The Palaeontology of the cave bear bone assemblage from Urşilor Cave of Chişcău – Osteometry, Palaeoichnology, Taphonomy, and Stable Isotopes

Preface /5

Acknowledgements /7

Abbreviations /9

Contents /11

Introduction/ 14

Cave bear research in Romania – A comprehensive view /21

1. Introduction/ 21

2. Geographical distribution of Ursus spelaeus localities in Romania/ 22

3. The main research trends in the studies on cave bears from Romania/ 25

a. Phylogeny /25

b. Taphonomy and palaeobiology /25

c. Palaeoichnology/ 26

d. Morpho-osteometry/27

e. Age Dating /28

i. Chronostratigraphy/28

ii. Absolute dating /29

f. Extinction and paleodiet /29

i. Extinction/ 29

ii. Paleodiet /30

Materials and methods/31

1. Description of Urşilor Cave and its Contents/ 31

a. Description of the subterranean network /31

b. Sediments/ 34

i. Excavation Chamber /34

ii. Subterranean terraces section/ 37

iii. Additional samples (the Upper Passage)/38

c. Analyses of the sediments and fossils /40

i. Physical and chemical parameters/ 40

ii. Absolute dating (AMS 14C, OSL, U-Series)/ 40

2. Osteometry / 42

3. The palaeoichnology of the cave bears/43

4. Taphonomy/ 45

a. The size of the cave bear population and the skeletal element distribution/ 45

b. Accumulation of the fossil remains (spatial orientation, processes and agents) /46

c. Connected skeletal elements found within the palaeontological excavation and the orientation of carcasses/47

d. Carnivore impact on the cave bear bones /47

e. Scattering analysis (ISD - Index of Skeletal Disjunction) /48

f. Biochronology/ 49

g. Fossil population structure, mortality analysis and sex-ratio of the cave bears/50

5. Stable Isotopes /51

The evolution of Urşilor Cave over the last 300 ka/ 53

1. Analyses of the sediments (results and discussion)/ 53

a. Physical and chemical parameters/ 53

b. Absolute dating (14C, OSL, U-Series)/ 56

2. The evolution of Urşilor Cave over the last 300 ka /61

Osteometry /68

1. Results/ 68

2. Discussion /85

3. Conclusions/ 86

The Palaeoichnology of the cave bears from Urşilor/ 87

1. Results /87

2. Discussion /98

3. Conclusions /101

Taphonomy in Urşilor/ 103

1. The size of the cave bear population and the skeletal element distribution / 103

2. Accumulation of the fossil remains (spatial orientation, processes and agents) /111

3. Articulated skeletal elements and the orientation of carcasses /119

4. Carnivore impact on the cave bear bones /128

5. Scattering analysis (ISD - Index of Skeletal Disjunction)/ 132

6. Biochronology/ 135

7. Fossil population structure, mortality analysis and sex-ratio of the cave bears from Urşilor Cave/ 142

Stable isotope analyses on the cave bears from Urşilor/ 156

1. Results/ 156

2. Discussion/ 161

3. Conclusions/ 164

Final conclusions/ 165

References /171

Supplemental material /197