1,720,995 research outputs found
Towards an understanding of hominin marrow extraction strategies: a proposal for percussion mark terminology
No full textPercussion marks have been studied in the field of archaeology for more than a century. Researchers have identified, characterized and analysed them in order to distinguish them from traces of carnivore modification or environment-related damage to bone and reconstruct hominin subsistence strategies. The multiplicity of studies based on percussion marks in different languages has led to a proliferation of different terminologies used for the same marks, especially in English. In addition, as a result of numerous experimental studies or ethnological observations, it is possible to accurately identify the different steps of the butchery process and each of the related marks. We know from experimental studies that the morphology of percussion traces inflicted by the same tools can differ as their morphology depends on many factors (i.e., location and intensity of blows, intrinsic bone variables). In addition to this, carnivore and hominid traces can be superimposed, which sometimes renders their interpretation difficult. Renewed interest in these percussion marks owing to the emergence of new technical means highlighted the need to review their classification and clarify the nomenclature. With this in mind, we reviewed the abundant scientific literature to propose a refined and descriptive nomenclature. The aim is to provide a coherent terminology for the description and analysis of impact fractures in different European languages. We also propose classifying percussion marks into three categories: 1) percussion marks sensu stricto; 2) traces occurring consecutive to long bone breakage and 3) indirect percussion marks related to marrow extraction
The origins of human visual culture: a three-stage hypothesis from babble to concordancy to inclusivity.
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Insights into the palaeobiology of an early Homo infant: multidisciplinary investigation of the GAR IVE hemi-mandible, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia
Full text linkChildhood is an ontogenetic stage unique to the modern human life history pattern. It enables the still dependent infants to achieve an extended rapid brain growth, slow somatic maturation, while benefitting from provisioning, transitional feeding, and protection from other group members. This tipping point in the evolution of human ontogeny likely emerged from early Homo. The GAR IVE hemi-mandible (1.8 Ma, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia) represents one of the rarely preserved early Homo infants (~ 3 years at death), recovered in a richly documented Oldowan archaeological context. Yet, based on the sole external inspection of its teeth, GAR IVE was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease–amelogenesis imperfecta (AI)–altering enamel. Since it may have impacted the child’s survival, this diagnosis deserves deeper examination. Here, we reassess and refute this diagnosis and all associated interpretations, using an unprecedented multidisciplinary approach combining an in-depth analysis of GAR IVE (synchrotron imaging) and associated fauna. Some of the traits previously considered as diagnostic of AI can be better explained by normal growth or taphonomy, which calls for caution when diagnosing pathologies on fossils. We compare GAR IVE’s dental development to other fossil hominins, and discuss the implications for the emergence of childhood in early Homo
Same but different: 20,000 years of bone retouchers from Northern Italy. A diachronologic approach from Neanderthals to Anatomically Modern Humans
No full textBone retouchers are common in Middle and Upper Palaeolithic contexts. In northern Italy, these tools are abundant in final Mousterian sites. In order to pinpoint the possible cultural similarities or differences in the use of these artefacts, the present study analyses the bone retouchers of two nearby sites: Fumane and de Nadale caves. Fumane cave is a large cavity where various techno-complexes have been identified. For the purposes of this research, we analysed more than 300 pieces from the Discoid, Levallois, Uluzzian and Proto-Aurignacian layers. De Nadale cave is a single occupation site attributed to the Quina Mousterian. This site, although still under excavation, includes a high number of bone retouchers – about 200 elements
have so far been identified. These elements were subjected to a multidisciplinary study, dealing with their archaeozoological, taphonomic, technological and functional characteristics. The faunal remains on which the retouch stigmata occur are similar, especially throughout the whole of the Fumane sequence, although the general faunal spectrum changes over time. Similarities are also found in the anatomical portions used as retouchers in the different techno-complexes under review. From a functional standpoint, the differences are more obvious. The intensity of use varies diachronically, as the number of identified stigmata changes from one techno-complex to the next. This contribution offers a wide overview of the cultural differences and similarities of this little elaborated tool from a chronological standpoint
Widespread evidence for elephant exploitation by Last Interglacial Neanderthals on the North European plain
Full text linkNeanderthals hunted and butchered straight- tusked elephants, the largest terrestrial mammals of the Pleistocene, in a lake landscape on the North European plain, 125,000 years ago, as recently shown by a study of the Last Interglacial elephant assemblage from Neumark- Nord (Germany). With evidence for a remarkable focus on adult males and on their extended utilization, the data from this location are thus far without parallel in the archaeological record. Given their relevance for our knowledge of the Neanderthal niche, we investigated whether the Neumark- Nord subsistence practices were more than a local phenomenon, possibly determined by local characteristics. Analyzing elephant remains from two other Last Interglacial archaeological sites on the North European plain, Gröbern and Taubach, we identified in both assemblages similar butchering patterns as at Neumark-Nord, demonstrating that extended elephant exploitation was a widespread Neanderthal practice during the (early part of the) Last Interglacial. The substantial efforts needed to process these animals, weighing up to 13 metric tons, and the large amounts of food generated suggest that Neanderthals either had ways of storing vast amounts of meat and fat and/or temporarily aggregated in larger groups than com-monly acknowledged. The data do not allow us to rule out one of the two explanations, and furthermore both factors, short- term larger group sizes as well as some form of food preservation, may have played a role. What the data do show is that exploitation of large straight-tusked elephants was a widespread and recurring phenomenon amongst Last Interglacial Neanderthals on the North European plain.Human Origin
Beaver exploitation, 400,000 years ago, testifies to prey choice diversity of Middle Pleistocene hominins
Full text linkData regarding the subsistence base of early hominins are heavily biased in favor of the animal component of their diets, in particular the remains of large mammals, which are generally much better preserved at archaeological sites than the bones of smaller animals, let alone the remains of plant food. Exploitation of smaller game is very rarely documented before the latest phases of the Pleistocene, which is often taken to imply narrow diets of archaic Homo and interpreted as a striking economic difference between Late Pleistocene and earlier hominins. We present new data that contradict this view of Middle Pleistocene Lower Palaeolithic hominins: cut mark evidence demonstrating systematic exploitation of beavers, identified in the large faunal assemblage from the c. 400,000 years old hominin site Bilzingsleben, in central Germany. In combination with a prime-age dominated mortality profile, this cut mark record shows that the rich beaver assemblage resulted from repetitive human hunting activities, with a focus on young adult individuals. The Bilzingsleben beaver exploitation evidence demonstrates a greater diversity of prey choice by Middle Pleistocene hominins than commonly acknowledged, and a much deeper history of broad-spectrum subsistence than commonly assumed, already visible in prey choices 400,000 years ago.Human Origin
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