Neanderthal and Woolly Mammoth molecular resemblance: Genetic similarities might underlie cold adaptation suite

With the ongoing growth of gene-based research in recent decades, the possibility of examining changes that have taken place in structures over the course of evolution has become increasingly accessible. One intriguing subject at the forefront of evolutionary research is that of how environmental pressures affect species evolution through epigenetic adaptation. In this paper we present the available molecular components of adaptation to cold environments in two extinct mammals – the woolly mammoth and the Neanderthal. These two species co-existed in similar geographic and environmental European settings during the Middle and Upper Pleistocene and both were direct descendants of African ancestors, although both fully evolved and adapted in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene. In order to assess the degree of resemblance between mammoth and Neanderthal genetic components we reviewed three case studies of relevant gene variants and alleles associated with cold-climate adaptation found in both genomes. Our observations present the likelihood of a molecular resemblance between the suites of cold adaptation traits in the two species, and we discuss their possible meaning for future research

Animal residues found on tiny Lower Paleolithic tools reveal their use in butchery

Stone tools provide a unique window into the mode of adaptation and cognitive abilities of Lower Paleolithic early humans. The persistently produced large cutting tools (bifaces/handaxes) have long been an appealing focus of research in the reconstruction of Lower Paleolithic survival strategies, at the expenses of the small flake tools considered by-products of the stone production process rather than desired end products. Here, we use use-wear, residues and technological analyses to show direct and very early evidence of the deliberate production and use of small flakes for targeted stages of the prey butchery process at the late Lower Paleolithic Acheulian site of Revadim, Israel. We highlight the significant role of small flakes in Lower Paleolithic adaptation alongside the canonical large handaxes. Our results demonstrate the technological and cognitive flexibility of early human groups in the Levant and beyond at the threshold of the departure from Lower Paleolithic lifeways

Supersize does matter: the importance of large prey in palaeolithic subsistence and a method for measuring its significance in zooarchaeological assemblages

Humans consumed megaherbivores, including proboscideans, throughout the Pleistocene. How- ever, there is a high potential for underappreciation of their relative importance to humans’ economy due to their potential relative underrepresentation in Palaeolithic archaeological sites. Relying on our previous work, we discuss the critical importance of large animals in human prehistory. We review four factors that made megaherbivores critical- ly important to humans: high ecological biomass density, lower complexity of acquisition, higher net energetic return, and high fat content. We propose a model that intends to overcome the potential underrepresentation bias by multiplying the MNI (Minimum Number of Individuals) of each animal species by its weight and only then determining the relative biomass abundances. The next step of the model is the accumulation of the relative biomass abundance, beginning with the largest animal. This step enables a comparison of various assemblages in the relative complexity of acquisition, the level of net energetic return, and the level of fat content in the prey. We successfully test the method on an actualistic case of 61 hunts of the Hadza, where the true number and the MNI are known. We then ap- ply the method to three comparisons between two successive cultural periods each, in the Levant, East Africa and Southern France. We find that there is indeed great potential for the underrepresentation of megaherbivores in the analysis of Palaeolithic faunal assemblages. Since the largest animal in our actualistic study was a giraffe, we propose a future avenue of research for better correction of the un- derrepresentation of elephants, which often have partial to no representation in central base sites.The symposium and the volume "Human-elephant interactions: from past to present" were funded by the Volkswagen Foundation

Early evidence of stone tool use in bone working activities at Qesem Cave, Israel

For a long while, the controversy surrounding several bone tools coming from pre-Upper Palaeolithic contexts favoured the view of Homo sapiens as the only species of the genus Homo capable of modifying animal bones into specialised tools. However, evidence such as South African Early Stone Age modified bones, European Lower Palaeolithic flaked bone tools, along with Middle and Late Pleistocene bone retouchers, led to a re-evaluation of the conception of Homo sapiens as the exclusive manufacturer of specialised bone tools. The evidence presented herein include use wear and bone residues identified on two flint scrapers as well as a sawing mark on a fallow deer tibia, not associated with butchering activities. Dated to more than 300 kya, the evidence here presented is among the earliest related to tool-assisted bone working intended for non-dietary purposes, and contributes to the debate over the recognition of bone working as a much older behaviour than previously thought. The results of this study come from the application of a combined methodological approach, comprising use wear analysis, residue analysis, and taphonomy. This approach allowed for the retrieval of both direct and indirect evidence of tool-assisted bone working, at the Lower Palaeolithic site of Qesem Cave (Israel)

Use-wear analysis of an Amudian laminar assemblage from the Acheuleo-Yabrudian of Qesem Cave, Israel

In this paper the results of use-wear analysis of an Amudian lithic assemblage recently discovered at Qesem Cave, Israel, arc presented. Although very old. this assemblage maintains well-preserved traces of use that indicate that butchering activities and plants collecting were carried out at the site. Cut marks on faunal remains confirm the observations obtained by use-wear analysis. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Lower Palaeolithic small flakes and megafauna: the contribution of experimental approach and use-wear analysis to reveal the link

The recurrent appearance, in Lower Palaeolithic sites, of lithic industries characterized by the pro- duction and use of small flakes alongside butchered elephant remains is the focus of this paper. Recent technological, use-wear and residues analyses, as well as experimental protocols, have shed light on the relevant role lithic items of small dimensions played in the tasks performed by early human groups, especially in animal carcass processing. As small flakes are frequently found in association with processed megafauna remains at Lower Palae- olithic sites, this paper explores the potential of the use-wear analysis approach in recognizing the pos- sible nexus between small flakes and the processing of large animals, which is crucial for the behavior- al adaptation of early humans in the Palaeolithic. Here, we present some of the preliminary results of the study of small flakes found at two Middle Pleistocene, Lower Palaeolithic sites; Revadim (Is- rael) and Fontana Ranuccio (Central Italy). These sites are characterized by rich lithic and faunal as- semblages, rich in megafauna remains. The results of use-wear analysis clearly testify that in both sites small flakes were used especially for activities re- lated to the cutting of soft material. The experi- ments that we carried out with replicas of small flakes strongly suggest a link between the use-wear we observed on the archaeological items and spe- cific movements and actions related to butchering. These considerations support the hypothesis that small flakes might have played a specific role in the processing of carcasses of different prey animals, probably including megafauna.The symposium and the volume "Human-elephant interactions: from past to present" were funded by the Volkswagen Foundation

Human-elephant interactions: from past to present

In recent decades, a significant number of Pleistocene (ca. 2.6 million years–10,000 years ago) open-air and cave sites yielding elephant or mammoth bones in direct association with hominin remains and/or lithic artifacts have been discovered in Eurasia, Africa and America. Many of them show strong evidence of acquisition and processing of proboscidean carcasses by early humans, leading scientists to interpret them as “elephant butchering sites”. Indeed, proboscidean exploitation by early Homo has been proposed to have been critical for Palaeolithic human lifeways, influencing not only their subsistence, but also other aspects of early human evolution and adaptations. The nature and degree of interactions between humans and elephants comprises an important field in palaeoanthropological studies since decades, but many questions remain still unanswered or partially explored. By bringing together research papers from the fields of Palaeolithic Archaeology, Palaeoanthropology, Palaeontology, Zooarchaeology, Geology, Ethnography and Nutrition Studies, the book systematically covers a diverse array of perspectives on elephant-human interactions across the world from the Pleistocene times until today. The volume includes 19 contributions and is organized into four thematic sections: 1) The Palaeolithic record, 2) A view of the evidence, 3) Elephants in past human nutrition, and 4) Ethnography – Human-elephant interactions in recent Africa. Collectively, the volume not only showcases the current state of knowledge, but also intends to provoke renewed interest for current and further research, and build an interdisciplinary and synthetic understanding of the significance of proboscideans throughout human evolution.The symposium and the volume "Human-elephant interactions: from past to present" were funded by the Volkswagen Foundation

The use of fan scrapers: Microwear evidence from Late Pottery Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, Ein Zippori, Israel

The results of a microwear analysis of samples of fan scrapers and fan scrapers spalls from late Pottery Neolithic (PN) and Early Bronze Age (EBA) occupation layers at Ein Zippori, Lower Galilee, Israel are presented. The goal of the microwear analysis was to determine the function of the fan scrapers and compare the visible usewear on the scrapers found in late PN and EBA lithic assemblages. The results indicate that during both periods most of the fan scrapers were used to skin and butcher animals, while some were also used for hide processing and bone working. The working edges of the fan scrapers had sharp, moderate, or steep edge-angles, and different edges were used for different tasks. Edges with microwear from scraping meat, bone, and hides (including some hides that may have been treated with abrasives) had steep edge-angles, while there were moderate or sharp edge-angles on the edges of fan scrapers used for cutting. Two sub-types of fan scrapers were identified, flat cortex fan scrapers (FCFS), and cortical fan scrapers (CFS) with convex dorsal faces. The CFS were abundant in PN contexts, while the FCFS were more common in EBA layers. However both of the sub-types had similar microwear traces

Human-elephant interactions from past to present: an introduction

In this introductory chapter of the interdisciplinary volume “Human-elephant interactions: from past to present”, we provide the background and the main questions of the archaeological, paleoanthropological and ethnographic studies that examine this field of ​​research. In addition, we describe the objectives and the thematic sections of the book, and for each section we present the current status of investigations. Finally, we conduct a brief description of the chapters, presenting their subject and their main research results.The symposium and the volume "Human-elephant interactions: from past to present" were funded by the Volkswagen Foundation

Microwear analysis of small recycled flakes and recycling products from the Ein-Zippori site, Lower Galilee, Israel

A microwear analysis of recycled lithic artefacts from late Pottery Neolithic Wadi Rabah and Early Bronze Age layers at Ein-Zippori, Israel included cores-on-flakes (COFs) which are discarded blanks made into cores, and the flakes detached from them. COFs may have microwear traces that formed before they were recycled. The focus here is on how blanks removed from recycled COFs were used. Discarded flakes were not used as cores to produce small blanks at Ein-Zippori because lithic raw material was scarce, but were COFs recycled so that small tools could be produced for specific tasks? Visible wear traces were present on 19 of 44 blanks produced from COFs. Microwear traces were similar to use wear Lemorini et al. (2015) observed on much older Lower Paleolithic recycled flakes from Qesem Cave, Israel. Most flakes struck from COFs had been used to cut and scrape meat and fresh hide (42%, n=8), but four were used to work wood (21%) and four others were used to cut, scrape, or whittle bone and wood (21%), and two were used for butchering and wood working (11%). One flake only had generic weak microwear traces (5%). These were expedient flake tools, made and used in an ad hoc fashion. Specific blanks do not seem to have been used for distinct tasks