Reassessing Paleolithic Subsistence The Neandertal and Modern Human Foragers of Saint-Césaire Eugène Morin REASSESSING PALEOLITHIC SUBSISTENCE The Neandertal and Modern Human Foragers of Saint-Césaire eugène morin Trent University, Canada cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, ny 10013-2473, usa www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107023277 ⃝ C Eugène Morin 2012 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2012 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Morin, Eugène, 1974– Reassessing paleolithic subsistence : the Neandertal and modern human foragers of Saint-Césaire / Eugène Morin. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-107-02327-7 (hardback) 1. Paleolithic period – France – Saint-Césaire Rockshelter. 2. Neanderthals – France – Saint-Césaire Rockshelter. 3. Animal remains (Archaeology) – France – Saint-Césaire Rockshelter. 4. Hunting and gathering societies – France – Saint-Césaire Rockshelter. 5. Hunting, Prehistoric – France – Saint-Césaire Rockshelter. 6. Saint-Césaire Rockshelter (France) I. Title. gn772.22.f7m655 2012 569.9′ 8609364–dc23 2011040838 isbn 978-1-107-02327-7 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. CONTENTS List of Figures List of Tables List of Appendices Prologue 1 The Research Problem Framing the Problem: Did Neandertals and Early Modern Humans Differ in Terms of Foraging Behaviors? Organization of the Book 2 Human Origins and the Problem of Neandertals Twentieth-Century Thought and the Emergence of the Replacement Model Saint-Césaire and the Upper Paleolithic Neandertals Current Issues in the Modern Human Origins Debate Early Modern Human Fossils in Europe Geographic Origin of the Aurignacian Early Modern Human versus Neandertal Behaviors Genetic Evidence for a Population Expansion Formulation of a Test Applicable to Archaeological Remains The Demic Expansion Hypothesis and Its Ecological Implications Assumptions Underlying the Archaeological Test 3 Foraging Theory and the Archaeological Record The Prey Choice Model The Patch Choice Model The Marginal Value Theorem Central Place Foraging Models Problems in Archaeological Applications The Body Size Rule Abundance Indices Currency and Foraging Goals in Humans Operationalizing the Test of the Intensification Hypothesis A Problem of Equifinality: Climate as a Cause of Diet Widening page xi xvii xxi xxiii 1 2 4 5 5 7 10 10 11 12 13 16 16 18 19 21 22 23 25 27 27 37 38 39 39 vii Contents Faunal Implications with Respect to Prey Choice Prey Choice at the Individual Level Selection of Marrow and Bone Grease Elements Why Saint-Césaire? Summary of the Predictions 4 Saint-Césaire The Site Stratigraphy Morphology of the Deposit Chronology of the Occupations Human Remains Paleoecological Setting 5 The Fauna Samples and Methods Estimating Abundance in the Faunal Samples Refitting Analysis of the Specimens Statistical Methods Presentation of the Faunal Samples Taxonomic Composition of the Assemblages Bison or Aurochs? Other Faunal Remains Skeletal Part Representation at Saint-Césaire 6 Taphonomy The Chronological Grain at Saint-Césaire Recovery Methods Specimen Fragmentation Patterns of Preservation Types of Damage Agents of Accumulation Retouchers Carnivores The Impact of Identification Filters on the Assemblages Differential Identification of Skeletal Elements Differential Identification of Long Bone Shafts Effects of Counting Methods on Head Representation Scalar Effects in Species Identification Burning Conclusions on Taphonomy 7 Seasonality Biology of the Main Ungulate Species at Saint-Césaire Reindeer Bison and Horse viii 41 47 51 51 52 54 57 60 61 62 63 65 65 66 69 70 73 73 75 77 80 83 93 93 94 95 98 104 105 108 110 113 113 118 120 122 125 131 132 132 132 133 Contents Synchrony of Birthing in Reindeer, Bison, and Horse Seasonality Patterns in Pleistocene Assemblages from France Methods Used at Saint-Césaire for Deriving Seasonality Data Dental Remains Antler Development and Cycle Bone Fusion Fetal Bones Incorporating Variation in Birth Synchrony in Fetal Age Estimates Seasons of Procurement in the Assemblages Conclusions on Seasonality Patterns at Saint-Césaire 8 Transport Decisions and Currency Analysis Methodological Notes on the Study of Skeletal Representation Results of the Inter-Assemblage Rank-Order Correlations Selection of a Currency Transport Decisions in the Reindeer Assemblages Transport Decisions in the Bison Assemblages Transport Decisions in the Horse Assemblages Summary of the Currency Analysis 9 Testing the Hypotheses Encounter Rates with High-Return Prey Taxa Bison Availability Horse Availability Age Structure Analysis Juvenile and Old Adult Representation in the Reindeer Assemblages Conclusions about Reindeer Age Structure Transport of Bison and Reindeer Parts Cranium Transport Digit Transport Long Bone Transport Conclusions on Transport Strategies Prey Choice at Saint-Césaire Exploitation of Fast Small-Sized Taxa in the Dry Land Patch Prey Choice in the Wetland and Freshwater Patches Intensity of Bone Processing Bone Grease Rendering Summary and Discussion 134 135 137 137 139 144 145 145 146 159 162 162 164 166 167 170 174 179 180 181 181 181 184 184 185 186 186 190 192 198 200 200 206 207 209 210 10 Diet Breadth at the Regional Level 212 Grotte du Renne (Arcy-sur-Cure) The Faunal Assemblages Transport Decisions Fast Small-Bodied Taxa Bone Processing Abri Pataud 212 213 213 214 216 218 ix Contents The Faunal Assemblages Transport Decisions Fast Small-Bodied Taxa Bone Processing Summary of Diet Breadth in Western France Diet Breadth in Other Regions of Europe and Southwest Asia The Northeastern Plains Iberia Mediterranean France Italy The Eastern Mediterranean Discussion Conclusions on Diet Breadth in Europe and Western Asia 11 An Alternative Look at the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition How General Was the Shift toward Reindeer Dominance in the Early Aurignacian? Results of the Reindeer Dominance Analysis Revisiting Mellars’s Reindeer Specialization Hypothesis The Relationship between Human Density and Mammal Species Diversity Environmental Carrying Capacity in Late Pleistocene France The Time Series Reindeer Peaks and Millennial-Scale Climatic Events The Early Upper Paleolithic “Anomaly” Demographic and Genetic Implications 218 218 219 221 221 221 224 226 230 231 234 236 242 247 248 250 250 253 257 260 263 267 268 12 Concluding Thoughts 272 Appendices References Index 275 311 357 x
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