Literal niche construction: Built environments of hunter-gatherers and hunting architecture

Lemke, Ashley

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101276

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Based on the combined presence of these three components (driving lines, enclosure, pit-traps), it is possible to distinguish kites from other mega-traps known in the world from the Palaeolithic to the modern era (e.g. : Brink, 2005;Leondorf and Stone, 2006;Santiago and Salemme, 2016;O'Shea et al 2013;Lemke, 2021;Imamura 1996;Sato 2012;Blehr 1987;Jordhøy 2008;Olsen 2013). This definition also backs up the hypothesis that kites are the material evidence of the diffusion of a hunting technique.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 95%

New Arabian desert kites and potential proto-kites extend the global distribution of hunting mega-traps

Barge

Albukaai

Boelke³

et al. 2022

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 95%

New Arabian desert kites and potential proto-kites extend the global distribution of hunting mega-traps

Barge

Albukaai

Boelke³

et al. 2022

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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“…https://www.globalkites.fr/ ). But also, in low-populated areas like west Greenland ( 55 , 56 ), or submerged within the Great Lakes of North America ( 52 , 57 ), similar structures have survived. These documented structures often encompass different elements including one or more drive lanes for manipulating the movement direction of the animals, corrals for trapping, and hunting blinds for killing the animals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A submerged Stone Age hunting architecture from the Western Baltic Sea

Geersen,

Bradtmöller,

Schneider von Deimling

et al. 2024

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

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The Baltic Sea basins, some of which only submerged in the mid-Holocene, preserve Stone Age structures that did not survive on land. Yet, the discovery of these features is challenging and requires cross-disciplinary approaches between archeology and marine geosciences. Here, we combine shipborne and autonomousunderwater vehicle hydroacoustic data with up to a centimeter range resolution, sedimentological samples, and optical images to explore a Stone Age megastructure located in 21 m water depth in the Bay of Mecklenburg, Germany. The structure is made of 1,673 individual stones which are usually less than 1 m in height, placed side by side over a distance of 971 m in a way that argues against a natural origin by glacial transport or ice push ridges. Running adjacent to the sunken shoreline of a paleolake (or bog), whose youngest phase was dated to 9,143 ±36 ka B.P., the stonewall was likely used for hunting the Eurasian reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) during the Younger Dryas or early Pre-Boreal. It was built by hunter–gatherer groups that roamed the region after the retreat of the Weichselian Ice Sheet. Comparable Stone Age megastructures have become known worldwide in recent times but are almost unknown in Europe. The site represents one of the oldest documented man-made hunting structures on Earth, and ranges among the largest known Stone Age structure in Europe. It will become important for understanding subsistence strategies, mobility patterns, and inspire discussions concerning the territorial development in the Western Baltic Sea region.

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“…The dual nature of this feature suggests the necessity for spatial information to explain the engraving of a plan. Two different functional uses of this plan can be investigated, in the frame of genuine hunting architecture [ 50 ]: a layout plan to plan the construction of the kite, or a descriptive plan to organize the collective hunt. Thirdly, a symbolic dimension may also come into play, as with other known representations of kites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The oldest plans to scale of humanmade mega-structures

et al. 2023

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Data on how Stone Age communities conceived domestic and utilitarian structures are limited to a few examples of schematic and non-accurate representations of various-sized built spaces. Here, we report the exceptional discovery of the up-to-now oldest realistic plans that have been engraved on stones. These engravings from Jordan and Saudi Arabia depict ‘desert kites’, humanmade archaeological mega-traps that are dated to at least 9,000 years ago for the oldest. The extreme precision of these engravings is remarkable, representing gigantic neighboring Neolithic stone structures, the whole design of which is impossible to grasp without seeing it from the air or without being their architect (or user, or builder). They reveal a widely underestimated mental mastery of space perception, hitherto never observed at this level of accuracy in such an early context. These representations shed new light on the evolution of human discernment of space, communication, and communal activities in ancient times.

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Literal niche construction: Built environments of hunter-gatherers and hunting architecture

Cited by 15 publications

References 76 publications

New Arabian desert kites and potential proto-kites extend the global distribution of hunting mega-traps

New Arabian desert kites and potential proto-kites extend the global distribution of hunting mega-traps

A submerged Stone Age hunting architecture from the Western Baltic Sea

The oldest plans to scale of humanmade mega-structures

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