The role of shellfish in hunter–gatherer societies during the Early Upper Palaeolithic: A view from El Cuco rockshelter, northern Spain

Gutiérrez-Zugasti, Igor; Solana, David Cuenca; Río, Pedro Rasines del; Muñoz, Emilio; Santamaría, Silvia Santamaría; Morlote, José Manuel

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2013.03.001

Cited by 30 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…The gastropod site found at La Silluca Cove constitutes the oldest site of Elona quimperiana discovered prior to 350 ka ago, at least in the Cantabrian Region. Thus, this species lived on the Cantabrian Coast since the late Middle Pleistocene and during the Upper Pleistocene, as suggested by the Upper Palaeolithic site of El Cuco rock‐shelter in Cantabria (Gutiérrez‐Zugasti et al , ). This finding supports the hypothesis that the Cantabrian Coast was a refugium for Elona quimperiana during the Last Glacial Cycle (Vialatte et al , ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

New evidence of sea‐level lowstands and paleoenvironment during MIS 6 and 4 in the Cantabrian coastal karst: the Cobiheru cave (North Iberia)

Ballesteros

Rodríguez‐Rodríguez

González-Lemos

et al. 2017

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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The geomorphological evolution of the Cobiheru Cave shows the influence of the non‐carbonate coastal mountain ranges on coastal karst evolution, as well as the temporal distribution of the cold‐adapted fauna sites in the Cantabrian Coast. Geomorphological observation and uranium/thorium (U/Th) dating lead to the construction of an evolution model. The model comprises two episodes of cave deposition occurring at c. 60–70 and 130–150 ka, linked to cold climate conditions, global sea‐level lowstands and the erosion of alluvial fans that covered the karst. Moreover, the comparison between the Cobiheru record and some raised beaches identified in previous studies sets the beginning of the sea‐level lowering in the Cantabrian Sea during the marine isotope stages (MIS) 5–4 transition. Two palaeoenvironments are inferred based on finding Equus ferus and Elona quimperiana. A wet deciduous forest would have developed on the emerged marine terrace of the Cobiheru Cave since at least the Middle Pleistocene, and an open landscape with scarce vegetation would have been present at c. 65 ka. The erosional event identified in the Cobiheru Cave helps to understand the temporal distribution of cold‐adapted mammals located in the Asturias region. The probable sites of cold‐adapted fauna developed in caves and alluvial fans would have disappeared after 65 ka. Therefore, palaeontological and palaeoclimate research based on cold‐adapted mammals suggests the occurrence of an hiatus in the palaeontological record prior to 50 ka. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

New evidence of sea‐level lowstands and paleoenvironment during MIS 6 and 4 in the Cantabrian coastal karst: the Cobiheru cave (North Iberia)

Ballesteros

Rodríguez‐Rodríguez

González-Lemos

et al. 2017

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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“…from the Early Upper Paleolithic site in El Cuco (Spain; Gutiérrez-Zugasti & Cuenca-Solana, 2013). Some researchers claim that shell beads from the Middle and Lower Palaeolithic could have been perforated by natural processes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The adornments of prehistoric people play an important role in our understanding of the evolution of human behaviour (Bednarik, 2001; Szabo, Brumm & Bellwood, 2007; Gutiérrez-Zugasti & Cuenca-Solana, 2013) because they can indicate evolutionary changes in the ethno-linguistic diversity of early humans (Vanhaeren & D’Errico, 2006; Schick & Toth, 2013; Stiner, 2014). These findings help anthropologists to construct a picture of the life of prehistoric human groups, and can give insights into their social status (Bednarik, 1998; Stiner, 1999; Vanhaeren & D’Errico, 2005), group membership, age or marital status (Kuhn et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic review of animal predation creating pierced shells: implications for the archaeological record of the Old World

Kubicka¹,

Rosin

Tryjanowski

et al. 2017

PeerJ

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BackgroundThe shells of molluscs survive well in many sedimentary contexts and yield information about the diet of prehistoric humans. They also yield evidence of symbolic behaviours through their use as beads for body adornments. Researchers often analyse the location of perforations in shells to make judgements about their use as symbolic objects (e.g., beads), the assumption being that holes attributable to deliberate human behaviour are more likely to exhibit low variability in their anatomical locations, while holes attributable to natural processes yield more random perforations. However, there are non-anthropogenic factors that can cause perforations in shells and these may not be random. The aim of the study is compare the variation in holes in shells from archaeological sites from the Old World with the variation of holes in shells pierced by mollusc predators.MethodsThree hundred and sixteen scientific papers were retrieved from online databases by using keywords, (e.g., ‘shell beads’; ‘pierced shells’; ‘drilling predators’); 79 of these publications enabled us to conduct a systematic review to qualitatively assess the location of the holes in the shells described in the published articles. In turn, 54 publications were used to assess the location of the holes in the shells made by non-human predators.ResultsAlmost all archaeological sites described shells with holes in a variety of anatomical locations. High variation of hole-placement was found within the same species from the same site, as well as among sites. These results contrast with research on predatory molluscs, which tend to be more specific in where they attacked their prey. Gastropod and bivalve predators choose similar hole locations to humans.DiscussionBased on figures in the analysed articles, variation in hole-location on pierced shells from archaeological sites was similar to variation in the placement of holes created by non-human animals. Importantly, we found that some predators choose similar hole locations to humans. We discuss these findings and identify factors researchers might want to consider when interpreting shells recovered from archaeological contexts.

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“…The adornments of prehistoric people play an important role in our understanding of the evolution of human behaviour (Bednarik, 2001;Gutiérrez-Zugasti et al, 2013) because they can indicate evolutionary changes in the cognitive and linguistic abilities of early humans (Vanhaeren & d'Errico, 2006;Schick & Toth, 2013;Stiner, 2014). These findings help anthropologists to construct a picture of the life of prehistoric human groups, and can give insights into their social status (Bednarik, 1998;Stiner, 1999;, group membership, age or marital status (Kuhn et al, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The majority of shell artefacts are known from the Palaeolithic and Neolithic sites in Levant, South Africa, Europe, North America and Asia. Interestingly, while early dated shell remains from occupation layers in Africa are only associated with anatomically modern humans (AMHs), molluscs recovered from Middle Palaeolithic (MP) layers in Europe are mainly related to Neanderthal occupations (Gutiérrez-Zugasti et al, 2013). Although some researchers have argued that strategies for exploiting coastal resources do not differ between European Neanderthals and AMHs in Africa during the MP and MSA (Stringer & Barton, 2008), others interpret the evidence differently, with Neanderthals exploiting marine environments infrequently compared to AMH (Shipman, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of shellfish in hunter–gatherer societies during the Early Upper Palaeolithic: A view from El Cuco rockshelter, northern Spain

Cited by 30 publications

References 61 publications

New evidence of sea‐level lowstands and paleoenvironment during MIS 6 and 4 in the Cantabrian coastal karst: the Cobiheru cave (North Iberia)

New evidence of sea‐level lowstands and paleoenvironment during MIS 6 and 4 in the Cantabrian coastal karst: the Cobiheru cave (North Iberia)

A systematic review of animal predation creating pierced shells: implications for the archaeological record of the Old World

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