<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This study reports new data on the occurrence of elk remains in the western, mountainous part of Austria and also provides a compilation of all currently known 107 elk finds of the upper Pleistocene to upper Holocene in this country. The altitudinal distribution reveals two maxima for Austria: a lower one at about 400 m a.s.l., which comprises the alpine foreland, and a second one at about 1600-1800 m a.s.l., reflecting the abundance of vertical caves in the Northern Calcareous Alps at this elevation (animal traps). Vorderkarhöhle in Tyrol is the highest known elk find in Austria (1860 m a.s.l.), interestingly located above the tree line. Although only 11% of all elk sites in Austria have been radiocarbon-dated, stratigraphic and archaeo-logical constraints allow to assign 90% of those sites that lack radiometric dating to either the upper Pleistocene (18%) or the Holocene (72%). Among the latter, upper Holocene sites dominate (78%), followed by middle (16%) and lower Holocene (6%) sites. The youngest radiocarbon-dated elk find in Austria is from Gaflein Valley (Tyrol, 1285-1359 cal BP), in agreement with data from the Swiss Alps, showing that the elk survived beyond Roman times in the Alps and became extinct before the onset of the Middle Ages.</p></abstract>

This study reports new data on the occurrence of elk remains in the western, mountainous part of Austria and also provides a compilation of all currently known 107 elk finds of the upper Pleistocene to upper Holocene in this country. The altitudinal distribution reveals two maxima for Austria: a lower one at about 400 m a.s.l., which comprises the alpine foreland, and a second one at about 1600-1800 m a.s.l., reflecting the abundance of vertical caves in the Northern Calcareous Alps at this elevation (animal traps). Vorderkarhöhle in Tyrol is the highest known elk find in Austria (1860 m a.s.l.), interestingly located above the tree line. Although only 11% of all elk sites in Austria have been radiocarbon-dated, stratigraphic and archaeo-logical constraints allow to assign 90% of those sites that lack radiometric dating to either the upper Pleistocene (18%) or the Holocene (72%). Among the latter, upper Holocene sites dominate (78%), followed by middle (16%) and lower Holocene (6%) sites. The youngest radiocarbon-dated elk find in Austria is from Gaflein Valley (Tyrol, 1285-1359 cal BP), in agreement with data from the Swiss Alps, showing that the elk survived beyond Roman times in the Alps and became extinct before the onset of the Middle Ages.

The presence of elk (<italic>Alces alces</italic>) in Austria since the upper Pleistocene

Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The presence of elk () in Austria since the upper Pleistocene

This study reports new data on the occurrence of elk remains in the western, mountainous part of Austria and also provides a compilation of all currently known...

The presence of elk (Alces alces) in Austria since the upper Pleistocene

Published Online: Sep 03, 2020

Page range: 111 - 124

Received: Mar 16, 2020

Accepted: May 18, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17738/ajes.2020.0007

Keywords
Elk, Pleistocene, Holocene, radiocarbon dating, Eastern Alps, Austria

© 2020 Wolfgang Neuner et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Supplementary Material Details

The presence of elk (Alces alces) in Austria since the upper Pleistocene

Published Online: Sep 03, 2020

Page range: 111 - 124

Received: Mar 16, 2020

Accepted: May 18, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17738/ajes.2020.0007

KeywordsElk, Pleistocene, Holocene, radiocarbon dating, Eastern Alps, Austria

© 2020 Wolfgang Neuner et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Supplementary Material Details

Keywords
Elk, Pleistocene, Holocene, radiocarbon dating, Eastern Alps, Austria