Exploitation of wild mammals in South-west Ethiopia during the Holocene (4000 BC–500 AD): the finds from Moche Borago shelter (Wolayta)

Abstract

The rock shelter of Moche Borago in Wolayta Province, South-west Ethiopia, has provided evidence of human occupation during part of the Holocene. Recovery of more than 30,000 animal bones has allowed reconstruction of the exploitation of animals by humans from the 4th millennium BC until the first half of the 1st millennium AD. It could be demonstrated that humans exploited (mainly for food) a great diversity of mammals, especially bovids, and that there were very few diachronic changes observed in the fauna during the occupation. Remains of domestic animals have not been found, even in the most recent part of this period, suggesting that animal husbandry was a late introduction into this mountainous and isolated part of Ethiopia. The human inhabitants of the shelter appear to have exploited the surrounding environment, using its favourable position at the end of a stepped valley for mass killing of African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer). The rich and diverse environments of Wolayta favoured the development of a specialised society that mastered the exploitation of wild animals throughout much of the Holocene.     

Analysis of Dental Cementum Rings as an Approach to Azilian Hunting Strategies

Abstract

Perfected by biologists, the analysis of dental cementum rings allows us to know the precise age of the animals studied as well as their season of death. Cementum deposits are layers of various density formed regularly during the animal's life. Large, translucid deposits (observed with polarized light), growing during the good season (spring, summer, autumn), alternate with thin, opaque ones that grow during the bad season (winter). Used to study two French Azilian sites, La Fru and Campalou, this method gives us a better understanding the hunting behaviour of these two human groups. Thus, the Azilian hunters who established their camp in the La Fru and Campalou rockshelters hunted around the site, killing ibex. However, these two groups of predators preferred red deer. Taking advantage of the hunting opportunities offered by the environment, hunters at both sites made opportune captures to the detriment of summer herds of hinds and young. Also, at Campalou, they continued their predation during the rut, concentrating on young animals, probably young males temporarily alone because of the mating season.     

Osteometry as a Source of Refined Demographic Information: Sex-Ratios of Reindeer, Hunting Strategies, and Herd Control in the Late Glacial site of Stellmoor, Northern Germany

In archaeozoological investigations of sexually-dimorphic species such as Rangifer, Cervus, andBison , osteometry has a great—but as yet unexploited—potential as a source of refined demographic information. For this purpose, however, two important points must be taken into account. Firstly, the age-classes represented by different skeletal elements differ and thus sex-ratios may vary according to the anatomical element studied. Secondly, the fragments to be analysed should be chosen carefully in order to ensure that he age-class which they represent is known. A failure to do so may hinder the correct determination of sex ratios. This paper attempts to show, by means of an example, that, when these factors are considered, important demographic information and interesting insights about topics such as hunting strategies can be gained. The analysis of the reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) assemblage from Stellmoor, an open-air Late Glacial site in northern Germany, revealed that male and female individuals in the different cohorts were killed in the same proportions as they occur in a typical herd, thus pointing to a non-selective hunting strategy. The results also argue against the assertion that reindeer herds were controlled by people during this period.