The beaver Castor fiber Linnaeus, 1758 in France. Archaeozoological study

This contribution draws up a first inventory of the discoveries of remains of beaver in archaeological contexts and characterizes the place as well as the role of this animal in societies, since the end of the Prehistory until the medieval period. This work establishes a first synthesis on the subject in the French metropolitan territory and rests on an analysis of the representation of the species and its anatomical parts as well as of the anthropical marks observed on bones. It also draws on a study of textual sources for the relevant periods.