A long-term perspective on Neanderthal environment and subsistence: insights from the dental micro-texture analysis of hunted ungulates at Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France)
International audience Large bovids and cervids constituted major components of the European Middle Palaeolithic faunas and hence a key resource for Neanderthal populations. In paleoenvironmental reconstructions, red deer (Cervus elaphus) occurrence is classically considered as a tree-cover indicato...
Published in: | PLOS ONE |
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Language: | English |
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HAL CCSD
2023
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Online Access: | https://hal.science/hal-03908371 https://hal.science/hal-03908371/document https://hal.science/hal-03908371/file/Berlioz%20et%20al%202023.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278395 |
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topic |
Combe-Grenal Neanderthal Middle Palaeolithic subsistence strategies feeding ecology ungulates paleoenvironmental reconstructions Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA) [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology |
spellingShingle |
Combe-Grenal Neanderthal Middle Palaeolithic subsistence strategies feeding ecology ungulates paleoenvironmental reconstructions Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA) [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology Berlioz, Emilie Capdepon, Eugénie Discamps, Emmanuel A long-term perspective on Neanderthal environment and subsistence: insights from the dental micro-texture analysis of hunted ungulates at Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) |
topic_facet |
Combe-Grenal Neanderthal Middle Palaeolithic subsistence strategies feeding ecology ungulates paleoenvironmental reconstructions Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA) [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology |
description |
International audience Large bovids and cervids constituted major components of the European Middle Palaeolithic faunas and hence a key resource for Neanderthal populations. In paleoenvironmental reconstructions, red deer (Cervus elaphus) occurrence is classically considered as a tree-cover indicator while Bovinae (Bison priscus and Bos primigenius) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) occurrences are typically associated with open landscapes. However, insights into the ecology of extant ungulate populations show a more complex reality. Exploring the diet of past ungulates allows to better comprehend the hunting strategies of Palaeolithic populations and to reconstruct the modifications through time of past landscapes. By reflecting what animals have eaten during the last days or weeks of their life, dental microwear textures of herbivores link a population and its environment. Here we analyzed, via Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA), the diet of 50 Bos/Bison, 202 R. tarandus and 116 C. elaphus preyed upon by the Neanderthals that occupied Combe-Grenal rock-shelter, one of the most important Mousterian archaeo-sequences in southwestern France considering its long stratigraphy, abundance of faunal remains and the variations perceptible in Palaeolithic material culture. Grazers and mixed-feeders are the most represented dietary categories among Combe-Grenal’s guild of herbivores, highlighting the availability, along the sequence, of open landscapes. The absence of clear changes in the use of plant resources by hunted ungulates through time, even though palaeoenvironmental changes were well-documented by previous studies along the sequence, is interpreted as resulting from the hunting of non-randomly selected prey by Neanderthals, preferentially in open environments. Thus, these results provide further insight into the hunting strategies of Neanderthals and modify our perception of potential links between subsistence and material culture. Combe-Grenal hunters “stayed in the open” through millennia, and were not ... |
author2 |
Grupo de I+D+i Evolución Humana y Adaptaciones Económicas y Ecológicas durante la Prehistoria (EVOADAPTA ) Universidad de Cantabria Santander Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES) École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) ANR-18-CE03-0007,DeerPal,Groupes humains et cervidés au Paléolithique: intégrer la variabilité de l'écologie et de l'éthologie des proies dans l'étude des interactions homme-environnement dans le passé(2018) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Berlioz, Emilie Capdepon, Eugénie Discamps, Emmanuel |
author_facet |
Berlioz, Emilie Capdepon, Eugénie Discamps, Emmanuel |
author_sort |
Berlioz, Emilie |
title |
A long-term perspective on Neanderthal environment and subsistence: insights from the dental micro-texture analysis of hunted ungulates at Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) |
title_short |
A long-term perspective on Neanderthal environment and subsistence: insights from the dental micro-texture analysis of hunted ungulates at Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) |
title_full |
A long-term perspective on Neanderthal environment and subsistence: insights from the dental micro-texture analysis of hunted ungulates at Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) |
title_fullStr |
A long-term perspective on Neanderthal environment and subsistence: insights from the dental micro-texture analysis of hunted ungulates at Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) |
title_full_unstemmed |
A long-term perspective on Neanderthal environment and subsistence: insights from the dental micro-texture analysis of hunted ungulates at Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) |
title_sort |
long-term perspective on neanderthal environment and subsistence: insights from the dental micro-texture analysis of hunted ungulates at combe-grenal (dordogne, france) |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://hal.science/hal-03908371 https://hal.science/hal-03908371/document https://hal.science/hal-03908371/file/Berlioz%20et%20al%202023.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278395 |
genre |
Rangifer tarandus |
genre_facet |
Rangifer tarandus |
op_source |
ISSN: 1932-6203 EISSN: 1932-6203 PLoS ONE https://hal.science/hal-03908371 PLoS ONE, 2023, 18 (1), ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0278395⟩ |
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op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278395 |
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ftccsdartic:oai:HAL:hal-03908371v1 2024-02-27T08:45:02+00:00 A long-term perspective on Neanderthal environment and subsistence: insights from the dental micro-texture analysis of hunted ungulates at Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France) Berlioz, Emilie Capdepon, Eugénie Discamps, Emmanuel Grupo de I+D+i Evolución Humana y Adaptaciones Económicas y Ecológicas durante la Prehistoria (EVOADAPTA ) Universidad de Cantabria Santander Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés (TRACES) École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès (UT2J) Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) ANR-18-CE03-0007,DeerPal,Groupes humains et cervidés au Paléolithique: intégrer la variabilité de l'écologie et de l'éthologie des proies dans l'étude des interactions homme-environnement dans le passé(2018) 2023 https://hal.science/hal-03908371 https://hal.science/hal-03908371/document https://hal.science/hal-03908371/file/Berlioz%20et%20al%202023.pdf https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278395 en eng HAL CCSD Public Library of Science info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0278395 hal-03908371 https://hal.science/hal-03908371 https://hal.science/hal-03908371/document https://hal.science/hal-03908371/file/Berlioz%20et%20al%202023.pdf doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0278395 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 1932-6203 EISSN: 1932-6203 PLoS ONE https://hal.science/hal-03908371 PLoS ONE, 2023, 18 (1), ⟨10.1371/journal.pone.0278395⟩ Combe-Grenal Neanderthal Middle Palaeolithic subsistence strategies feeding ecology ungulates paleoenvironmental reconstructions Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA) [SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory [SDU.STU.PG]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Paleontology [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2023 ftccsdartic https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278395 2024-01-28T00:43:01Z International audience Large bovids and cervids constituted major components of the European Middle Palaeolithic faunas and hence a key resource for Neanderthal populations. In paleoenvironmental reconstructions, red deer (Cervus elaphus) occurrence is classically considered as a tree-cover indicator while Bovinae (Bison priscus and Bos primigenius) and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) occurrences are typically associated with open landscapes. However, insights into the ecology of extant ungulate populations show a more complex reality. Exploring the diet of past ungulates allows to better comprehend the hunting strategies of Palaeolithic populations and to reconstruct the modifications through time of past landscapes. By reflecting what animals have eaten during the last days or weeks of their life, dental microwear textures of herbivores link a population and its environment. Here we analyzed, via Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA), the diet of 50 Bos/Bison, 202 R. tarandus and 116 C. elaphus preyed upon by the Neanderthals that occupied Combe-Grenal rock-shelter, one of the most important Mousterian archaeo-sequences in southwestern France considering its long stratigraphy, abundance of faunal remains and the variations perceptible in Palaeolithic material culture. Grazers and mixed-feeders are the most represented dietary categories among Combe-Grenal’s guild of herbivores, highlighting the availability, along the sequence, of open landscapes. The absence of clear changes in the use of plant resources by hunted ungulates through time, even though palaeoenvironmental changes were well-documented by previous studies along the sequence, is interpreted as resulting from the hunting of non-randomly selected prey by Neanderthals, preferentially in open environments. Thus, these results provide further insight into the hunting strategies of Neanderthals and modify our perception of potential links between subsistence and material culture. Combe-Grenal hunters “stayed in the open” through millennia, and were not ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Rangifer tarandus Archive ouverte HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne, CCSD - Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) PLOS ONE 18 1 e0278395 |