Hominin subsistence and site function of TD10.1 bone bed level at Gran Dolina site (Atapuerca) during the late Acheulean

Abstract

In a recent paper, Stiner reviewed certain trends in the Middle Palaeolithic (MP) economy and social behaviour, including most notably galvanization of the prime-age ungulate hunting niche, and the intensification of occupations in the form of domestic-residential camps. However, the emergence of these trends is blurred when we observe the European archaeological record before Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 7. Our aim in this paper is to test the validity of some key arguments related to subsistence and occupation to assess the Lower Palaeolithic roots of these MP trends, using the faunal record of the TD10.1 bone bed level (ca. 300 ka) at Gran Dolina (Atapuerca). The taphonomic results from this level indicate an assemblage composed almost exclusively of prime-age ungulates. Anthropogenic marks are very abundant, reflecting a wide variety of domestic activities. Early primary access to the carcasses by hominins, indicated by the taxonomic and mortality patterns, suggests the procurement of animal carcasses by regular hunting. Red deer, accompanied in lower proportions by other prey species, reinforce the selective character of the hominin subsistence strategies at the Gran Dolina TD10.1 bone bed, expanding temporally and geographically our documentation of the MP hominin predatory niche. Taphonomy, together with other results from technology and archaeo-stratigraphy, suggest that the bone bed accumulation reflects long-term hominin use of the site as a residential base camp, suggesting deep roots for the observed MP subsistence and occupational patterns.

The continental record of Marine Isotope Stage 11 (Middle Pleistocene) on the Iberian Peninsula characterized by herpetofaunal assemblages

“…The stone tools are mostly made of chert, although quartzite and sandstone are also well represented. The preliminary archaeological data point to poorer concentrations than in the subsequent units TD10.2 and TD10.1 (Blasco et al, 2013;Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al, 2015).…”

Another window to the subsistence of Middle Pleistocene hominins in Europe: A taphonomic study of Cuesta de la Bajada (Teruel, Spain)

“…Together with Gran Dolina TD6 and TD10 in Atapuerca (Diez et al, 1999;Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al, 2015), Bolomor Cave (Blasco et al, 2010(Blasco et al, , 2013 these sites enlarge the small number of early Middle Pleistocene sites where primary access to carcasses by hominids can be taphonomically supported.…”

“…Several analyses of Middle Paleolithic sites have supported reconstructions of Neandertals as probable hunters who were heavily dependent on meat (Gaudzinski, 1996(Gaudzinski, , 1998(Gaudzinski, , 1999Gaudzinski and Turner, 1999;Jaubert et al, 1990;Marean, 1998;Marean and Kim, 1998;Marean and Assefa, 1999;Mussi, 1999Mussi, , 2001Chase, 1999;Conard and Prindville, 2000;Roebroeks, 2001;Bar-Oz et al, 2004;Villa, , 2008. For the earlier part of this period, sites such as Taubach (Bratlund, 1999) and Wallertheim 11 (Gaudzinski, 1996) in Germany, Coudoulous I (level 4) (Jaubert, 1999) and Biache-Saint-Vaast (Auguste, 1991(Auguste, , 1995 in France and Bolomor Cave (Blasco, 2011;Blasco et al, 2010, Blasco andFern andez Peris, 2012), Atapuerca TD10 (Blasco, 2011;Blasco et al, 2013;Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al, 2015) and…”

“…The Bolomor Cave (Spain) is an important Middle Pleistocene site with a high taxonomic diversity, which also includes mesofauna bearing traces of human expoitation (Blasco and Fern andez Peris, 2012;Blasco et al, 2010). The Atapuerca TD 10.1 assemblage, dominated by deer and with a prime-adult mortality profile, contains bone surface modifications also suggestive of specialized (focusing on single taxon) early access (probably hunting) to carcasses (Blasco, 2011;Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al, 2015). Similar inferences of early access to carcasses have been made for megafaunal exploitation at La Cotte de Saint Brelade (Smith, 2015).…”

Editorial: Chronology, palaeoenvironments and subsistence in the Acheulean of western Europe

“…The paper by Rodriguez‐Hidalgo et al . () continues the theme of analysing subsistence behaviour by reviewing the origins of the prime‐age ungulate hunting niche that comes to the fore in the Middle Palaeolithic (Stiner, ). Drawing on the evidence from the celebrated TD10.1 bone bed at Gran Dolina (Atapuerca, Spain), dated to around 300 ka, these authors reveal that the site was used extensively by hominins as a long‐term residential base camp, where a diversity of domestic activities were undertaken.…”