The Rule Rather Than the Exception! Multi-Predator Actualistic Accumulations From Cau del Duc (Lleida, Spain) and Their Implications for the Interpretation of the Archaeopaleontological Record

Abstract

Numerous zooarchaeological cases have reported the presence of more than one type of predator as causal agents in the formation of the bone record in karstic contexts. However, modern analogs capable of supporting these interpretations from actualistic cases are practically nonexistent. In this paper, we present the analysis of a leporid assemblage accumulated in a cave where the action of different non-human predators converged. The exhaustive taphonomic analyses suggest that these remains were accumulated by more than one type of predator as the majority product of non-ingested remains. In comparison with other studies carried out at the same site, we could affirm that the genesis of this assemblage is due to the predatory action of nocturnal birds of prey and carnivorous mammals that carried their prey to this cave. We discuss these results and provide information to enrich archaeological and paleontological studies in contexts with combined taphonomic problems.