Soleilhac - Centre, Blanzac, Haute-Loire (Pleistocene of France)

Where: Auvergne, France (45.1° N, 3.9° E: paleocoordinates 45.2° N, 3.7° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

When: Early/Lower Pleistocene (2.6 - 0.8 Ma)

• Late Early Pleistocene, approximately 1.0-0.8Ma.

Environment/lithology: lacustrine

• l'habitat de Soleilhac se trouve au centre d'un bassin lacustre contenu dans une structure de maar.
• fossiliferous layers consist of '10-20m of sandy gravels (bed D - the archaeological layer), 1.5m of white sands and sandy gravels (bed C), 4-10m of clayey marls with sandy fluvio-lacustrine gravels (bed B) and a continental assemblage 20-25m thick (bed A). Beds B and C also contain a layer of black clay (sapropel) which can be correlated with the site of Soleilhac 2. There is also a layer of glacially transported rocks at the base of bed A.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Preservation: anthropogenic

Collection methods: The fauna comes from beds B,C,D and the base of A. This part of the site was found in 1974. 4000 stone artefacts found in an area 450m squared.

Primary reference: E. Bonifay. 1991. Les Premieres industries du Sud-Est de la France et du Massif-Central. In E. Bonifay, B. Vandermeersch (eds.), Les Premiers Europeens. Edition du comite des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques (CTHS) 63-80 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/M. Uhen]more details

Purpose of describing collection: archaeological analysis

PaleoDB collection 47831: authorized by Alan Turner, entered by Hannah O'Regan on 03.03.2005

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Mammalia
 Proboscidea - Elephantidae
Palaeoloxodon antiquus1
Palaeoloxodon antiquus1 Falconer and Cautley 1847 elephant
MNI = 3.
 Carnivora - Canidae
Canis etruscus1, Vulpes sp.1
Canis etruscus1 Forsyth Major 1877 canine
MNI = 1. 1 maxilla fragment with P2-P4, 1 distal metapodial.
Vulpes sp.1 Frisch 1775 fox
MNI = 1. 1 mandible fragment with P2-P4.
 Carnivora - Felidae
Lynx sp.1
Lynx sp.1 Kerr 1792 lynx
MNI = 1. 1 incisor root fragment.
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Equus sp.1
Equus sp.1 Linnaeus 1758 horse
MNI = 1. 1 upper molar, 1 upper tooth fragment, 1 incisor fragment, 1 distal metapodial.
 Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Stephanorhinus etruscus2
Stephanorhinus etruscus2 Falconer 1868 rhinoceros
MNI = 1. 1 upper M3, 1 upper molar, 2 tooth enamel fragments.
 Artiodactyla - Hippopotamidae
Hippopotamus sp.1
Hippopotamus sp.1 Linnaeus 1758 hippo
MNI = 1. 1 incisor fragment, 1 first phalange, 1 third phalange.
 Artiodactyla - Cervidae
Praemegaceros solilhacus1, Cervus cf. elaphoides1, Capreolus cf. suessenbornensis1
Praemegaceros solilhacus1 deer
558 specimens for both deer together - MNI =9.
Cervus cf. elaphoides1 deer
558 specimens for both deer together - MNI = 9.
Capreolus cf. suessenbornensis1 roe
MNI = 2. 2 upper molars (1 deciduous), 1 mandible fragment with M2 and M3, 2 scapula fragments, 1 distal humerus, 1 astragalus, 1 navicular, 1 proximal metapodial.
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
cf. Bison sp.1
cf. Bison sp.1 Hamilton-Smith 1827 bison
MNI = 1. 2 upper molars (1 deciduous), 2 dorsal vertebrae, several vertebral body fragments, 1 complete metatarsal, 2 calcaneum fragments, 1 tibia (incomplete).
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Mimomys pliocaenicus
Mimomys pliocaenicus Forsyth Major 1889 vole
1Fosse and Bonifay 1991; 2O'Regan 2003