Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 52 (4) 2024   doi:10.17746/1563-0110.2024.52.4.029-038

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Raptorial Birds as Taphonomic Agents for Small Mammal Remains
in Pleistocene Deposits at Tsagaan Agui Cave, Mongolia

D.V. Marchenko¹, A.S. Samandrosova^{1, 2}, A.M. Klementiev^{1, 3}, E.P. Rybin¹, D. Bazargur⁴, Y. Tserendagva⁴, B. Gunchinsuren⁴, J.W. Olsen^{1, 5}, and A.M. Khatsenovich¹

¹Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

²Tomsk State University, Pr. Lenina 36, Tomsk, 634050, Russia

³Institute of the Earth’s Crust, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Lermontova 128, Irkutsk, 664033, Russia

⁴Institute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Peace Ave. 1, Ulaanbaatar, 13330, Mongolia

⁵School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0030, USA

The study assesses the role of raptorial birds in the formation of small mammal taphocoenosis at Tsagaan Agui Cave in the Gobi Altai region of Mongolia and reconstructs paleoclimatic conditions there through the composition of small mammalian remains in layers 4 and 5.1-5.3 of the cave’s Main Chamber. Concentrations of small mammal bones were revealed in these layers in excavation pit 2 during our 2022 and 2023 field seasons. We hypothesize that these concentrations are correlated with nests of large raptorial birds in the ceiling of the cave. We employed mathematical statistics, the R software environment, and generated graphs to reveal the boundaries of these concentrations and explain differences in the patterns of their accumulation between lithological layers. Sedimentation in excavation pit 2 was disturbed by water inflowing from a chimney in the cave ceiling, which was the source of red sediments from the surface of the surrounding limestone massif. Our results indicate that raptorial birds played a pivotal role in the accumulation of small mammal remains in layers 4 and 5.1-5.3. These concentrations, located in only one area, suggest that they are the remains of prey species rather than resulting from the activity of these animals inside the cave. The taxonomic composition of the small mammals recovered from Tsagaan Agui layers 4 and 5.1-5.3 indicates stable climatic conditions during their accumulation despite a considerable hiatus in the sedimentation cycle. Most species in these concentrations are inhabitants of open stony semi-desert landscapes or dry steppes with exposed cliffs.

Keywords: Mongolia, taphocoenosis, cave, small mammals, spatial distribution, kernel density estimation