Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer subsistence in Mediterranean coastal environments: an isotopic study of the diets of the earliest directly-dated humans from Sicily

The subsistence of hunter-gatherers in the Mediterranean Basin has been the object of few studies, which have not fully clarified the role of aquatic resources in their diets. Here we present the results of AMS radiocarbon dating and of isotope analyses on the earliest directly-dated human remains from Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The radiocarbon determinations show that the Upper Palaeolithic (Epigravettian) humans from Grotta di San Teodoro (15 232–14 126 cal. BP) and Grotta Addaura Caprara (16 060–15 007 cal. BP) date to the Late-glacial and were possibly contemporary. The diets of these individuals were dominated by the protein of large terrestrial mammalian herbivores, such as red deer (Cervus elaphus). There is no evidence for the consumption of marine resources, which is probably the result not only of the oligotrophic nature of the Mediterranean, but also perhaps of the lack of adequate technology for exploiting intensively the resources from this sea. In spite of being contemporaneous and of the cultural and technological affinities present between the San Teodoro and Addaura humans, the carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope composition of their bone collagen suggests that significant differences were present in their diets. In particular, the hunter-gatherers from Grotta di San Teodoro, in NE Sicily where coastal plains are backed by high mountain chains (Monti Nebrodi), probably had easy access to resources such as anadromous brown trout (Salmo trutta), which might not have been similarly available in the NW of the island, where reliefs are noticeably lower and watercourses fewer and farther between. This study shows that the high biodiversity of this region, which results from the complex topography of Mediterranean landscapes, was probably exploited opportunistically by Late-glacial foragers. Our data also suggest that intensification and diversification of food acquisition in Sicily did not start in the closing stages of the late Pleistocene, as in other Mediterranean regions, probably because the island had only been (re-)colonized by humans around the Last Glacial Maximum.     

Stable isotope analysis of human and animal remains from the Late Upper Palaeolithic site of Balma Guilanyà, southeastern Pre-Pyrenees,Spain

Stable isotope analysis of carbon (¹³C/¹²C) and nitrogen (¹⁵N/¹⁴N) was performed on collagen extracted from three human and five herbivore bone and tooth samples from the Late Upper Palaeolithic site of Balma Guilanyà (Catalonian Pre-Pyrenees, Spain). Contextual and palaeoecological data as well as radiocarbon dates indicate that the studied occupation phase took placed during the Bolling/Allerod interstadial (GI-1a event). The human remains were co-mingled without any anatomical association, corresponding to a minimum number of three individuals, and it was not possible to determine if the three analyzed samples are from one or more individuals. The mean isotope values obtained from the human remains are δ¹³C = −19.8‰ and δ¹⁵N = 6.7‰, while those of the large herbivores (red deer and wild goat) were −19.8‰ and 1.7‰ for δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N respectively. This indicates that the main source of protein in the diet of the Balma Guilanyà human(s) came from terrestrial herbivores. There is no zooarchaeological or isotopic evidence for the consumption of freshwater or marine resources at the site, which lies 80 km from the present Mediterranean coast. The low δ¹⁵N values observed in both human and animal samples correspond to a trend reported by other researchers working in northwestern Europe: a significant δ¹⁵N reduction in collagen from bones datable within 20,000–10,000 BP, followed by a rise to present values in the Early Holocene. This phenomenon, generally attributed to climatic and/or pedological processes, had not been previously observed in the Mediterranean region and, until now, was thought to be restricted to northern Europe.     

Hunting strategies in the Late Glacial of northern Europe: A survey of the faunal evidence

Presented here is a general overview of the evidence concerning the procurement strategies in the Late Glacial of northwestern Europe. Their rich faunal assemblages make Stellmoor and Meiendorf, in northern Germany, key sites in this respect. Both may be considered specialized reindeer hunting camps. A survey of the hunting techniques and exploitation patterns reflected by the material from these sites emphasizes the differences between the Hamburgian and the Ahrensburgian economies.     

New evidence for Upper Palaeolithic small domestic dogs in South-Western Europe

Osteoarchaeology and genetics agree that the earliest dog domestications took place during the Upper Palaeolithic. However, they partially disagree about the process of domestication. The former indicated multiple origins, when some of the results of the latter suggested that dogs mainly came from a Chinese centre of domestication. In this study, we describe and discuss new evidence for Late Glacial small dogs in the South-West (Pont d’Ambon and Montespan) and North of France (Le Closeau). Special attention was paid to the possibility of miss-identification between small early dogs and dholes (Cuon alpinus), a middle-sized Canidae, the size of which can be similar to early small dogs. Detailed analyses of the archaeological contexts alongside that of taphonomy, morphoscopy, morphometry and pathology, identified 49 small canid remains from the three sites. They allowed us to exclude the presence of dholes and to conclude that they were all small Upper Paleolithic dogs. These, together with other more sparse discoveries, confirmed the presence of Western European Upper Paleolithic Small (WEUPS) dogs from, at least, the Middle Magdalenian to the end of the Epipaleolithic (i.e. 15,000–11,500 cal BP). As they are contemporaneous with the much larger Russian Upper Paleolithic dogs, they plea for several Euro-Asian origins for Late Palaeolithic dogs.     

Ground stone tool production and use in the Late Upper Palaeolithic: The evidence from Riparo Dalmeri (Venetian Prealps,Italy)

Abstract

The site of Riparo Dalmeri yielded numerous flint, bone, and shell artifacts, as well as faunal and botanical remains, which are evidence of the Late Upper Palaeolithic (or Late Epigravettian culture, ca. 16,000–12,000 cal b.p.) occupation of the Alps region. The importance of the site is related to the discovery of 267 stones painted with anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and geometric designs. Here we report on ground stone tools from Riparo Dalmeri investigated by means of an integrated technofunctional and experimental approach to reconstruct their production and use. The results support the hypothesis that the ground stone artifacts were employed in specialized activities (e.g., hide treatment, flintknapping) as well as in the production of some of the painted stone artifacts.     

Insights into early Middle Palaeolithic tool use and hafting in Western Europe. The functional analysis of level IIa of the early Middle Palaeolithic site of Biache-Saint-Vaast (France)

Results are presented from the functional analysis of a large selection of tools from level IIa of the early Middle Palaeolithic site of Biache-St-Vaast (France). Results indicate that the site represents a hunting stand with a strong focus on hunting and animal processing activities, next to a maintenance component that appears to concern retooling and repair activities in preparation of the hunting episode(s). In spite of the site's age, a large part of the tool assemblage proves to have been used while hafted. Expertise in hafting was even quite elaborate in the sense that it includes tools for which hafting is not essential. It confirms the importance of hafting studies for improving insights into assemblage variability and past human behaviour.     

Geology and lithic procurement in Upper Palaeolithic Europe: a weights-of-evidence based GIS model of lithic resource potential

In this paper we examine ways to predict the distribution of siliceous rock in Europe, using a Bayesian technique known as ‘Weights-of-Evidence’. We use the technique to classify bedrock geological formations in terms of their likelihood of yielding tool-quality lithic raw materials, and we use the results to re-examine possible causes of a west–east cline in maximum lithic raw material transfer distances observed when comparing sites in both Middle and Upper Palaeolithic Europe. It is evident from our results that there is a decline in abundance of geological formations highly predictive of tool-quality rock along a west–east cline, predominantly reflecting a decrease in abundance of Jurassic and Cretaceous chert-bearing sedimentaries. Our results are consistent with an interpretation of the Upper Palaeolithic record of transfer distances as indicating special-purpose procurement.     

The Palaeolithic of the Middle Son valley, north-central India: Changes in hominin lithic technology and behaviour during the Upper Pleistocene

The Middle Son valley in north-central India preserves extensive Quaternary alluvial deposits. A long history of archaeological and geological research in the valley has resulted in the discovery of lithic assemblages ranging from Lower Palaeolithic to microlithic, a rich corpus of fossilised faunal remains, and ash deposits from the 74,000 year-old Toba supereruption. This paper reviews the chronology and stratigraphy of the valley’s Quaternary sediments, and presents a model that hypothesizes the temporal sequence of important lithic assemblages from excavated and surface contexts. Artefacts in these assemblages are analysed and changes in lithic technology through time are described; this evidence is used to propose shifts in hominin behaviour and demographic structure in this region during the Upper Pleistocene. Recognising gaps in our understanding of the Middle Son record, future avenues of research are recommended that will build upon previous research and address questions of palaeoanthropological significance. The Middle Son valley preserves a long and rich record of hominin occupation from all periods of the Palaeolithic that is rarely paralleled by other sites in India.     

Palaeolithic archaeology and the evolution of mind

This paper reviews recent archaeological studies concerning the evolution of mind. It is structured around four themes: language, intelligence, symbolism, and social learning. It includes reference to recent work in other disciplines that is either having, or likely to have, considerable impact on archaeological thought. The evolution of mind is a highly contentious subject, plagued by problems of definition and lacking an explicit methodology. This paper argues that the two most positive trends of recent work have been greater attempts at interdisciplinary studies and the integration of the study of cognition with that of hominid lifestyles.     

Local amber in a Palaeolithic context in Cantabrian Spain: the case of La Garma A

It is important to determine the geological sources of Palaeolithic ambers in the south of Europe in order to understand the mobility and interchanges of prehistoric societies. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis carried out on Upper Palaeolithic ambers from La Garma A cave (Cantabria, Northern Spain) allowed us to identify their source area. Their diagnostic features were found to be similar to the amber obtained in the Lower Cretaceous outcrops close to this archaeological site, and to differ clearly from Baltic amber, which has been generally suggested as the amber found in European prehistoric sites. These results show that the origin of the Gravettian amber found in La Garma A is local and, consequently, a hypothetical contact route is not required to be able to account for the presence of this material in the Iberian Palaeolithic context studied here. For the first time it has been demonstrated that the provenance of an archaeological amber in the Iberian Peninsula is local, with both geographical and spectroscopical evidences. Our study also concludes that the archaeological amber of La Garma A possibly belongs to an araucariacean resin that originated from the coniferous forests which grew in the northeast portion of the Iberian Plate c.110-million years ago.     

A radiocarbon chronology for the complete Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transitional sequence of Les Cottés (France)

The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition is the key period for our understanding of Neanderthal and modern human interactions in Europe. The site of Les Cottés in south-west France is one of the rare sites with a complete and well defined sequence covering this transition period. We undertook an extensive radiocarbon dating program on mammal bone which allows us to propose a chronological framework of five distinct phases dating from the Mousterian to the Early Aurignacian at this site. We found that the Mousterian and Châtelperronian industries are separated from the overlying Protoaurignacian by a gap of approximately 1000 calendar years. Based on a comparison with Upper Paleolithic sites in Europe we see an overlap in the ages of Châtelperronian industries and Aurignacian lithic assemblages, which are usually associated with Anatomical Modern Humans, which is consistent with an acculturation at distance model for these late Neanderthals. The Proto and Early Aurignacian appear contemporaneous indicating that this transition was rapid in this region. Anatomically Modern Humans are present at the site of Les Cottés at least at 39,500 cal BP roughly coincident with the onset of the cold phase Heinrich 4.     

Taphonomic resolution and hominin subsistence behaviour in the Lower Palaeolithic: differing data scales and interpretive frameworks at Boxgrove and Swanscombe (UK)

The identification of human butchery-signatures on fauna from Lower Palaeolithic sites is well documented and readily identifiable. Such bone surface modifications have the potential to provide not only information about past hominin meat-procurement behaviour but address the wider issue of competition for resources with other carnivore species. To understand and discuss these broader issues both hominin and natural bone surface modifications must be understood and contextualised within a site-specific spatial and temporal framework. This paper presents new results from faunal analysis at two key British Lower Palaeolithic localities: Boxgrove and Swanscombe. It illustrates that different depositional environments and excavation histories have resulted in different scales and resolutions of available data and hence in varying interpretive potentials. At Swanscombe the archaeological record has been disturbed by both fluvial activity and excavation history providing a coarser-grained record of anthropogenic behaviour than previously acknowledged. Conversely, at Boxgrove, a finer-grained, higher resolution record of human behaviours has been preserved; this, combined with both an extensive and intensive excavation strategy, has allowed for a broader discussion of hominin landscape use, resource competition and meat-procurement behaviour. This paper highlights that assessing the specific depositional environment at each site is crucial to understanding Palaeolithic faunal assemblage formation and, consequently, the available data-resolution and behavioural interpretation.     

Microblade technology and the rise of serial specialists in north-central China

Though present before the Last Glacial Maximum, microblade technology is uncommon in the lithic assemblages of north-central China until the onset of the Younger Dryas (12,900–11,600 calBP). While it is clear that microblades here and elsewhere were connected with mobile adaptations organized around hunting, the attendant assumption that they served primarily in hunting weaponry is not. The archaeological record of north-central China, including excavations at Pigeon Mountain (QG3) and Shuidonggou Locality 12 (SDG 12) in Ningxia Autonomous Region, and Dadiwan in Gansu Providence, and a handful of bone/antler tools slotted for microblade inserts, indicate a more direct linkage to mobility. These data suggest the rise of microblade technology in Younger Dryas north-central China was mainly the result of microblades used as insets in composite knives needed for production of sophisticated cold weather clothing needed for a winter mobile hunting adaptation akin to the residentially mobile pattern Binford termed “serial specialist.” Limited time and opportunities compressed this production into a very narrow seasonal window, putting a premium on highly streamlined routines to which microblade technology was especially well-suited.     

The Laacher See-eruption (12,920 BP) and material culture change at the end of the Allerød in Northern Europe

A number of recent papers have argued that summed probability distributions of radiocarbon dates calibrated with the CALPAL software package can be used to identify population trends in prehistory. For instance, Gamble et al. (Gamble, C., Davies, W., Pettitt, P., Richards, M., 2004. Climate change and evolving human diversity in Europe during the last glacial. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B 359, 243–254; Gamble, C., Davies, W., Pettitt, P., Richards, M., 2005. The archaeological and genetic foundations of the European population during the Late Glacial: implications for 'agricultural thinking'. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 15, 193–223.) have demonstrated that during the European Late Glacial, demography was more variable than hitherto acknowledged. Building on this work, this paper presents evidence that the large, but so far largely ignored eruption of the Laacher See-volcano, located in present-day western Germany and dated to 12,920 BP, had a dramatic impact on forager demography all along the northern periphery of Late Glacial settlement and precipitated archaeologically visible cultural change. In Southern Scandinavia, these changes took the form of technological simplification, the loss of bow-and-arrow technology, and coincident with these changes, the emergence of the regionally distinct Bromme culture. Groups in north-eastern Europe appear to have responded to the eruption in similar ways, but on the British Isles and in the Thuringian Basin populations contracted or relocated, leaving these areas largely depopulated already before the onset of the Younger Dryas/GS-1 cooling. Demographic models are used to link these changes to the Laacher See-eruption and this research demonstrates that we cannot sideline catastrophic environmental change in our reconstructions of prehistoric culture history.     

Lithic production,site formation and Middle Palaeolithic palimpsest analysis: in search of human occupation episodes at Abric del Pastor Stratigraphic Unit IV (Alicante,Spain)

We present the results of an exercise in Middle Palaeolithic palimpsest analysis geared toward the identification of human occupation episodes. It is based on a combined reading of the archaeosedimentary deposit and the archaeological record of Stratigraphic Unit IV from Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Alicante, Spain), chronologically framed within MIS 4–5. A study of site formation processes coupled with archaeostratigraphic analysis of the lithic record incorporating Raw Material Units (RMU) and refits, as well as with combustion features and faunal remains enabled identification a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 6 human occupation episodes within lithostratigraphic units IVa, IVb and IVc. Through our data it reaches a high resolution temporal frame close to the ethnographic time scale, which constitutes a significant contribution for the knowledge of human occupations types and landscape use in the Mediterranean rim of the Iberian Peninsula during Middle Palaeolithic.     

Points and convergent tools in the European Early Middle Palaeolithic site of Payre (SE,France)

The lithic assemblage from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Payre (Rhone Valley, France) contains a large number of convergent tools and pointed tools of various shapes, sizes and retouch types. These were excavated from several archaeological units, dating from marine isotopic stages 8–5, which also yielded human skeletal remains. Consideration of this large tool kit has led to an improved analysis of Middle Palaeolithic tools with two retouched convergent edges. The 350 tools were not described within the classical typological framework, but, rather, from a lithic technological perspective in relation to a discoid debitage. In addition, an initial macroscopic use-wear analysis aided in establishing whether they were used according to their technical and/or morphological features. The Middle Palaeolithic convergent tools from Payre are shown to be quite diversified, and the question of the significance of the retouch and the definition of the various types is addressed. Initial functional results indicate that a clear relationship between shape and function cannot be easily established, and that these tools were used as hand tools. This study contributes to the debate on the use of stone tip spears in the Early European Middle Palaeolithic.     

Seasonality and intra-site variation of Neanderthal occupations in the Middle Palaeolithic locality of Payre (Ardèche,France) using dental wear analyses

The reconstruction of Palaeolithic subsistence and settlement systems at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Payre (France) is undertaken through the application of dental wear analyses combined to zooarchaeological, technological, and ecological indicators. Three archaeological levels were investigated. Level D, dated to MIS 5, could correspond to an occupation during the cold season. In levels G and F, dated to MIS 8-7, animals were probably hunted during a warmer season. According to dental wear analyses, it is likely that level F has actually recorded a succession of short occupations, contrary to what is observed in the levels G and D. Those differences in the duration of site occupation are discussed in the light of previous sedimentological, zooarchaeological, and technological studies.     

A new approach to study the fuel used in hearths by hunter-gatherers at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Abri Pataud (Dordogne,France)

The fuel used in hearths in the Upper Palaeolithic period and the management of this fuel have long given rise to questions on intentional or opportunistic human comportment. To understand how fuel was managed during the Aurignacian and Gravettian cultures, hearth samples from the French site of Abri Pataud (ca. 34–20 kyr BP) were collected. An image analysis method for the automated quantification of burnt particles from macroscopic-to-microscopic sediment fractions was developed, and the results obtained using this method were compared with the palaeoenvironmental data available close to the site. At Abri Pataud, the use of bones was dominant during the Pleniglacial, suggesting an intentional practice. However, environmental pressures could have influenced the fuel management practices of the hunter-gatherers, even if the dualistic relationship between the availability of firewood and the use of bone in hearths must be considered. Thus, burnt particle quantification provides more than just an observation of burnt macroremains in hearths: it relates to fundamental information on human behavior.     

A palaeoenvironmental context for Terminal Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic activity in the Colne Valley: Offsite records contemporary with occupation at Three Ways Wharf,Uxbridge

Abstract

Multi-proxy analyses from floodplain deposits in the Colne Valley, southern England, have provided a palaeoenvironmental context for the immediately adjacent Terminal Upper Palaeolithic and Early Mesolithic site of Three Ways Wharf. These deposits show the transition from an open cool environment to fully developed heterogeneous floodplain vegetation during the Early Mesolithic. Several distinct phases of burning are shown to have occurred that are chronologically contemporary with the local archaeological record. The floodplain itself is shown to have supported a number of rare Urwaldrelikt insect species implying human manipulation of the floodplain at this time must have been limited or episodic. By the Late Mesolithic a reed-sedge swamp had developed across much of the floodplain, within which repeated burning of the in situ vegetation took place. This indicates deliberate land management practices utilising fire, comparable with findings from other floodplain sequences in southern Britain. With similar sedimentary sequences known to exist across the Colne Valley, often closely associated with contemporary archaeology, the potential for placing the archaeological record within a spatially explicit palaeoenvironmental context is great.     

Establishing discovery probabilities of lithic artefacts in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites with core sampling

This paper reports the results of a study into the effectiveness of core sampling for discovering Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherer sites in the Netherlands and northwestern Belgium. Earlier work established optimal sampling strategies for use in archaeological heritage management survey in the Netherlands. However, the statistical model used for this was based on a limited amount of data on the distribution of lithic artefacts in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites. For the current study we have analyzed the distribution of artefacts in a selected number of excavated sites, and estimated discovery probabilities of these sites through simulation. The simulation results indicate that discovery probabilities are lower than expected due to the effect of clustering of finds. Furthermore, the density of flints in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites is generally lower than the estimates that were used for setting up the optimal sampling strategies, and a substantial number of sites is very small. This means that, in order to discover Palaeolithic and Mesolithic sites with sufficient reliability, we will have to apply more intensive survey strategies than have been recommended up to now.