# Archaeozoological study of the herpetofauna from the Abri Unterkobel (Early Mesolithic to Bronze Age), Canton of Saint Gallen, Swiss

Salvador Bailon, Simone Häberle, Fabio Wegmüller

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## To cite this version:

Salvador Bailon, Simone Häberle, Fabio Wegmüller. Archaeozoological study of the herpetofauna from the Abri Unterkobel (Early Mesolithic to Bronze Age), Canton of Saint Gallen, Swiss. XVIIIe Congrès mondial UISP, Jun 2018, Paris, France. . hal-03886536

HAL Id: hal-03886536

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Submitted on 6 Dec 2022

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# Archaeozoological study of the herpetofauna from the Abri Unterkobel (Early Mesolithic to Bronze Age), Canton of Saint Gallen, Swiss.

Salvador BAILON a), Simone HÄBERLE b) and Fabio WEGMÜLLER c)

a) UMR 7209-7194 du CNRS, MNHN, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France. salvador.ballon@mnhn.fr b) University of Basel – Integrative Prehistory and Archeological Science (IPAS), Switzerland, simone.haebler@unibas.ch c) Kantsonsarchäologie St Gallen, Switzerland. fabio.wegmueller@sg.ch

The rock-shelter site of Abri Unterkobel is situated within the Alpine Rhine Valley in Eastern Switzerland. Excavated between 2011 and 2012, the site has yielded large quantities of archaeological material, spanning from the Early Mesolithic (ca. 8000 BC) to the Roman-Iron Age period. Eight stratigraphic Units (A-I) have been differentiated. The archaeological excavation recovered about 1000 stone artefacts, more than 20'000 bones and about 3000 potsherd s. Additionally, many sediment samples have been collected for microvertebrate, malacological and archaeobotanical analyses.

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Location

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Unit A – Roman, Iron Age (400 BC – 300 AD)

Unit B – Middle-Late Bronze Age (1600 – 1000 BC)

Unit C – Early to Middle Bronze Age (1700 – 1500 BC)

Unit D – Early Bronze Age (2200 – 1800 BC)

Unit E – Neolithic (3900 – 3500 BC)

Unit F – Neolithic (4200 – 3700 BC)

Unit G – Neolithic (5200 – 4300 BC)

Unit H – Late Mesolithic (6500 – 5300 BC)

Unit I – Early Mesolithic (8200 – 7000 BC)

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Stratigraphy

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Excavation and site

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Washing

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Interdisciplinary study

## Five amphibian taxa:

* Salamandra salamandra
* Lissotriton helveticus
* Ichthyosaura alpestris
* Bufo bufo
* Rana temporaria

## Amphibians and Reptiles

<table><thead><tr><th>Archaeology</th><th>ROM-IRON</th><th colspan="3">BRONZE AGE</th><th colspan="2">NEOLITHIC</th><th colspan="2">MESOLITHIC</th></tr><tr><th>Complex</th><th>I</th><th>II</th><th>III</th><th>IV</th><th>V</th><th>VI</th><th>VII</th></tr><tr><th>Unit</th><th>A</th><th>B</th><th>C</th><th>D</th><th>E</th><th>F</th><th>G</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>cf. Salamandra reale</td><td>1 (1)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Lissotriton helveticus</td><td>5 (1)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Ichthyosaura alpestris</td><td></td><td></td><td>4 (1)</td><td>30 (1)</td><td></td><td>22 (1)</td><td>9 (1)</td><td>35 (1)</td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra reale</td><td></td><td></td><td>9 (1)</td><td>9 (1)</td><td></td><td>54 (1)</td><td>3 (1)</td><td>3 (1)</td></tr><tr><td>Urotopterus</td><td></td><td></td><td>5</td><td>11</td><td></td><td>7</td><td>1</td><td>1</td></tr><tr><td>Urotopterus</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rana temporaria</td><td>15 (1)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rana temporaria</td><td>48 (7)</td><td>5 (2)</td><td>12 (1)</td><td>7 (1)</td><td>2 (1)</td><td>3 (1)</td><td>6 (2)</td><td>186 (32)</td><td>298 (27)</td></tr><tr><td>Arna</td><td></td><td></td><td>29 (3)</td><td>128 (17)</td><td>139 (12)</td><td>130 (25)</td><td>145 (25)</td><td>185 (17)</td><td>589 (34)</td><td>575 (45)</td></tr><tr><td>Arna</td><td></td><td></td><td>15</td><td>50</td><td></td><td>8</td><td>33</td><td></td><td>58</td><td>76</td></tr><tr><td>Emys orbicularis</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra</td><td>2 (1)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra</td><td>1 (1)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra</td><td>21 (1)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra</td><td></td><td></td><td>5 (1)</td><td>1 (1)</td><td></td><td>3 (1)</td><td>2 (1)</td><td>2 (1)</td><td>6 (1)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra</td><td></td><td></td><td>5 (1)</td><td>1 (1)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra</td><td></td><td></td><td>51 (1)</td><td>26 (1)</td><td></td><td>29 (1)</td><td>20 (1)</td><td>30 (1)</td><td>86 (1)</td><td>98 (2)</td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra</td><td></td><td></td><td>3 (1)</td><td>2 (1)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra</td><td></td><td></td><td>3 (1)</td><td>2 (1)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Salamandra</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

## Six reptile taxa:

* Emys orbicularis, Lacerta bilineata, Lacertidae, Anguis fragilis, Natrix natrix, Zamenis longissimus

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Lissotriton helveticus

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Urotopterus

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## Paleobiogeography: *L. bilineata* and *Z. longissimus* currently more southern distribution
Climatic optimum of the Atlantic and Subboreal
Wooded landscape and bodies of water stagnant or slow-moving and poor in fish

## Taphonomic analysis : Mesolithic – Neolithic – Bronze « transitions »

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Species number by stratigraphic Unit

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Percentage of burned bones by stratigraphic Unit

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Log10 of number of identified Specimens by stratigraphic Unit

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Rana temporaria, Representation Percentage (PR) in Neolithic (E, F and G) and Mesolithic (H and I) levels

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Rana temporaria, fragmentation and digestion percentages
(vertebrae, humerus, ilium, femur and tibiofibula) by stratigraphic unit

* Mesolithic: predator accumulation (more probably mammal carnivores) (eclectic diet; non bone selection; more uniform PR; fragmentation > 70%; digestion >50%)

* Neolithic: more probably human accumulation (human diet) (Rana temporaria predominant species; PR shifted to the hind limbs; fragmentation 50%; digestion 20-30%; burned percentage more important)

* Bronze Age: predator accumulation, mixed origin ?

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2018 Paris
uispp
U. Paris 13
XVIII-Compre

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ARCHEOZOOLOGIE
ARCHEOBOTANIQUE

HNP

Histoire
Naturelle
de l'Homme
Préhistorique

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Kanton St.Gallen
Archäologie

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Universität
Basel

Departement
Umweltwissenschaften