A Levallois point embedded in the vertebra of a wild ass (<i>Equus africanus</i>): hafting, projectiles and Mousterian hunting weapons

Boëda, Éric; Geneste, Jean Michel; Griggo, Christophe; Mercier, Norbert; Muhesen, Sultan; Reyss, Jean Louis; Taha, A; Valladas, Hélène

doi:10.1017/s0003598x00088335

Cited by 140 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Although some of these more recent stone tools probably have multiple uses, the majority of them are clearly for hunting and butchering of game. This is supported by the very rare finds of hunting weapons embedded in the hunted animals, such as the wooden spear found embedded in a red deer skeleton from Lehringen, Germany (Jacob-Friesen, 1956), as well a Middle Palaeolithic Levallois point in an Equus cervical vertebra from Umm el Tiel in Syria (Boëda et al, 1999).…”

Section: Materials Culture and Dietary Changes Through Timementioning

confidence: 94%

A brief review of the archaeological evidence for Palaeolithic and Neolithic subsistence

Richards

2002

Eur J Clin Nutr

120

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Knowledge of our ancestor's diets is becoming increasingly important in evolutionary medicine, as researchers have argued that we have evolved to specific type of 'Palaeolithic' diet, and many modern nutritional disorders relate to the mismatch between the diet to which we have evolved, and the relatively newer agricultural-based 'Neolithic' diets. However, what is the archaeological evidence for pre-agricultural diets and how have they changed over the four million years of hominid evolution? This paper briefly introduces the three lines of evidence we have for Palaeolithic and Neolithic diets; morphological changes, archaeological material evidence, and direct measurement of diet from bone chemistry. The morphological changes, increasing gracilization of the mandible and increasing brain size have been interpreted (based on analogies with living primates) as the move from plants to higher-quality, more digestible, animal meat, although this is debated. The archaeological evidence is especially weak, as many organic materials, especially plants, do not survive well, and are therefore invisible in the archaeological record. Artefacts, such as stone tools which are likely to be used for hunting and animal bones with evidence of human processing and butchering do indicate that hunting did occur at many times in the past, but it is impossible to judge the frequency. Direct evidence from bone chemistry, such as the measurement of the stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen, do provide direct evidence of past diet, and limited studies on five Neanderthals from three sites, as well as a number of modern Palaeolithic and Mesolithic humans indicates the importance of animal protein in diets. There is a significant change in the archaeological record associated with the introduction of agriculture worldwide, and an associated general decline in health in some areas. However, there is an rapid increase in population associated with domestication of plants, so although in some regions individual health suffers after the Neolithic revolution, as a species humans have greatly expanded their population worldwide.

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Section: Materials Culture and Dietary Changes Through Timementioning

confidence: 94%

A brief review of the archaeological evidence for Palaeolithic and Neolithic subsistence

Richards

2002

Eur J Clin Nutr

120

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“…Neanderthal predation has also been supported by the evidence for spears (stone-tipped and wooden) among both the Neanderthals and their Middle Pleistocene European predecessors (45-49), combined with rare examples of such weapons in the remains of apparent prey animals [e.g., the wooden spear in the ribs of an Elephas skeleton at Lehringen, Germany, and the Levallois point embedded an Equus cervical vertebra from Umm el Tlel in Syria (45,50)]. In addition, indirect measures of Neanderthal subsistence such as the Levallois point to core frequencies have been used to suggest that the Neanderthals were highly predatory in the Near East (ref.…”

Section: Neanderthals As Predatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neanderthal diet at Vindija and Neanderthal predation: The evidence from stable isotopes

Richards

Pettitt

Trinkaus

et al. 2000

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

341

154

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Archeological analysis of faunal remains and of lithic and bone tools has suggested that hunting of medium to large mammals was a major element of Neanderthal subsistence. Plant foods are almost invisible in the archeological record, and it is impossible to estimate accurately their dietary importance. However, stable isotope (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) analysis of mammal bone collagen provides a direct measure of diet and has been applied to two Neanderthals and various faunal species from Vindija Cave, Croatia. The isotope evidence overwhelmingly points to the Neanderthals behaving as top-level carnivores, obtaining almost all of their dietary protein from animal sources. Earlier Neanderthals in France and Belgium have yielded similar results, and a pattern of European Neanderthal adaptation as carnivores is emerging. These data reinforce current taphonomic assessments of associated faunal elements and make it unlikely that the Neanderthals were acquiring animal protein principally through scavenging. Instead, these findings portray them as effective predators.

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“…Um el Tlel, Syria Small fragment of an adult Neandertal Muhesen (2004) remarked on the existence of these remains but gave no source. Boëda et al (1999) mentioned preliminary TL dating of Mousterian levels, which had yielded "an age in excess of 50,000 years" (p. 394). McDougall et al (2005).…”

Section: Various Hominid Remainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A critique of the chronometric evidence for hominid fossils: I. Africa and the Near East 500–50ka

Millard¹

2008

Journal of Human Evolution

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The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. AbstractThe chronometric dating evidence for all hominid fossils from Africa and the Near East that have previously been dated to 500-50 ka is critically assessed using the concept of chronometric hygiene, and these dates are revised using Bayesian statistical analyses where possible. Sixteen relevant hominid sites lacking chronometric evidence are briefly discussed.Chronometric evidence from 37 sites is assessed in detail. The dates for many hominid fossils are poorly constrained, with a number dated by comparisons of faunal assemblages a method that does not have good chronological resolution for much of the last million years. For sites with stratigraphic sequences of dates, it is generally possible to refine the dating, but in some cases, the revised chronology is less precise than previous chronologies. Fossils over 200 ka in age tend to be poorly dated, but for the last 200 ka, dating is better due to the availability of electron-spinresonance and thermoluminescence dating. Consideration of the chronologies favored by the proponents of the out-of-Africa and multiregional hypotheses of human evolution shows their selectivity. The chronological assessment of the fossils here is compatible with either hypothesis.If evolutionary schemes that do not rely on the morphology of the hominid fossils to decide the sequence of fossils are to be built, then further dating is required, alongside full publication of existing dates.3

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A Levallois point embedded in the vertebra of a wild ass (Equus africanus): hafting, projectiles and Mousterian hunting weapons

Cited by 140 publications

References 9 publications

A brief review of the archaeological evidence for Palaeolithic and Neolithic subsistence

A brief review of the archaeological evidence for Palaeolithic and Neolithic subsistence

Neanderthal diet at Vindija and Neanderthal predation: The evidence from stable isotopes

A critique of the chronometric evidence for hominid fossils: I. Africa and the Near East 500–50ka

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