Back to Search
Start Over
Neanderthal faunal exploitation and settlement dynamics at the Abri du Maras, level 5 (south-eastern France)
- Source :
- Quaternary Science Reviews, Quaternary Science Reviews, Elsevier, 2020, 243, pp.106472. ⟨10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106472⟩, Quaternary Science Reviews, 2020, 243, pp.106472. ⟨10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106472⟩, Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC, instname
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Over the past two decades, taphonomic and zooarchaeological studies have focused on Neanderthal settlement patterns and subsistence strategies. The south-eastern margins of the Massif Central constitute one of the regions with the most abundant archaeological evidence of Neanderthal occupations in France. The faunal record of level 5 of Abri du Maras is a unique source of information for analysing Neanderthal behaviour at the end of the MIS 5. The assemblage is divided into three levels 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3, which correspond to the three main phases of human occupation of the shelter in level 5. Through the taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal remains, we define the characteristics of human occupation developed in the rock shelter. In this paper, we show that Neanderthal groups used the Abri du Maras as a residential campsite for long-term occupation events during a whole season, mainly summer. The intensive exploitation of the faunal resources is typical of a residential campsite, and the selective seasonal hunting strategy of medium and large ungulates, centred on prime adults, indicates different Neanderthal subsistence patterns to the upper levels of the sequence. Here, our results document the chronological changes in occupation patterns in one of the reference sites in south-eastern France and address questions related to cultural choices and environmental constraints.<br />This work was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación HAR2016-76760-C3-1-P and PID2019-103987GB-C31. Juan Marín is the beneficiary of an Erasmus Mundus Doctoral scholarship for International Doctorate in Quaternary and Prehistory. A.R.-H. is the beneficiary of a postdoctoral scholarship from the MICIIN, Subprograma Juan de la Cierva (IJC-037447-I).
- Subjects :
- 010506 paleontology
Archeology
Neanderthal
Taphonomy
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Hunting strategies
Campsite
01 natural sciences
Sequence (geology)
biology.animal
Assemblage (archaeology)
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Zooarchaeology
Neanderthals
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Global and Planetary Change
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
biology
Subsistence agriculture
Geology
Massif
15. Life on land
Archaeology
Microwear
[SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology
Subsistence
Rock shelter
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 02773791
- Volume :
- 243
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Quaternary Science Reviews
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....9e411e1f59e3edcc001eba15396dcefd