Investigating Species Composition in the Early Aurignacian of Le Piage (France) Through Collagen Fingerprinting (ZooMS) of Screen-Recovered Small Bone Fragments

In the paleoproteomic field, ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry) has been developed to identify morphologically non-diagnostic animal remains to taxon, offering insights into human subsistence practices. Here, we report new ZooMS analyses of 1,050 Early Aurignacian (ca. 37,000-34,000 cal BP) bone fragments from the site of Le Piage (Lot, France). The studied sample is heavily fragmented and was retrieved through water sieving. In our analysis, we compare the taxonomic identifications of bone remains using traditional morphological attributes with remains identified using ZooMS and discuss the implications of the taxonomic patterns. Our results indicate that the faunal spectrum identified through ZooMS differs from the species composition obtained through morphological analyses. While reindeer remains the dominant species, bovids and other cervids are better represented in the ZooMS fraction. Two rare taxa, a hare (Lepus sp.) and a previously unidentified carnivore (Pantherinae/Hyaenidae/Mustelidae), were also identified using ZooMS. We also observe an increase of Bos/Bison remains in the spongious assemblage that is possibly explained by the use of spongy portions of long bones as fuel. Our work adds new data on patterns of reindeer dominance during the Early Aurignacian and illustrates how ZooMS identifications of screen-recovered small bone fragments can enhance our understanding of Paleolithic site occupation and subsistence strategies.