Organization of residential space, site function variability, and seasonality of activities among MIS 5 Iberian Neandertals

Abstract

Whether ethnoarcheological models of hunter-gatherer mobility, landscape use, and structuration of the inhabited space are relevant to the archeology of Neandertals and the Middle Paleolithic remains controversial. The thin lenses of hearth-associated stone tools and faunal remains excavated in sub-complex AS5 of Cueva Antón (Murcia, Spain) significantly advance these debates. Dated to 77.8–85.1 ka, these living floors are interstratified in river-accumulated sands and were buried shortly after abandonment by low-energy inundation events, with minimal disturbance and negligible palimpsest formation. Stone tools were made and ergonomically modified to fit tasks; their spatial distributions and use-wear reveal hearth-focused activities and a division of the inhabited space into resting and working areas. Site function varied with season of the year: units III-i/j1 and III-i/j2-3 record winter visits focused on filleting and hide processing, while woodworking predominated in unit III-b/d, which subsumes visits to the site over the course of at least one winter, one spring, and one summer. These snapshots of Neandertal behavior match expectations derived from the ethnographic and Upper Paleolithic records for the lifeways of hunter-gatherers inhabiting temperate regions with a markedly seasonal climate.

Formation processes, fire use, and patterns of human occupation across the Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 5a-5b) of Gruta da Oliveira (Almonda karst system, Torres Novas, Portugal)

“…In Portugal, substantial combustion remains (extensive accumulations of ash and burnt sediment, charcoal, and burnt bone) are a consistent feature of the other two sites that (a) are well dated to the interval, and (b) were both recurrently occupied over many millennia and capacious enough for residential, if short-term and intermittent settlement—Gruta Nova da Columbeira [ 97 , 98 ], and Gruta da Figueira Brava [ 96 , 99 ]. Together with the exceptionally well-preserved hearth-focused contexts of MIS 5a and MIS 3 age known in Spain’s Mula basin (Cueva Antón and La Boja; [ 25 , 100 – 102 ]), these three Portuguese sites add strong support to the notion that Neandertals fully mastered fire-making—as indeed reference [ 24 ] argued for the French case, based on micro-wear analysis of chert tools that were occasionally used as “strike-a-light” items. Minimally, the weight of the evidence clearly leans towards placing the burden of proof on the side of those who, like reference [ 23 ], take the opposite as their null hypothesis.…”

“…If the contradictions entailed in the stance of Neandertal art sceptics are glaring and bespeak of paradigmatic bias [15], the fact nevertheless remains that opposing views of Neandertal culture do involve relevant issues of empirical substance. Among others, examples thereof are whether articulated Neandertal skeletons imply burial, whether the charcoal and burnt bone present in occupation floors imply controlled use of fire, or whether the spatial patterning of archaeological remains implies living arrangements akin to those observed among extant hunter-gatherers [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. These are key issues that have one thing in common: the archaeological evidence that arguments depend upon is highly sensitive to the impact of site formation processes and, therefore, requires critical examination under the taphonomy lens.…”

The Middle Stone Age of Atlantic Africa: A critical review

“…As a consequence, major impact on its cognitive abilities with utmost significance to human evolution occurred, but not representing significant anatomical changes or being coeval of the H. sapiens anatomic evolution (Will et al, 2019). This impact is reflected in the archaeological record by a set of evidence that, together, compose Modern Human Behavior (Bouzouggar et al, 2007;Brown et al, 2012Brown et al, , 2009Charrie ´-Duhaut et al, 2013;Deschamps et al, 2022;Hallett et al, 2021;Jerardino and Marean, 2010;Lombard, 2005;Mcbrearty and Brooks, 2000;Mellars, 2005;Schoville et al, 2017;Texier et al, 2010).…”