Identifying the unidentified fauna enhances insights into hominin subsistence strategies during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition

• Published in: Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
• Main Authors: Sinet-Mathiot, Virginie, Rendu, William, Steele, Teresa, Spasov, Rosen, Madelaine, Stéphane, Renou, Sylvain, Soulier, Marie-Cécile, Martisius, Naomi, Aldeias, Vera, Endarova, Elena, Goldberg, Paul, Mcpherron, Shannon, Rezek, Zeljko, Sandgathe, Dennis, Sirakov, Nikolay, Sirakova, Svoboda, Soressi, Marie, Tsanova, Tsenka, Turq, Alain, Hublin, Jean-Jacques, Welker, Frido, Smith, Geoff
• Other Authors: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Archaeozoology in Siberia and Central Asia (ZooSCAn), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), University of California Davis (UC Davis), University of California (UC), New Bulgarian University, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Hadès - Bureau d'Investigations Archéologiques, 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), University of Tulsa, Universidade do Algarve (UAlg), University of Wollongong Australia, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen = University of Tübingen, Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en biologie (CIRB), Labex MemoLife, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris (ESPCI Paris), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Simon Fraser University = Université Simon Fraser (SFU.ca), National Institute of Archaeology and Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), Universiteit Leiden = Leiden University, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna = University of Bologna (UNIBO), Musée National de Préhistoire, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet (UCPH), University of Kent Canterbury
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2023
• Subjects: ZooMS; Zooarchaeology; Bone surface modification; Subsistence behaviour; Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition; Late Pleistocene; [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; Rangifer tarandus
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04701750; https://hal.science/hal-04701750v1/document; https://hal.science/hal-04701750v1/file/s12520-023-01830-4.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01830-4

International audience 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 Cottés 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 Cottés 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.