Hunter–gatherer subsistence at the end of the Pleistocene: preliminary results from Picareiro Cave, Central Portugal

Antiquity ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (285) ◽  
pp. 500-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Ferreira Bicho ◽  
Bryan Hockett ◽  
Jonathan Haws ◽  
William Belcher
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Animal Remains ◽  
Central Portugal ◽  
Preliminary Study

Excavation at the site of Picareiro Cave in Portugal provides an important and rare sample of animal remains. Preliminary study shows that late Pleistocene hunter–gatherers hunted rabbits, deer and a wide variety of fauna, perhaps during seasonal occupation of the cave.

scholarly journals Late Pleistocene human paleoecology in the highland savanna ecosystem of mainland Southeast Asia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kantapon Suraprasit ◽  
Rasmi Shoocongdej ◽  
Kanoknart Chintakanon ◽  
Hervé Bocherens
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Tooth Enamel ◽  
Stable Carbon Isotope ◽  
Lower Latitude ◽  
Stable Carbon ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Carbon And Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Northwestern Thailand ◽  
Mainland Southeast Asia

AbstractThe late Pleistocene settlement of highland settings in mainland Southeast Asia by Homo sapiens has challenged our species’s ability to occupy mountainous landscapes that acted as physical barriers to the expansion into lower-latitude Sunda islands during sea-level lowstands. Tham Lod Rockshelter in highland Pang Mapha (northwestern Thailand), dated between 34,000 and 12,000 years ago, has yielded evidence of Hoabinhian lithic assemblages and natural resource use by hunter-gatherer societies. To understand the process of early settlements of highland areas, we measured stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of Tham Lod human and faunal tooth enamel. Our assessment of the stable carbon isotope results suggests long-term opportunistic behavior among hunter-gatherers in foraging on a variety of food items in a mosaic environment and/or inhabiting an open forest edge during the terminal Pleistocene. This study reinforces the higher-latitude and -altitude extension of a forest-grassland mosaic ecosystem or savanna corridor (farther north into northwestern Thailand), which facilitated the dispersal of hunter-gatherers across mountainous areas and possibly allowed for consistency in a human subsistence strategy and Hoabinhian technology in the highlands of mainland Southeast Asia over a 20,000-year span near the end of the Pleistocene.

scholarly journals Human social organization during the Late Pleistocene: Beyond the nomadic-egalitarian model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manvir Singh ◽  
Luke Glowacki
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Human History ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Social Variation

Many researchers assume that until 10-12,000 years ago, humans lived in small, mobile, relatively egalitarian bands composed mostly of kin. This “nomadic-egalitarian model” informs evolutionary explanations of behavior and our understanding of how contemporary societies differ from those of our evolutionary past. Here, we synthesize research challenging this model and propose an alternative, the diverse histories model, to replace it. We outline the limitations of using recent foragers as models of Late Pleistocene societies and the considerable social variation among foragers commonly considered small-scale, mobile, and egalitarian. We review ethnographic and archaeological findings covering 34 world regions showing that non-agricultural peoples often live in groups that are more sedentary, unequal, large, politically stratified, and capable of large-scale cooperation and resource management than is normally assumed. These characteristics are not restricted to extant Holocene hunter-gatherers but, as suggested by archaeological findings from 27 Middle Stone Age sites, likely characterized societies throughout the Late Pleistocene (until c. 130 ka), if not earlier. These findings have implications for how we understand human psychological adaptations and the broad trajectory of human history.

scholarly journals Procurement and mobility during the Late Pleistocene: Characterising the stone-tool assemblage of the Picamoixons site (Tarragona, NE Iberian Peninsula)

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
María Soto
Keyword(s):  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Petrographic Analysis ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Ne Iberian Peninsula

The Picamoixons site is a rockshelter located in the province of Tarragona (NE Iberian Peninsula). It was object of two rescue campaigns during 1988 and 1993, which led to the recovery of a complete archaeological assemblage, including stone tools as well as faunal and portable art remains that date the occupation to the 14th to 11th millennium BP (calibrated). This study involves a petrographic characterisation of the stone-tool assemblage in order to establish: 1) the procurement areas, 2) the raw materials management strategies and 3) the mobility radius and territorial sizes of the hunter-gatherers groups that occupied the site. The method applied comprises in a multiscale analysis that includes systematic prospection, the petrographic characterisation of geological and archaeological samples, an analysis of the chert types represented in the knapping sequence, and the definition of the mobility axes and areas frequented according to lithic procurement.A petrographic analysis of the chert in the prospected area led to the definition of nine macroscopic varieties related to five types (Vilaplana, Morera, Maset, Vilella and Tossa cherts), related to Lower and Upper Muschelkalk (Triassic), Lutetian, Bartonian (Palaeocene) and Sannonian (Oligocene) deposits.The study of the knapping sequences indicates the main exploitation of Bartonian cherts (Tossa type), and the use of Lutetian cherts (Maset and Morera types) for configuring retouched tools. The exploitation of the remaining raw material types identified is considered sporadic and opportunistic.Defining the procurement areas enabled the mobility radius to be assessed as between 3 and 30 km, highlighting the importance of the fluvial basins as natural movement pathways. The results indicate that the main procurement territory was 16 km2 in area, associable with a forager radius. The most remote procurement distances suggest a maximum exploitation area of 260 km2, defining an intra-regional range. This range presents parallelisms with various contemporaneous hunter-gatherers groups in Western Europe, suggesting a progressive mobility reduction dynamic during the Late Pleistocene-Initial Holocene.

The Organisation of Late Pleistocene Robberg Blade Technology in the Doring River Catchment, South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 168-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marika Low ◽  
Alex Mackay
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Technological Characteristic ◽  
Spatial Organisation ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
River Catchment ◽  
Rock Types ◽  
Provisioning Strategies

AbstractEmphasis on the production of small unretouched blades is the strongest defining technological characteristic of southern African assemblages referred to as the Robberg – a ‘technologically uniform’ technocomplex identified across the sub-continent. This paper explores the spatial organisation of Robberg blade technology from three rockshelter sites in the Doring River catchment of the eastern Cederberg Mountains. The Doring is both a key source of water and toolstone, and the three sites are located at varying distances from it. Blades and blade cores from these sites are used to explore the influence of distance to source on the abundance of raw materials, staging of production and maintenance/reduction of transported artefacts. Results suggest key differences in procurement and provisioning strategies for different materials. Hunter-gatherers ‘geared up’ with hornfels and silcrete blades at the river before moving up the tributaries where toolkits were supplemented by small numbers of blades made from transported silcrete cores and the situational use of local rock types such as quartz. Results demonstrate the importance of understanding local-scale controls on technological organisation before inferring patterns of broader behavioural import.

scholarly journals Synthesis and Anthelmintic Activity of New Thiosemicarbazide Derivatives—A Preliminary Study

Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 2770 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Dziduch ◽  
Przemysław Kołodziej ◽  
Agata Paneth ◽  
Anna Bogucka-Kocka ◽  
Monika Wujec
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Anthelmintic Activity ◽  
Parasitic Infections ◽  
Intestinal Helminths ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Thiosemicarbazide Derivatives ◽  
Anthelmintic Drugs

Parasitic infections caused by different species of intestinal helminths still poses a threat to public health. There is a need to search for new, effective anthelmintic drugs. A series of novel thiosemicarbazides were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anthelmintic activity. The preliminary results showed that the most of synthesized compounds were very active. 4-Phenyl-1-[(1-methyl-4-nitroimidazol-2-yl)carbonyl]thiosemicarbazide and 4-(3-chlorophenyl)-1-[(1-methyl-4-nitroimidazol-2-yl)carbonyl]thiosemicarbazide showed a 100% mortality of nematodes and a high anthelmintic activity in both tested concentrations.

Clovis Hunting Strategies, or How to Make out on Plentiful Resources

2003 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 333-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole M. Waguespack ◽  
Todd A. Surovell
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Diet Breadth ◽  
Ecological Framework ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Large Mammal ◽  
Small Game ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Alternative Diet

Traditionally, hunter-gatherers of the Clovis period have been characterized as specialized hunters of large terrestrial mammals. Recent critiques have attempted to upend this position both empirically and theoretically, alternatively favoring a more generalized foraging economy. In this paper, the distinction between subsistence specialists and generalists is framed in terms of forager selectivity with regards to hunted prey, following a behavioral ecological framework. Faunal data are compiled from 33 Clovis sites and used to test the two alternative diet-breadth hypotheses. The data support the older “Clovis as specialist” model, although some use of small game is apparent. Furthermore, data from modern hunter-gatherers are marshaled to support the theoretical plausibility of specialized large-mammal hunting across North America during the Late Pleistocene.

scholarly journals Benchmarking Reference Desk Service in Academic Health Science Libraries: A Preliminary Survey

2001 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 348-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Robbins ◽  
Kathleen Daniels
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Health Science ◽  
Preliminary Survey ◽  
Quality Service ◽  
Academic Health ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Standard Questionnaire ◽  
Preliminary Study

This preliminary study was designed to benchmark patron perceptions of reference desk services at academic health science libraries, using a standard questionnaire. Patron responses were compared to determine the library that provided the highest-quality service overall and along five service dimensions. All libraries were rated very favorably by those surveyed, but none rated significantly higher than the others except in facility appearance. Because the study revealed no other service quality differences, the results could not be used to improve services at any single library. However, the preliminary results could be useful in planning future benchmarking strategies.

Hunter-Gatherer Women

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlize Lombard ◽  
Katharine Kyriacou
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Relationships ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Omega 3 ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Reproductive Process ◽  
Behavioral Traits ◽  
Omega 6 ◽  
Prime Movers ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Game Hunting

“Hunter-gatherer” refers to the range of human subsistence patterns and socio-economies since the Late Pleistocene (after about 126,000 years ago), some of which are still practiced in rare pockets across the globe. Hunter-gatherer research is centered on ethnohistorical records of the lifeways, economies, and interpersonal relationships of groups who gather field and wild foods and hunt for meat. Information collected in this way is cautiously applied to the Stone Age and Paleolithic archaeological records to inform on or build hypotheses about past human behaviors. Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers possessed the behavioral, technological, and cognitive wherewithal to populate the globe. Hunter-gatherer groups are often relatively egalitarian regarding power and gender relationships. But, as is the case for all mammals, only females bear offspring. This biological reality has socioeconomic and behavioral implications when it comes to food supply. Whereas humans share the principles of the mammalian reproductive process, only humans evolved to occupy a unique cogni-behavioral niche in which we are able to outsmart other animal competition in the quest for survival on any given landscape. Since early on in our history, women of our species gave birth to relatively large-brained offspring with considerable cognitive potential compared to that of other animals. Key to this development is the consumption of specific foods, which contain brain-selective nutrients such as omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and trace elements including iron, iodine, copper, selenium, and zinc. Such nutrients are important for all peoples past and present. Ethnohistorical and nutritional evidence shows that edible plants and small animals, most often gathered by women, represent an abundant and accessible source of “brain foods.” This is in contrast to the “man the hunter” hypothesis where big-game hunting and meat-eating are seen as prime movers in the development of biological and behavioral traits that distinguish humans from other primates.

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