Criteria for Identifying Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) Age and Sex from Their Canines. Application to the Study of Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Ornaments

We submit two reference collections of red deer (Cervus elaphus) canines of known age and sex to a morphological and metrical study and establish criteria for ageing and sexing. These criteria are applied to the largest Palaeolithic collection of red deer canines used as personal ornaments, associated with the recently discovered multiple burial of the Aven des Iboussières site, in south-eastern France, dated to 10,210±80bp. Results reveal sex and age dependent deer hunting strategies and suggest that separate mortality profiles for hinds and stags are necessary to accurately assess the issue of deer hunting by late Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic groups. The combined use of zooarchaeological and technological information indicates that pairs of canines were systematically extracted from deer mandibles, perforated and, in some cases, decorated by several members of the group, each leaving on paired teeth distinct traces of his/her gestural behaviour. The large number of unpaired canines suggests that these ornaments circulated in a gift exchange network.