Bone marrow storage and delayed consumption at Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave, Israel (420 to 200 ka)

Blasco, Ruth; Rosell, Jordi; Arilla, Maite; Margalida, Antoni; Mata, Daniel Villalba; Gopher, Avi; Barkai, Ran

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aav9822

Cited by 36 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(61 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Food preservation is an important PLOS ONE aspect in our understanding of human behavioral evolution. The evidence from Qesem Cave presented here is well in accordance with the results of a recent study on fallow deer metapodia, which seems to attest to the long-term (weeks or even months) storage of marrow [105].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…This suggests that the site’s inhabitants had already mastered the outstanding properties of ash for roasting/cooking and preservation purposes [ 25 , 28 ]. These results accord well with data concerning faunal remains found in the hearth area of the cave, which reveal recurrent roasting of meat and the manipulation of bones for marrow extraction and delayed consumption [ 10 , 105 , 106 ]. Our results are also in line with the direct evidence found at the site for human exposure to an ashy environment, revealed through the recovery of micro-charcoal particles in the dental calculus of three hominin teeth found at Qesem Cave [ 107 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The use of ash at Late Lower Paleolithic Qesem Cave, Israel—An integrated study of use-wear and residue analysis

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Employing an integrated approach to investigate the use of Late Lower Paleolithic flint tools found at the site of Qesem Cave (Israel), we revealed a particular trace pattern related to the employment of ashes at the site. Using a designated collection of replica items and combining use-wear and residue (morphological analysis, FTIR, SEM-EDX) analyses, we revealed the intentional use of ashes in preserving foods for delayed consumption as well as hide for delayed processing. Our interpretation, we believe is the most plausible one since we were able to delineate the specific use-wear fingerprints of the intentional use of ashes for such purposes, suggesting that our approach might be useful for the recognition of other similar functional-behavioral patterns. Lastly, in support of previous findings at Qesem Cave, our current findings present evidence for the processing of organic matters intentionally mixed with ash, leading us to suggest that the inhabitants of Qesem Cave were proficient not only in the habitual use of fire but also of its main by-product, ash. Hence, we call for a reassessment of the timeline currently assigned to hominins' utilization of ash for storing and processing vegetal foods and hide.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

The use of ash at Late Lower Paleolithic Qesem Cave, Israel—An integrated study of use-wear and residue analysis

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Delayed-return activities aimed at preserving bones for future marrow extraction is another feasible possibility, in light of the recently presented evidence from Qesem cave [ 80 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This process causes consistent water loss within the tissues (bone and meat lose up to 8% of their weight). This results in a thinner, softer, and less elastic bony matrix, but allows, at the same time, the preservation of edible marrow and a semi-dry and frayed consistency of the attached fleshy and connective tissues [see 80 for an overview of marrow preservation in bones; S5 and S6 Figs in S1 File ]. This experiment provided us with a glimpse into similar situations of partial dehydration of animal tissues, which may occur under particular conditions of temperature, moisture, and ventilation in butchery localities (for example, when carcasses exposed to the open air are exploited only several days after the animal's death).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An integrated study discloses chopping tools use from Late Acheulean Revadim (Israel)

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Chopping tools/choppers provide one of the earliest and most persistent examples of stone tools produced and used by early humans. These artifacts appeared for the first time ~2.5 million years ago in Africa and are characteristic of the Oldowan and Acheulean cultural complexes throughout the Old World. Chopping tools were manufactured and used by early humans for more than two million years regardless of differences in geography, climate, resource availability, or major transformations in human cultural and biological evolution. Despite their widespread distribution through time and space in Africa and Eurasia, little attention has been paid to the function of these items, while scholars still debate whether they are tools or cores. In this paper, we wish to draw attention to these prominent and ubiquitous early lithic artifacts through the investigation of 53 chopping tools retrieved from a specific context at Late Acheulean Revadim (Israel). We combined typo-technological and functional studies with a residue analysis aimed at shedding light on their functional role within the tool-kits of the inhabitants of the site. Here we show that most of the chopping tools were used to chop hard and medium materials, such as bone, most probably for marrow extraction. A few of the tools were also used for cutting and scraping activities, while some also served as cores for further flake detachment. The chopping tools exhibit extraordinarily well-preserved bone residues suggesting they were used mainly for bone-breaking and marrow acquisition. We discuss the data and explore the tool versus core debate also in light of a sample of 50 flake cores made on pebbles/cobbles retrieved from the same archeological layer. The results add further pieces to the puzzle of activities carried out at Revadim and add to our knowledge of the production and use of these enigmatic tools and their role in human evolutionary history.

show abstract

“…These patinated relics might have been selected from ancient Acheulian sites, e.g., the late Acheulian sites of Jaljulia or Eyal, located 6-12 km north of Qesem (see [81]), the late Acheulian site of Revadim quarry, located 40 km south of Qesem, in which several SSBs were also found, or other still unknown sites in the region. The faunal record of Qesem Cave indicates a continuous fat-oriented use of prey for dietary purposes [82]. Fat is thought to have been a significant component of foragers' diet [6,83], and specifically marrow provides the greatest percentage of fatty acids within the whole animal body [83][84].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Shaped stone balls were used for bone marrow extraction at Lower Paleolithic Qesem Cave, Israel

et al. 2020

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The presence of shaped stone balls at early Paleolithic sites has attracted scholarly attention since the pioneering work of the Leakeys in Olduvai, Tanzania. Despite the persistent presence of these items in the archaeological record over a period of two million years, their function is still debated. We present new results from Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave on the use of these implements as percussion tools. Use-wear and abundant bone and fat residues found on ten shaped stone balls indicate crushing of fresh bones by thrusting percussion and provide direct evidence for the use of these items to access bone marrow of animal prey at this site. Two experiments conducted to investigate and verify functional aspects proved Qesem Cave shaped stone balls are efficient for bone processing and provide a comfortable grip and useful active areas for repeated use. Notably, the patina observed on the analyzed items precedes their use at the cave, indicating that they were collected by Qesem inhabitants, most probably from older Lower Paleolithic Acheulian sites. Thus, our results refer only to the final phases of the life of the items, and we cannot attest to their original function. As bone marrow played a central role in human nutrition in the Lower Paleolithic, and our experimental results show that the morphology and characteristics of shaped stone ball replicas are well-suited for the extraction of bone marrow, we suggest that these features might have been the reason for their collection and use at Qesem Cave. These results shed light on the function of shaped stone balls and are consistent with the significance of animal fat in the caloric intake of Middle Pleistocene humans as shown by the archeozoological evidence at Qesem Cave and possibly beyond.

show abstract

Bone marrow storage and delayed consumption at Middle Pleistocene Qesem Cave, Israel (420 to 200 ka)

Cited by 36 publications

References 37 publications

The use of ash at Late Lower Paleolithic Qesem Cave, Israel—An integrated study of use-wear and residue analysis

The use of ash at Late Lower Paleolithic Qesem Cave, Israel—An integrated study of use-wear and residue analysis

An integrated study discloses chopping tools use from Late Acheulean Revadim (Israel)

Shaped stone balls were used for bone marrow extraction at Lower Paleolithic Qesem Cave, Israel

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About