Middle Palaeolithic Subsistence in the West Cave of "Le Portel" (Pyrénées, France)
International audience In this study, 87,054 bones and teeth from the West Cave at Le Portel (Pyrénées, France) were analysed. Eleven herbivore and 10 carnivore species were identified. A comparison of Le Portel cave fauna with well documented faunal associations from Late Pleistocene deposits in So...
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ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-01421899v1 2023-05-15T15:07:03+02:00 Middle Palaeolithic Subsistence in the West Cave of "Le Portel" (Pyrénées, France) Gardeisen, Armelle Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes (ASM) Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC) 1999 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01421899 https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.1999.0366 en eng HAL CCSD Elsevier info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1006/jasc.1999.0366 hal-01421899 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01421899 doi:10.1006/jasc.1999.0366 ISSN: 0305-4403 EISSN: 1095-9238 Journal of Archaeological Science https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01421899 Journal of Archaeological Science, Elsevier, 1999, 26, pp.1145 - 1158. ⟨10.1006/jasc.1999.0366⟩ HUNTING STRATEGIES TAPHONOMY LATE PLEISTOCENE MAMMALIA ARCHAEOZOOLOGY PRESERVATION [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 1999 ftccsdartic https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.1999.0366 2021-10-17T01:11:58Z International audience In this study, 87,054 bones and teeth from the West Cave at Le Portel (Pyrénées, France) were analysed. Eleven herbivore and 10 carnivore species were identified. A comparison of Le Portel cave fauna with well documented faunal associations from Late Pleistocene deposits in Southern France leads to the conclusion that the environmental conditions in which the mammalian community lived were those of arctic or cold open biotope, such as steppe and tundra, contemporaneous with oxygen isotope stages 5–3. The archaeozoological analysis included counts and distribution of anatomical remains, providing suYcient data on hunting strategies to reveal the opportunistic behaviour of Neanderthals. Nevertheless, the exploitation of the most abundant ungulates (reindeer, horse, bison and red deer) indicates sex-and age-selection patterns in the hunting strategy. It has been possible to prove that the cave was occupied alternately both by humans and carnivores. The area around Le Portel cave may have been used as a strategic hunting site. The topographical location associated with a small closed valley produced favourable conditions for animal kills, where animals were butchered in situ and consumed by Neanderthals using typical Mousterian tools. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Tundra Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) Arctic Journal of Archaeological Science 26 9 1145 1158 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) |
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ftccsdartic |
language |
English |
topic |
HUNTING STRATEGIES TAPHONOMY LATE PLEISTOCENE MAMMALIA ARCHAEOZOOLOGY PRESERVATION [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory |
spellingShingle |
HUNTING STRATEGIES TAPHONOMY LATE PLEISTOCENE MAMMALIA ARCHAEOZOOLOGY PRESERVATION [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory Gardeisen, Armelle Middle Palaeolithic Subsistence in the West Cave of "Le Portel" (Pyrénées, France) |
topic_facet |
HUNTING STRATEGIES TAPHONOMY LATE PLEISTOCENE MAMMALIA ARCHAEOZOOLOGY PRESERVATION [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory |
description |
International audience In this study, 87,054 bones and teeth from the West Cave at Le Portel (Pyrénées, France) were analysed. Eleven herbivore and 10 carnivore species were identified. A comparison of Le Portel cave fauna with well documented faunal associations from Late Pleistocene deposits in Southern France leads to the conclusion that the environmental conditions in which the mammalian community lived were those of arctic or cold open biotope, such as steppe and tundra, contemporaneous with oxygen isotope stages 5–3. The archaeozoological analysis included counts and distribution of anatomical remains, providing suYcient data on hunting strategies to reveal the opportunistic behaviour of Neanderthals. Nevertheless, the exploitation of the most abundant ungulates (reindeer, horse, bison and red deer) indicates sex-and age-selection patterns in the hunting strategy. It has been possible to prove that the cave was occupied alternately both by humans and carnivores. The area around Le Portel cave may have been used as a strategic hunting site. The topographical location associated with a small closed valley produced favourable conditions for animal kills, where animals were butchered in situ and consumed by Neanderthals using typical Mousterian tools. |
author2 |
Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes (ASM) Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Ministère de la Culture (MC) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gardeisen, Armelle |
author_facet |
Gardeisen, Armelle |
author_sort |
Gardeisen, Armelle |
title |
Middle Palaeolithic Subsistence in the West Cave of "Le Portel" (Pyrénées, France) |
title_short |
Middle Palaeolithic Subsistence in the West Cave of "Le Portel" (Pyrénées, France) |
title_full |
Middle Palaeolithic Subsistence in the West Cave of "Le Portel" (Pyrénées, France) |
title_fullStr |
Middle Palaeolithic Subsistence in the West Cave of "Le Portel" (Pyrénées, France) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Middle Palaeolithic Subsistence in the West Cave of "Le Portel" (Pyrénées, France) |
title_sort |
middle palaeolithic subsistence in the west cave of "le portel" (pyrénées, france) |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01421899 https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.1999.0366 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Arctic Tundra |
op_source |
ISSN: 0305-4403 EISSN: 1095-9238 Journal of Archaeological Science https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01421899 Journal of Archaeological Science, Elsevier, 1999, 26, pp.1145 - 1158. ⟨10.1006/jasc.1999.0366⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1006/jasc.1999.0366 hal-01421899 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01421899 doi:10.1006/jasc.1999.0366 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1006/jasc.1999.0366 |
container_title |
Journal of Archaeological Science |
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26 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
1145 |
op_container_end_page |
1158 |
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