Yarimburgaz Cave, Bosphorus (Pleistocene of Turkey)

Where: Turkey (41.0° N, 29.0° E: paleocoordinates 41.0° N, 29.0° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

When: Middle Pleistocene (0.8 - 0.1 Ma)

• Middle Pleistocene, probably Late Middle Pleistocene. The cave is 600m deep, with 2 entrances. Deposits within 70m of the lower entrance contain animal remains and palaeolithic artefacts.

Environment/lithology: cave; lithology not reported

• 'part of an extensive karst system in Eocene Limestone.'

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: bone collector, coprolite

Collection methods: bulk,

• Middle Pleistocene levels excavated from 1988-1990, by the University of Istanbul and University of California at Berkeley. Material stored at the Section of Prehistory, University of Istanbul.

Primary reference: M. C. Stiner, G. Arsebuk, and F. C. Howell. 1996. Cave bears and paleolithic artifacts in Yarimburgaz Cave, Turkey: Dissecting a palimpsest. Geoarchaeology 11(4):279-327 [A. Turner/H. O'Regan/H. O'Regan]more details

Purpose of describing collection: archaeological analysis

PaleoDB collection 43008: authorized by Alan Turner, entered by Hannah O'Regan on 09.08.2004

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• The majority of remains are cave bears (93%), 4% ungulates (151 specimens) and 3% carnivores (NISP = 109). Faunal list is broken down into trenches and geological areas, but only genera/size classes are given, whereas the full faunal list has specific level destinctions. The complete faunal list for all trenches has been entered here. This paper only lists large mammal remains, hare is also mentioned, so this may not be the full list.
Show authors, comments, and common names
Mammalia
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Equus caballus, "Equus ? hemionus" = Equus (Hemionus) hemionus
Equus caballus Linnaeus 1758 horse
"Equus ? hemionus" = Equus (Hemionus) hemionus Pallas 1775 onager
possibly wild ass.
 Artiodactyla - Hippopotamidae
? Hippopotamus sp.
? Hippopotamus sp. Linnaeus 1758 hippo
Unidentfied species of Pachyderm, in Table 1a as ?Hippopotamus.
 Artiodactyla - Cervidae
Dama sp., Cervus elephas, Capreolus aff. suessenbornensis, Megaloceros sp.
Dama sp. Frisch 1775 fallow deer
Megaloceros sp. Brookes 1828 Irish elk
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
? Gazella sp., cf. Bos primigenius, Bison cf. priscus, Capra cf. ibex, Capra aff. aegagrus
? Gazella sp. Blaineville 1816 gazelle
possibly Gazelle.
cf. Bos primigenius Bojanus 1827 ox
Bison cf. priscus Bojanus 1827 bison
Capra cf. ibex Linnaeus 1758 Alpine ibex
wild goat and/or ibex - both have been entered.
Capra aff. aegagrus Erxleben 1777 wild goat
wild goat and/or ibex - both have been entered.
 Artiodactyla - Suidae
Sus scrofa
Sus scrofa Linnaeus 1758 wild boar
 Carnivora - Felidae
Panthera ? pardus, Panthera leo, Felis sylvestris, "Felis caracal" = Caracal caracal
Panthera ? pardus Linnaeus 1758 leopard
possibly leopard - originally P. gombaszoegensis.
Panthera leo Linnaeus 1758 lion
"Felis caracal" = Caracal caracal Schreber 1776 caracal
 Carnivora - Hyaenidae
Crocuta crocuta
Crocuta crocuta Erxleben 1777 spotted hyaena
 Carnivora - Ursidae
Ursus arctos, Ursus deningeri
Ursus arctos Linnaeus 1758 brown bear
1% of bear remains
Ursus deningeri Reichenau 1904 bear
99% of bear remains. Probably a late and large bodeid form of U. deningeri rather than U. spelaeus.
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
Mustelidae indet.
Mustelidae indet. Fischer 1817 mustelid carnivore
 Carnivora - Canidae
Vulpes sp., ? Cuon sp., Canis ? aureus, Canis lupus
Vulpes sp. Frisch 1775 fox
? Cuon sp. Hodgson 1838 dhole
? Dhole. Cuon or Xenocyon, entered as Cuon.
Canis ? aureus Linnaeus 1758 golden jackal
jackal
Canis lupus Linnaeus 1758 gray wolf