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This comprehensive study examines fossil remains from Niedźwiedzia Cave in the Eastern Sudetes, offering detailed insights into the palaeobiology and adversities encountered by the Pleistocene cave bear Ursus spelaeus ingressus. Emphasising habitual cave use for hibernation and a primarily herbivorous diet, the findings attribute mortality to resource scarcity during hibernation and habitat fragmentation amid climate shifts. Taphonomic analysis indicates that the cave was extensively used by successive generations of bears, virtually unexposed to the impact of predators. The study also reveals that alkaline conditions developed in the cave during the post-depositional taphonomic processes. Mortality patterns, notably among juveniles, imply dwindling resources, indicative of environmental instability. Skeletal examination reveals a high incidence of forelimb fractures, indicating risks during activities like digging or confrontations. Palaeopathological evidence unveils vulnerabilities to tuberculosis, abscesses, rickets, and injuries, elucidating mobility challenges. The cave's silts exhibit a high zinc concentration, potentially derived from successive bear generations consuming zinc-rich plants. This study illuminates the lives of late cave bears, elucidating unique environmental hurdles faced near their species' end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Etruscan sites have received considerable attention over the years, scholarly focus has rarely been directed on the faunal remains from the various celebrated archaeological localities. The present is a zooarchaeological analysis of archaeofaunal material from Gonfienti, a renowned Etruscan locality near Prato, in north-central Tuscany. The vast, complex archaeological site includes a large building, called Edifice 1, that was constructed starting from the sixth century BC. Predominant taphonomic signatures, human-induced damage, archaeobiological evidence and mortality patterns obtained from the study of the faunal remains from the building’s main phase of occupation revealed that the householders depended principally on cattle and subordinately on domestic suids for much of their subsistence, although game also formed part of the diet. The zooarchaeological interpretations match up very well with the interpretations of the excavators and archaeologists concerning the function of Edifice 1 and the use of some of its rooms. In addition, the low incidence of in situ weathering, extensive corrosion of cortical bone surfaces possibly by exposure to alkaline solutions and the relatively high frequency of waterfowls in the studied samples suggest that the area hosting Edifice 1 experienced very humid conditions and was surrounded by large wetland expanses at the time of its main Etruscan occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]