Mesolithic landscapes and where to hunt big game: everywhere or ???

• Main Authors: Vogt, David, Grøn, Ole, Peeters, Hans, J.H.M., Hernek, Robert, David, Éva
• Other Authors: Museum of Cultural History University Oslo (https://www.khm.uio.no/english/), Department of Geosciences University of Copenhagen (https://ign.ku.dk/english/), University of Groningen Groningen, Bohüslans Museum Udevalla (https://www.bohuslansmuseum.se/), Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité (ArScAn), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Anthropologie des techniques, des espaces et des territoires au Pliocène et au Pléistocène (AnTET), Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (UP1)-Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis (UP8)-Université Paris Nanterre (UPN)-Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), SIM/InSHS Projet Octep, Hans Peeters, Ole Grøn
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Hunting; Behaviours; non-lithic artefacts; bone floors; bark layers; Bone needles; Ethnoarchaeology; Archaeology; dwelling sites; landscape use; Mesolithic; [SHS]Humanities and Social Sciences; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; caribou
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04213139

International audience As much as ‘hunting’ is a central theme in archaeological hunter-gatherer research, aslittle do we actually know about the specificities of hunting strategies and how this hasinfluenced the cultural structuring of landscapes. It is often assumed that game washunted anywhere, but the question is whether this was the case. Firstly, the archaeological picture of hunting practices and technology is biased by the overrepresentation of sites characterised by quantities of knapped lithics – the interpretation of sites with no or only little lithics is difficult, notably due to the fact that non-lithic materials are often not preserved. Secondly, there is an underestimation of the importance of non-lithic material culture directly or indirectly related to hunting and landscape exploitation. Thirdly, hunting can encompass various strategies, which are associated with different uses of materials and structures in different parts of the landscape. Choices that have been made will certainly have depended on the knowledge about animal behaviour and landscape structure, with an important role for rivers, lakes and seashores. Taking differences in geographical and environmental conditions, as well as variability in hunting strategies and technology into consideration, this paper attempts to identify some tendencies withregard to the hunting of key species of big game (reindeer/caribou; elk/moose; red deer; roe deer; wild boar) in Mesolithic/Late Stone Age landscapes in north-western Europe. The most important aspects of the behaviour of these species are discussed, notably seasonal variations with regard to group composition, occurrence in the landscape, and daily feeding and drinking patterns. Next, we discuss aspects of hunting, notably the establishment of the presence of game, the spotting and approaching prey, and the wounding and following of prey. This is followed by a brief look at the archaeological evidence for big game hunting and aspects of landscape structure in the Mesolithic of ...