Circulation of whale-bone artifacts in the northern Pyrenees during the late Upper Paleolithic

Pétillon, Jean‐Marc

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.06.006

Cited by 28 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Human behaviour may also preferentially increase fragmentation of large species compared with their smaller counterparts. Compared with dolphins or porpoises, baleen whales provide a more abundant supply of bone, with a thicker cortex, making them better suited as a raw material for tool production [ 24 , 25 ]. The lipid content of large whales is also higher than that of dolphins [ 26 ] making them more desirable as sources of biofuels.…”

Section: Limitations In Identifying Whale Bones Using Anatomical Methmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barcoding the largest animals on Earth: ongoing challenges and molecular solutions in the taxonomic identification of ancient cetaceans

Speller

Hurk

Charpentier

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Over the last few centuries, many cetacean species have witnessed dramatic global declines due to industrial overharvesting and other anthropogenic influences, and thus are key targets for conservation. Whale bones recovered from archaeological and palaeontological contexts can provide essential baseline information on the past geographical distribution and abundance of species required for developing informed conservation policies. Here we review the challenges with identifying whale bones through traditional anatomical methods, as well as the opportunities provided by new molecular analyses. Through a case study focused on the North Sea, we demonstrate how the utility of this (pre)historic data is currently limited by a lack of accurate taxonomic information for the majority of ancient cetacean remains. We then discuss current opportunities presented by molecular identification methods such as DNA barcoding and collagen peptide mass fingerprinting (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry), and highlight the importance of molecular identifications in assessing ancient species’ distributions through a case study focused on the Mediterranean. We conclude by considering high-throughput molecular approaches such as hybridization capture followed by next-generation sequencing as cost-effective approaches for enhancing the ecological informativeness of these ancient sample sets.This article is part of the themed issue ‘From DNA barcodes to biomes’.

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Section: Limitations In Identifying Whale Bones Using Anatomical Methmentioning

confidence: 99%

Barcoding the largest animals on Earth: ongoing challenges and molecular solutions in the taxonomic identification of ancient cetaceans

Speller

Hurk

Charpentier

et al. 2016

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…Cut whalebone waste from manufacturing processes has, however, been found in several sites (Figure 4H & L). This denotes the presence of such an industry in periods post-dating the Upper Palaeolithic artefact industry using cetacean bone documented for the Iberian Peninsula (Pétillon 2013: 538).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…2008), although a whale barnacle was recovered in the cave of Las Caldas. Pétillon (2013) notes that the Atlantic coast is the most probable source for the cetacean raw material used in artefact manufacture, but does not totally exclude the possibility that at least some of the cetacean material derives from the Mediterranean Sea. This is corroborated by the discovery of two species of whale barnacles in the prehistoric Nerja Cave (1; site numbers refer to Figure 1 & Table 1) in southern Spain (Álvarez-Fernández et al .…”

Section: Archaeozoological Evidence For Whales In the Mediterraneanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient whale exploitation in the Mediterranean: the archaeological record

et al. 2016

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“…While a diverse range of raw materials were collected, transported and transformed into various objects, this archaeological culture is best known for its extensive and elaborately decorated osseous (antler, ivory, bone) artefact repertoire (e.g. Pétillon ; Pettitt et al . ).…”

Section: Magdalenian Playthingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magdalenian Children: Projectile Points, Portable Art and Playthings

Langley

2017

Oxford J Archaeology

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Summary. Children, no doubt, were a significant component of Upper Palaeolithic societies. Despite this fact, however, serious identification and consideration of material culture which may have belonged to children -at least at one time during their use-life -have not been undertaken. This situation extends to the best represented and most intensively studied of the European Palaeolithic techno-complexes, the Magdalenian (c.21,000-14,000 cal BP), and consequently, we know very little about the children of this enigmatic people. As play, including object play, is a 'true cultural universal', we can be certain that Magdalenian children integrated objects into their games, with these playthings later incorporated into the archaeological record. Through examining ethnographic accounts of recent hunter-gatherer children and reconsidering archaeological assemblages in light of these data, this paper suggests that Magdalenian playthings probably included full-sized adult weapon tips andmore significantly -pieces of what archaeologists term 'art mobilier'.

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Circulation of whale-bone artifacts in the northern Pyrenees during the late Upper Paleolithic

Cited by 28 publications

References 44 publications

Barcoding the largest animals on Earth: ongoing challenges and molecular solutions in the taxonomic identification of ancient cetaceans

Barcoding the largest animals on Earth: ongoing challenges and molecular solutions in the taxonomic identification of ancient cetaceans

Ancient whale exploitation in the Mediterranean: the archaeological record

Magdalenian Children: Projectile Points, Portable Art and Playthings

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