A Reinvestigation of the Upper Paleolithic Postcranial Human Remains from the La Rochette Rock Shelter (Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère, France)

Abstract

One of the lesser-known Paleolithic sites in the famous Vézère river valley in south-western France is the rock-shelter of La Rochette, where presumed Upper Paleolithic adult postcranial remains were found during excavations by O. Hauser in 1910. A first study of these remains was published in 1914. Since then, no comprehensive reinvestigation of the postcranial morphology has been carried out. Here we present a review of the history of research at the site and on these remains, as well as new data on osteometry, the association of skeletal elements, and estimations of body proportions and body size.

Morphological examinations of the joint articulation of the right humerus cast with the original radius and ulna indicate that these skeletal elements very likely belonged to the same individual. Although the upper limb overall size and morphology is consistent with that of the femora, suggesting that all remains may indeed represent one individual, an assessment of the association of the upper and lower limbs was impossible. Therefore, the presence of another adult individual at the site cannot not be excluded at present.

As the current location of the humeri and femora is unknown, the original anatomy was only possible to study for the radius and ulna; casts were used to collect data for the humeri and femora. To assess the reliability of casts for the study of Pleistocene remains, we compared data from the original radius and ulna to equivalent measurements obtained from their casts. We show that the casts are affected by slight to modest deformation and that, while some linear distances are similar, others show substantial deviations. Furthermore, the virtual superimpositions of 3D surface models and the meshDist models of casts and originals showed that the casts reproduced the originals unevenly, with some areas shaped slightly disproportionately or showing differences in curvatures.

Comparisons of measurements obtained from the original La Rochette radius and ulna with other Upper Paleolithic individuals placed these skeletal elements at the region of overlap of males and females. Similarly, body mass and stature estimates calculated based on measurements from the right femoral cast also fell in this range and within the variation of Upper Paleolithic females. Even though La Rochette’s small skeletal proportions might create an impression of gracility, examinations on the skeletal bone robusticity found overall well-developed muscle markings that indicate intense physical activities influenced the skeletal morphology. This is also indicated by the strong asymmetry found between the left and right humerus casts.