Neanderthal Use of Fish, Mammals, Birds, Starchy Plants and Wood 125-250,000 Years Ago

Neanderthals are most often portrayed as big game hunters who derived the vast majority of their diet from large terrestrial herbivores while birds, fish and plants are seen as relatively unimportant or beyond the capabilities of Neanderthals. Although evidence for exploitation of other resources (small mammals, birds, fish, shellfish, and plants) has been found at certain Neanderthal sites, these are typically dismissed as unusual exceptions. The general view suggests that Neanderthal diet may broaden with time, but that this only occurs sometime after 50,000 years ago. We present evidence, in the form of lithic residue and use-wear analyses, for an example of a broad-based subsistence for Neanderthals at the site of Payre, Ardèche, France (beginning of MIS 5/end of MIS 6 to beginning of MIS 7/end of MIS 8; approximately 125–250,000 years ago). In addition to large terrestrial herbivores, Neanderthals at Payre also exploited starchy plants, birds, and fish. These results demonstrate a varied subsistence already in place with early Neanderthals and suggest that our ideas of Neanderthal subsistence are biased by our dependence on the zooarchaeological record and a deep-seated intellectual emphasis on big game hunting

Neanderthal selective hunting of reindeer? The case study of Abri du Maras (south-eastern France)

Fieldwork was supported by the Regional Office of Archaeology Rhône-Alpes, the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and the Ardèche Department through several scientific programs. M.G.Chacon, F. Rivals and E. Allué research are funded by ‘CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya’. Thanks to Jean-Jacques Hublin, Annabell Reiner and Steven Steinbrenner from the Max Planck Institute (MPI-EVA) for analytical support (isotope analysis). We are grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive remarks on this manuscript. The English manuscript was edited by L. Byrne, an official translator and native English speaker.Peer reviewedPostprin

The origin of early Acheulean expansion in Europe 700 ka ago: new findings at Notarchirico (Italy)

Notarchirico (Southern Italy) has yielded the earliest evidence of Acheulean settlement in Italy and four older occupation levels have recently been unearthed, including one with bifaces, extending the roots of the Acheulean in Italy even further back in time. New 40Ar/39Ar on tephras and ESR dates on bleached quartz securely and accurately place these occupations between 695 and 670 ka (MIS 17), penecontemporaneous with the Moulin-Quignon and la Noira sites (France). These new data demonstrate a very rapid expansion of shared traditions over Western Europe during a period of highly variable climatic conditions, including interglacial and glacial episodes, between 670 and 650 (i.e., MIS17/MIS16 transition). The diversity of tools and activities observed in these three sites shows that Western Europe was populated by adaptable hominins during this time. These conclusions question the existence of refuge areas during intense glacial stages and raise questions concerning understudied migration pathways, such as the Sicilian route

The origin of early Acheulean expansion in Europe 700 ka ago: new findings at Notarchirico (Italy)

Notarchirico (Southern Italy) has yielded the earliest evidence of Acheulean settlement in Italy and four older occupation levels have recently been unearthed, including one with bifaces, extending the roots of the Acheulean in Italy even further back in time. New 40Ar/39Ar on tephras and ESR dates on bleached quartz securely and accurately place these occupations between 695 and 670 ka (MIS 17), penecontemporaneous with the Moulin-Quignon and la Noira sites (France). These new data demonstrate a very rapid expansion of shared traditions over Western Europe during a period of highly variable climatic conditions, including interglacial and glacial episodes, between 670 and 650 (i.e., MIS17/MIS16 transition). The diversity of tools and activities observed in these three sites shows that Western Europe was populated by adaptable hominins during this time. These conclusions question the existence of refuge areas during intense glacial stages and raise questions concerning understudied migration pathways, such as the Sicilian route

Age and date for early arrival of the Acheulian in Europe (Barranc de la Boella, la Canonja, Spain)

The first arrivals of hominin populations into Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene are currently considered to have occurred as short and poorly dated biological dispersions. Questions as to the tempo and mode of these early prehistoric settlements have given rise to debates concerning the taxonomic significance of the lithic assemblages, as trace fossils, and the geographical distribution of the technological traditions found in the Lower Palaeolithic record. Here, we report on the Barranc de la Boella site which has yielded a lithic assemblage dating to ,1 million years ago that includes large cutting tools (LCT). We argue that distinct technological traditions coexisted in the Iberian archaeological repertoires of the late Early Pleistocene age in a similar way to the earliest sub-Saharan African artefact assemblages. These differences between stone tool assemblages may be attributed to the different chronologies of hominin dispersal events. The archaeological record of Barranc de la Boella completes the geographical distribution of LCT assemblages across southern Eurasia during the EMPT (Early-Middle Pleistocene Transition, circa 942 to 641 kyr). Up to now, chronology of the earliest European LCT assemblages is based on the abundant Palaeolithic record found in terrace river sequences which have been dated to the end of the EMPT and later. However, the findings at Barranc de la Boella suggest that early LCT lithic assemblages appeared in the SW of Europe during earlier hominin dispersal episodes before the definitive colonization of temperate Eurasia took place.The research at Barranc de la Boella has been carried out with the financial support of the Spanish Ministerio de Economı´a y Competitividad (CGL2012- 36682; CGL2012-38358, CGL2012-38434-C03-03 and CGL2010-15326; MICINN project HAR2009-7223/HIST), Generalitat de Catalunya, AGAUR agence (projects 2014SGR-901; 2014SGR-899; 2009SGR-324, 2009PBR-0033 and 2009SGR-188) and Junta de Castilla y Leo´n BU1004A09. Financial support for Barranc de la Boella field work and archaeological excavations is provided by the Ajuntament de la Canonja and Departament de Cultura (Servei d’Arqueologia i Paleontologia) de la Generalitat de Catalunya. A. Carrancho’s research was funded by the International Excellence Programme, Reinforcement subprogramme of the Spanish Ministry of Education. I. Lozano-Ferna´ndez acknowledges the pre-doctoral grant from the Fundacio´n Atapuerca. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Neanderthal firewood management: Evidence from Stratigraphic Unit IV of Abric del Pastor (Eastern Iberia)

This paper presents anthracological data from Abric del Pastor (Alcoi, Spain), a Middle Paleolithic rock shelter site. Analysis of 1077 wood charcoal remains from Stratigraphic Unit IV (S.U. IV), collected within archaeological combustion structures and from loose sediment outside of structures, allowed us to characterise the local landscape, as well as to approach the interaction between Neanderthal groups and their local environment. Taxonomic identification suggests that firewood was gathered from nearby sources, with predominance of juniper (Juniperus sp.) followed by thermophilous shrubby taxa. Additional analysis focussing on post-depositional processes affecting charcoal have shown features indicative of biodegradation and mechanical action. The results of this study contribute significant anthracological data towards our understanding of Late Pleistocene Mediterranean landscapes and Neanderthal forest management in this region

Climatic control on palaeohydrology and cyclical sediment distribution in the Plio-Quaternary deposits of the Guadix Basin (Betic Cordillera, Spain)

A cyclical pattern can be observed in the central sector of the Guadix Basin (southern Spain) in the Late Pliocene-Quaternary alluvial fan deposits prograding into its axial valley. A climatic significance has been attributed to this cyclicity on the basis of sedimentological and preliminary isotopic studies. The progradation phases of the alluvial fans are here attributed to more arid time intervals in which the vegetation cover would be less developed, erosion and sediment supply would be higher, and base level would be lower. In contrast, the time intervals during which the fluvial system sediments dominated the area are inferred to be wetter and base level higher, with vegetation cover retaining the soils and preventing erosion. Permanent water supply to the river would therefore facilitate the aggradation of the floodplain and prevent progradation of the fans. Starting from a litho-, bio- and magnetostratigraphical frame provided for the area, an age is assigned to the alternation of the reddish sediments of the transverse alluvial fans and the greyish to white fluvio-lacustrine sediments of the axial drainage system. A cyclicity of ca. 100 ky has been identified in most of the alluvial fan progradation phases, falling within Milankovitch high-frequency eccentricity periodicities. Correlation of the phases with insolation curves is accordingly discussed as a possible origin for the cyclicity. Finally, the results offer new insights into early hominin occupation patterns in the region, through the identification of predictable resources of permanent fresh water that would have remained available throughout the recorded time span (that includes the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition) even during times of aridification.The study was supported by the Project CGL2009-07830/BTE and the Working Group RNM-369JA

External ballistics of Pleistocene hand-thrown spears: experimental performance data and implications for human evolution

The appearance of weaponry - technology designed to kill - is a critical but poorly established threshold in human evolution. It is an important behavioural marker representing evolutionary changes in ecology, cognition, language and social behaviours. While the earliest weapons are often considered to be hand-held and consequently short-ranged, the subsequent appearance of distance weapons is a crucial development. Projectiles are seen as an improvement over contact weapons, and are considered by some to have originated only with our own species in the Middle Stone Age and Upper Palaeolithic. Despite the importance of distance weapons in the emergence of full behavioral modernity, systematic experimentation using trained throwers to evaluate the ballistics of thrown spears during fight and at impact is lacking. This paper addresses this by presenting results from a trial of trained javelin athletes, providing new estimates for key performance parameters. Overlaps in distances and impact energies between hand-thrown spears and spearthrowers are evidenced, and skill emerges as a signifcant factor in successful use. The results show that distance hunting was likely within the repertoire of hunting strategies of Neanderthals, and the resulting behavioural flexibility closely mirrors that of our own specie

Special Issue: The Hoslteinian period in Europe (MIS 11-9)

The workshop organized by the UISPP at Burgos in 2014 by M. Arzarello, M-H. Moncel, C. Peretto and A-M. Moigne by the Univer- sity of Ferrara (Italy) and the Department of Prehistory of the Na- tional Museum of Natural History aimed to focus on the MIS 11-9 time period. Bifacial technology is attested from 1.4 Ma in the Levant and emerged in Western Europe from 900 to 700 ka.. Apart from some evidence of a local origin, this new technical behaviour is commonly related to the dispersal of Homo heidelbergensis in Europe, despite anatomic variability, perhaps pointing towards a diversity of hominins in Europe. Some H. heidelbergensis fossils are also included in this category in spite of the fact that they already show Neanderthal features (stem group)