The Case of the Clumsy Cave-Bears Others Has Therefore Been Linked to the Presence Or Absence of Hyenas8, Although from Paul G

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NAlURE VOL.JOI 17 FEBRUARY 1983 S6S ------NEWSANDVIEWS,------= Bone tools may likewise have been made by a bone crunching predator. The abundance of the buttons in some caves and their absence in The case of the clumsy cave-bears others has therefore been linked to the presence or absence of hyenas8, although from Paul G. Bahn some see it as a cultural differencell . Hence the rarity of buttons at Soulabe may be THE problems of deciding whether prehis responsible for several myths of tools and connected to the absence of hyena bones. toric bone assemblages were produced by bear-cults in the Alpine Mousterianl2 . By and large the Alpine buttons have men or by carnivores are currently very The typical Alpine 'button' consists of a been found in 'bear-caves' - caves much to the fore in archaeology (see small portion of the shaft of a bear fibula containing great quantities of cave-bear Nature 297,607; 1982). They are having a with a double-bevelled 'bee de flOte' bones and sparse, if any, traces of human special impact on our interpretation of the fracture at both ends and a bridge left in occupation. Indeed the buttons African Lower Palaeolithicl.2, where the place in the centre. The three examples themselves, together with other alleged old notions of 'killer apes' and the 'oste from Soulabe precisely fit this description bone tools, are sometimes the only odontokeratic culture' have been beating a (see the figure). A distribution map13 evidence for a human presence. Giacobini9 retreat in recent work. Binford3 has even published in 1974 revealed that the buttons has postulated an inverse correlation carried the attack to the European evidence were known from only 13 caves, all of them between the abundance of buttons in a cave by casting doubt on the bone tools found in in the Alpine/Circumalpine region and and the frequentation of the cave by man. the Middle Palaeolithic of Cueva Morin in containing deposits of Mousterian age. As Soulabe, like Malarnaud, was never more Cantabrian Spain, although their validity is at Soulabe, the geographical and temporal than a minor encampment for Middle vigorously upheld by the excavator' . concentration of the buttons, together with Palaeolithic man, whereas the cave-bear The objects to be discussed here - three their regular and symmetrical shape, were used Soulabe intensively both as a bone 'buttons' - appear at first glance to taken as evidence of human manufacture. 'nursery' and for hibernation5. Neverthe be man-made, but it is in fact highly In addition, it was found possible to less the cave does conta,in a sparse lithic probable, if not certain, that a carnivore industry of mediocre quality, with tools of was responsible. This conclusion should quartzite and flint, including some not, however, be taken as an indictment of Levallois flakes; some teeth of Neander all potential Middle Palaeolithic bone ~l~ thal man have also been found. tools; it merely serves as a warning that the Unlike some Alpine caves, therefore, full context of a find should be investigated Soulabe was definitely used by man during before claiming human manufacture. the Mousterian. That fact, the relative The 'buttons' were found in the late ~~ proximity of its buttons to each other and 1970s in the cave of Soulabe (Ariege, the experiments of Schmidt may just make French Pyrenees) which has been it feasible that these objects were man excavated with exemplary skill for over 50 made; however, the work of Koby and years by Leon Pales. It is only 10 metres Giacobini, the observation of miniature from the famous cave of Malarnaud in ~e buttons in pellets and the lack of definite which France's first fragment (a jaw) of human occupation in some Alpine caves Neanderthal man was discovered in 1888. make it highly probable that the objects Both caves open onto a cliff-face; ~ were produced by bears blundering about Soulabe's upper gallery opens at 436 m Bone buttons. in the 'nursery'. The Pyrenean finds make altitude, and a second entrance lies 20 m an important contribution to the debate in below. The two galleries are linked by a fabricate such objects only on fresh or non that they demonstrate that the buttons are vertical shafts. Excavation has fossilized bonel4 . by no means restricted to an imaginary concentrated on the lower gallery and its F-E. Koby, the implacable adversary of bone-using Alpine Mousterian culture, but prolongation. An important stratigraphy myths concerning cave-bears and can occur in any cave much frequented by has been exposed, with 5 m of Middle Palaeolithic man, persistently claimedl5 lfrsusspelaeus. 0 Palaeolithic deposits. The two layers that the buttons, like other bone 'tools' of Paul G. Bahn is a Don Vicente Canada Blanch relevant here are the 'Ocre vif' a thick clay the Alpine Mousterian, were made Senior Research Fellow at the University of deposit assigned to the WUrm II climatic accidentally, by bears blundering about in London. phase6, where the first button was found in dark cave-depths and treading on the 1. Hehrensmeyer, A. & Hill, A.P. (eds) Fossils in the Making 1976; and the layer below, called 'Limon fragile bones of their antecedents. This (University of Chicago Press. 1980). vert' thinner and assigned to the WUrm I opinion has found full support in a recent 2. Brain, C.K. The Hunters or the Hunted? (University of 9 Chicago Press. 1981). phase, where the other two buttons were study by Giacobini , whose detailed 3. Bindord, L.R. Bones: Ancient Men and Modern Myths found in 1977 and 1978. investigation of the morphology and bio (Academic New York. 1981); Curro Anlhrop. 23, 177 (1982). The fact that only three 'buttons' have mechanical properties of bear fibulae 4. Freeman, L.G. (ed.) Views of Ihe Past, 29-5l been found after so many years of showed that, depending on the condition (Mouton. The Hague. 1978); Curro Anthrop. (in the of the bone and the position of the press). excavation, that they were quite close to 5. Pales, l. Annis Sp,""ol. 26. 195 (1971). each other both horizontally and vertically pressure-point, the double-bevelled 6. Miskovsky. J-C. el al. Bull. Ass. Fr. Elud. Qual .. and that they share a regularity and fracture could very easily be produced by 19 (1976). 7. Clones, J. Gallia Prehisl. 22. 629 (1979). symmetry of form led to the notion that an animal stepping on the shaft. This 8. Jequier. J-P. Le Mousterien Alpin, Revision Critique they had been carefully manufactured by explanation helps to account for the (Eburodunum. Iverdon, 1976). 9. Giacobini, G. Preis/orian Alpina (in the press). Neanderthal man; indeed they have been complete absence of incisions, traces of 10. Kellermann. D. Abh. naturhist. Ges. NurnberK 20. 9 described as well-made bone buttons percussion or use-wear on the buttons. (1913). 7 II. Bllchler, E. Das Alpine Paliio/ithikum der Schewei. similar to those of modern duffle-coats . Apart from man and bear, there is one (Birkhauser, Basel , 1940). Exactly similar objects have, however, further candidate for button 12. Kurten, B. The Cave Bear Story (Columbia University long been known in the notorious and manufacturer - the hyena. Identical Press. New York, 1976). 13. FOllati , l. Bull. Elud. prehisl. Alpines 6,77 (1974). largely discredited 'Alpine Mousterian objects, in miniature, have been found 14. Schmidt. A. Mannus 26, 204 (1934). bone industry'8,9. The claimlO that they among the bones of small mammals 15. Koby, F-E. Verh . nalurf. Ges. Basel 54, 59 (1943); Act. Soc. Jurassienne Emulation 57, (1953). were man-made was supported by many regurgitated by birds of preyl6, and this has 16. Miihlhofer. F. Z. Wiener Priihisl. 24. I (1937); Bayer. scholars, most notably Bilchler9, who was led to the theory that the normal buttons Vorgesch. Blllller 24,8.