Ancient Sturgeon Populations in France Through Archaeozoological Remains, from Prehistoric Time Until the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

The recent discovery in France of A. oxyrinchus in archaeological sites along the Atlantic coast has led to the creation of an inventory of bony sturgeon remains all over France, and the review of specific determinations according to morphological criteria. Whilst A. sturio remains to this day the only identified species on the Mediterranean side, rivers of the Atlantic coast and the north of France have sheltered by a majority another species, A. oxyrinchus, from the Neolithic and at least until the seventeenth century. This latter species, identified in the Final Neolithic (5,000 years ago) represents the first colonizing by sturgeons of French waters at the end of the last glaciation. More than 30 sites have revealed sturgeon remains, some of which are very high upstream. Both species (A. sturio and A. oxyrinchus) were present on the Atlantic front and the Channel-North Sea. Today, new questions are raised and discussed.