Wolverton Steve
Department of Geography & Program in Environmental Science, University of North Texas, P.O. Box 305279, Denton, TX 76203-5279, USA.
J Hum Evol. 2006 May;50(5):540-51. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.12.009. Epub 2006 Feb 28.
Ursid mortality data have long been used to evaluate associations between cave-bear remains (Ursus deningeri and U. spelaeus) and hominin (Homo sp.) remains. Typically, such ursid assemblages produce mortality patterns that indicate that juvenile and old bears died during hibernation, a pattern that is used to suggest that humans and bears occupied the same caves at different times. However, a different kind of mortality pattern can also be used to suggest human influence on cave bears, particularly under circumstances when bears and humans compete for habitat. In particular, data from Lawson Cave and Jerry Long Cave, Missouri indicate that young-adult North American black bears (Ursus americanus) are prone to capture in natural-trap caves. Similar faunal data from Sima de los Huesos in Spain, where cave-bear and hominin remains are found in the same deposit, might also suggest that the bears died from falling into a natural trap. It is concluded that mortality analysis of ursid remains from caves is a useful tool with which to evaluate accumulation histories of cave deposits and relations between humans, artifacts, and cave-bear remains. In particular, ursid mortality data are relevant to the Kurtén Response, a hypothesis reiterated in the recent literature that implicates human encroachment on ursid habitat (e.g., cave den sites) as a potential cause in cave-bear extinction.
熊类死亡数据长期以来一直被用于评估洞熊遗骸（德宁格熊和洞穴熊）与古人类遗骸（智人）之间的关联。通常情况下，此类熊类组合呈现出的死亡模式表明幼年和老年熊在冬眠期间死亡，这一模式被用来暗示人类和熊在不同时间占据同一洞穴。然而，另一种不同的死亡模式也可用于表明人类对洞熊的影响，特别是在熊和人类争夺栖息地的情况下。具体而言，来自密苏里州劳森洞穴和杰瑞·朗洞穴的数据表明，北美成年黑熊容易在天然陷阱洞穴中被捕。西班牙的休索斯洞穴也发现了类似的动物群数据，在同一沉积物中发现了洞熊和古人类遗骸，这也可能表明熊是死于落入天然陷阱。得出的结论是，对洞穴中熊类遗骸的死亡率分析是评估洞穴沉积物堆积历史以及人类、人工制品和洞熊遗骸之间关系的有用工具。特别是，熊类死亡率数据与库尔滕反应相关，这是近期文献中反复提及的一个假设，即人类对熊类栖息地（如洞穴巢穴）的侵占是洞熊灭绝的一个潜在原因。
