in the various Mousterian levels of Shanidar
Cave.
Layers not listed are ones in which no remains classified only as medium or large artiodactyl occurred. Only the skeletal elements listed were given
these taxonomie designations.

Medium artiodactyl Large artiodactyl

10-11 9-10 8-9 7-8 5.75-7m 9-10 7-8 5.75-7m
Skull 1/1
Mandible . . . 1/1 17/6 5/2
Vertebrae . . . 3/1 2/1 1/1 10/1 9/2 1/1 1/1
Ribs 3/1 1/1
Sesamoids . . - 3/1

TABLE 6
Number of bones I minimum number of individuals per skeletal element for tortoise in the various Mousterian levels of Shanidar Cave.
Skeletal elements not listed are ones that do not occur in any level.
13.25-12 11-12 10-11 9-10 j. 75-7m Total
Exoskeleton
Carapace 1/1 1/1 /2 8/1 4/1 26/3 30/1 73/10
Plastron 5/1 - 2 /1 9/2 6/2 10/3 6/2 3 8/11
Indeterminate shell 1/1 1/1 2 /1 1/1 2/1 4/1 12/1 23/7
Endoskeleton
Scapula-precoracoid 2/1 4/3 6/4
Coracoid 1/1 1/1 2/2
Humérus 8/6 3/2 11/8
Radius 1/1 - 1/1
Ulna 1/1 - 1/1
Ilium 1/1 1/1 2/2
Femur 1/1 2/2 3/3
Tibia 3/2 2/2 5/4
Indeterminate lonqbone 1/1 _ 1/1

No other vertebrates except land tortoise (Testudo
graeca) and the caprines were represented in every level
of Mousterian deposit at Shanidar. The continuous
occurrence of tortoise, as well as its frequency relative to
the other species in the faunal sample, clearly indicate
that tortoise was a regular part of the food cycle.
Twelve pieces of exoskeleton (14 %) were burned, a fact
which may suggest in-shell roasting and which
therefore could support the dietary implications. All
endoskeletal bone is fused ; several exoskeletal plates are
unfused, but the shell was not examined specifically for
fusion.
Reed reported that Iberian tortoise (Testudo graeca
ibera) is the only tortoise today in the mountain zone in
the Erbil district of Iraq (28). He was responsible for
collecting individuals from 500 to 1 ,600 m (tree line)
and above. One specimen was collected at 1 ,785 m, and
the species is thought to live at even higher altitudes,
particularly where there are grass-covered areas.
Anderson indicates that Iberian tortoise is found
throughout the Zagros Mountains of Iran (29). Reed, on
(28) REED and MARX 1959 16.
the other hand, noted that although the species has an
extensive vertical range, its horizontal range may be
limited. Reed's collecting area was confined, but
nevertheless no specimens were seen in western Sulaima-
niyah or eastern Kirkuk districts. Land tortoise has been
found extensively in archeological sites of terminal
Pleistocene to Holocene age, but no such remains were
found in the Mousterian deposits at Hazar Merd, Bisi-
tun, Tamtama, or Warwasi (30). Local availability may
be the chief factor that defines its use. At
end-Pleistocene sites, tortoise was utilized at Zarzi (3 1 ), but not at
Palegawra(32). The latter site is within the zone where
no tortoises are found today ; the former is not.
Vertebrate specimens not attributable to genus,
order, or class were assigned to Unidentified Bone, some
pieces of which may be identifiable and may be other
than mammalian.
One bone is burned and one bone is unfused.
(30) BATE 1930b, COON 1951 TL'RNBULL 1975.
(31) BATE 1930b.
;

(29) ANDERSON 1974. (32) TLRNBULL and REED 1974.

46
 TABLE 7
Summary of measurements made on bone specimens from the \lousterian levels of Shanidar Cave.
All bones measured were either fused or, in the cases of elements with no epiphyseal closure, compact enough to suggest that they did not derive from
immature animals.
Bone Measurement N Range (mm) ~x s
Goat/Sheep
Upper M3 *Breadth, at base of crown 33 12.4-19.0 14.9 1.4
*Length, at base of crown 30 16.7-[22.5] 20.0 1.3
Lower M3 *Breadth, at base of crown 57 7.6-11.7 9.3 0.9
*Length, at base of crown 17 21.2-29.2 24.5 2.1
Mandible Height of mandible in front of M ,
measured on buccal side 3 20.5-20.9 20.7 0.2
Height of mandible in front of p ,
measured on buccal side 3 14.7-16.8 15.6 1.1
Length of premolar row, measured
along alveoli on buccal side 4 [23.8]-[26.2] 25.1 1.0
Scapula Breadth of glenoid cavity 1 24.0
Greatest length of glenoid process 1 34.5
Radius (Greatest) breadth of proximal end 2 32.9, 37.3
Second S third carpal Greatest breadth 9 17.1-21.9 19.0 2.0
Fourth carpal Greatest breadth 3 14.6-19.0 17.5 2.5
Greatest depth 3 17.3-21.9 19.2 2.4
Metacarpal (Greatest)breadth
breadth of proximal end 43 26.0-30.4 28.0 1.8
Patella Greatest 25.8-[29.7] 28.4 2.2
Greatest length 1 [38.1]
Lateral malleolus Greatest depth 1 16.5
Astragalus (Greatest) breadth of distal end 10 21.3-23.9 22.3 0.9
(Greatest) depth of lateral half 8 17.4-19.9 18.5 1.0
(Greatest) depth of medial half 8 18.2-21.7 19.8 1.1
Greatest length of lateral half 7 32.5-35.7 33.7 1.1
Greatest length of medial half 8 29.4-33.7 32.1 1.4
Central s fourth tarsal Greatest breadth 3 26.3-28.8 27.8 1.3
First phalanx (Greatest) breadth of proximal end 20 [11.71-19.9 15.6 2.3
Depth of proximal end 20 14.5-20.9 17.7 1.9
(Greatest) breadth of distal end 37 [12 .21-20.3 14.8 2.0
(Greatest) depth of distal end 33 11.0-17.5 13.1 1.6
Second phalanx (Greatest) breadth of proximal end 24 12.1-18.0 14.4 1.6
Greatest length of peripheral half 23 24.8-34.0 28.4 1.9
Wild goat
Intermediate carpal Greatest length 9 15.4-18.3 16.5 1.1
Smallest length 9 11.1-12.2 11.6 0.4
Ulnar carpal Depth 6 15.1-19.8 16.9 1.7
Length 6 16.4-21.1 18.7 1.9
Calcaneum Greatest breadth 1 23.4
Metapodial (Greatest) breadth of distal end 6 29.3-35.2 32.4 2.1
f (Smallest) diameter of lateral
condyle 11 10.7-14.1 12.1 1.0
t (Greatest) diameter of medial
condyle 11 18.0-22.7 20.4 1.4
Third phalanx (Greatest) diagonal length of sole 10 32.6-53.7 40.6 7.2
Smallest breadth of articulation
surface
Wild sheep
Third phalanx (Greatest) diagonal length of sole 1 32.4
Smallest breadth of articulation
surface 1 8.6
Goi tered gazelle
Second phalanx (Greatest) breadth of proximal end 1 10.0
Greatest length of peripheral half 1 18.0
Roe deer
Upper P2 Breadth 1 8.2
Length 1 10.2
Wol ç
Radius (Greatest) breadth of proximal end 1 24.3
Depth of proximal end 1 16.3
Ulnar carpal Greatest breadth 1 24.6
Greatest depth 1 15.6
Red fox
Ulna Depth from trochlear notch 2 9.8, 10.8
Smallest depth of olecranon 2 14.2, 14.6
Tibia (Greatest) breadth of distal end 2 [15.5] , 15.7
(Greatest) depth of distal end 2 [10.51 11.6
Calcaneum Greatest breadth 1 12.4
,

Greatest lenath 1 32.8

Red/Sand/ Blan ford' s fox
Calcaneum Greatest breadth 1 9.4
Greatest length 1 [24.5
Brown bear
Lower M2 Ereadth 15.5
Lenqth 1 25.9
Note: Measurements were made following the standardized formats detailed by VON DEN DRIESCH
'1Э76) unless a preceding cyirbol indicates otherwise.
* Measurements after R.G. KLEIN l;;ers. corar .)
t Measurements after HOLE, FLANNERY AND MEELY (19?9:271)
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
RELATIVE FREQUENCIES
The small sample size of the fauna precludes the
drawing of any meaningful conclusions about relative
frequencies of species utilized by the Shanidar Mouste-
rians. Nevertheless, certain general relationships
indicated by the overall content of the assemblage should be
examined because they may approximate patterns of
species use. My intention here is not to attempt a too
rigorous or too exacting reconstruction based on too
little information, nor in that context to review the
conflicts in opinion about and problems related to the
various techniques for projecting percentages of utilized
animals in archeological samples, but rather to suggest
what appear to have been general tendencies of faunal
exploitation by the occupants of Shanidar Cave.
The primary pattern was that of hunting wild goat. If
the MNI counts of the seven ungulates in the bone
assemblage were compared to one another, goat alone
could be seen to constitute 48 % of the ungulate
sample. Or, since the goat and sheep MNI's are only a
fraction of the much larger composite goat/sheep MNI,
if the frequency estimates for the caprines (using the
composite MNI instead of the two smaller MNI's) were
compared to those for the other five ungulates, goat and
sheep could be said to constitute 82 % (instead of 55 % )
of the sample. Affixing actual percentage numbers to
the relative frequency relationships is not possible, but it
is possible to observe that goat or goat/ sheep dominated
the fauna.
For all the caprine specimens, MNI counts suggest
that goat remains compose 87 % of the sample, sheep
13 %. If uncorrected bone counts are compared, the
ratio is 97 % to 4 % , based solely on the eight
diagnostic elements. Perkins's fourth season study (33) indicated
that the goat to sheep relationship was 79 % to 21 % or
78 % to 22 %, depending on use of either his /
(frequency) calculation or raw bone counts. The sample
from the first through third seasons is notably larger
than that from the fourth, but combining both
appraisals of the situation it is safe to say that over three
fourths of the caprine remains derived from goat at
Mousterian Shanidar. My counts suggest an even
greater percentage, 87 % to 97 % Taking into consideration
that MNI downplays the numerical differences between
.
samples and overvalues taxa with few specimens, and
after handling the collection, my intuitive reaction is
that goat contributed 90 % or more to the caprine
remains. Wild goat is in any case the principal
component of the collection.
As table 1 makes evident, the ungulate of most
importance after goat was probably wild boar, since boar
(1) has the largest MNI count, (2) is represented by the
greatest number of bones, and (3) is dispersed through
more levels than any of the other ungulate species
except goat. Again, the very small boar sample prevents
(33) PERKINS 1964b. table 1.
48
a valid assessment of its dietary significance, but the fact
that boar was found among the bottommost
archeological material and that its presence continues throughout
the deposit implies predictable repetition and constancy
in its use.
In addition to ungulate consumption, land tortoise
played an important subsidiary role in the pattern of
vertebrate exploitation. Tortoise is the only species other
than goat/ sheep represented in every Mousterian level,
and the corrected frequency count (MNI) for tortoise is
higher than for any taxon other than the composite
caprines. Even if all counts of exoskeleton were
excluded from raw bone and MNI tallies, tortoise would be
well represented in the faunal sample relative to all
other species. The data suggest that tortoise was a
regular supplement to meat intake provided by ungulates,
especially by wild goat.
CAPRINE BODY PART DATA
The small sample size of the Shanidar faunal
collection, in the context of the taphonomic, archeologie, and
analytic biases that have yielded the available data (34),
would seemingly limit interpretation of body-part
counts. However, the caprine remains are available in
large enough numbers to observe a striking dichotomy
between minimum numbers of individuals represented
by limb bones and those represented by bones of the
skull and feet.
The operative process, termed "schlepp effect," is
often evident by the disproportionate body-part
frequencies of large wild ungulates, as opposed to smaller
ungulates, retrieved from archeological sites (35).
Smal er animals are thought to have been carried from kill
sites to home sites intact, and faunal assemblages with
good samples of smaller animals tend to corroborate the
idea. The schlepp effect model presumes that large
animals were butchered at the place of kill and that limb
bones were removed from the carcass's fore- and
hindquarters before returning the meat to the occupation
site. When the schlepp effect is assessed to have
functioned, butchering practices of the hominid community
being studied are elucidated, and evidence exists to
sustain the site's definition as an occupation locus.
The selective body-part representation reflected in the
Shanidar caprine bone assemblage (Table 4) tends to
support the notion that wild goats were returned to the
site butchered, with skulls and feet more or less intact
and major limb bones removed, more often than they
were returned as nearly complete carcasses. The low
ratios of limb-to-cranial and limb-to-foot elements point
up the disproportionate relationship.
Particularly interesting from the Shanidar caprine
bone counts is the existence of only one distal humérus.
Relative to the other limb elements, distal humérus
(34) See discussion and bibliography in MEADOW 1980.
(35) PERKINS and DALY 1968; KLEIN 1976.
 THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
TABLE 8 must have been operative. Deliberate retention of the
Comparisons of body parts from the major regions of the skeleton, for humérus from food refuse discards may have been a
the combined caprines (goat Isheep, wild goat, and wild sheep) from the factor, but size of the sample precludes deductions other
Mousterian levels of Shanidar Cave. than chance, particularly for the culturally-influenced,
Figures in parentheses are ratios. small, limb-bone sample.
Minimum number of individuals It is also noteworthy, in a discussion of body-part
represented by the: frequency discrepancies, that caprine maxillary and
mandibular elements comprise the largest set of
Maxilla 51 (0.96) Shanidar faunal remains. Loose teeth, specifically, constitute
Mandible 53 the bulk of the collection. Teeth are extremely durable
Most abundant foot element 20 body parts, and it is not uncommon in faunal
Most abundant cranial element ... 53 (0.38) assemblages for ungulate teeth to furnish greater
minimum numbers counts than any other body parts.
Most abundant limb element . Because teeth survive in such numbers, they are optimal
Most abundant cranial element 53 (0.08) for further examination and can be utilized profitably
Most abundant limb element to investigate the population from which they were
Most abundant foot element 20 (0.20) derived.
Most abundant forelimb element 10 POPULATION STUDY OF THE SHANIDAR
Most abundant hindlimb element 15 (0.67)
WILD GOAT
Note: Limb elements refer to proximal and Epiphyseal fusion and tooth wear patterning are the
distal humeri, radii, femora, tibiae, and proximal
ulnae. Foot elements refer to carpals, tarsals, two most common indicators of age used by Near
metapodia, and phalanges. Forelimb elements Eastern faunal analysts for establishing the age structure
include carpals but exclude metacarpals. Hind- of an animal population in an archeological assemblage.
limb elements include tarsals but exclude meta- Postcranial fusion of Shanidar goat and goat/ sheep is
tarsals . detailed in table 10, but any apparent pattern of age
TABLE 9 TABLE 10
Minimum number of individuals represented by limb elements of the
caprines from the Mousterian levels of Shanidar Cave. Number of bones /minimum number of individuals by which fused and
unfused postcranial elements of goat and goat I sheep are represented in
the caprine assemblage from the Mousterian levels of Shanidar Cave.
Humérus
Proximal . . . 0 Unfused Fused Indet* Total
Distal .... 1 Wild goat
Radius Distal humérus - 1/1 — l/l
Intermediate carpal ... — — 9/9 9/9
Proximal . . 2 Ulnar carpal — — 6/5 6/5
Distal .... 3 Calcaneum 1/1 - 1/1 2/2
Distal metapodia .... 11/5 15/5 — 26/10
Femur Third phalanges - 18/6 — 18/6
Proximal . . . 1 Goat/Sheep
Distal .... 2 Atlas - - 2/1 2/1
Axis - - 3/3 3/3
Tibia Sacrum - - 1/1 1/1
Proximal . . . 0 Scapula - 1/1 3/3 4/4
Proximal radius — 3/2 — 3/2
Distal .... 4 Distal radius 3/3 — - 3/3
Ulna - 2/2 4/2 6/4
Radial carpal — — 6/4 6/4
Intermediate carpal ... - — 1/1 1/1
would be expected to be found in greater, not lesser, Accessory carpal .... — — 1/1 1/1
Second & third carpal . - — 12/9 12/9
numbers. The fact that the distal humérus undergoes Fourth carpal - - 4/4 4/4
.

epiphyseal fusion during the wild caprine's first year of Innominate - 8/6 5/1 13/7
Proximal femur 2/1 - 1/0 3/1
life, and its size and density compared to other bones Distal femur — — 2/2 2/2
with early epiphyseal closure, place it in the category of Patella - - 9/7 9/7
Distal tibia 5/4 - - 5/4
bones that are more highly resistant to destruction than Lateral malleolus .... — — 2/2 2/2
other bones. Disposal factors being equal, the distal Astragalus - - 21/15 21/15
Calcaneum 2/2 2/2 3/0 7/4
humérus will usually survive in archeological sites and Second S third tarsal - - 3/3 3/3
other sites of bone accumulation with greater frequency Central S fourth tarsal . — — 4/4 4/4
.
.

Proximal metapodia ... - 32/9 - 32/9

than will the proximal humérus or the proximal and Distal metapodia .... 25/6 6/3 3/0 34/9
distal ends of the radius, femur, or tibia (36). When the First phalanges 18/5 27/6 44/3 89/14
Second phalanges .... 12/4 29/9 5/0 45/13
anticipated preservation pattern has not occurred, as at Third phalanges — 6/2 — 6/2
Shanidar, factors other than relative bone durability Sesamoids — — 2/2 2/2
* Fusion indeterminate or consideration of fusion not appli-
(36) KLEIN 1981 229-30.
:

49
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
sequence based on epiphyseal closure is necessarily
restricted to the earliest years of an animal's potential
lifespan, or a schedule of completed fusion of all epiphy-
ses by about 4.5 years for wild goats (37). These results
are further restricted by the preservational bias against
the small bones of kids and yearlings and all unfused
skeletal elements because they are less dense and more
subject to the processes of decay.
Using teeth to generate the age structure of an
exploited animal population is exempt from limiting the
study to the first years of life of a species, since all stages
of aging can be reflected by dental samples. Other
factors that encourage the study of teeth are that teeth are
extremely durable and that they tend to be found in
large numbers in faunal assemblages. Widely employed
is the method of matching sequences of tooth eruption
and wear in dentitions of unknown age to known-age
maxillae and mandibles with similar wear patterns (38).
The major problem with this procedure is that nearly
complete tooth rows are required so that molars and
premolars in a jaw can be examined in the context of
the wear and eruption of the entire set. Rarely do
paleolithic faunal samples provide the large numbers of
nearly complete mandibles and maxillae required for
this sort of study. More often, isolated teeth constitute
most of the sample, as at Shanidar.
Crown Height Measurements as a Method of Ageing
Using raw measurements of dental crown heights to
show wear through time is another method of ageing,
first used by paleontologists (39) but more recently
adapted by zooarcheologists for the study of archeologi-
cal faunas (40) to which it is particularly suited,
especially in the case of hypsodont ungulate species. The
relationship between crown height and age has been
demonstrated, as has the fact that basically only two
teeth, a deciduous one and a permanent one, with
coincident or overlapping schedules of shedding and
eruption, are needed to construct an age profile. Because
the full heights of loose teeth are not masked by
maxil ary or mandibular bone and are therefore easy to
measure and because loose teeth generally provide large
samples, isolated teeth are ideal for estimating age by
their dental measurements.
Crown height is defined as the maximum distance
between the occlusal surface of the crown and the line
between the enamel and root of the tooth, taken on the
buccal side of mandibular dentitions or on the lingual
side of maxillary teeth, at the center of a specified tooth
column (41). Measurements of the Shanidar specimens
were made on the anterior lobes only of both molars
and premolars.
07) NODDLE 1974.
(38) E.g.. PAYNE 1973.
(39) E.g.. KURTÉN 1953; VOORHIES 1969.
(40) REHER 1974; KLEIN 1978, ii:d.; KLEIN et al. 1981
(41) As illustrated in KLEIN 1978. fig. 1.
50
Of the 720 goat/sheep teeth, tooth fragments, and
jaw fragments from the Mousterian horizons between
5.75 and 13.25 m at Shanidar Cave, 45 lower M3's
were complete enough to provide crown height
measurements. Upper M3's were measured, but they were
fewer in number than the mandibular third molars and
thus were not used in the study. Nor were Mi's and
M2's utilized in the study, in as much as they are often
difficult to differentiate from one another and because
they were less numerous in the collection. Lower M3
satisfied the criteria of being easily distinguishable from
other teeth and comprising the most sizable sample. The
most durable, most common deciduous tooth was lower
dP4, and therefore the M3 in conjunction with the dP4
(5 specimens) was used to generate the age distribution
of wild goats (42) represented in this death assemblage.
Eruption schedules published by Couturier, Silver, and
Noddle (43) do not provide consensus information about
wild caprine molar and premolar eruption, but a moderate
interpretation of all readings suggests that 36 months is an
appropriate time to select for the beginning of wild goat M-,
eruption, since an arbitrary time must be designated. Data
offered for P4 eruption are no less confusing, but most
observations indicate that P4 and M, erupt at about the
same time, also taken to be approximately 36 months.
Although the schedules presented suggest no conclusive
time when dP4's are actually shed, it is assumed that
almost as soon as dP4's fall out, P4's come in. Therefore, it
is proposed that P4 and M, erupt more or less together, and
that concurrently, 36 months is also taken to be the time
when dP4 is shed.
Because dP4's are delicate and are subject to easy
breakage and decay, they will always be seriously
underrepresented, making it impossible to accurately
estimate the percentage of animals killed in the first
three years of life. It is assumed that the sample from
birth to 3 years of age is incomplete, which must be
taken into account when evaluating the age distribution.
In addition to knowing tooth eruption schedules,
converting crown height to chronological age
necessitates understanding rate of wear. Observation clearly
suggests that initial wear takes place quickly, soon after
a molar erupts, whereas rate of wear is slowed after the
first lessening of crown height, and is especially slow in
the last phases of wear. Nevertheless, empirical evidence
indicates that deviation from linearity is not very
significant in either early or late wear stage of a tooth (44). In
fact when potential lifespan profiles are scaled to class
intervals that group classes of predicted age into classes
of 10 % of lifespan, the chances of assigning an
individual to an inaccurate age class are not very great. In
other words, even though small differences in rate may
exist, it is not inappropriate to conceive of and employ a
(42) Considering the very small percentage of possible sheep in the
composite goat/sheep category, the goat/ sheep material is evaluated in
this population study as if it were derived entirely from wild goat.
(43) COUTURIER 962 330. 469 SILVER 969 297-8
NODDLE 1974 199.
I
:
I
:
;
(44) KLEIN et al. 1981.
;
 THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE

rate of wear which is essentially straight-line, that is,
annually constant in terms of reduction in measured
height. Therefore, the maximum crown height of an
unworn tooth is the point at which dental aging begins.
Zero, or no measurable height, is taken to be the end of
the animal's potential lifespan. Wear is presumed to be
reasonably constant, and reduction from the maximum
height to the potential minimum is presumed to occur at
a linear rate based on the number of years of the
potential lifespan of the species.
Age Structure and Mortality of the Shanidar Wild
Goat
Data published by Deevey and by Decker and Ko-
walski indicate that lifespans of North American Dall
sheep (Ovis dalli) and Iranian urial sheep (Ovis ammon
vignei) have average termination ages of 14 years and
1 1 years respectively (45). Couturier's study of alpine
ibex (Capra ibex) documents cases of ibexes living to 24
or 25 years, but Couturier also notes that senility sets in
at about age 1 5 and that 15 to 17 years is the average
maximum age of this species of goat (46).
It is the age data provided by Couturier that seem
most appropriate for use in establishing the end point
for the age scale onto which the Shanidar goat tooth
measurements are plotted. Sixteen years, a selected
middle point between the two figures he gives for average
maximum aging of a population of large wild goat, are
taken to define an average potential lifespan.
With the lifespan of wild goat estimated at 1 6 years.
the life of an M_, estimated at 1 3 years (from eruption at
3 years to no crown height at 1 6 years), and the life of a
dP4 at 3 years, the crown height measurements made on
the goat teeth from the Mousterian levels at Shanidar
can be plotted. The unworn tooth with the most crown
height, within the range of normal tooth size, suggests
the beginning point on the metric scale. Scaled intervals
of 1 mm range from 8.2 to 0 for dP4, representing
reduction in crown height through time, and from 37.9
toO for M,.
Initially the unit of time by which the metric
intervals were grouped represented the amount of wear
expected during a year (47). But due to concern for the
standard error of linear wear reduction and to make the
goat age profile directly comparable to those of other
species, the class interval chosen is the amount of crown
reduction that would take place during 10 % of the
lifespan of the species (or 1 .6 years).
The mortality profile of Shanidar wild goat is
presented in figure 6. The left profile is the age
distribution based on the 50 raw crown height measurements.
Note that the greatest number of individuals died
between 20 % and 50 % of lifespan, or from about 3 to 6
or 7 years of age. The death profile is heavily weighted
toward a predominance of sexually active, prime age
adults.
The same is true for the right-hand profile, although
the range in the second case extends from 20 % to
60 % of lifespan. The second profile was generated in
response to concern for sexual dimorphism within the

SHANIDAR WILD GOAT

(based on 50 individuals) (based on 48 individuals)
18-1
16-
14- CH CH/в
12- 2-
i

10- 0-
OQ _
ujm 6- 6-
2
|

4-
t-
0-
20 40 60 80 100% 0 20 40 60 80 100%
PERCENT OF LIFESPAN
FIG. 6. - Age profiles of the Shanidar Cave wild goat, based on crown height measurements of caprine
Vl^s and dPj's from the VIousterian levels (CH), and on crown heights divided by breadth measurements
(CH/B).
The assemblage is composed largely of prime age adults, suggesting the pattern of catastrophic mortality. In each
profile, individuals in the first 10 % of lifespan are underrepresented.

(45) MURIE, in DEEVEY 1947: DECKER and KOWALSKI

1972.
(46) COUTURIER 1962 465. 971. (47) EVINS 1981. fig. 15.
:

51
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
wild goat population, in an attempt to control for the
size of individual animals. The crown height
measurement of each tooth was divided by the tooth's breadth
measurement, providing ratio figures that were plotted
in the same manner as were the original raw crown
height measurements (48). Two fewer specimens
constitute the second profile. The resulting age distribution
furnishes essentially the same pattern as does the first-
clustering in the middle third of the projection,
particularly the early middle third. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov
test, which is sensitive to ordinal data, does not find the
CH profile and the CH/B profile to be statistically
different from one another. The computed
Kolmogorov-Smirnov value is 0.51 ; for there to be significant difference
at the 0.05 level or below, the computed value must be
greater than the critical value of 1.36. Therefore, any
apparent differences between the two Shanidar goat
mortality profiles are probably the result of chance
alone.
Catastrophic vs. Attritional Mortality
There are, however, significant differences between
the Shanidar profiles and the two profiles of caprine
mortality presented in figure 7. Both figure 7 distribu-
OVIS OALLI, Doll sheep
(based on 60S skulls)
200-
(_lЛ ОСО
< OD
о о
> О 100-
Б *
20 40 60 80 100%
PERCENT OF LIFESPAN
FIG. 7. - Attritional mortality profiles of two modern populations of wild caprines.
(Adapted from DEEVEY 1947 and DECKER and KOWALSKI 1972)
tions reflect the attritional patterns of caprine species
that died in the wild of "natural" causes, such as
carnivore prédation and disease. Normal mortality is
characterized by relatively small numbers of prime age adults
in a death population and relatively greater numbers of
very young and very old individuals. The attritional
pattern is a redundant natural phenomenon, and all
(48) Two out-sized ratios were beyond the range of the others, and
instead of enlarging the projection to encompass them, they were
placed in the uppermost M-, measurement class. The same was true for
one raw M, crown height measurement in the left profile of figure 6.
death assemblages brought about by natural causes will
produce a similar pattern. Remains of young and old
will primarily be found, indicating that the healthy
adults have survived to reproduce.
The pattern of natural mortality is usually not
reflected in a death assemblage attributed to human
intervention (49). Human prédation can bring about the death of
viable adults or even whole herds, and when such is the
case the resultant death assemblage reflects not
at ritional but catastrophic mortality (50). A catastrophic
pattern freezes the population in death as it existed on the
hoof. In a faunal collection giving evidence of
catastrophic death, more prime age adults will be represented
osteologically.
In the figure 7 distributions, deaths of the modern
populations of Dall sheep and urial sheep do not occur
in large numbers until the last third or half of their
lifespans, creating modalities of 50-80 % and 40-80 %
Although the Dall sheep profile is a more classic
.
manifestation of an attritional mortality profile and is a more
reliable pattern against which to base comparisons
because it is founded in a sample of over 600 individuals,
both modern sheep profiles demonstrate a pattern that
opposes that of the Shanidar goat distributions. The
sheep profiles lack early middle-range specimens and are
heavily weighted in the later ranges; the goat profiles
OVIS AMMON VIGNEI, urial sheep
(based on 87 skulls)
100-
П
20 40 60 80 100%
noticeably lack old individuals but are especially
weighted with young adults. Left-hand vs. right-hand skewing
of the distributions, different frequency midpoints (given
that the individuals live past the first 10 % of lifespan),
different modalities, all reflect unlike mortality patterns.
And as Table 1 1 attests, the samples are different at the
0.001 level of statistical significance.
(49) Cf. KLEIN 1978 209.
(50) REHER 1974.

TABLE
I1
Kolmogorov-Smirnov values for comparisons between the age
distributions of two modern sheep populations that died in the wild of natural
causes and wild goat from the Xlousterian occupation levels of Shani-
dar Cave, generated both by crown height measurements (CH) and by
crown heights divided by breadth measurements (CH IB).
A Kolmogorov-Smirnov value of 1 .36 indicates a difference at the 0.05
level of significance : a value of 1 .95, at the 0.001 level. All four values
imply significant differences between compared samples.
Shanidar goat
Distr i but ions based on
CH CH/B
Dall sheep 4.13 3.56
U rial sheep 3.28 2 .64
Both sets of profiles, however, indicate or should
indicate high percentages of immature animals. There is
very high mortality among kids and lambs in the wild
before the end of their first year, as figure 7 reflects, but
not well documented is the high mortality that should
be expected among the slaughtered goats younger than
the third 10 % of lifespan. Poor preservation of
deciduous teeth is the problem, and thus dP4's are no doubt
underrepresented. Omitting full information about
juvenile individuals, the Pleistocene goat death profile is still
markedly clustered in the range of prime age adults,
with a meaningful absence of older specimens.
Additional dP4 data will not alter that fact.
The mortality profile of the Shanidar goat population
is characteristic of catastrophic mortality. Implicit in the
pattern is the notion of "catastrophe." The driving of
herds of buffalo and sheep in North America is
documented both historically and archeologically (5 1 ), but it
has not been responsible until recently to conjecture to
what extent this hunting practice was employed by
prehistoric communities in the Old World. Vereshcha-
gin cites archeological evidence suggesting that driving
herds into traps or off ravine escarpments was practiced
by various paleolithic peoples in the Soviet Union (52).
Desmond Clark refers to faunal patterns reflecting both
driving over cliffs and driving into water during the
African MSA (53). The tooth data from Shanidar Cave
suggest that similar processes may have been operative
in the early Upper Pleistocene Zagros.
Couturier does record that ibexes are susceptible to
pit traps and cliff drops (54), and goats do live in herds,
in annual cycles of united bands for half a year and
sexually distinct bands for half a year (the only cases of
solitary living being instances when very old males
isolate themselves from the others), so driving into
narrow canyons or toward jumping-off points may have
been a practical hunting method. More immediately
apparent, however, is that the Shanidar Mousterians
were able to kill prime age adults in about the same
proportion as those populous age groups existed on the
(51) FRISON 1974: WRIGHT and MILLER 1976.
(52) VERESHCHAGIN 1967: 373.
(53) CLARK 1970 141-2.
(54) COUTURIER 1962 763.
:
•.
53
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
hoof. They did not have to rely solely on the attritional
practices of scavenging or taking only those individuals
in a population most susceptible to natural mortality
factors. It is probably safe to say that even visible
through the biases that must alter a sample having to
serve as representative of perhaps 30,000 years of
occupation, the presence of the Shanidar Mousterians in
their environment had an impact that was not in line
with the processes in nature.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
The Mousterian fauna at Shanidar is essentially
homogeneous throughout the deposits. A sizably larger
sample might suggest meaningful vertical patterning of
bone assemblages, but the sample size as given limits
any such possibilities and consequently limits the
usefulness of the fauna as a fine gauge of environmental
change during the early Upper Pleistocene. Also limiting
is the fact that the grouping of the excavation units into
1 -meter strata for study of the faunal material can in no
way attempt to replicate actual horizons of occupation
nor to differentiate among living floors of different
periods. Any correspondence of the study units to discrete
occupation units would be coincidental. And, any 1-
meter stratum is too crude a unit for adequate
assessment of paleolithic deposits. Nevertheless the full 7.5 m
were considered too large a block of material to analyze
without imposing a framework for perspective through
time. Within the structure of the framework and despite
the limitations, the similitude of bone material
throughout suggests homogeneity of the Zagros hill-mountain
faunal component between 46,000 and at least
70,000 years ago and of the procurement practices of
the occupants of the cave during that range of time.
As Reed has suggested (55), the Upper Pleistocene
fauna is largely a modern one, mirroring to a great
degree the natural zoological make-up of the Zagros in
historic and modern times. Wright's review of Last
Glacial snow-line depression, temperature depression,
and dry climatic regime points out the probability that
mountainous terrain has been the common denominator
for the continuity of the fauna between the Pleistocene
and the Recent, rather than have climate and
vegetation (56). The only significant changes in the fauna
through time have been reductions in size in the cases of
certain species.
The vertebrate species exploited throughout the
Mousterian deposits were goat, tortoise, and to a lesser extent
boar. These species were found in all or almost all levels
and can be considered the dietary base. Goat was the
primary focus of the hunt. Tortoise was harvested
regularly in numbers. Boar was locally available but was
hunted singularly and less profitably than goat.
Red deer, roe deer, and wild sheep were utilized
species of secondary importance. Although small sample
(55) REED and BRAIDWOOD 1960.
(56) WRIGHT in press.
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE
size limits insight, these species were not exploited on
the same scale as wild goat.
In the region of Shanidar in the Upper Pleistocene,
goat was not only the most dominant regional ungulate,
but also the most common caprine. Perkins also
suggested that more goats than sheep inhabited the
Shanidar hills (57), but the ratio of goats to sheep may
have been even greater than proposed by Perkins. Sheep
are so few in the excavated sample that the fact-of-
presence argument for domestication in the later time
ranges might be given more serious consideration.
Perkins proposed that cultural control of sheep was
indicated during the Shanidar and Zawi Chemi protoneolithic
periods, based in part on the larger numbers of sheep
present in those deposits, and he introduced the
pos ibil ty of importation of the sheep. The data presented in
this paper corroborate Perkins's background
information, and they result from the study of an even larger
sample. Other explanations that might be explored for
the greater dependence on sheep in the protoneolithic
could focus on alternative hunting techniques and
changes in ecozones of primary exploitation.
In the Mousterian sample of Shanidar, the average
age of dead caprine (essentially goat) individuals was
about 3 to 7 years old, or between 20 % and 50 % of
lifespan. The goats constituting the death sample were
largely prime age adults that appear to have been killed
in relatively greater numbers than would be expected
through processes of natural attrition. The mortality
pattern indicated is that of catastrophic death, the age
distribution of which is representative of that of a living
population. Driving is suggested as a possible cause of
the pattern of catastrophic mortality.
APPENDIX
A detailed listing of measurements made on faunal
material from the Mousterian occupation levels of
(57) PERKINS 1964b.
54
idar Cave is offered as an appendix to the above report,
for the potential comparative purposes of zoo-
archeological specialists.
Table 7 summarizes the measurement data collected
and provides a concise overview of the types of
measurements made, the numbers of specimens
measured, and the measurement ranges. Where table 7 is
sufficient to provide full information for a specific
skeletal element of a species, no additional mention of those
data will be made in the appendix. For wild sheep,
goitered gazelle, roe deer, and all the carnivores, as well
as the scapula, radius, and lateral malleolus
measurements of goat/sheep and the calcaneum masurement of
wild goat, table 7 does provide sufficient information.
For those, any pairs of measurements from one element
come from the same bone or same tooth. In the cases of
pairs of measurements from any one element when two
specimens are involved, the greater numbers represent
one bone and the lesser numbers represent one bone.
Omitted from the appendix are all measurements of
wild goat distal metapodials. The distal metapodials
were not identified separately as metacarpals and meta-
tarsals, and thus the raw figures have limited usefulness.
Note that the distal metapodial measurements in table 7
and figure 4 were made on fused specimens only and
therefore are a subset of the figure 3 samples, the ratios
from which can be generated using both fused and
unfused specimens and even specimens affected in a
small way by fire, since the ratio of the measurements is
the end result and not the measurements themselves.
An addition to table 7 made in the appendix is the
inclusion of crown height measurements made on
caprine third molars and all measurements made on
caprine deciduous fourth premolars. These data were
examined for the crown height study and are entered here for
the record.
All measurements were made using Helios
dial-reading calipers, to the nearest tenth of a millimeter.
 THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE

Wild goat
Intermediate carpal: Ulnar carpal: Third phalanx:
Greatest length Smallest length Depth Length (Greatest) diagonal Smallest breadth
GL SL 19.8 21.1 length of sole of articulation surface
18.3 12.2 17.3 20.9 DLS SBAS
18.1 12.1 17.0 17.8 53.7 14 .1
17.1 12.0 16.4 18.5 48.1 12.-J
[16.5] 11.7 15.6 16.4 46.6 12.3
16.2 11.6 15.1 17.2 42.6 11.6
16.0 11.6 40.5 10.5
15.5 11. 1 39.8
- 11 .1
15.4 11.2 10.1
15.4 U.I 34 .7 10.0
34.4 9 8
3 3.1 0 5

_ ■•< . .
32.6 •-)

Goat/Sheep
Upper dP4: Lower M3: Mandible
Breadth Length Crown height Breadth Length Crown height Height Height Length

:
10.6 12.6 8.7 11.7 2 5.9 33.7 of mandible of mandible of premolar
10.2 11.1 7.0 11.0 - - in front of in front of row, measured
8.6 11.0 6.6 10. 9 — 27.0 M^ , measured P2, measured along alveoli
Lower dP4: 10.8 30.2 on buccal on buccal on buccal
Breadth Length Crown height - 32.7 side side
7.3 [14.81 5.0 10.7 - 3 3.8 20..9 15. 3 [1:3.8;
6.7 - 2 .9 10.7 27.8 2 9.4 20. .8 16. 8

. .
6.0 14.1- 8. 2 10.3 24.7
- 23.6
5.9 8.0 1.0.2 4 1 .2 14. 7
5.9 - 6.5 10.1 - 2 5.4 20. 5

.
Upper M3: 10 0 3 5.1- Se cond s third carpal
Breadth Length Crown height 10.0 Greatest breadth
.

19.0 19.9 22. 3 - - 36.6

- - 32.8 9 9 2 9. 2 28 1
17.4 21.1 35.0 9.9 23.3 i 3.2
.

16.7 122.5] 37.0 'i.U 31.5

21.7 9.8 - 18 6
16.2 21.5 34.0 9.8 Ï7 5 1.8.2

.
— - [32.5] 9.7 [22.8] 32.0 17.8
.

16. 1 20.5 19. 3 9. 7 2 4.5 17.3

16.0 20.6 ). 5 [29.6] 17 2
16.0 - 26. 7 9 5 [27.3! 2 8.9 .17.1
15.9 22.0 2 4- 8 9 5 Fourth carpal:
. . .

15.6 9 5 19.4 Greatest breadth Greatest depth

.

15. 5 19.6 25. 2 9.4 24.2 2(1.2 GB GD

15.3 - 31.5 9. 4 2 2. G 19.0
-- 30. 5 9.4 - í2 J 18.8 1.8.4
15.2 19.4 16 f 9 3 - 35.7 14.6 17.3
.

15.2 2 5.5 (9.3] 2 h. 6 Metacarpal

.>

- - 28.0 9. 3 26.7 (Greatest) breadth

:

15. ] - 30.9 9 2 - 16.8 of proximal end

[15.01 20.3 - 9.2 - Bp
.

14.6 19.5 29.8

- 9. 2 30.4
14.6 19.0 9. 1 3 7.0
14. 5 20.0 2 7.5
- 1. 24.- 1 32.8 27.7
14.5 19.9 ■J 1 20.7
. 1

14.5 19.8 9. 1 Patella:

14.4 31.9 9. 1 - Greatest breadth Greatest length
14 .4 20.7 25. 7 9.0 -:9. Ï GB GL
14.4 - ■1.(1 [29.7] [38.1]
- 20.4 8. 9 23 5 2 .-. 5 29 6 —
- 20.0 8 9 2 5.8
.

[
.
i

- 19.9 - 8 9 Central S fourth tarsal:

. . .

14.2 21.2 30 . 1 8 0 ;1 0 Greatest breadth

14.2 - 26 .8 8. 5 J3.4 4 Ч.- GE
.

14.2 19 9 8.4 2 3.8 í1 1

19.7 8.4 2 2.5 ^<~.7
.

- 19.1 - 8.4 - .:;- 1

13.9 18.4 8. 4 ^7.6
.

13 & 21.7 2 4.0 _3 17.5

1 6 16.7 30 0
.'
! .

55
THE FAUNA FROM SHANIDAR CAVE

Goat/Sheep
Astragalus:
(Greatest) breadth (Greatest) depth (Greatest) depth Greatest length Greatest length
of distal end of lateral half of medial half of lateral half of medial half
Bd- Dl Dm GLl- GLm
19.9 21.7 33.7
23.9 20.7 - 33.4
23.- 5 19.7 20.6 35.7
19.- 5 — -
22.7 19.1 - 32.6
22.7 17.7 18.9 33.1 31.6
21.9 - 19.6 34.3 31.6
21.9 — — -
21.7 18.7 19.7 34.2 32.9
21.7 - - - —
21. 5 17.9 — 32.5 —
21 —3 17.5 18.2 33.4 31.6
17.4 — 32.7 -
.

- - — - 29.4
First phalanx:
(Greatest) breadth Depth (Greatest) breadth (Greatest) depth
of proximal end of proximal end of distal end of distal end
Bp Dp Bd— Dd—
19.9 20.9
19.7 20.6 - -
19.4 20.6 ~"- Second phalanx:
18.7 19.7 (Greatest) breadi Greatest length
1G В 17.9 — - of proximal end of peripheral half
16.3 19.8 Bp GLpe
.

15.9 1.7.4 - - 18.0 31.4

15.6 17.8 - 17.2
IS. 4 16 e — - 16.0 27.7
1. 5 0 18.6 - - 15.9 34.0
.

14.9 17.4 - - 15.9 28.8

.

14.9 16.9 - 15.8 30.2

14.8 17.3 - 15.8 26. 3
1.4.7 16. P. 14.0 11.9 15.4 29.2
14.6 16.4 14.8 12.2 15.2 26.9
14.4 1.7.0 1.3.4- 11.8 15.0 [29.5]
13.2 [16.1] - 14. 3 27.2
12.8 L4.8 112.7] [11.3] 14.0 28.4
12.7 16.0 12.5 11.0] 13.9 28 . 2
[11.71 14. 5 1.2.5 11.1 13.7 2Й.1
Г

[12.2] [12.1] 13.6 28.5

12.4 11.0 [13.4] 30.0
12.9 12.1 13.4 28.9
13.0 11.4 l3.4 29.1
13.0 - 13.4 26.7
13.1 11.2 13.0 28.1
13.3 12.5 12. -j 27.8
13.3 11.6 12.7 26.4
13.3 - 12.2 27.1
13.8 [12.0] 12.1 24.8
14.2 12.6
14.2 12.1
14.6 13.5
14.8 13.0
14.8 1.4.1
14.8
14.9
15.0 13.5
15.0 12.3
15.1 12.8
15.4 14.2
1. 5 5 13.5
16.0 1.4.5
.

16.2 14.6
[16.4] [14.8]
[16.4] 113.9]
1 6.9 -
- 14.4
[17.2] [15.5] Mary A. EVINS
^■^ [^'l Department of Anthropology
20.3 16.2 University of Chicago

56
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58