The exploitation of Emys orbicularis in the alpine Mesolithic: the !;ase-study of Galgenbiihel/Dos de 10 Farco (South Tyrol, Italy). (original) (raw)
Related papers
Archaeofauna, 2022
The aim of this paper is to present some new data concerning the systematic identifications of several terrapin findings documented in three Iberian Iron Age sites from the Northern Meseta and Basque-Cantabrian Basin: El Soto de Medinilla (Valladolid), La Mota (Valladolid) and La Hoya (Álava). New interpretations concerning the first-hand study of these remains are presented. With the aim of comprehending the interaction of humans with these reptiles, we consider that they were mainly captured as a food resource. The previous identification of Emys orbicularis (i.e., the European Pond Turtle) in El Soto de Medinilla and La Mota is confirmed and justified. The identification of the same taxon in La Hoya constitutes the youngest archaeological reference of its presence in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin.
Tortoises as food and taphonomic elements in palaeo ''landscapes''
Petits animaux et societes humaines, 2004
Les tortues se trouvent fréquemment dans le régime et la culture matérielle des chasseurs et des bergers sud-africains. Ici on examine les sites du Pléistocène et de l'Holocène où les gens, les charognards, les rapaces et les processus naturels auraient pu contribuer aux assemblages. Dans les sites les plus anciens, sauf peut-être Duinefontein 2, l'effet des feux de brousse masque l'utilisation des tortues par les hommes. En conséquence de ces feux on peut trouver des quantités considérables d'os de tortues dans le paysage. D'autre part, dans le site plus récent de Geelbek, la fréquence des os brûlés près des foyers indiquent l'activité humaine.
The oldest Quaternary turtle remains from the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (Atxoste, Álava, Spain)
Comptes Rendus Palevol, 2015
References to fossil remains of turtles from the Quaternary record of the Spanish Basque-Cantabrian Basin are almost non-existent, and are limited to a problematic report from a Mesolithic Age site. Here, we report remains of turtles in the Neolithic levels of the site of Atxoste (Álava), the oldest reference, and the only one so far confirmed, to turtles in the Quaternary record of that Basin. The abundance of well-preserved specimens of turtles from Atxoste permits a precise systematic attribution. All this material is attributed to a single taxon: the European Pond Terrapin Emys orbicularis. Therefore, this material represents the oldest known reference to an emydid in the Basque-Cantabrian Basin.
Medieval Archaeological Turtle Remains in the Iberian Peninsula
Segundo Encuentro de Zooarqueología Ibérica (EZI2021). Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas/Universidad Autónoma de Madrid., 2021
A review of the data concerning medieval archaeological turtle findings from the Iberian Peninsula is presented. In order to update and examine this information a comprehensive literature review was performed. These results combined with the analysis of specimens from several archaeological sites where turtle findings were hitherto unpublished are the starting point of a study offering firsthand systematic identifications and archaeological interpretations. Freshwater terrapin (Emys orbicularis and Mauremys leprosa) and tortoise (Testudinidae indet.) remains from eighteen medieval archaeological sites have been analysed. This recent investigation has provided singular taphonomic evidence regarding the consumption of turtles during the Middle Ages.
Le Bronze moyen et l’origine du Bronze final en Europe occidentale, de la Méditerranée aux pays nordiques (xviie-xiiie siècle avant notre ère), Colloque APRAB “Bronze 2014”, Strasbourg 17 au 20 juin 2014, Strasbourg, 671-677 (Mémoires d’Archéologie du Grand-Est 1, 2016
Middle Bronze age faunal reMains froM the pile-dwelling settleMent of lavagnone (desenzano del garda, Brescia, italy) by a. amato, M. rapi et u. tecchiati T he site of Lavagnone is about 10 km south of Desenzano, near the Garda lake (Brescia, Italy); it occupies a marshy area, which corresponds to a former lake bed formed during one of the most recent Quaternary glaciations as an intermorainic basin. The basin-today turned into a peat bog-has been settled for the whole Bronze Age. Thanks to a well-preserved stratigraphic deposit, Lavagnone represents a reference site for the absolute and relative chronology of the Bronze Age in Northern Italy and for the cultural definition of the "Palafitte e Terramare" civilization. Excavations, carried out since the 1970s (De Marinis 2000), investigate five areas situated next to each other over a length of about 170 metres: Sectors A, B, C, E and D, which are located in order to enable the examination of the stratigraphic sequences starting from the northeastern edge and extending to almost the middle of the basin. Several settlement phases have been identified, from the beginning of the EBA, to which relates the earlier pile dwellings, to the latest MBA. The EBA is subdivided into EBA I (EBA IA; IB, IC) and EBA II; dendro-chronological data available for EBA IA and IB contexts links these phases to the xxith and xxth centuries BC. Regarding the MBA, the latest findings show the presence of the initial and full phases also of advanced stages (MBA 1, 2A, 2B, 3). We present the results of a study focused on the animal bones assemblages from the MBA levels. The faunal assemblage analyzed is composed of 6851 fragments (Schmid 1972) (fig 1). Of these, 3395 were identified, namely 49.6% of the entire assemblage, while 3456 (50.4%) were classified as unidentifiable (fig. 2). The macroscopic analysis shows that 1.2% of the bones exhibit cut marks, traces of burning (1%) and gnawing marks left by rodents and carnivores (2%). The faunal remains present the so called "tobacco" color, typical of remains from pile-dwelling sites. In some cases traces of human modifications were noticed on the bones, probably carried out in order to obtain bone tools. The identified specimens are mainly from domestic animals (94%) such as cattle, pig, sheep, goat, horse and dog. Only 6% of the remains belong to wild mammals. The most represented domestic species are sheep and goat (fig. 3) with 1327 fragments (39.1%). As it was possible to distinguish between sheep (246 specimens) and goat (34 specimens) (Kratochvil 1969), it can be said that these animals were present at the site with a ratio of 7:1. An MNI of 45 individuals has been calculated for the caprines. The kill offpattern for these species is based on the observation of the tooth wear stages as well as the degree of the epiphyseal fusion. The results from the study of the tooth wear stages reveal that 66.7% of the animals killed were adults, with juvenile representing the remaining 33.3%. This data shows a specific economic choice in which preference was given to meat, but also to secondary products. The epiphyseal fusion data shows that the animals were killed when about 30-40 months old (Barone 1980), but all other age groups are represented as well. The withers height for goats, based on Radius and Metacarpal bones, is between 60 and 62.6 cm (Schramm 1967). For sheep, the value, calculated on Radius, Tibia, Metapodials and Calcaneus is around 55.6 cm (Teichert 1975).
Archaeometric Study of Shells of Helicidae from the Edera Cave (Northeastern Italy)
Archaeometry, 2009
The Edera Cave, near Aurisina in the Trieste Karst, retains a stratigraphy that extends from the Mesolithic to the modern era. At Sauveterrian layers, many specimens of Helix cincta are present, which are considerably crushed, and a small percentage of which are also blackened. Chemical analyses show that the blackened specimens were exposed to a temperature of between 500 and 550 ° C, and suggest that many others were destroyed by fire at temperatures of above 700 ° C. Consequently, only a part of the Helix cincta shells is assumed to be the residue of human meals, since several factors render plausible an accidental combustion of shells already present in the ground before the lighting of Mesolithic hearths.
A B S T R A C T Numerous sites showing human occupation during the Pleistocene were discovered at the Hula Valley — in the northern segment of the Jordan Valley, Israel. At the Middle Paleolithic site of Nahal Mahanayeem Outlet (NMO; OSL dated to ca. 65,000 B.P.), two testudine species were recovered, a freshwater turtle — the Western Caspian Turtle (Mauremys cf. rivulata), and a tortoise — the Mediterranean Spur-thighed Tortoise (Testudo graeca). The faunal and lithic assemblages were deposited during repeated short-term occupation events. The site was fast covered by mud deposited by rising water in the nearby paleo-Hula Lake, resulting in excellent preservation that provides a rare opportunity to reconstruct the process of procurement, use and eventual disposal of the testu-dines step-by-step. Evidence of consumption of the Mediterranean Spur-thighed and its carapace exists from the late Lower Paleolithic onward, however, no systematic exploitation of the Western Caspian Turtle has been reported to date from any Pleistocene archaeological sites in the Levant. This is the first and earliest evidence of butchering of the freshwater turtle, M. cf. rivulata, at a Levantine Paleolithic site. Based on detailed taxonomic identification and taphonomic analysis, we suggest that both species were exploited in a similar way at NMO. Their limbs were torn apart, and then the bridge connecting the carapace and plastron was broken. Stone tools were used to separate visceral tissues from the peripheral bones in order to detach the meat. However, due to the different shell thickness, the survival rate of the bridge area varies slightly between the two species. Finally we would like to draw attention to the presence of pits mimicking man-made percussion notches on the shells of extant specimen of both species, advocating caution when identifying percussion signs in the fossil record.