Browsing by Author "Steele, Teresa E."
Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Identifying the unidentified fauna enhances insights into hominin subsistence strategies during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transitionPublication . Sinet-Mathiot, Virginie; Rendu, William; Steele, Teresa E.; Spasov, Rosen; Madelaine, Stéphane; Renou, Sylvain; Soulier, Marie-Cécile; Martisius, Naomi L.; aldeias, vera; Endarova, Elena; Goldberg, Paul; McPherron, Shannon J. P.; Rezek, Zeljko; Sandgathe, Dennis; Sirakov, Nikolay; Sirakova, Svoboda; Soressi, Marie; Tsanova, Tsenka; Turq, Alain; Hublin, Jean-Jacques; Welker, Frido; Smith, Geoff M.Understanding Palaeolithic hominin subsistence strategies requires the comprehensive taxonomic identification of faunal remains. The high fragmentation of Late Pleistocene faunal assemblages often prevents proper taxonomic identification based on bone morphology. It has been assumed that the morphologically unidentifiable component of the faunal assemblage would reflect the taxonomic abundances of the morphologically identified portion. In this study, we analyse three faunal datasets covering the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (MUPT) at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria) and Les Cottes and La Ferrassie (France) with the application of collagen type I peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS). Our results emphasise that the fragmented component of Palaeolithic bone assemblages can differ significantly from the morphologically identifiable component. We obtain contrasting identification rates between taxa resulting in an overrepresentation of morphologically identified reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and an underrepresentation of aurochs/bison (Bos/Bison) and horse/European ass (Equus) at Les Cottes and La Ferrassie. Together with an increase in the relative diversity of the faunal composition, these results have implications for the interpretation of subsistence strategies during a period of possible interaction between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in Europe. Furthermore, shifts in faunal community composition and in carnivore activity suggest a change in the interaction between humans and carnivores across the MUPT and indicate a possible difference in site use between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. The combined use of traditional and biomolecular methods allows (zoo)archaeologists to tackle some of the methodological limits commonly faced during the morphological assessment of Palaeolithic bone assemblages.
- Reconstructing Late Pleistocene paleoclimate at the scale of human behavior: an example from the Neandertal occupation of La Ferrassie (France)Publication . Pederzani, Sarah; Aldeias, Vera; Dibble, Harold L.; Goldberg, Paul; Hublin, Jean-Jacques; Madelaine, Stéphane; McPherron, Shannon P.; Sandgathe, Dennis; Steele, Teresa E.; Turq, Alain; Britton, KateExploring the role of changing climates in human evolution is currently impeded by a scarcity of climatic information at the same temporal scale as the human behaviors documented in archaeological sites. This is mainly caused by high uncertainties in the chronometric dates used to correlate long-term climatic records with archaeological deposits. One solution is to generate climatic data directly from archaeological materials representing human behavior. Here we use oxygen isotope measurements of Bos/Bison tooth enamel to reconstruct summer and winter temperatures in the Late Pleistocene when Neandertals were using the site of La Ferrassie. Our results indicate that, despite the generally cold conditions of the broader period and despite direct evidence for cold features in certain sediments at the site, Neandertals used the site predominantly when climatic conditions were mild, similar to conditions in modern day France. We suggest that due to millennial scale climate variability, the periods of human activity and their climatic characteristics may not be representative of average conditions inferred from chronological correlations with long-term climatic records. These results highlight the importance of using direct routes, such as the high-resolution archives in tooth enamel from anthropogenically accumulated faunal assemblages, to establish climatic conditions at a human scale.
- A worked bone assemblage from 120,000–90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic Coast, MoroccoPublication . Hallett, Emily Y.; Marean, Curtis W.; Steele, Teresa E.; Álvarez-Fernández, Esteban; Jacobs, Zenobia; Cerasoni, Jacopo Niccolò; Aldeias, Vera; Scerri, Eleanor M.L.; Olszewski, Deborah I.; El Hajraoui, Mohamed Abdeljalil; Dibble, Harold L.The emergence of Homo sapiens in Pleistocene Africa is associated with a pro found reconfiguration of technology. Symbolic expression and personal orna mentation, new tool forms, and regional technological traditions are widely recognized as the earliest indicators of complex culture and cognition in humans. Here we describe a bone tool tradition from Contrebandiers Cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, dated between 120,000–90,000 years ago. The bone tools were produced for different activities, including likely leather and fur working, and were found in association with carnivore remains that were possibly skinned for fur. A cetacean tooth tip bears what is likely a combination of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic modification and shows the use of a marine mammal tooth by early humans. The evidence from Contrebandiers Cave demonstrates that the pan-African emergence of complex culture included the use of multiple and diverse materials for specialized tool manufacture.