Zooarchaeological analysis of Pleistocene bones of large mammals from Obzornaya cave in the Altai

Numerous Holocene and Pleistocene faunal remains as well as two fragments of ornamented pottery and two stone artifacts were discovered after examining galleries in Obzornaya cave in the field season of2023. This article presents zooarchaeological study of the Pleistocene osteological evidence. Herbovores, including horses, goats/rams, bison, and rhinoceros were most numerous in the collection of paleofauna. Carnivore remains belonged to bear, hyena, and wolf. Most of large mammals inhabited steppe and forest-steppe landscapes, which indicates predominance of open spaces over closed forest biotopes in the vicinity of the cave in the Late Pleistocene. Analysis of bite marks which appeared in large numbers on the bones has shown that they were mainly left by large predators such as wolves, hyenas, and bears, whose bones were also discovered in the cave. Presence of temporary teeth of hyenas and wolves indicates that the cave served as a lair for these animals. Large predators played a key role in accumulating bones in the cave during the Pleistocene and their further deformation. Discovery of two stone artifacts and two bones of Pleistocene preservation with traces of anthropogenic impact in Obzornaya cave indicate that in the Paleolithic the cave was occasionally visited by humans, and this karst cavity is promising for further archaeological research. Location of the cave next to well-known sites of the Late Middle Paleolithic increases the relevance of evidence from Obzornaya cave for studying relationship between predators and ancient human populations.