In many cases in the past fish bones recovered during archaeological excavations at Upper Palaeolithic sites were often assumed to result from human activity without any consideration for alternate accumulation processes. Many of these assemblages had not been analysed in a scientifically rigorous manner, with some receiving no consideration at all. A review of current evidence and results of new analyses indicate that salmonids (salmon and trout) are the most frequently recorded fish at the European Palaeolithic cave sites. Two potential accumulation agents for fish remains were explored: brown bears (Ursus arctos) and eagle owls (Bubo bubo). Controlled feeding experiments integrated with ecological studies indicate that salmonid remains survive the digestive systems of both species and result in distinctive patterning in assemblage characteristics. Post-depositional taphonomic processes, such as trampling, also produce distinct taphonomic signatures and are an agent of differential inter-species preservation. A thorough consideration of depositional and post-depositional processes of archaeological assemblages in central Italy (Grotta di Pozzo, Maritza, La Punta and Ortucchio) and Spain (El Juyo, Altamira, Salitre, Castillo and Rascaño) shows that the fish remains from these sites result from human activity. The overrepresentation of cranial elements at the Italian sites suggest that fish were processed by removing the head to perhaps smoke or dry before transportation to other locations for consumption. This research lead to improved methods of analysis, and thus enhanced understanding of the role of fishing and fish consumption in Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer societies.

In this dissertation, I examine the representation of projectile points in the Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) of Tanzania, and the way in which such tools were used over time and space. This study reviews the different strategies used to produce points during the MSA and LSA. It also examines the mechanisms involved in raw material procurement, hafting technology, and the use of these tools as projectile weapons and how they evolved over time. It is clear that there were different kinds of multi-weapon systems in use in Tanzania during the MSA, LSA and the transition between them. The points examined are from three archaeological sites: Mumba, Nasera and Magubike. They reveal that triangular blanks were preferred for the production of points. Most of them were modified on their proximal ends to provide a suitable binding portion for hafting and aerodynamic movement. Results from the Tip Cross Section Area (TCSA) and weight values suggest that spear and arrow projectiles coexisted in these sites during the MSA and MSA/LSA transition. Both local and exotic rocks were used for the production of points. In previous studies, the appearance of exotic rocks in the archaeological assemblages was correlated with trade and exchange. But here the use of exotics seems to be influenced by functional values such as durability, sharpness and brittleness. Sharp and durable rocks such as chert and quartzite were needed for spears because of their high compression strength. This makes them better able to withstand unintentional breakage after being stressed by the force of impact. Points made of brittle rocks, such as quartz and obsidian, were mainly used for light duty projectiles such as throwing spears (darts) and arrows, because they penetrate the body of an animal better and sometimes break more easily. The presence of points made of exotic or local rocks shows that functional variables were important for projectile technologies. The overall morphological and technological patterns revealed in this study suggest that foragers who made and used points had elaborate technological skills, abstract thinking and developed behavioural capability similar to those of other modern foragers.

No description available.

This dissertation consists of three articles that develop and implement geoarchaeological approaches to the study of hominin biogeography in the Greek islands, a region that may have played a key role during the initial peopling of southeastern Europe in the Middle to Late Pleistocene (770 – 13 ka). The first article addresses the need to find Palaeolithic sites in the Greek islands by reviewing geoarchaeologically informed archaeological surveys that prioritize deposits – Pleistocene sediments and soils – on mainland Greece. I operationalize and implement a four-phase approach for future deposit-centered surveys in the islands. I conclude that future surveys should target geomorphic settings conducive to paleosol preservation, such as in near-shore coastal areas (e.g., uplifted hillslopes and actively eroding alluvial fans) marked by paleo-sea-level-indicators (sea notches, marine terraces, and aeolianites), as well as sediment depo-centers (e.g., internally drained basins) in non-coastal geomorphic settings. The second article develops and employs a multiscalar geoarchaeological approach for investigating and interpreting complex hillslope formation processes at the newly excavated Palaeolithic site of Stelida, located on the island of Naxos, Greece. Here, I integrate traditional geoarchaeological methods (lithostratigraphy, pedostratigraphy, allostratigraphy) with microarchaeological techniques, such as thin-section soil micromorphology and portable x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF) to separate sediments and soils aiding in the construction of a stratigraphic framework for Stelida.The third article further develops the method of integrating pXRF and soil micromorphology applied at the site-specific scale. In this article, I developed an Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) method for visualizing geochemistry-facies relationships through the application of pXRF to a resin-impregnated block sample preserving an Archaic (seventh century BCE) ash midden (eschara) from the site of Kalopodi, Greece.This dissertation addresses a primary research effort in Greece’s Aegean Basin (Greek islands): the search for and study of Palaeolithic archaeology dating to Middle and Late Pleistocene. Geoarchaeologically informed research designs, such as deposit-centered surveys in open-air environments, can increase Palaeolithic site inventories for the region by focusing on finding geomorphic settings conducive to paleosol preservation. Moreover, the multi-scalar geoarchaeological approaches here, which integrate sedimentology, pedology, micromorphology, and geochemistry, provide an effective approach for the identification and compositional (mineralogic and geochemical) study of paleosols within those settings.

Yes / Microwear analysis is applied to reconstruct the function and social organisation at the Late Glacial site of Trollesgave, Denmark. As with Bromme Culture sites in general, the lithic assemblage consists of primarily three types of tools. There is a strong association between these types and their use: end scrapers for dry hide scraping; burins for working hard material, primarily bone; and tanged points primarily for projectile tips. Nearly all divergence from this pattern can be referred to as the activities of children, the products and workshops of which have previously been identified. Based on the combined information from microwear analysis, flint knapping and spatial distribution of artefacts, the assemblage is inferred as the traces of a single family hunting (and fishing) occupation. / Danish Council for Independent Research (FKK ref. no. 273-08-0424)

Yes / Grotta del Romito has been the subject of numerous archaeological, chronological and palaeoenvironmental investigations for more than a decade. During the Upper Palaeolithic period the site contains evidence of human occupation through the Gravettian and Epigravettian periods, multiple human burials, changes in the pattern of human occupation, and faunal, isotopic and sedimentological evidence for local environmental change. In spite of this rich record, the chronological control is insufficient to resolve shifts in subsistence and mobility patterns at sufficiently high resolution to match the abrupt climate fluctuations at this time. To resolve this we present new radiocarbon and tephrostratigraphic dates in combination with existing radiocarbon dates, and develop a Bayesian age model framework for the site. This improved chronology reveals that local environmental conditions reflect abrupt and long-term changes in climate, and that these also directly influence changing patterns of human occupation of the site. In particular, we show that the environmental record for the site, based on small mammal habitat preferences, is chronologically in phase with the main changes in climate and environment seen in key regional archives from Italy and Greenland. We also calculate the timing of the transitions between different cultural phases and their spans. We also show that the intensification in occupation of the site is chronologically coincident with a rapid rise in Mesic Woody taxa seen in key regional pollen records and is associated with the Late Epigravettian occupation of the site. This change in the record of Grotta del Romito is also closely associated stratigraphically with a new tephra (the ROM-D30 tephra), which may act as a critical marker in environmental records of the region. / Leverhulme Trust (F/0 0235/I) and by a Natural Environment Research Council ORADS radiocarbon dating award (NF/2011/2/7).

In the world of archaeological and anthropological research, the transition from the Middle Paleolithic (MP) to the Upper Paleolithic (UP) is widely debated and studied. During this period in Europe, the last Neanderthals were replaced by the first Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH). It is widely debated how and in what time frame this replacement occurred, and if, when, and where the two human species interacted with eachother. In order to understand the differences and similarities between Neanderthals and AMH, many branches of archaeology collaborate to answer these questions. For example, the study of artifacts or genetic investigations can provide a wealth of information on the cognitive-behavioral abilities of the two hominins or on possible hybridization. In this context, archaeozoology is an extremely interesting branch for reconstructing the interactions between humans and the environment in which they lived and thus defining the economic and behavioral strategies of the two human species. Of particular interest are the sites of RiparoMochi (Ventimiglia) and RiparoTagliente (Verona), which present evidence of occupation by the last Neanderthals and subsequent arrival of AMH. Due to their geographical location, crucial for investigating the arrival of AMH in Europe, the study of faunal remains from these two sites is of fundamental importance. This thesis proposes an archaeozoological study useful for shedding light on the human-environment dynamics that occurred between the end of the MP and the beginning of the UP innorthern Italy, examining two sites belonging to two distinct geographical regions, Liguria and Veneto, characterized (today and in the past) by different climatic and environmental conditions. In addition to the classic archaeozoological study, the methodologies applied here range from analyses of dental microwear to the use of 3D technology for the study of bone artifacts. The archaeozoological analysis of these two contexts is also necessary due to the scarcity of faunal data for the two sites, which are infact preliminary or incomplete. How did Neanderthal hunting strategies differ between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic sides of the Apennines? Did the arrival of AMH correspond to a change in hunting behavior or in the way sites were occupied? How have the fauna and surrounding ecosystems of the two sites evolved? Answering these and other questions will help to understand how the rapid climatic and environmental changes that characterized the end of the MP influenced human groups and animal populations in the two regions and how human-environment interactions changed in the transition from the late MP to the beginning of the UP. / Nel mondo della ricerca archeologica e antropologica, la transizione fra il Paleolitico Medio (PM) e il Paleolitico Superiore (PS) è ampiamente dibattuta e studiata. In questo periodo, in Europa, gli ultimi Neandertal vengono sostituiti dai primi Umani Anatomicamente Moderni (UAM). È ampiamente dibattuto come e in quanto tempo sia avvenuta questa sostituzione e se, quando e dove, le due specie umane abbiano interagito fra loro. Al fine di comprendere le differenze e le similitudini fra Neandertal e UAM, molte branche dell’archeologia collaborano per rispondere a queste incognite. Ad esempio, lo studio dei manufatti o le indagini genetiche possono dare molte informazioni sulle capacità cognitivo-comportamentali dei due ominini o su una possibile ibridazione. In questo contesto l’archeozoologia è una branca di estremo interesse per ricostruire le interazioni fra l’uomo e l’ambiente nel quale viveva e definire quindi le strategie economiche e comportamentali delle due specie umane. Di particolare interesse sono i siti di Riparo Mochi (Ventimiglia) e Riparo Tagliente (Verona), i quali presentano testimonianze dell’occupazione da parte degli ultimi Neandertal e la successiva frequentazione di UAM. Per via della loro posizione geografica, nevralgica per indagare sull’arrivo di UAM in Europa, lo studio dei resti faunistici provenienti da questi due siti è di fondamentale importanza. In questa tesi si propone uno studio archeozoologico utile a far luce sulle dinamiche uomo-ambiente intercorse fra la fine del PM e l’inizio del PS in Nord Italia, prendendo in esame due siti facenti parte di due regioni geografiche distinte, la Liguria e il Veneto, caratterizzate (oggi e in passato) da differenti condizioni climatico-ambientali. Oltre al classico studio archeozoologico, le metodologie qui applicate spaziano dalle analisi della microusura dentale all’utilizzo della tecnologia 3D per lo studio di manufatti in osso. L’analisi archeozoologica di questi due contesti risulta inoltre necessaria a causa della scarsità di dati faunistici per i due siti, questi risultano infatti preliminari o incompleti. Come differivano le strategie di caccia dei Neandertal fra il versante tirrenico e adriatico degli appennini?L’arrivo di UAM ha corrisposto ad un cambiamento del comportamento venatorio o nelle modalità di occupazione dei siti? Come si sono evolute le faune e gli ecosistemi circondanti i due siti? Rispondere a queste ed altre domande permetterà di comprendere come le rapide variazioni climatico-ambientali che caratterizzarono la fine del PM, abbiano influito sui gruppi umani e sulle popolazioni animali delle due regioni e come le interazioni uomo-ambiente siano mutate nel passaggio dal PM finale e l’inizio del PS.

Le site moustérien de la Grotte du Bison est situé au cœur des grottes préhistoriques longeant la rivière de la Cure à Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne, France). La couche I-J de ce gisement représente une occupation néandertalienne datant de la fin du stade isotopique 4 (MIS 4) et du début du stade 3. Face à l’instabilité du climat durant cette période, les groupes de chasseurs-cueilleurs néandertaliens doivent faire des choix en matière d’acquisition des ressources alimentaires. Le mode de subsistance de ces groupes implique des choix stratégiques de comportements de chasse, de transport et de traitement des carcasses, ainsi que de mobilité de groupe. Quelles sont les stratégies d’exploitation de la faune employées par les Néandertaliens à Arcy-sur-Cure il y a un peu plus de 50 000 ans? Ce mémoire présente une analyse archéozoologique de l’assemblage faunique mis au jour durant la mission de fouilles 2014. Les résultats indiquent que les populations néandertaliennes ont occupé le site de façon saisonnière en alternance avec d’autres animaux carnivores comme l’ours des cavernes et la hyène des cavernes. Les hyènes et les Néandertaliens sont deux potentiels agents accumulateurs d’ossements dans la grotte. Un regard taphonomique sur l’assemblage faunique de la couche I-J suggère que les groupes néandertaliens ont chassé le renne et le cheval, alors que les meutes de hyènes ont accumulé des ossements de bovinés et de chevaux. Les groupes néandertaliens de la Grotte du Bison ont rapporté les carcasses entières de leurs proies sur le site. Ils en ont exploité la viande, la moelle, les peaux, ont fabriqué des outils en os et ont utilisé les plumes des rapaces, vraisemblablement à des fins symboliques. / The “Grotte du Bison” is a Mousterian site located along the river Cure at Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne, France). Level I-J is a Neanderthal occupation of the cave that occurred during the end of marine isotope stage 4 (MIS 4) and the beginning of stage 3. This period is characterised by strong climate instability, which conditioned the Neanderthals’ choices regarding their subsistence. Subsistence patterns are defined by various behaviours such as the type of hunting strategy adopted, carcass transport and butchery practices and residential mobility. What subsistence strategies were adopted by Neanderthal groups who occupied the Grotte du Bison over 50 000 years ago? This thesis presents a zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal assemblage excavated during the 2014 excavations. The results indicate that Neanderthal populations seasonally occupied the site alternating with carnivores such as bears (hibernating in the cave during the winter) and hyenas. Both Neanderthals and hyenas served as bone accumulators in the cave. Preliminary taphonomic analysis of the faunal assemblage from level I-J suggest that the Neanderthals hunted horses and reindeers while hyenas hunted and/or scavenged bovines and horses. Neanderthals from the Grotte du Bison transported whole carcasses to the site where they butchered them, exploiting their bone marrow and grease, processed the skins, made bone tools, and used raptor feathers (possibly as items of personal adornment).

Ce travail de thèse porte sur l'analyse fonctionnelle des assemblages lithiques de la période protoaurignacienne (environ 40 000 – 32 000 BP) dans l'arc méditerranéen, visant à mettre en évidence les comportements techno-économiques de ces groupes humains. L’attention est portée sur deux aspects principaux associés à l’émergence de l’homme moderne en Europe occidentale : la production systématique des lamelles et l’exploitation de la matière dure animale. Plusieurs gisements sont considérés, appartenant à deux aires géographiques majeures : la Zone méditerranéenne (Grotte de l’Observatoire, Esquicho Grapaou, La Laouza) et le Nord de la France (Grotte des Cottés). / The Ph.D thesis deals with the Protoaurignacian lithic assemblages (circa 40 000 to 30 000 BP) from Mediterranean area sites via usewear observations, in order to display the techno-economic behaviours of these hunter-gatherer groups.Two major topics are considered, in association with the emergence of the modern Humans in Western Europe: bladelet production and osseous material exploitation. Many sites are concerned by our analysis, from different geographic zones: Mediterranean Area (Observatoire cave, Esquicho Grapaou, La Laouza) and Northern France (Les Cottés cave).

La présence de hachereaux au sein de nombreux sites du Paléolithique moyen pyrénéo-cantabrique a conduit F. Bordes à définir en 1953 un faciès régional, le Vasconien. Par la suite, des analyses typologiques centrées sur la représentativité des outils retouchés ont remis en question la validité de ce faciès tandis que la présence récurrente mais sporadique de hachereaux dans des ensembles du Paléolithique moyen a entraîné l’idée d’une perduration depuis l’Acheuléen ibérique. Dans ce travail de ré-évaluation du Paléolithique moyen récent pyrénéo-cantabrique, une large gamme de données issues de plusieurs champs disciplinaires a été mobilisée. Ce renouveau du cadre contextuel se voit consolidé par l’obtention récente de datations absolues permettant de proposer un cadre chronologique précis pour le Moustérien à hachereaux de l’OIS 3. L’analyse de près 450 hachereaux provenant de neuf sites est fondée sur une caractérisation technologique, morphométrique et fonctionnelle de ces outils du Paléolithique moyen récent. Cette première étape de caractérisation est ensuite complétée par la comparaison avec un corpus de près de 200 hachereaux acheuléens provenant de sites localisés au sein de la même aire géographique. Les différences perçues entre ces deux populations, corrélées à un cadre chronologique redéfini, permet d’écarter l’idée d’une perduration ponctuelle de ces outils depuis l’Acheuléen et de les identifier comme l’expression d’une réinvention, leur octroyant de la sorte une nouvelle signification culturelle. Parallèlement, les séries lithiques provenant de 7 sites localisés au nord de la zone vasco-cantabrique ont été analysées selon les principes classiques de la technologie lithique. Ces ensembles sont issus de contextes topographiques variés (grotte, abri, plein air) et de milieux diversifiés (montagnard, littoral, aride). Bien qu’une variabilité attendue soit perceptible entre ces ensembles, le même fond technologique est présent et les différences perçues sont évaluées à l’aune de la fonction présumée des occupations. Interprétées en termes de complémentarité, ces différences autorisent à proposer l’hypothèse d’un modèle d’organisation territorial à faible mobilité impliquant cependant une structuration sociale complexe de ces sociétés de la fin du Paléolithique moyen. Un premier essai de construction d’une archéoséquence pour la région pyrénéo-cantabrique permet de mieux cerner l’homogénéité et la place du Vasconien au niveau régional ainsi que vis-à-vis des technocomplexes qui l’encadrent. Des comparaisons avec les différentes traditions techniques évoluant en synchronie (principalement le Moustérien de Tradition Acheuléenne) permettent également d’aborder la question de leur autonomie respective et de proposer de nouvelles aires d’influences techniques auxquelles elles sont soumises. / The presence of cleavers in numerous Pyrenean-Cantabrian Middle Paleolithic sites led to the creation of a regional facies called Vasconian (Bordes, 1953). Later, typological analyses based on shaped tool classes’ cumulative frequency have questioned the very existence of this facies (Cabrera Valdés, 1983). The recurrence of cleavers within Middle Paleolithic assemblages was then interpreted as a long perdurance of the Iberian Acheulean. The present research was aimed to re-evaluate the Pyrenean-Cantabrian Late Middle Paleolithic through the comparison of a large variety of data. It is supported by a detailed and renewed chronological framework for the Mousterian with cleavers of OIS 3 based on newly obtained radiometric data. The analysis included technological, morphometric and functional characterization of over 450 cleavers from nine sites attributed to the Late Middle Paleolithic. Our results were then compared to ca. 200 Acheulean cleavers from the same area. The differences between these two populations and a revised chronological framework allow us to reject the hypothesis of a sporadic persistence of cleavers after the Acheulean. We rather propose that these tools have resulted of a new invention and fully were a cultural marker. Meanwhile, the whole lithic ensembles from seven sites located north of the Basque-Cantabrian area were analyzed with the conventional methods of lithic technology. These sites correspond to various topographic contexts (caves, rock shelters, and open air sites) and to diverse environments (alpine, coastal, and arid). Despite an expected variability between these ensembles, we identified a shared technological tradition and propose that differences could be the result of different site functions. If we consider the different sites as being complementarity, we can propose the hypothesis of a low-mobility territorial structuration and thus a social complexity of the Late Middle Paleolithic societies. A first attempt to build a cultural-stratigraphic sequence for the Pyrenean-Cantabrian region is being made in order to properly assess the Vasconian location and homogeneity as for the constraining techno-complexes. Comparisons with contemporaneous techno-complexes (and more particularly with the MTA) allow us to address their respective autonomy within a newly defined technical are of influence.