The Band Model: contextualising Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sociality within a fission-fusion framework

Since William King’s first description of the species Homo neanderthalensis (1864), assessments of Neanderthal social behaviour have been biased by the assumption that this was a species of simian brutes. However, in recent years, genetic, palaeoanthropological, and archaeological findings have significantly undermined the assumption of specific biological and behavioural differences between Neanderthals and AMHs (Green et al. 2010; Reich et al. 2010; Hammer et al 2011; Mendez et al. 2013; Trinkaus 2011; Zilhão et al. 2010; Henry et al. 2011; Pike et al. 2012; Peresani et al. 2013; Rodriguez-Vidal et al. 2014). Despite these findings, trait-list arguments still dominate research paradigms concerning the sociobehavioural capacities of Neanderthals and AMHs. The current state of the human material, paleontological, and paleogenetic records necessitate a more robust theoretical foundation than the one that trait-list models provide (Barton et al. 2011). A socio-ecological approach based within fission-fusion studies can provide robust test hypotheses with the potential to elucidate the evolution of modern social complexity. Following this direction, this thesis adapts the band model of hunter-gatherer sociality (Layton and O’Hara 2010; Layton et al. 2012) to archaeological investigation. The results of this approach both demonstrate the applicability of the band model to Palaeolithic research and highly suggest that Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans shared a comparable fission-fusion sociality

Excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters

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Sea-level rise impacts on transport infrastructure: the notorious case of the coastal railway line at Dawlish, England

Future climate change is likely to increase the frequency of coastal storms and floods, with major consequences for coastal transport infrastructure. This paper assesses the extent to which projected sea-level rise is likely to impact upon the functioning of the Dawlish to Teignmouth stretch of the London to Penzance railway line, in England. Using a semi-empirical modelling approach, we identify a relationship between sea-level change and rail incidents over the last 150 years and then use model-based sea-level predictions to extrapolate this relationship into the future. We find that days with line restrictions (DLRs) look set to increase by up to 1170%, to as many as 84–120 per year, by 2100 in a high sea-level rise scenario (0.55–0.81 m). Increased costs to the railway industry deriving from maintenance and line restrictions will be small (£ millions) in comparison with damage caused by individual extreme events (£10s of millions), while the costs of diversion of the railway are higher still (£100s of millions to billions). Socio-economic costs to the region are likely to be significant although they are more difficult to estimate accurately. Finally, we explain how our methodology is applicable to vulnerable coastal transport infrastructure worldwide

We Are Not Alone: William King and the Naming of the Neanderthals

The story of human history was changed forever in 1863 with William King's proposal that we had not always been the sole members of the Homo genus. Yet, more than 150 years after Homo neanderthalensis was first named and then summarized in the pages of The Anthropological Review, the man responsible for this revolutionary announcement is poorly known in the field of palaeoanthropology today. Following the sesquicentennial anniversary of this seminal event in 2013, a timely reappraisal is given of King's reputation, legacy, and work within the intellectual vortex of his time. [Neanderthals, human evolution, history of paleoanthropology, William King

We Are Not Alone: William King and the Naming of the Neanderthals

The story of human history was changed forever in 1863 with William King's proposal that we had not always been the sole members of the Homo genus. Yet, more than 150 years after Homo neanderthalensis was first named and then summarized in the pages of The Anthropological Review, the man responsible for this revolutionary announcement is poorly known in the field of palaeoanthropology today. Following the sesquicentennial anniversary of this seminal event in 2013, a timely reappraisal is given of King's reputation, legacy, and work within the intellectual vortex of his time. [Neanderthals, human evolution, history of paleoanthropology, William King

Excess protein enabled dog domestication during severe Ice Age winters

International audienceDogs (Canis familiaris) are the first animals to be domesticated by humans and the only ones domesticated by mobile hunter-gatherers. Wolves and humans were both persistent, pack hunters of large prey. They were species competing over resources in partially overlapping ecological niches and capable of killing each other. How could humans possibly have domesticated a competitive species? Here we present a new hypothesis based on food/resource partitioning between humans and incipient domesticated wolves/dogs. Humans are not fully adapted to a carnivorous diet; human consumption of meat is limited by the liver’s capacity to metabolize protein. Contrary to humans, wolves can thrive on lean meat for months. We present here data showing that all the Pleistocene archeological sites with dog or incipient dog remains are from areas that were analogous to subarctic and arctic environments. Our calculations show that during harsh winters, when game is lean and devoid of fat, Late Pleistocene hunters-gatherers in Eurasia would have a surplus of animal derived protein that could have been shared with incipient dogs. Our partitioning theory explains how competition may have been ameliorated during the initial phase of dog domestication. Following this initial period, incipient dogs would have become docile, being utilized in a multitude of ways such as hunting companions, beasts of burden and guards as well as going through many similar evolutionary changes as humans