Mode of Occupation of Tabun Cave, Mt Carmel, Israel During the Mousterian Period: A Study of the Sediments and Phytoliths

Albert, Rosa M.; Lavi, Ofer; Estroff, Lara A.; Weiner, Steve; Tsatskin, Alexander; Avraham, Ronen; Lev‐Yadun, Simcha

doi:10.1006/jasc.1999.0355

Cited by 211 publications

(148 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The data of the ash pseudomorph and spherulite quantification were used to calculate ratio values, which may allow the distinction between wood and dungdominated ashes (Gur-Arieh et al, 2013, 2014. Additionally, ash pseudomorphs were compared to a pilot modern plant reference collection (Table 3, Fig.…”

Section: Calcitic Microfossils: Dung Spherulite and Ash Pseudomorph Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many studies have focused mainly in prehistoric and protohistoric ovens and hearths, based on macroscopic descriptions and analogies to ethnographic parallels. A number of recent studies have explored such fire installations using microarchaeological techniques (Weiner, 2010 and references therein), thus emphasizing on the identification of the mineralogical signatures of heating associated to the installations, and taking into account formation and degradation processes that are critical for interpreting the archaeological record (Albert et al, 2000(Albert et al, , 2003Albert and Cabanes, 2007;Berna et al, 2007;Gur-Arieh et al, 2012, 2014. Possible depositional route-ways and taphonomic histories for such firing contexts may relate to fuels used, foods accidentally burnt during preparation and cooking, as well as materials accidentally or deliberately discarded into the fire (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For this purpose, a pilot reference collection from selected modern woody specimens is also presented here. Thus, following the recently developed methods of Gur-Arieh et al (2013, 2014, based on the calculation of the ratio of ash pseudomorphs to dung spherulites, we intend to discriminate between wood versus dung-dominated ashes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An ethnoarchaeological study of livestock dung fuels from cooking installations in northern Tunisia

Portillo

Belarte

Ramon

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

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Livestock dung is a valuable material in many rural communities worldwide. In our research area, the site of Althiburos and its surroundings, now el Médéïna, in northwestern Tunisia, dung is the main source of fuel for domestic purposes, primarily the processing and cooking of foods. Ovicaprine dung is daily used in traditional mud tannur type ovens, namely tabouna. The archaeological record shows that mud constructed cooking installations were common during the first millennium BC. Previous studies of phytoliths and dung spherulites at Numidian Althiburos suggested the use of vegetal and fecal matter for fuel purposes. We present here the results of the continuation study based on the comparison between archaeological results (a selection of cooking installations, six hearths and two mud ovens) and those obtained from the ethnographic study of dung fuel materials from the site area. The present study builds up on ethnographic observations and informal interviews (dung collection, management, storage, waste disposal and cooking and baking activities), temperature measurements within the burning fuel, as well as modern material sampling (fresh dung, burned pellets, dung ashes and fuel trash paths) which was followed by integrated studies of phytoliths and calcitic microfossil analyses (dung spherulites and wood ash pseudomorphs) for comparative purposes. The results obtained provided direct evidence regarding the type of fuel sources: dung, wood and a mixing of dung and vegetal matter (wood and agricultural by-products). Dung was used as source of fuel material across time (from the Early Numidian occupation phase, 10th-9th century BC, to the last centuries BC) and space (in different excavation areas and type of installations). Such integrated studies demonstrate the value of combining different microarchaeological techniques and the use of ethnoarchaeological material from site areas.

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Section: Calcitic Microfossils: Dung Spherulite and Ash Pseudomorph Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An ethnoarchaeological study of livestock dung fuels from cooking installations in northern Tunisia

Portillo

Belarte

Ramon

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

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“…Macrobotanical analysis at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Kebara (Israel) identified the charred remains of seeds preserved in hearths and found evidence for use of legumes, acorns and pistachio nuts (Lev et al, 2005). Studies of plant microremains preserved in soils (Henry et al, 1996(Henry et al, , 2004Albert et al, 1999Albert et al, , 2000Rosen, 2003) and dental calculus (Henry et al, 2011) from Near Eastern sites suggest that Neanderthals may have consumed a variety of plant foods such as date palms and grains. In cold northern European environments, the study of phytoliths and starch grains in dental calculus from Spy Cave (Belgium) indicated that grass seeds and underground storage organisms were part of Neanderthal diet (Henry et al, 2011).…”

Section: Evidence Of Neanderthal Plant Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neanderthal diets in central and southeastern Mediterranean Iberia

Salazar‐García

Power

Serra³

et al. 2013

Quaternary International

112

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a b s t r a c tDuring recent decades, Neanderthal diet has been a major research topic in palaeoanthropology. This has been accelerated by the maturation of different techniques, which have produced a plethora of new information. However, this proliferation of data has led to confusing and contradictory results. Furthermore, most of the ecological dietary studies have been carried out on specimens drawn from different time periods and regions, almost exclusively those characterized by cold, open environmental conditions. Subsistence models based on these fragmentary data have been applied to Neanderthals living in a variety of different regions and environments, even though their dietary strategies may have been as variable as regions they inhabited. In this paper we integrate different dietary approaches (studies of the zooarchaeology, stable isotopes and plant remains) from the central and southeastern Mediterranean coast of Iberia in order to develop a broader and more complex picture of Neanderthal diet in different Mediterranean environmental conditions. Our results suggest that there may have been some minor dietary variation due to climatic or environmental differences, but that Neanderthal diet focussed on large terrestrial game, supplemented by plant foods when these were available.Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. Neanderthal dietary ecologyThe dietary behaviours of Neanderthals and the relationship between their diet and their social organization, technological abilities, and even their eventual disappearance, have been hotly debated in the anthropological literature. Examining the diets of Neanderthals requires the synthesis of data that have been collected by numerous researchers over the last 150 years. In many cases, the differences between Neanderthal and early modern human diets have been emphasized, at the expense of cogent discussion of the variation within each group. Early modern humans lived in a wide variety of environmental contexts and likely pursued a variety of behaviours throughout this range of environments. The exclusively Eurasian distribution of Neanderthals did not include as many environments, but neither was it the exclusively cold Arctic climate that many have supposed it to be. A more detailed examination of the Neanderthal range and the effects of shifting global climates reveals that this group would have been exposed to a diverse range of environments (Hoffecker, 2009;MacDonald et al., 2009). Just as modern human dietary behaviour likely varied with environments, so, too, can we predict that Neanderthals had different diets in different environments.Our understanding of the diets of Neanderthals comes from three main lines of evidence. The first is the study of the human remains themselves, including the isotope signal recorded in their bones, the microwear on their teeth, and how factors of their lifehistory are related to diet. The second line of evidence includes the study of the remains of their food, in the form of animal and plant remains preserved ...

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“…Charred seeds have been found in the Mousterian levels of Kebara (Lev et al, 2005) and Gorham's Cave (Barton et al, 1999). Phytoliths from edible plants have been recovered from sediments in several Near Eastern Neanderthal sites (Henry et al, 1996(Henry et al, , 2004Albert et al, 1999Albert et al, , 2000Rosen, 2003). More direct evidence for Neanderthal use of plants comes from studies of residues on stone tools from several sites in France (Hardy and Moncel, 2011;Hardy et al, 2013), and from the study of residues in dental calculus from El Sidron, Spain (Hardy et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%