A rallying point for different predators: the avian record from a Late Pleistocene sequence of Grotte des Barasses II (Balazuc,Ardèche,France)

The presence of processed birds in the archeological faunal record is considered key to assessing human dietary evolution. Taphonomic studies on birds from sites older than Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 have become relevant in the last few years, leading to the proposal of more complex scenarios of human subsistence. Several works have demonstrated direct evidence of bird consumption by Homo prior to anatomically modern humans in Europe; however, others support the hypothesis of non-anthropogenic bird accumulations. This has led to the necessity of determining what elements or factors cause the human exploitation of birds in some archeological sites before the end of the Pleistocene. The Grotte des Barasses II site is located within this framework. Short-term human occupations have been attested by the presence of lithic tools and processed macrofaunal remains. Additionally, a small assemblage of bird bones has also been recovered. Here, we present a detailed taphonomic study with the aim of exploring possible relationships between these avian taxa and human occupations. Despite the fact that Neanderthals inhabited the cave, avian specimens show damage pointing to different causative agents. Direct evidence (digestion, gnawing) indicates that mammalian carnivores and nocturnal raptors were mainly involved in the accumulation of bird bones. We propose some factors that might determine whether or not small game was exploited in this specific locality and emphasize the importance of such analytical approaches in the general interpretations of the Pleistocene sites.     

Martin Buber and Hannah Arendt: criticisms on the development of a German messianic

A discussion of the influence of Martin Buber is not easily limited to the philosophical anthropology he espoused. Nor is the political thinking of Hannah Arendt easily removed from criticism of the philosophies (and -phers) that informed her. Both Buber and Arendt attacked the beastly shoulders of a misapplied messianism as it emerged in modern Germany. Hegel, Heidegger, Marx and to some degree Nietzsche would affect this misplacement, and Arendt and Buber for their part would enter into a shared critique that is often neglected, despite promising attempts in a comparative direction made by Ellis, Engel and Riker. In this essay, I make the case that the contributions of Buber and Arendt – their shared assessments of the viability of the public realm, the need for common responsibility and the recurrent decision to engage with otherness in practical terms – point to an innovative critique of the forcible abstraction of a more traditional messianic made by German views of history. In the midst of the crises identified as correlates of a misapplied messianic, the hope as Buber and Arendt see it lies in the capacity for reflective and courageous identification and education between human individuals as they live towards one another.     

Book reviews

Jan Bank. Katholieken en de Indonesisohe Bevolutie. 576 pp. + 7 pp. English Summary. Baarn: Amboboeken, C19833. CPublikaties van het Katholiek Documeiitatie Centrum, 11.) Guilders 37.50.

Francois Raillon. Les étudiants indonésiens et l'Ordre Nouveau; pplitique et idéologie du Mahasiswa Indonesia (1966–1974). 351 pp. Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1984. (Études Insulindiennes/Archipel, 6.)

Victor T. King. The Maloh of West Kalimantan: an ethnographic study of social inequality and social change among an Indonesian Borneo people. viii, 252pp, 13 plates. Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1985. (Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal‐, Land‐ en Volken‐kunde, 108.)

S. A. Niessen. Motifs of life in Toba Batak texts and textiles, viii, 249pp. Dordrecht: Foris Publications, 1985. (Verhandelingen van het Koninklik Instituut voor Taal‐, Land‐ en Volkenkunde, 110.)