A wolf from Gravettian site Pavlov I, Czech Republic: Approach to skull pathology
Introduction
Since the 19th century, excavations at Moravian Gravettian archeological sites have yielded multiple sizes of wolves. At sites that we are studying, three groups of wolves can be observed, having large, intermediate, and small statures. The stature differences exceed criteria for sexual dimorphism, possibly by 20 % or more (Perri and Sázelová, 2016), and it seems likely that these remains represent ecologically-driven morphotypes (Larson et al., 2012; Thalmann et al., 2013; Morey, 2014; Boudadi-Maligne and Escarguel, 2014; Perri, 2016; Lupo, 2017; Pitulko and Kasparov, 2017). However, some authors suggest secondary human-driven genetic isolation as the reason for the observed morphological and dietary variation (Germonpré et al., 2012, 2015, 2016; Bocherens et al., 2015, 2019).
The Pavlov I site is an extensive Gravettian mammoth hunters’ campsite with a main cultural layer dated between 30–34 ky cal BP (Svoboda, 2016a,b). The site was excavated by two researchers in two phases: a) Bohuslav Klíma in 1952–1972 (Klíma, 1954, 1987; Svoboda ed., 1994, 1997, 2005); and b) Jiří Svoboda in 2013–2015 (Svoboda et al., 2016a, 2016b). Skeletal remains from a single wolf (Canis lupus) were recovered from Southwestern Area A. The analysis of this specimen, found alongside remnants of human cultural activity, suggests that interaction between humans and wolves may have occurred. The goal of this study is to evaluate the pathological conditions present on the wolf skeleton, as a means to explore the life of this wolf and its possible interaction with humans.
Section snippets
Relevant site description
During 2013–2015, rescue excavations at Southwestern Area A involved opening a trench with 9.0 × 5.5 m sides (Svoboda et al., 2016a, 2016b). An identified cultural layer had its uppermost depth at 2.5–3.4 m, and was deepest at 3.0–3.9 m. Recovered charcoal from the cultural layers yielded radiocarbon dates ranging from 30,495−29,564 cal BP (Beta 359288; deviation 95.4) to 33,561−32,524 cal BP (Beta 359286; deviation 95.4).
The incomplete skeleton of an adult wolf (Canis lupus) was found
Results
The remains are those of an adult Canis lupus that died at an undetermined age. The nearly-complete skull (Fig. 2) reveals asymmetric torsion. The skull is matured fully, with all permanent teeth erupted. There are visual pathological changes dorsally, involving the sagittal crest, and ventrally, involving the entire otic region.
Differential diagnosis of cranial lesions
The differential diagnosis for the morphological changes noted along the sagittal crest of the skull includes trauma or taphonomic change. Differential diagnosis of trauma would be limited here to blunt force with or without fracture, with cause unknown. The healed trauma was documented by micro-CT. Given the advanced state of healing, the event clearly preceded the otic region features by a considerable time, also precluding taphonomic cause (absence of proliferative living cells).
Several
Conclusion
Untreated and barring intervening predation, the consequences of the ventral skull pathology would have been fatal. Several factors in this evaluation provide insight into bridging paleopathology observations with modern diagnostic medicine. Having described the pathological features and considered the bone-related differential diagnosis in context, one next works toward understanding the immediate soft tissue anatomical environment. Mentally linking bone and surrounding soft tissues then
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to H. Temming, D. Plotski, and N. Stephens from the EVA MPG, Leipzig; and M. Králík from the Faculty of Science at Masaryk University. The paper was supported with Czech national institutional support [RVO: 68081758 awarded to IA CAS Brno] and Czech Academy of Sciences [Strategy AV 21 Memory in the digital age: Paleolithic site of Pavlov awarded to IA CAS Brno].
References (51)
- et al.
A method of calculating human deciduous crown formation times and of estimating the chronological ages of stressful events occurring during deciduous enamel formation
J. Forensic Leg. Med.
(2014) - et al.
Reconstruction of the Gravettian food-web at Předmostí I using multi-isotopic tracking (13C, 15N, 34S) of bone collagen
Quat. Int.
(2015) - et al.
A biometric re-evaluation of recent claims for Early Upper Paleolithic wolf domestication in Eurasia
J. Archaeol. Sci.
(2014) - et al.
Palaeolithic dog skulls at the Gravettian Předmostí site, the Czech Republic
J. Archaeol. Sci.
(2012) - et al.
Large canids at the Gravettian Předmostí site, the Czech Republic: the mandible
Quat. Int.
(2015) - et al.
Spondylosis deformans in three large canids from the Gravettian Předmostí site: comparison with other canid populations
Int. J. Paleopathol.
(2016) - et al.
Pig enamel revisited – incremental markings in enamel of wild boars and domestic pigs
J. Struct. Biol.
(2019) Differential diagnosis in archaeology
Int. J. Paleopathol.
(2017)- et al.
Use of dental microstructure to investigate the role of prenatal and early life physiological stress in age at death
J. Archaeol. Sci.
(2019) When and where do dogs improve hunting productivity? The empirical record and some implications for early Upper Paleolithic prey acquisition
J. Anthropol. Archaeol.
(2017)