Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the Die Kelders Cave 1 layers 10 and 11 Middle Stone Age larger mammal fauna

Life and death at Dmanisi, Georgia: Taphonomic signals from the fossil mammals

There are many hypotheses regarding influences on the early hominin biogeographic spread into Eurasia; among them is increased meat-eating. Dmanisi in Georgia is one of the rare Early Pleistocene sites in Eurasia, and here we present primary information and analysis of the medium and large mammal taphonomy, contributing information about site formation and the hominins' interaction with the fauna. Nearly 85% of the specimens come from the B1 stratum. Relative abundances of mammal families demonstrate some bias toward carnivores, especially Canis borjgali, and diverse Felidae species. Bones display little weathering. Post-depositional surface modifications and matrix obscure many bone surfaces, but carnivore tooth marking is the most common bone surface modification from the nutritive taphonomic phase. Tooth pits are large, in the size range of those made by modern Crocuta crocuta and Panthera leo. Breakage variables indicate most breaks occurred while the bones were still fresh, many by carnivore consumption. Fairly even limb bone representation of herbivores suggests carcasses were introduced to the site nearly whole. Hominin tool marks are present in low frequencies, but they suggest a variety of behaviors. These marks are found on Equus, Palaeotragus, Bison, large cervids, Pseudodama, Canis, and Mammuthus. Some were made by filleting proximal limb segments, and so are likely indicative of early access to carcasses, while other marks suggest scavenging. The Homo taphonomic variables resemble the rest of the taphonomic signatures from the site with little weathering, a slightly higher percentage of their bones are whole, but only a few have probable carnivore damage. The assemblage characteristics are compared to modern actualistic and experimental assemblages, and it is concluded that Dmanisi presents a palimpsest of hyena denning, felid activity, hominin meat-eating and likely natural deaths.

Distinguishing African bovids using Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS): New peptide markers and insights into Iron Age economies in Zambia

Assessing past foodways, subsistence strategies, and environments depends on the accurate identification of animals in the archaeological record. The high rates of fragmentation and often poor preservation of animal bones at many archaeological sites across sub-Saharan Africa have rendered archaeofaunal specimens unidentifiable beyond broad categories, such as “large mammal” or “medium bovid”. Identification of archaeofaunal specimens through Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS), or peptide mass fingerprinting of bone collagen, offers an avenue for identification of morphologically ambiguous or unidentifiable bone fragments from such assemblages. However, application of ZooMS analysis has been hindered by a lack of complete reference peptide markers for African taxa, particularly bovids. Here we present the complete set of confirmed ZooMS peptide markers for members of all African bovid tribes. We also identify two novel peptide markers that can be used to further distinguish between bovid groups. We demonstrate that nearly all African bovid subfamilies are distinguishable using ZooMS methods, and some differences exist between tribes or sub-tribes, as is the case for Bovina (cattle) vs. Bubalina (African buffalo) within the subfamily Bovinae. We use ZooMS analysis to identify specimens from extremely fragmented faunal assemblages from six Late Holocene archaeological sites in Zambia. ZooMS-based identifications reveal greater taxonomic richness than analyses based solely on morphology, and these new identifications illuminate Iron Age subsistence economies c. 2200–500 cal BP. While the Iron Age in Zambia is associated with the transition from hunting and foraging to the development of farming and herding, our results demonstrate the continued reliance on wild bovids among Iron Age communities in central and southwestern Zambia Iron Age and herding focused primarily on cattle. We also outline further potential applications of ZooMS in African archaeology.

Evaluating the potential for tactical hunting in the Middle Stone Age: Insights from a bonebed of the extinct bovid, Rusingoryx atopocranion

The foraging behaviors of Middle Stone Age (MSA) early modern humans have largely been based on evidence from well-stratified cave sites in South Africa. Whereas these sites have provided an abundance of data for behavioral reconstruction that are unmatched elsewhere in Africa, they are unlikely to preserve evidence of the diversity of foraging strategies employed by MSA hunters who lived in a variety of ecological and landscape settings across the African continent. Here we describe the results of recent excavations at the open-air site of Bovid Hill at Wakondo, Rusinga Island, Kenya, which yielded 24 in situ MSA artifacts within an assemblage of bones comprised exclusively of the extinct alcelaphin bovid Rusingoryx atopocranion. The excavated faunal assemblage is characterized by a prime-age-dominated mortality profile and includes cut-marked specimens and an associated MSA Levallois blade-based artifact industry recovered from a channel deposit dated to 68 ± 5 ka by optically stimulated luminescence. Taphonomic, geologic, and faunal evidence points to mass exploitation of Rusingoryx by humans at Bovid Hill, which likely represents an initial processing site that was altered post-depositionally by fluvial processes. This site highlights the importance of rivers and streams for mass procurement in an open and seasonal landscape, and provides important new insights into MSA behavioral variability with respect to environmental conditions, site function, and tactical foraging strategies in eastern Africa. Bovid Hill thus joins a growing number of MSA and Middle Paleolithic localities that are suggestive of tactical hunting behaviors and mass capture of gregarious ungulate prey.

New Experiments and a Model-Driven Approach for Interpreting Middle Stone Age Lithic Point Function Using the Edge Damage Distribution Method

The Middle Stone Age (MSA) is associated with early evidence for symbolic material culture and complex technological innovations. However, one of the most visible aspects of MSA technologies are unretouched triangular stone points that appear in the archaeological record as early as 500,000 years ago in Africa and persist throughout the MSA. How these tools were being used and discarded across a changing Pleistocene landscape can provide insight into how MSA populations prioritized technological and foraging decisions. Creating inferential links between experimental and archaeological tool use helps to establish prehistoric tool function, but is complicated by the overlaying of post-depositional damage onto behaviorally worn tools. Taphonomic damage patterning can provide insight into site formation history, but may preclude behavioral interpretations of tool function. Here, multiple experimental processes that form edge damage on unretouched lithic points from taphonomic and behavioral processes are presented. These provide experimental distributions of wear on tool edges from known processes that are then quantitatively compared to the archaeological patterning of stone point edge damage from three MSA lithic assemblages-Kathu Pan 1, Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, and Die Kelders Cave 1. By using a model-fitting approach, the results presented here provide evidence for variable MSA behavioral strategies of stone point utilization on the landscape consistent with armature tips at KP1, and cutting tools at PP13B and DK1, as well as damage contributions from post-depositional sources across assemblages. This study provides a method with which landscape-scale questions of early modern human tool-use and site-use can be addressed.

Climate-mediated shifts in Neandertal subsistence behaviors at Pech de l'Azé IV and Roc de Marsal (Dordogne Valley, France)

Neandertals disappeared from Europe just after 40,000 years ago. Some hypotheses ascribe this to numerous population crashes associated with glacial cycles in the late Pleistocene. The goal of this paper is to test the hypothesis that glacial periods stressed Neandertal populations. If cold climates stressed Neandertals, their subsistence behaviors may have changed-requiring intensified use of prey through more extensive nutrient extraction from faunal carcasses. To test this, an analysis of Neandertal butchering was conducted on medium sized bovid/cervid remains composed of predominately red deer (Cervus elaphus), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), and roe deer (Capreolus caprelous) deposited during global warm and cold phases from two French sites: Pech de l'Azé IV (Pech IV, Bordes' excavation) and Roc de Marsal (RDM). Analysis of surface modification on high survival long bones and proximal and middle phalanges demonstrates that skeletal elements excavated from the cold levels (RDM Level 4, Pech IV Level I2) at each cave have more cut marks and percussion marks than elements from the warm levels (RDM Level 9, Pech IV Level Y-Z) after controlling for fragment size. At both sites, epiphyseal fragments are rare, and although this pattern can result from carnivore consumption, carnivore tooth marks are almost nonexistent (<0.1%). Alternatively, processing epiphyseal ends for bone grease may have been a Neandertal survival strategy, and epiphyses were more intensively percussed in cold levels than in warm levels at both RDM and Pech IV. The exploitation of low marrow yield elements such as phalanges does not show a consistent pattern relating to climate, but may have been a general Neandertal behavioral characteristic, suggesting that these hominids were regularly on the edge of sufficient nutrient availability even during interglacials. Overall, the faunal assemblages from Roc de Marsal and Pech IV provide some support for the hypothesis that Neandertals were processing faunal remains more heavily during glacial periods, suggesting a response to increased nutritional stress during colder time periods.

The origins and significance of coastal resource use in Africa and Western Eurasia

The systematic exploitation of marine foods by terrestrial mammals lacking aquatic morphologies is rare. Widespread ethnographic and archaeological evidence from many areas of the world shows that modern humans living on coastlines often ratchet up the use of marine foods and develop social and technological characteristics unusual to hunter-gatherers and more consistent with small scale food producing societies. Consistent use of marine resources often is associated with reduced mobility, larger group size, population packing, smaller territories, complex technologies, increased economic and social differentiation, and more intense and wide-ranging gifting and exchange. The commitment to temporally and spatially predictable and dense coastal foods stimulates investment in boundary defense resulting in inter-group conflict as predicted by theory and documented by ethnography. Inter-group conflict provides an ideal context for the proliferation of intra-group cooperative behaviors beneficial to the group but not to the altruist (Bowles, 2009). The origins of this coastal adaptation marks a transformative point for the hominin lineage in Africa since all previous adaptive systems were likely characterized by highly mobile, low-density, egalitarian populations with large territories and little boundary defense. It is important to separate occasional uses of marine foods, present among several primate species, from systematic and committed coastal adaptations. This paper provides a critical review of where and when systematic use of coastal resources and coastal adaptations appeared in the Old World by a comparison of the records from Africa and Europe. It is found that during the Middle Stone Age in South Africa there is evidence that true coastal adaptations developed while there is, so far, a lack of evidence for even the lowest levels of systematic coastal resource use by Neanderthals in Europe. Differences in preservation, sample size, and productivity between these regions do not explain the pattern.

Were Upper Pleistocene human/non-human predator occupations at the Témara caves (El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra, Morocco) influenced by climate change?

The influence of climate change on human settlements in coastal areas is a central question for archaeologists. This paper addresses this issue by focusing on the Témara region in Morocco. The study area was selected for two main reasons. First, it contains numerous caves with Upper Pleistocene deposits, which have yielded remains of anatomically modern humans in association with Aterian and Iberomaurusian artifacts. Second, these caves are currently located on the shore, thus this region is particularly sensitive to major climate change and sea level fluctuations. Diachronic taphonomic study of faunal remains from two sites in the region, El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra caves, shows alternating human/non-human predator occupations. The lower layers of El Mnasra Cave dating to Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 5 have yielded diverse ungulate remains with significant anthropogenic impact marks, together with numerous mollusk shells, Nassarius shell beads, hearths, lithics, some bone tools and used pigments. Faunal remains from the upper layers dating to OIS 4, 3 and 2 of El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra caves, largely dominated by gazelles, provide evidence of carnivore activities, such as tooth marks, numerous semi-digested bones and coprolites alongside some anthropogenic signatures (cut marks and burnt bones). Non-human predators appear to be the main agents responsible for faunal modifications and accumulations. The 'non-intensive' nature of human occupation is confirmed by analyses of the lithic industry at El Harhoura 2. The 'intensive' human occupations date to OIS 5 and could have taken place during wet periods in connection with high sea levels, which allowed the exploitation of shellfish in this area. 'Non-intensive' human occupations generally correspond to arid periods and lower sea levels, during which the Témara area was further inland and may have been less attractive to humans.

A model of hunter-gatherer skeletal element transport: the effect of prey body size, carriers, and distance

Zooarchaeologists frequently use the relative abundance of skeletal elements in faunal assemblages in conjunction with foraging theory models to infer subsistence decisions made by prehistoric hunter-gatherers. However, foraging models applied to ethnoarchaeological cases have had variable success linking skeletal transport decisions with foraging predictions. Here, we approach this issue with the well-known Hadza data to statistically model the skeletal element transport decisions in response to distance from the residential hub and the number of carriers available for carcass transport. We compare our modeling approach to the traditional skeletal element utility curves from Binford's work with the Nunamiut, and to the more recently proposed Shannon evenness measure. Our approach, based on standard yet powerful statistical modeling techniques, can help researchers gain increased insight into the prey part transport responses of hunter-gatherers. Our analyses treat individual prey skeletal elements by body size as the response variable. The results of this analysis suggest that utility curves, and the Shannon evenness approach as a proxy for utility curves, are problematic for making statements about prehistoric foraging from zooarchaeological data. Transport distance does not explain a significant portion of small prey (size class 2) skeletal element transport variation. However, distance explains a great deal of transport variation in large prey (size classes 4 and 5). Inferences from skeletal element profiles should be made relative to prey body size and the discard probability of individual elements. Understanding the influence of these variables allows construction of a framework for testing archaeological element profiles against ethnographically derived transport models.

Early Pleistocene aquatic resource use in the Turkana Basin

Evidence for the acquisition of nutritionally dense food resources by early Pleistocene hominins has implications for both hominin biology and behavior. Aquatic fauna may have comprised a source of highly nutritious resources to hominins in the Turkana Basin at ∼1.95 Ma. Here we employ multiple datasets to examine the issue of aquatic resource use in the early Pleistocene. This study focuses on four components of aquatic faunal assemblages (1) taxonomic diversity, (2) skeletal element proportion, (3) bone fragmentation and (4) bone surface modification. These components are used to identify associations between early Pleistocene aquatic remains and hominin behavior at the site of FwJj20 in the Koobi Fora Fm. (Kenya). We focus on two dominant aquatic species: catfish and turtles. Further we suggest that data on aquatic resource availability as well as ethnographic examples of aquatic resource use complement our observations on the archaeological remains from FwJj20. Aquatic food items provided hominins with a valuable nutritional alternative to an exclusively terrestrial resource base. We argue that specific advantages afforded by an aquatic alternative to terrestrial resources include (1) a probable reduction in required investment of energy relative to economic return in the form of nutritionally dense food items, (2) a decrease in the technological costs of resource acquisition, and (3) a reduced level of inter-specific competition associated with carcass access and an associated reduction of predation risk relative to terrestrial sources of food. The combined evidence from FwJj20 suggests that aquatic resources may have played a substantial role in early Pleistocene diets and these resources may have been overlooked in previous interpretations of hominin behavior.

Raptors and primate evolution

Most scholars agree that avoiding predators is a central concern of lemurs, monkeys, and apes. However, given uncertainties about the frequency with which primates actually become prey, the selective importance of predation in primate evolution continues to be debated. Some argue that primates are often killed by predators, while others maintain that such events are relatively rare. Some authors have contended that predation's influence on primate sociality has been trivial; others counter that predation need not occur often to be a powerful selective force. Given the challenges of documenting events that can be ephemeral and irregular, we are unlikely ever to amass the volume of systematic, comparative data we have on such topics as feeding, social dynamics, or locomotor behavior. Nevertheless, a steady accumulation of field observations, insight gained from natural experiments, and novel taphonomic analyses have enhanced understanding of how primates interact with several predators, especially raptors, the subject of this review.

Taphonomic and paleoecological change in the large mammal sequence from Boomplaas Cave, western Cape, South Africa

Excavations conducted by H.J. Deacon in the 1970s at Boomplaas Cave (BPA) uncovered a stratified sequence of Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) deposits spanning the last >65,000 years. This study provides the first comprehensive and integrated taphonomic and paleoecological analysis of the BPA large mammals, with a focus on its implications for understanding human adaptations and environmental changes in southern Africa's Cape Floristic Region (CFR), an area that features prominently in understanding modern human origins. Taphonomic data indicate a complex history of human, carnivore, and raptor accumulation of the large mammal assemblage. The anthropogenic signal is largely absent from the bottom of the sequence (>65,000 years ago), intermediate in MSA and LSA assemblages from ~50,000 to 20,000 years ago, and strong in LSA deposits post-dating the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). When viewed in the broader CFR context, the inferred occupation history of BPA is consistent with the hypothesis that both MSA and LSA human populations were concentrated on the submerged coastline from ~60,000 to ~20,000 years ago. Intensive occupation following the LGM parallels an apparent increase in regional population densities, which may have been driven in part by rising sea levels. The BPA ungulate assemblage is characterized by the rise and decline of a taxonomically diverse grazing community, which peaks during the LGM. These changes are not correlated with taphonomic shifts, meaning that they are likely driven by environmental factors, namely the expansion and contraction of grassland habitats. Changes in ungulate diversity indicate that effective precipitation was highest during the LGM, corresponding with an intensified winter rainfall system. This is consistent with recent arguments that the LGM in this region may not have been extremely harsh and arid.

Earliest archaeological evidence of persistent hominin carnivory

The emergence of lithic technology by ∼2.6 million years ago (Ma) is often interpreted as a correlate of increasingly recurrent hominin acquisition and consumption of animal remains. Associated faunal evidence, however, is poorly preserved prior to ∼1.8 Ma, limiting our understanding of early archaeological (Oldowan) hominin carnivory. Here, we detail three large well-preserved zooarchaeological assemblages from Kanjera South, Kenya. The assemblages date to ∼2.0 Ma, pre-dating all previously published archaeofaunas of appreciable size. At Kanjera, there is clear evidence that Oldowan hominins acquired and processed numerous, relatively complete, small ungulate carcasses. Moreover, they had at least occasional access to the fleshed remains of larger, wildebeest-sized animals. The overall record of hominin activities is consistent through the stratified sequence – spanning hundreds to thousands of years – and provides the earliest archaeological evidence of sustained hominin involvement with fleshed animal remains (i.e., persistent carnivory), a foraging adaptation central to many models of hominin evolution.

Neandertal mobility and large-game hunting: the exploitation of reindeer during the Quina Mousterian at Chez-Pinaud Jonzac (Charente-Maritime, France)

Neandertals were effective hunters of large ungulates throughout their geographic and temporal ranges. Equipped with this knowledge, researchers in paleoanthropology continue to seek insight on the relationships between hunting and subsistence strategies with other components of the Neandertals' niche, such as mobility, site use, and lithic technology. The Quina Mousterian deposits from the rockshelter site of Chez Pinaud Jonzac (Charente-Maritime, France; hereafter Jonzac) offer an excellent opportunity to pursue these issues. This paper focuses on the extensive and well-preserved skeletal remains of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) recovered from recent excavations of the site, representing at least 18 individuals that were hunted by Neandertals during the fall through winter. Our zooarchaeological results indicate that all ages of reindeer were hunted but adult individuals predominate. No bias is evident in the comparable frequencies of males and females. These prey were butchered on-site, with abundant evidence of meat filleting and marrow exploitation. In the excavated sample, the absence of hearths and the almost complete lack of burned bones or stones suggest that Neandertals were not using fire to assist with processing the reindeer carcasses. The zooarchaeological results presented here indicate that reindeer were hunted during a restricted window of time when they were seasonally abundant in the local area near Jonzac. Taken together with the lithic industry based on bifacial elements, the evidence is consistent with a pattern of site use by highly mobile hunter-gatherers making frequent, short-term visits. Ongoing research at Jonzac and other Quina Mousterian localities will contribute to a better understanding of Neandertal behavior during cold climate phases.

Validation of bone surface modification models for inferring fossil hominin and carnivore feeding interactions, with reapplication to FLK 22, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Resolving the issue of how Early Stone Age hominins acquired large mammal carcasses requires information on their feeding interactions with large carnivores. This ecological information and its behavioral and evolutionary implications are revealed most directly from the tooth, cut, and percussion marks on bone surfaces generated by hominin and carnivore feeding activities. This paper employs a bootstrap method, a form of random resampling with replacement, to refine published neotaphonomic models that use the assemblage-wide proportions of long bones bearing feeding traces to infer the sequences in which Plio-Pleistocene hominins and carnivores accessed flesh, marrow, and/or grease from carcasses. Results validate the sensitivity of the models for inferring hominin feeding ecology, which have been questioned on grounds shown here to be unfounded. The bootstrapped feeding trace models are applied to the late Pliocene larger mammal fossil assemblage from FLK 22 (Zinjanthropus site), Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. High frequencies of tooth and percussion marking on long bone midshaft fragments from FLK 22 are most consistent with those feeding trace models that simulate hominin scavenging from carcasses defleshed by carnivores, while cut mark data indicate that hominins more often had access to upper forelimb flesh than upper hind limb flesh. Together, the bone surface modification data indicate that hominins typically gained secondary access to partially defleshed carnivore kills, but they also allow for the possibility of some carcasses being processed only by carnivores and only by hominins.

Taphonomic analysis of the Middle Stone Age larger mammal faunal assemblage from Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa

A detailed taphonomic analysis is reported for a sample of the larger mammalian faunal assemblage (>4.5 kg live body weight) from Blombos Cave. The analysis provides an assessment of human involvement in the accumulation and modification of the faunal assemblage, and precedes equally detailed analyses and separate reports of Middle Stone Age (MSA) butchery, transport, and hunting behaviour. At Blombos, there are clear differences in the relative abundances of ungulate body size classes, with the lower MSA phases (upper/lower M2 and M3) showing a high representation of size 1 ungulates relative to the most recent MSA phase (M1). The bones from the earliest MSA phase (M3) have not undergone much post-depositional fragmentation, in contrast to fragments from more recent phases (M1 and upper M2). Much of this variability can be attributed to more burning activity and trampling during M1 and upper M2, which could indicate more intensive occupation. Bone surfaces are variably preserved, with high levels of exfoliation in the most recent two phases. Surface modification analyses revealed high proportions of human modification throughout the sequence, indicating that MSA humans were responsible for accumulating most of the larger mammals. After discard, the bones were modified by scavenging carnivores, leading to a moderate amount of density-mediated destruction and tooth-marking. Carnivores independently accumulated some of the smaller ungulates, mainly in the form of partially-digested remains. Raptorial birds are not implicated as major faunal accumulators. The results from Blombos are directly comparable with analogous datasets from two other sites in the Western Cape (Pinnacle Point Cave 13B and Die Kelders Cave 1). Such comparisons demonstrate that MSA faunal assemblages from nearby coastal sites have complex and different taphonomic histories both within and between sites. Because the human occupants were a major part of these processes, MSA subsistence behaviour and site use was also quite variable over time and space.

Eland, buffalo, and wild pigs: were Middle Stone Age humans ineffective hunters?

Patterns of faunal exploitation play a central role in debates concerning the behavioral modernity of Middle Stone Age (MSA) peoples. MSA foragers have been portrayed as less effective hunters than their Later Stone Age (LSA) successors on the basis of relative species abundances from ungulate assemblages in southern Africa. Specifically, MSA hunters are said to focus on docile eland while avoiding more aggressive prey, particularly buffalo and wild pigs. To evaluate these arguments and compare subsistence behavior, I present a quantitative examination of 51 MSA and 98 LSA ungulate assemblages from southern Africa to show that: (1) with respect to ungulate exploitation, MSA diet breadth may have exceeded LSA diet breadth, (2) ungulate assemblage evenness is equivalent in the MSA and LSA, (3) eland, buffalo, and wild pig are equally abundant in the MSA and LSA, and (4) large ungulate prey are more common in the MSA than in the LSA. With few exceptions, the broad patterns, which sample a range of geographic and environmental contexts, are supported by an environmentally controlled comparison of Middle and Later Stone Age faunas that accumulated under interglacial conditions along the southern African coastline. When interpreted within a foraging theory framework, these differences suggest that MSA hunters enjoyed increased meat yields due to elevated encounter rates with large prey. These results need not imply cognitive differences, but are consistent with an increase in human populations from the Middle to Later Stone Age, which resulted in diminished abundances of large ungulates.

Animal exploitation strategies during the South African Middle Stone Age: Howiesons Poort and post-Howiesons Poort fauna from Sibudu Cave

As one of the few sites that preserve fauna from the Howiesons Poort (HP) and the immediately post-HP Middle Stone Age (MSA), Sibudu Cave provides a unique opportunity to explore the range of variability in subsistence behaviors during this important phase in human behavioral evolution. In addition to providing information on subsistence, the faunal assemblage serves as a means of reconstructing the environmental conditions during these two periods. While the HP fauna is dominated by species that prefer closed (particularly forested) habitats, the fauna from the upper-most layers of the post-HP MSA are largely representative of open conditions. These results largely coincide with macrobotanical analyses and may simply indicate that the extent of the riverine forest near the site was greater during the HP. Alternatively, the pattern could be indicative of a marked intensification in the exploitation of the environment in the immediate vicinity of the shelter during the HP, perhaps resulting from a decline in the productivity of adjacent regions. We also document variation in the frequency of the different bovid size classes over time. The evidence shows a declining focus on the smallest bovids after the HP, with a parallel increase in the frequency of large and very large bovids. Beyond a heavy focus on small bovids, small mammals and suids also occur at higher frequencies during the HP. Although the HP faunal assemblage is largely unique as compared to the bulk of the MSA sequence at Sibudu, the evidence presented here suggests that the transition between the HP and the post-HP MSA may have been more gradual than abrupt. Our results indicate that the HP and post-HP MSA inhabitants of Sibudu Cave were capable hunters; however, hunting strategies appear to show marked variation over time. We propose that the variability in animal procurement strategies reflects a degree of behavioral plasticity beyond that generally attributed to MSA populations.

Modern hunting behavior in the early Middle Paleolithic: Faunal remains from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel

Understanding the behavioral adaptations and subsistence strategies of Middle Paleolithic humans is critical in the debate over the evolution and manifestations of modern human behavior. The study of faunal remains plays a central role in this context. Until now, the majority of Levantine archaeofaunal evidence was derived from late Middle Paleolithic sites. The discovery of faunal remains from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel (>200 ka), allowed for detailed taphonomic and zooarchaeological analyses of these early Middle Paleolithic remains. The Misliya Cave faunal assemblage is overwhelmingly dominated by ungulate taxa. The most common prey species is the Mesopotamian fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica), followed closely by the mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella). Some aurochs (Bos primigenius) remains are also present. Small-game species are rare. The fallow deer mortality pattern is dominated by prime-aged individuals. A multivariate taphonomic analysis demonstrates (1) that the assemblage was created solely by humans occupying the cave and was primarily modified by their food-processing activities; and (2) that gazelle carcasses were transported complete to the site, while fallow deer carcasses underwent some field butchery. The new zooarchaeological data from Misliya Cave, particularly the abundance of meat-bearing limb bones displaying filleting cut marks and the acquisition of prime-age prey, demonstrate that early Middle Paleolithic people possessed developed hunting capabilities. Thus, modern large-game hunting, carcass transport, and meat-processing behaviors were already established in the Levant in the early Middle Paleolithic, more than 200 ka ago.

From carcass to cave: large mammal exploitation during the Aurignacian at Vogelherd, Germany

Recent results from the zooarchaeological analysis of faunal remains from Vogelherd Cave, southwestern Germany, provide new insight into the subsistence behavior of early modern human groups during the Aurignacian. The results presented here represent the first comprehensive study of the archaeofauna from this site. Several episodes of occupation are inferred at this site, taking place primarily between 31 and 32 ka. Although a wide spectrum of Pleistocene mammals is represented in the Aurignacian at Vogelherd, reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and horse (Equus ferus) were the primary prey taxa, and they are the most appropriate data sets with which to understand human subsistence on an intrasite level. Hunting of both taxa took place during the late summer and fall, coinciding with reindeer migrations and local abundance of horses. Complete or nearly complete prey carcasses were then transported from the kill locations to the cave for processing. This study shows that Vogelherd was a preferred locale of Aurignacian groups for a broad range of activities, including the time- and labor-intensive exploitation of ungulate prey for meat, marrow, and fat resources, as well as the production and maintenance of artifacts such as figurative artwork, personal ornaments, bone and ivory armatures, and lithic tools. With its rich faunal and artifact assemblages, the Aurignacian deposit at Vogelherd provides a wealth of information on this critical period of the early Upper Paleolithic, when cultural innovations were flourishing.

Faunal remains from Porc-Epic: Paleoecological and zooarchaeological investigations from a Middle Stone Age site in southeastern Ethiopia

The Middle Stone Age (MSA) sediments of Porc-Epic Cave near Dire Dawa, Ethiopia, have produced a large assemblage of archaeofaunal remains dating to the later periods of the Late Pleistocene. As one of the few MSA faunal assemblages from East Africa subject to detailed analysis, it provides rare insight into the foraging behavior of the early modern humans in this region. The MSA fauna include taxa that were not historically present in the area, with the occurrence of reduncines and alcelaphines indicating widespread grasslands and proximity to a perennial source of water. The faunal analysis examined several lines of evidence, including breakage patterns, surface modification, and skeletal-element representation. By incorporating comparisons with multiple actualistic data sets, the analysis of the assemblage demonstrates that, while the influence of carnivores and other biotic agents was evident, the faunal remains were accumulated primarily by hominid activity. The skeletal-element representation at Porc-Epic includes an abundance of high utility bones, in contrast to the predominance of "head-and-foot" elements documented at other MSA and Middle Paleolithic (MP) sites. The MSA occupants of Porc-Epic effectively exploited a wide range of prey with more emphasis on small- and medium-sized mammals.

Primate remains from African crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) nests in Ivory Coast's Tai Forest: Implications for primate predation and early hominid taphonomy in South Africa

Understanding the initial processes of deposition can help with interpretations of fossil assemblages. Here we discuss the taphonomy of primate remains collected under 16 nests of African crowned eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus) in the Tai Forest, Ivory Coast. From 1,200 bones collected, including 669 primate bones, we calculated minimum number of individuals (MNI), survivability profiles, and damage profiles using methods identical to those employed by Sanders et al. (2003 J. Hum. Evol. 44:87-105) in their analysis of bones from eagle nests in Uganda. Crowned eagles leave a consistent taphonomic signature on their prey remains; hence, results from our analysis of the Tai assemblage are similar to those from the Ugandan sample. Hindlimb and cranial bones are relatively abundant in the sample, while ribs, vertebrae, carpals, and tarsals do not survive well. Primate crania typically display puncture marks around the eye, long bones remain largely intact, and scapulae exhibit raked breakage. These data have implications for understanding the dynamic between extant primates and one of their principle predators, as well as the taphonomy of hominid-bearing caves in South Africa. We concur with Berger and Clarke (1995 J. Hum. Evol. 29:275-299) that a large raptor could have been responsible for the death of the Taung child, Australopithecus africanus.

Evidence of early butchery of giant lemurs in Madagascar

We report here definitive evidence of butchery, most probably associated with hunting, of giant extinct lemurs by early human settlers in Madagascar. Specimens of Palaeopropithecus ingens and Pachylemur insignis from two sites in southwestern Madagascar, Taolambiby and Tsirave, show classic signs of butchering. We compared these to the bones (also from Taolambiby) of butchered Propithecus verreauxi, a lemur still living in the region. The characteristics of the tool-induced extinct-lemur bone alterations (sharp cuts and chop marks near joints, oblique cuts along the shafts, spiral fractures, and percussion striae) suggest skinning, disarticulation, and filleting. Conclusive evidence of megafaunal modification by humans in Madagascar was limited previously to a few hippo and elephant bird bones and one extinct aye-aye tooth. New evidence comes not from archaeological sites, but from specimens collected in the early 1900s, without stratigraphic records, at "subfossil" sites (i.e., sites renowned for their late Pleistocene or Holocene fossils, often lacking human artifacts). Whereas these are hardly the most ideal samples for analysis of this kind, careful scrutiny of the characteristics of the cut marks has allowed us to document butchery beyond any reasonable doubt. One bone with definitive cut marks has been dated to the very earliest part of the human period in Madagascar. Continued, careful research on the bones in subfossil collections is warranted.

Biogeography and evolution of the genus Homo

The debate about the origins of modern humans has traditionally focussed on two contrasting views. Multi-regional evolution proposes that present-day populations worldwide are the descendants of in situ evolution after an initial dispersal of Homo erectus from Africa during the Lower Pleistocene. The alternative, Out-of-Africa 2, proposes that all present-day populations are descended from a recent common ancestor that lived in East Africa approximately 150 000 years ago, the population of which replaced all regional populations. The weight of the evidence is now in favour of Out-of-Africa 2, and discussion is now dominated by the causes of the dispersal of modern humans out of Africa and the outcome of contact with other populations. Fresh approaches, from disciplines hitherto peripheral to the debate, such as evolutionary ecology, and new discoveries are challenging established views, particularly the prevalent idea that biologically superior modern humans were the cause of the demise of all other populations of Homo worldwide. Climate-driven ecological change has been, as with many other taxa, the driving force in the geographical range dynamics of the genus Homo.

Disentangling Early Stone Age palimpsests: determining the functional independence of hominid- and carnivore-derived portions of archaeofaunas

Determining the extent to which hominid- and carnivore-derived components of fossil bone palimpsests formed independently of each other can provide valuable information to paleoanthropologists interested in reconstructing the foraging adaptations of hominids. Because stone tool cutmarks, hammerstone percussion marks, and carnivore tooth marks are usually only imparted on bone during nutrient extraction from a carcass, these bone surface modifications are particularly amenable to the types of analyses that might meet this goal. This study compares the percentage of limb bone specimens that preserve evidence of both hominid- and carnivore-imparted bone damage from actualistic control samples and several Plio-Pleistocene archaeofaunas, including new data from Swartkrans Member 3 (South Africa). We argue that this procedure, which elucidates the degree of hominid-carnivore independence in assemblage formation, will allow researchers to extract for focused analyses high integrity components (hominid and carnivore) from presumably low integrity sites. Comparisons suggest that the hominid- and carnivore-derived components from sites in Olduvai Gorge Bed II (Tanzania), the ST Site Complex at Peninj (Tanzania), and Swartkrans Member 3 formed largely independent of each other, while data from the FLK 22 Zinjanthropus (FLK Zinj) site (Olduvai Gorge Bed I) indicate significant interdependence in assemblage formation. This contrast suggests that some Early Stone Age assemblages (e.g., the Olduvai Gorge Bed II sites, the Peninj ST Site Complex, and Swartkrans Member 3) are probably more useful than others (e.g., FLK Zinj) for assessing the maximal carcass-acquiring abilities of early hominids; in such assemblages as those in the former set, sole hominid-contribution is more confidently discerned and isolated for analysis than in assemblages such as FLK Zinj.