scholarly journals Specialised hunting of Iberian ibex during Neanderthal occupation at El Esquilleu Cave, northern Spain

Antiquity ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 88 (342) ◽  
pp. 1035-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Yravedra Sáinz de los Terreros ◽  
Alberto Gómez-Castanedo ◽  
Julia Aramendi Picado ◽  
Javier Baena Preysler
Keyword(s):  
Mountainous Terrain ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Northern Spain ◽  
Iberian Ibex ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Solitary Species

Traditional views of Neanderthal hunting strategies envisage them preying on herd species such as bison and deer, rather than the sophisticated tracking of solitary animals. Analysis of faunal remains from El Esquilleu Cave in northern Spain, however, demonstrates that during certain periods of the Middle Palaeolithic occupation, Neanderthals focused on the hunting of ibex and chamois, small solitary species that inhabited the mountainous terrain around the site. These results indicate that Neanderthal hunting practices may have had more similarity to those of their Upper Palaeolithic relatives than is usually assumed.

On Bovid Assemblages and their Consequences for the Knowledge of Subsistence Patterns in the Middle Palaeolithic

1996 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 19-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Gaudzinski
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Distinct Mode ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Enormous Variation ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Age And Sex

A comparative study of four Late Pleistocene sites — Il'skaja (Russia), La Borde and Mauran (France), and Wallertheim (Germany) — was undertaken. The sites are considered to be kill and/or habitation sites, showing bovid dominated faunal assemblages which have already independently been described as resulting from hominid hunting activities. In this synthetic paper it is discussed whether these archaeological records reflect a distinct mode of procurement. Focusing on the faunal remains, similarities and differences are demonstrated between the varying bovid assemblages in terms of the body profiles, and age and sex structures, and evidence of hominid bovid carcass exploitation is examined. Physical, taphonomical, and hominid behavioural implications of the different variables compared are treated in a problem-oriented discussion. The results indicate focussed and selective hunting strategies in parts of Europe during the Middle Palaeolithic, emphasising that during the period an enormous variation of subsistence options existed, some of them quite similar to those of the Upper Palaeolithic.

scholarly journals Pleistocene sediment DNA reveals hominin and faunal turnovers at Denisova Cave

Nature ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena I. Zavala ◽  
Zenobia Jacobs ◽  
Benjamin Vernot ◽  
Michael V. Shunkov ◽  
Maxim B. Kozlikin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Contact Zone ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Environmental Context ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Mt Dna ◽  
Southern Siberia ◽  
Sediment Samples ◽  
Pleistocene Sediment

AbstractDenisova Cave in southern Siberia is the type locality of the Denisovans, an archaic hominin group who were related to Neanderthals1–4. The dozen hominin remains recovered from the deposits also include Neanderthals5,6 and the child of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan7, which suggests that Denisova Cave was a contact zone between these archaic hominins. However, uncertainties persist about the order in which these groups appeared at the site, the timing and environmental context of hominin occupation, and the association of particular hominin groups with archaeological assemblages5,8–11. Here we report the analysis of DNA from 728 sediment samples that were collected in a grid-like manner from layers dating to the Pleistocene epoch. We retrieved ancient faunal and hominin mitochondrial (mt)DNA from 685 and 175 samples, respectively. The earliest evidence for hominin mtDNA is of Denisovans, and is associated with early Middle Palaeolithic stone tools that were deposited approximately 250,000 to 170,000 years ago; Neanderthal mtDNA first appears towards the end of this period. We detect a turnover in the mtDNA of Denisovans that coincides with changes in the composition of faunal mtDNA, and evidence that Denisovans and Neanderthals occupied the site repeatedly—possibly until, or after, the onset of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic at least 45,000 years ago, when modern human mtDNA is first recorded in the sediments.

Preliminary Report on Stone Age Reconnaissance in north-eastern Iran

1964 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 382-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. B. M. McBurney
Keyword(s):  
Preliminary Report ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Climatic Data ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Upper Pleistocene ◽  
Eastern Iran ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
The One

The following is a preliminary report on the results achieved during approximately six weeks' archaeological fieldwork in north-eastern Iran in July and August 1963. The primary objective was to explore the area for traces of the local Upper Pleistocene cultural sequence, and in particular to establish if possible the date and character of the local Upper Palaeolithic. In the event no traces of Upper Palaeolithic were obtained. However, a start was made towards defining the problem by the discovery of two well-stratified deposits, the one yielding a Middle Palaeolithic (Mousterian) industry with distinctive regional affinities, and the other an early Post-glacial Mesolithic industry. Reliable samples were obtained for defining the statistical properties of both, together with carbon samples, traces of vertebrate fauna, and some other climatic data.Representative collections were lodged with the Musée Iran Bastan at Teheran; and the expedition's share is to be offered in part to the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Cambridge and in part to the British Museum. The expedition was financed mainly by a grant from the British Academy, supplemented by further grants from the Crowther-Beynon Fund and the British Museum.

scholarly journals Fish and other faunal remains from a Late Iron Age site on the Letaba River, Kruger National Park

Koedoe ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ina Plug ◽  
Paul Skelton
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
National Park ◽  
Fish Population ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
The People ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Fish Remains ◽  
Insight Into

Fish remains from Late Iron Age sites in the Transvaal are relatively scarce. It seems as if the people did not utilize the riverine resources extensively. Therefore the unique assemblage of large numbers of fish bones on a Late Iron Age site, provides some insight into the fish population of a section of the Letaba River a few hundred years ago. The presence of other faunal remains provides some information on prehistoric utilization of the environment in general. Hunting strategies and aspects of herding can also be deduced from the faunal remains.

scholarly journals NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE LION MAN FIGURINE OF HOHLENSTEIN-STADEL CAVE (SOUTHWESTERN GERMANY)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Wolf ◽  
N. Ebinger-Rist ◽  
C.-J. Kind ◽  
K. Wehrberger
Keyword(s):  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Western Germany ◽  
The Right

In the Hohlenstein-Stadel Cave in 1939 excavators uncovered nearly 200 mammoth ivory fragments, which were refitted as a therianthrope figurine with the head and torso of a cave lion but with the legs of a human being. It was thus named the Lion Man. During recent excavations in the Stadel Cave between 2008 and 2013, a stratigraphic sequence was discovered that extended from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Aurignacian. It became clear that the location of the Lion Man during the excavations of 1939 corresponded to layer Au of the recent 2008-2013 excavations part of the excavation back dirt from 1939 was also uncovered. Here, 575 fragments of mammoth ivory were found that partially belonged to the Lion Man figurine that was carved from a complete tusk. In 2012/2013 the Lion Man was therefore newly restored. The figure was completed to the greatest possible extent. It became apparent that the Lion Man represents a male. We also obtained new perpectives on the position and the sinistral ornamentation of the figurine. The snout, the back and the right side were refitted and the Lion Man also gained volume due to the refitted pieces. New insight underlines the intentional deposition of the formerly complete figurine during the Aurignacian. Wehrberger, K. (Ed.) (2013). The Return of the Lion Man. History Myth Magic. Ostfildern: Jan Thorbecke Verlag. Kind, C.-J., Ebinger-Rist, N., Wolf, S., Beutelspacher, T., Wehrberger, K. (2014). The Smile of the Lion Man. Recent Excavations in Stadel Cave (BadenWrttemberg, south-western Germany) and the Restoration of the Famous Upper Palaeolithic Figurine. Quartr, 61, 129145

Light, Human Evolution, and the Palaeolithic

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Pettitt ◽  
Stefanie Leluschko ◽  
Takashi Sakamoto
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Human Perception ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Low Light ◽  
Light Production ◽  
Constituent Component ◽  
Palaeolithic Art ◽  
Cave Art

Human light-producing technology (i.e. the controlled use of fire) evolved during the Palaeolithic. Among its more obvious advantages to survival (heat, cooking, protection), fire-provided light in the form of hearths and lamps probably had considerable evolutionary significance. As human symbolic systems spread with the late Middle Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeolithic in Eurasia, it became a constituent component of European cave art. After reviewing the biological basis of human perception in low-light situations, we examine the existing evidence for the evolution of controlled use of fire (light production), and focus on its use in the performance of Upper Palaeolithic art and other activities in the deep caves of Western Europe.

In Pursuit of Mobile Prey: Martu Hunting Strategies and Archaeofaunal Interpretation

2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas W. Bird ◽  
Rebecca Bliege Bird ◽  
Brian F. Codding
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Behavioral Ecology ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Dynamic Interactions ◽  
Resource Sustainability ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Proxy Measure ◽  
Highly Correlated ◽  
Prey Mobility

By integrating foraging models developed in behavioral ecology with measures of variability in faunal remains, zooarchaeological studies have made important contributions toward understanding prehistoric resource use and the dynamic interactions between humans and their prey. However, where archaeological studies are unable to quantify the costs and benefits associated with prey acquisition, they often rely on proxy measures such as prey body size, assuming it to be positively correlated with return rate. To examine this hypothesis, we analyze the results of 1,347 adult foraging bouts and 649 focal follows of contemporary Martu foragers in Australia's Western Desert. The data show that prey mobility is highly correlated with prey body size and is inversely related to pursuit success—meaning that prey body size is often an inappropriate proxy measure of prey rank. This has broad implications for future studies that rely on taxonomic measures of prey abundance to examine prehistoric human ecology, including but not limited to economic intensification, socioeconomic complexity, resource sustainability, and overexploitation.

A Preliminary Lithic Analysis of the Mousterian Site of ’Ain Difla (WHS Site 634) in the Wadi Ali, West-Central Jordan

1987 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 279-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Lindly ◽  
Geoffrey Clark
Keyword(s):  
Phase 1 ◽  
Lithic Analysis ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
West Central ◽  
Central Jordan ◽  
Length Width ◽  
Analytical Frameworks

Test excavations in 1984 at the middle palaeolithic rockshelter of 'Ain Difla (Wadi Hasa Survey Site 634) in west-central Jordan produced a lithic assemblage dominated by elongated levallois points with very few retouched tools. Length/width ratios of the levallois points and width/thickness ratios of a sample of complete flakes suggest an affinity with Tabun D/Phase 1 mousterian sites. This kind of assemblage is generally thought to occur during the early Levantine mousterian. However, there is evidence of persistence of Tabun D assemblages in the southern Levant until the middle/upper palaeolithic transition. Comparing the ’Ain Difla lithic assemblage with those of other Levantine mousterian sites underscores problems with the analytical frameworks used to ‘date’ sites through technological and metrical analyses. A rather coarse-grained regional paleoenvironmental sequence exacerbates these problems.

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