The Rabbits of Picareiro Cave: Small Mammal Hunting During the Late Upper Palaeolithic in the Portuguese Estremadura

We will be known by the tracks we leave behind: Exotic lithic raw materials, mobility and social networking among the Côa Valley foragers (Portugal)

“…Studies have revealed that rabbit remains show intentional cut marks and breakage patterns (Hockett and Bicho, 2000) and that the ratio of rabbit to ungulate increases from the Mousterian to the Magdalenian (Davis, 2002), which is explained as the result of a gradual increase of hunting pressure on the environment, probably due to higher human density. Red deer and wild boar dominate during the Lateglacial as opposed to a better representation of Equidae, ibex, chamois and aurochs before and during the LGM (Zilhão, 1997;Davis, 2002;Aubry et al, 2001;Haws, 2011).…”

Small preys and plant exploitation by late pleistocene hunter–gatherers. A case study from the Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula

“…Zooarchaeological studies reveal a clear economic change in relation to subsistence that shows its peak during the end of this chronological frame (Aura et al 2002;Villaverde et al 1996;Hockett and Haws 2003;Jones 2006). In this sense, some authors consider leporids as an attractive resource for different reasons such as their abundance in the area, their high reproductive capacities and the easy location of the burrows where they live in dense-packed warrens (Adovasio et al 1997;Hockett and Bicho 2000;Stiner 2001;Hockett and Haws 2002;Stiner and Munro 2002;Lupo and Schmitt 2002;Jones 2006).…”

Lagomorph predation represented in a middle Palaeolithic level of the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter site (Pinilla del Valle, Spain), as inferred via a new use of classical taphonomic criteria

“…Evidence at sites of an age similar to that of the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter in the Mediterranean Basin (Moscerini and Sant Agostino [Stiner, 1994], Abric Romaní [C aceres, 1998], Cova 120 [Terradas and Rueda, 1998], Boquete de Zafarraya [Guennouni, 2001;Barroso et al, 2006], Moros de Gabasa I [Blasco Sancho, 1995], Ibex Cave [Fern andez-Jalvo and Andrews, 2000] and Foz do Enxarrique [Brugal and Raposo, 1999]) show that lagomorphs were not generally hunted by humans of this time despite their being available. Further, bone assemblages from anthropic sites are dominated by adults (Hockett and Bicho, 2000;Yravedra, 2008). Long bones, mandibles and innominate bones are the most common, and they frequently show clear signs of human manipulation, such as cut marks, peeling, and the marks of human teeth (P erezRipoll, 1992;Hockett and Bicho, 2000;P erez-Ripoll, 2001;Hockett and Haws, 2002;P erez-Ripoll, 2005P erez-Ripoll, /2006Yravedra, 2008).…”

“…Further, bone assemblages from anthropic sites are dominated by adults (Hockett and Bicho, 2000;Yravedra, 2008). Long bones, mandibles and innominate bones are the most common, and they frequently show clear signs of human manipulation, such as cut marks, peeling, and the marks of human teeth (P erezRipoll, 1992;Hockett and Bicho, 2000;P erez-Ripoll, 2001;Hockett and Haws, 2002;P erez-Ripoll, 2005P erez-Ripoll, /2006Yravedra, 2008). Elements showing such markings are, however, absent at the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter, and the individuals represented are of a wider age range.…”