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 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.

The Consequences of Social Processes: Aggregate Populations, Projectile Point Accumulation, and Subsistence Patterns in the American Southwest

2013 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fumiyasu Arakawa ◽  
Christopher Nicholson ◽  
Jeff Rasic
Keyword(s):  
Social Processes ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Dietary Regime ◽  
Subsistence Activities ◽  
Lower Population

AbstractTracking broad-scale behavioral patterns using both lithics and faunal remains offers one line of evidence for investigating both prehistoric subsistence activities and the consequences of aggregation and increases in population size. Accumulation research, which examines the ratio of projectile points to cooking pottery sherds from the same context, shows a higher ratio of projectile points in areas with lower population densities. This pattern holds true when examining faunal assemblages and large-game procurement practices from A.D. 900 to 1300 in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. This research demonstrates that social processes such as aggregation and increases in population density influence human hunting strategies as much as changes in natural environment, which lead to changes in a group’s dietary regime.

The zooarchaeology of complexity and specialization during the Upper Palaeolithic in Western Europe

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Boyle
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Glacial Maximum ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Hunting Strategies ◽  
Structural Specialization ◽  
Reindeer Hunting

Over the last twenty years attempts have been made to determine the nature of Upper Palaeolithic hunting specialization. This chapter traces assemblage structural ‘specialization’, where faunal assemblages are dominated by a single species, vs ‘diversity’, in which all recorded species are well represented, between 45,000 and 10,000 bp (Châtelperronian to Azilian), and demonstrates regularity in the archaeozoological record. It moves away from the assumption that assemblages with at least 90% of bones attributable to a single species result from specialized hunting strategies, and seeks explanations for patterns of diversification. The study also deals with the Late Glacial Maximum with its narrowing resource base and the Magdalenian of southwest France, when specialized reindeer hunting is traditionally considered of paramount importance. The chapter uses measures of diversity and evenness to quantify variation observed through time, highlighting a peak in single-species exploitation during the Middle Upper Palaeolithic. Finally, interpretations are offered for future consideration.

Neanderthals and modern humans

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco J. Ayala ◽  
Camilo J. Cela-Conde
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Differentiation ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Whole Genome ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis ◽  
Modern Mind ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Mode 3

This chapter deals with the similarities and differences between Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens, by considering genetic, brain, and cognitive evidence. The genetic differentiation emerges from fossil genetic evidence obtained first from mtDNA and later from nuclear DNA. With high throughput whole genome sequencing, sequences have been obtained from the Denisova Cave (Siberia) fossils. Nuclear DNA of a third species (“Denisovans”) has been obtained from the same cave and used to define the phylogenetic relationships among the three species during the Upper Palaeolithic. Archaeological comparisons make it possible to advance a four-mode model of the evolution of symbolism. Neanderthals and modern humans would share a “modern mind” as defined up to Symbolic Mode 3. Whether the Neanderthals reached symbolic Mode 4 remains unsettled.

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.

The Palaeolithic of Klithi in its wider context

1992 ◽  
Vol 87 ◽  
pp. 1-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoff Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Stone Tool ◽  
Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Global Issues ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Late Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Village ◽  
Of Greece ◽  
Palaeolithic Archaeology

Klithi is a rockshelter in the lower reaches of the Voidomatis gorge, near the village of Klithonia in Epirus. Excavations in progress since 1983 have revealed evidence of a late Upper Palaeolithic occupation dated between 16,000 BP and 10,000 BP, with rich microlithic stone tool industries and faunal assemblages dominated by chamois and ibex. The excavations have been accompanied by wider investigations of the local and regional palaeoenvironment and reexamination of the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites excavated by Eric Higgs in the 1960s, notably Kokkinopilos, Asprochaliko, and Kastritsa. This paper presents some of the detailed results of the Klithi excavations and sets the results within the wider context of the global issues which inform the study of Palaeolithic archaeology, the Palaeolithic of Greece as a whole, and the regional picture of Palaeolithic settlement in Epirus.

Correlations between Speakers' Body Size and Acoustic Parameters of Voice

2007 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 215-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio Conzález
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
The Body ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Acoustic Parameters ◽  
Acoustic Measures ◽  
Age And Sex

Generally, there is a significant relationship between some acoustic measures (F0 and formant parameters) and the body size of speakers; however, data become less clear when age and sex variables are controlled. To date, no other vocal parameter apart from F0 has been studied in relation to body size. In the present study, correlations between a set of 27 parameters of the Multi-dimensional Voice Program (Kay Elemetrics Corp.) and 4 body measures were obtained from 134 speakers of both sexes belonging to one age group (20–29 years). Correlations within sex groups were null or very weak, and all significant coefficients were below .35.

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.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document