For the first time, the results of the
study of paleontological materials obtained
during all the years of excavations of the Middle Paleolithic site of Ilskaya are present. The
fauna includes 24 species of mammals and
3 species of birds. Bone remains of steppe bison Bison priscus dominate (up to 86%). The
presence of mammoth Mammuthus intermedius, horse Equus taubachensis, deer
Megaloceros
... [Show full abstract] giganteus, water vole Arvicola cf. chosaricus makes it possible to correlate the lower layers of the site with the late
stage of the Khazar theriocomplex of Eastern
Europe (Eem — early Weichselian). Cuon alpinus, Ursus kudarensis, Capreolus capreolus,
Capra sp., characteristic of the mountains of
the Southern Caucasus, and steppe species
Vulpes corsac, Equus hydruntinus, Saiga tatarica, Bison priscus, Spalax microphtalmus, indicating the predominance of open landscapes in the vicinity of the site, were found.
The site is located at the narrowing of the river valley, which contributed to the accumulation of bone remains. It is assumed that a part
of the bone assemblage was deposited here
as a result of the recurring natural deaths of
mammoths and bison that drowned during
floods, while the other part consists of the remains of animals hunted by Neanderthals. The
latter is reconstructed primarily from the mortality profile of bison dominated by prime-age
adults, and is supported also by both the high
degree of fragmentation of fresh bone and the
rarity of traces of carnivore modification.