Widely found throughout the archaeological and artistic records in capacities ranging from burial contexts to early evidence of artistic expression, red ochre has been studied in archaeological and art conservationist communities for decades. Despite this, literature discussing binders is disparate and often absent from accessible arenas. Red ochre is important historically because its use can be used to help further the understanding of early humans, their predecessors, and their cognitive capabilities. However, there is not much written speculation on the processes involved in binder selection, collection, and processing. Based on the idea of these three activities associated with binders, I propose a schema for what the use of already prepared and obtained items doubling as binders might look like in the archaeological record. Using an experiment in which I used red ochre mixed with various binders to paint standardized shapes on a rock surface, I propose ways in which more experiments could be done in this vein. I suggest ways in which scales of desirability can be created based on different traits painters might have found important in the binder selection process, such as ease of paint reconstitution, texture of the paint, and the appearance of the paint mixture once on the stone. This research is one small step in the direction of expanding and diversifying the literature on binders in prehistoric paintings, and opening new avenues of conversation about the choices and motivations of early painters.

The aim of this master thesis is to expand on the understanding of the resource utilisation on the 19 Gotlandic Pitted Ware Culture sites: Ajvide, Alvena, Fridtorp, Grausne, Gullrum,Gumbalde, Hau, Hemmor, Hoburgen, Ire, Kinner/Tjauls, Rangvide, Barshalder, Stenstugu,Stora Förvar, Sudergårds II, Visby, Västerbjers and Västerbys. The study utilises theoretical frameworks such as Site Catchment Analysis, Site Territorial Analysis and Optimal ForagingTheory and is based on two main questions: Which animals did the diet on each site consist of? And are there any apparent connections between diet and topography/environment? To answer these questions, osteological records have been studied to get an idea of the animal food resources utilised on each site. ArcGIS has also been used to create height- and soil maps with contemporary shorelines which show how the sites were located in the middle Neolithic Gotlandic landscape. The study has shown that most sites appear to have included a variety of animals like pig/boar, cattle, sheep/goat, fish, seal, porpoise and birds in their diet. The sites with the lowest number of confirmed animals also tend to have undergone the least archaeological investigation, suggesting that further excavations on these sites might unearth more animal species. Additional discoveries show a small albeit noticeable emphasis on marine animal resources, especially porpoise, on southern sites. Sites located in areas mostly consisting of sandy, meager soils also show an increased marine resource utilisation. This might suggest that the area around these sites were somewhat barren and lacking in terrestrial prey animals.

L’introduction de petites faunes au sein du régime alimentaire humain dans le passé constitue un sujet de recherche essentiel dans la compréhension des modes de subsistance des chasseurs-cueilleurs, notamment au Paléolithique supérieur. Durant cette période, et notamment au Dernier Maximum Glaciaire, le lapin de garenne (Oryctolagus cuniculus) domine les assemblages fauniques de nombreux sites archéologiques de la Péninsule Ibérique. Plusieurs hypothèses ont été avancées afin de comprendre le rôle que ce petit gibier a pu jouer dans la subsistance des groupes humains. Néanmoins, la multitude et la variété de ces hypothèses reflètent, d’un côté, le manque de consensus quant à la portée de l’exploitation du lapin dans la subsistance durant cette période dans la Péninsule Ibérique, et elles soulignent d’un autre côté que l’appréhension des implications économiques, technologiques, environnementales et sociales de son exploitation est une tâche complexe. A partir de ce double constat, j’ai dès lors établi comme problématique d’explorer les potentielles motivations liées à la chasse du lapin et d'appréhender le rapport entre les humains et cette espèce de petite taille, et ce dans l’objectif d’obtenir une meilleure compréhension des modes de subsistance adoptés pendant cette période en Ibérie. L’approche développée dans cette thèse repose sur la proposition que l’explication du pourquoi les humains exploitaient le lapin doit être traitée par une compréhension du comment les humains chassaient ce petit gibier. Si nous voulons analyser le régime alimentaire humain dans le passé, nous devons effectivement comprendre comment les humains prenaient leurs décisions cynégétiques. A cette fin, un des cadres théoriques principalement utilisé en archéologie, la Optimal Foraging Theory, a été employé, en complément de la modélisation à base d’agents. La problématique a été répartie en trois questions de recherche distinctes et complémentaires, chacune faisant l’objet d’une publication. Dans le premier article, l’application du Diet Breadth Model issu de la Optimal Foraging Theory a permis d’observer que l’exploitation d’une garenne est optimale lorsque plusieurs individus capturent un minimum de 7 lapins à l’aide de filets au cours du Dernier Maximum Glaciaire dans la Péninsule Ibérique. Dans le second article, nous avons mené des expériences de simulation à travers le développement d’un modèle à base d’agents pour évaluer les implications de ce type d’exploitation dans un cadre plus réaliste au sein duquel les humains interagissent, avant de l'intégrer, dans le troisième article, dans différents contextes socio-économiques qui lui sont associés et observés dans le registre ethno-historique. Nos résultats montrent que la composition du régime alimentaire humain et, par-là, le retour énergétique quotidien, sont influencés par l'organisation sociale entre les membres d'un groupe, la stratégie de chasse et la technologie associée afin d’exploiter une garenne. Particulièrement, la rentabilité de l’exploitation des ressources est encore plus grande si les femmes, les enfants et les ainés sont impliqués dans l’exploitation des garennes à travers des battues et/ou l’aide de filets. Par conséquent, cette thèse expose que le développement de formations socio-culturelles optimales basées sur une division des tâches de subsistance selon l’âge et/ou le sexe (et de la technologie qui leur est associée) a pu permettre aux groupes humains de s'adapter aux environnements de la Péninsule Ibérique au Dernier Maximum Glaciaire. Finalement, le lapin ayant probablement été un complément alimentaire important pendant cette période, cette thèse souligne la nécessité de considérer son exploitation (et celle de petites faunes en général) lors de l’interprétation du registre zooarchéologique car des changements d’un point de vue économique, technologique mais aussi socio-culturel dans les modes de subsistance adoptés dans le passé peuvent être ainsi appréhendés. / The introduction of small fauna into the human diet in the past is an essential research topic in the understanding of hunter-gatherer subsistence patterns, particularly in the Upper Paleolithic. During this period, and particularly during the Last Glacial Maximum, the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) dominates the faunal assemblages of many archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula. Several hypotheses have been proposed to understand the role played by this small game in the subsistence of past human groups. Nevertheless, the number and diversity of these hypotheses first reflect a lack of agreement as to the extent to which rabbits played a role in subsistence during this period in the Iberian Peninsula. Secondly, they underline the complexity of understanding the economic, technological, environmental, and social implications of rabbit exploitation. From these observations, I established as the problematic to explore the potential motivations behind rabbit hunting, and to apprehend the relationship between humans and this small game, with the aim of providing a better understanding of the subsistence patterns adopted during this period in Iberia. The approach developed in this thesis is based on that the explanation of why humans exploited rabbits must be addressed by an understanding of how humans hunted them. If we are to analyze human diet in the past, we must indeed understand how humans made their hunting decisions. To this end, one of the theoretical frameworks mainly used in archaeology, the Optimal Foraging Theory, has been adopted, complemented by Agent-Based Modeling. I divided the problematic into three distinct and complementary research questions, each the subject of a publication. In the first article, the application of the Diet Breadth Model derived from the Optimal Foraging Theory enabled us to observe that the exploitation of a warren is optimal when several individuals capture a minimum of 7 rabbits using nets during the Las Glacial Maximum in the Iberian Peninsula. In the second paper, we carried out simulation experiments through the development of an Agent-Based Model to assess the implications of this type of exploitation in a more realistic environment in which humans interact, before integrating it, in the third paper, into different socio-economic contexts related to it and observed in the ethno-historical record. Our results show that the composition of the human diet and, consequently, the daily energetic return are influenced by the social organization between group members, the hunting strategy and the associated technology employed for exploiting a warren. In particular, the energetic efficiency of resource exploitation is even greater if women, children, and elders are involved in exploiting warrens through net hunting and/or drives. Consequently, this thesis argues that the development of optimal socio-cultural group configurations based on an age and/or gender-based division of labor (and their associated technology) may have enabled human groups to successfully adapt to the environments of the Iberian Peninsula during the Last Glacial Maximum. Finally, as rabbit was probably an important energetic source during this period, this thesis highlights the need to consider its exploitation (and that of small game in general) when interpreting the zooarchaeological record, as not only economic and technological, but also socio-cultural changes in subsistence patterns adopted in the past can be apprehended.