Abundance or stress? Faunal exploitation patterns and subsistence strategies: The case study of Brush Hut 1 at Ohalo II, a submerged 23,000-year-old camp in the Sea of Galilee, Israel

Abstract

The submerged site of Ohalo II was occupied during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), between 23,500–22,500 cal BP, bridging the Upper Paleolithic/Epipaleolithic transition in the southern Levant. The site is known for the excellent preservation of its brush huts and botanical remains. This study examines the behavior of its past inhabitants through analysis of the entire faunal assemblage found on the three successive floors of Brush Hut 1. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity to test differing models of prey choice and assess whether the observed resource diversification is the result of resource depression (explained by Optimal Foraging Theory) or resource abundance (explained by Niche Construction Theory). We focused on a quantitative, qualitative and spatial investigation of the more than 20,000 faunal remains, combining traditional zooarchaeological methods with microwear analysis of teeth and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) of burnt bones. Identification of faunal remains to the most detailed level possible, combined with analysis of skeletal element frequencies allowed reconstruction of a profile of the desired prey, highlighting the importance of small, expedient prey compared to larger game (ungulates). FTIR was used to identify degrees of burning and to develop a key to identifying burnt bones from water-logged environments. Availability of multiple food sources within a rich habitat may have driven exploitation of those varied local resources, rather than targeting energetically-rich large prey. The choice of a littoral habitat that could be intensively exploited is an example of niche selection. Comparison with contemporaneous and later sites contributes to the ongoing discussion about Early Epipaleolithic prey choice, and the impact, if any, of the LGM in the Jordan Valley. Ohalo II is an example of diverse prey choice motivated by abundance rather than stress, at a 23,000-year-old fisher-hunter-gatherers camp.

Ecological-cultural inheritance in the wetlands: the non-linear transition to plant food production in the southern Levant

“…These sites are all located in the direct vicinity of a marsh or lake environment with a wealth of perennially available wetland plant resources such as roots, as well as other critical animal resources. The rich animal resource availability at Ohalo II is discussed by Steiner et al (2022), and at other sites includes, fish (Ohalo II and river Jordan Dureijat) (Zohar et al 2018;Pedergnana et al 2021), wetland birds (Ohalo II, Shubayqa 1) (Simmons and Nadel 1998;Yeomans and Richter 2016) and gazelle (Kharaneh IV) (Martin et al 2010;Spyrou et al 2019). The sites also display overwhelming archaeobotanical evidence of wetland use (Rosen 2004(Rosen , 2010(Rosen , 2011Marder et al 2015;Pedersen et al 2016;Ramsey et al , 2017Arranz-Otaegui et al 2018a, b;Sharon et al 2020).…”

20,000 years of small game hunting in southern Somalia

“…From these perspectives, evidence of small game hunting at Guli Waabayo should increase during periods when large game resources were reduced due to aridity or overhunting and decrease with higher rainfall or population mobility. Steiner et al (2022), however, recently argued that prey diversification associated with mostly smaller animals at the Ohalo II site in the southern Levant was linked to resource abundance during the Last Glacial Maximum. This suggested that evidence of foragers targeting a diverse range of smaller taxa at Guli Waabayo could also align with climatic amelioration and increased environmental productivity in the region (as discussed at the Rifle Range Site).…”

“…In temperate Eurasia and North America, archaeologists observe broad-spectrum subsistence strategies and a greater reliance on small animals among foragers beginning in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2, 29-14.7 ka (thousand years ago), and increasing through MIS 1, after 14.7 ka (Badenhorst and Driver, 2009;Schmitt et al, 2002;Stiner et al, 2000;Stutz et al, 2009;Zhang et al, 2013). Most studies link small or lower-ranked game hunting to human population growth, reduced mobility, increased predation pressure on large mammals, and changing climatic conditions (but see Steiner et al, 2022). Although similar patterns are also observed in southern Africa (Chase et al, 2018;Jerardino, 2010Jerardino, , 2012Steele and Klein, 2009), targeted studies of small animal hunting and its relationship to environmental conditions and Later Stone Age (LSA) social and economic systems in eastern Africa (Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda) remain few.…”

Epipalaeolithic animal tending to Neolithic herding at Abu Hureyra, Syria (12,800–7,800 calBP): Deciphering dung spherulites

“…Hillman’s formative study of the Epipalaeolithic plant sequence from Abu Hureyra (AH1) has remained tremendously influential to ongoing conversations of plant domestication across Southwest Asia [ 19 , 46 – 49 ]. The diverse plant taxa recovered have many ethnographic examples of use by both people and animals, and share similarities with remains from the earlier site of Ohalo II, Israel (23,000 calBP), where exceptional preservation of organic remains within huts yielded more than 142 plant taxa and abundant small-seeded grasses, linked to a broad-spectrum diet with a heavy emphasis on gazelle hunting alongside other game [ 50 , 51 ].…”