late pleistocene population interaction in western europe

crown height was measured, when possible, on the protoconid, that is, on the buccal side
of the mesial lobe, of all d3 (dP3) and dP4 (dP4) identified in the assemblages and
compared with equivalent data from Pincevent (David and Enloe 1993) and Verberie
(Enloe and Audouze 1997; Enloe 1997). Pooling of d3 and d4 was necessary due to small
sample size, but was limited to teeth attributed to different individuals. The pooling of
these teeth is probably not an unreasonable decision, crown height being highly
correlated on contiguous teeth (Pike-Tay et al. 2000).
Comparisons with Verberie and Pincevent are of interest because the existence of
a single season (fall) of procurement has been demonstrated convincingly for these sites.
It is important to stress that these comparisons assume that the peak of the calving season,
as well as patterns in wear of the deciduous dentition, were relatively stable in
southwestern France throughout the second half of the late Pleistocene.
If these assumptions are correct, the time span separating Verberie and Pincevent
from Saint-Césaire should not affect the results. Contrasts in distributions of crown
height between these sites should therefore indicate differences in seasons of reindeer
procurement. However, this type of comparison needs to be made very carefully because
it can lead to self-reinforcing cycles of season determination. Although the method is far
from perfect, we will see that some of the levels of Saint- Césaire differ in season of
procurement from Pincevent and Verberie. This information compared to data derived
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