Before Farming: the archaeology and anthropology of hunter-gatherers

ref: Before Farming 2006/3 article 1

Hunting and overhunting in the Levantine Late Middle Palaeolithic

John D Speth
Museum of Anthropology, 4013 Museums Building, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079 USA
jdspeth@umich.edu

Jamie L Clark
Museum of Anthropology, 4013 Museums Building, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1079 USA
jamielc@umich.edu

Keywords: Hunting, intensification, Neanderthal, Middle Palaeolithic, Near East

Abstract

We examine the larger mammals from late Middle Palaeolithic Kebara Cave (Israel), and offer eight principal conclusions concerning Neanderthal hunting activities at the site. (1) Regardless of prey size, most procurement was by hunting, not scavenging. The major prey were gazelle and fallow deer, but also aurochs, red deer, and boar. (2) Hunting was seasonal, with most hunts in winter and/or spring. (3) Hunters took male and female deer in similar numbers, but a preponderance of female gazelle. These sex ratios probably reflect local availability and encounter rates. (4) More juvenile deer than juvenile gazelle were taken. The frequency of juveniles has not been severely impacted by taphonomic processes. Because of their small size and limited body fat, juveniles were probably low-ranked resources by comparison to their adult counterparts and may often have been excluded from the hunters’ optimal diet. If so, fluctuations in the numbers of juveniles do not track changes in hunting season, but instead indicate shifts in encounter rates of more highly-ranked adult prey. In dimorphic fallow deer, sub-adult males grow faster than their female counterparts, and therefore may have been targeted more often than sub-adult males in less dimorphic gazelle. (5) Transport decisions were heavily conditioned by prey body size. (6) Burning often resulted from warming defleshed marrow bones. (7) The frequency of red deer and aurochs declined over the course of the sequence, largely unaffected by climate. Overhunting, at least locally, is strongly implicated by this pattern. (8) The proportion of juvenile gazelle and fallow deer increased in the younger levels. If one accepts the view that juveniles are low-ranked resources, regardless of their abundance on the landscape, their increase points to a decline in encounter rates for higher-ranked adults. This pattern again points to overhunting.

ref: Before Farming 2006/3 article 2

Neanderthal energetics and spatial behaviour

Alexander Verpoorte
Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology, PO Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden,
The Netherlands
A.Verpoorte@arch.leidenuniv.nl

Keywords: Neanderthals, energetics, Middle Palaeolithic, spatial behaviour

Abstract

Recent studies indicate high energetic requirements for Neanderthals. The high requirements have behavioural implications, for example, related to the use of the landscape. Using a simple central place foraging model I show that Neanderthal energetic requirements can explain the main characteristics of the Middle Palaeolithic archaeological record, from the lack of features at sites to the limits of the Neanderthal range.

ref: Before Farming 2006/3 article 3

On the new dates for Gorham's Cave and the late survival of Iberian Neanderthals

Joao Zilhão
University of Bristol, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, 43 Woodland Road,
Bristol BS8 1UU, UK
Joao.Zilhao@bristol.ac.uk

Paul Pettitt
Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Northgate House, West Street,
Sheffield S1 4ET
P.Pettitt@sheffield.ac.uk

Keywords: Gibraltar, radiocarbon, Neanderthals, Middle Palaeolithic, modern humans

Abstract

On the basis of radiocarbon dates recently obtained for a trench in the back part of Gorham’s cave, Gibraltar, it has been claimed that Neanderthals survived in the region until at least 28,000 and probably as late as 24,000 radiocarbon years ago (Finlayson et al 2006). The stratigraphic and archaeological context of these results, however, does not warrant such an interpretation, because of the microscopic nature of the dated samples, the wide scatter in the dates obtained, and the lack of any correlation between age and stratigraphic depth. An Early Upper Palaeolithic occupation of the site was documented by Waechter’s 1950s excavations (Waechter 1951), and the younger among the new series of results are likely to relate to such an occupation. We conclude that the most parsimonious reading of the evidence is that of a Middle Palaeolithic occupation of Gorham’s until, but not beyond, ca 32-30,000 radiocarbon years ago.