Hominin-Carnivore Adaptive Strategies in Western Europe During the Early Pleistocene (original) (raw)
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Hominin and carnivore interactions during the Early Pleistocene in Western Europe
2017
The first peopling of Europe has been widely discussed for the last decades. The many findings recorded in recent years have confirmed that Europe was occupied by humans during the Early Pleistocene for over a million years. However, several issues are still questioned in the current debate about the first peopling of Europe, including the continuity or discontinuity of this event. In this regard, a revision of the available zooarchaeological evidence for the Early Pleistocene in Europe is proposed in this article, discussing the influence on hominin behaviour of meat-resource acquisition. The climatic fluctuations which characterized this period, as well as the diversity of ecosystems found in the Mediterranean area and in the whole continent, make meat consumption a key resource concerning the adaptive possibilities of local hominins. Thus, the persistence of hominin settlement in Europe during the Early Pleistocene may have depended on the social cohesion of the groups and their capacity to provide a regular supply of meat resources.
2017
In the last few decades, some progress has been made towards a synthesis of the data on the presence of early hominins in Europe and their dispersals across the continent in the Early and Middle Pleistocene. The sites that have been documented present various datasets, including hominin fossils, large and small mammal remains, and archeological artifacts. In this paper, the main focus is on sites where clear evidence exists of the processing of large mammals by hominins, in the form of cut marks, percussion marks, and others. In this regard, the taxonomic diversity of the mammals is considered alongside the type of hominin activity. All these sites serve as background for the recent discovery of the earliest (MIS 11 or 9), and indeed the only Polish, example of Middle Pleistocene human butchering activity (at the Bełchat ow site). The study revealed that the filleting of meat, as found in Bełchat ow, was also the means of meat processing employed on the oldest site of those with evidence of butchery, which is located in fact in the transition zone of Europe and Asia. This means that processing, even in its simplest forms, could have been a strong influence on adoption of meat eating among members of the Homo genus, as has been discussed recently. This emphasizes the significance of human choice, and seems to have occurred regardless of the geographical setting of human activity. This paper also presents a paleogeographic synthesis of butchering for the European Early and Middle Pleistocene and summarizes our current understanding of food processing by hominins, by scrutinizing the data on large mammals affected by such processes.
10th Annual Meeting of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution (ESHE), 2020
Archaic humans (early Homo) and carnivores inhabited the Early and Middle Pleistocene landscapes of Europe, and shared ecosystems for more than 1 million years. Indeed, many archaeo-palaeontological sites evidence the co-existence of humans and carnivores, and demonstrate a certain degree of human-carnivore competition for acquisition and exploitation of animal (meat/bone) resources. We investigate here the role of large carnivores in the evolution of hominin subsistence strategies during the Early and Middle Pleistocene of Europe, focusing on important renewals in the carnivore guilds, and their significance in terms of carrion availability for scavenging and human-carnivore competition for access to food resources. Based on a previous ecomorphological approach of carnivore guild analysis [1], a modified version was recently employed [2] and is presented herein, combining four ecomorphological/behavioral parameters of large carnivores (body mass-BM, diet, hunting strategy, sociality) that practice hunting and/or scavenging on large prey. 3D guild structure diagrams were constructed and analyzed aiming to: 1) examine the community structure and dynamics of the predatory guilds, 2) infer the possible role of carnivores in the changes of early Homo subsistence strategies (passive/active scavenging and hunting), and 3) assess the role of hominins within the guilds. The late Villafranchian–Epivillafranchian (Early Pleistocene) carnivore guild was dominated by large-sized, hypercarnivorous and ambush-hunting felids (e.g., the saber-toothed cats Megantereon and Homotherium), and by the large-sized, bone-cracking and scavenging hyaenid Pachycrocuta. Τhe latter in particular was the most direct competitor of Homo for scavenging food resources (leftovers) left behind mainly by the saber-toothed cats [3]. As a member of the predatory guild (evident from the presence of cut and percussion marks on mammal bones), Homo would occupy the ecological space that was “available” for a predator with a 30–100 kg BM and a (mostly?) scavenging behavior, perhaps with a hypocarnivorous/carnivorous diet according to ecological circumstances and geographic setting. Τhe disappearance of most of the Early Pleistocene carnivore components (including Pachycrocuta and Megantereon) towards the end of this period, and their replacement by the Galerian (Middle Pleistocene) to modern hyenas and felids, resulted in the change of the structure and dynamics of the guild. Most notably, this reorganization included the decrease of carrion providers (hunters), and the higher representation of species with scavenging, bone-cracking and pack-hunting behavior. In this Middle Pleistocene guild, Homo would occupy the niche that was previously held by Megantereon, in the group of predators with 30–100 kg BM. Similar to Megantereon, humans could have a carnivorous to hypercarnivorous diet, but unlike the solitary and “ambush-and-slash” felid, the biological, technological, cultural and social developments would have allowed humans to employ a modified hunting strategy: the cooperative “ambush-and-spear” strategy (in accordance with the use of hunting spears during this period). The incorporation of such hunting behavior made humans fairly independent of erratic food sources from scavenging carnivore kills and allowed the provisioning of animal resources on a more regular basis. Moreover, even though the carnivore diversity slightly increased during this period, carnivore representation in the archaeo-palaeontological localities is rather low in both species and specimens number. This is possibly an anthropogenic effect on the ecosystem due to: 1) the firmer establishment of the hominin niche, including anti-predator strategies and expulsion of large carnivores from the region of human influence; and 2) the reduction of food quantity through human confrontational scavenging or decrease in prey availability through human hunting (see also [4] and [5]).
Predator–prey relationships and the role of Homo in Early Pleistocene food webs in Southern Europe
Predator/prey relationships in Mediterranean Europe during the Early Pleistocene are analysed at the local and regional scales and compared to patterns observed in recent fauna from four regions worldwide (East Africa, South Africa, Southeast Asia and North America). Three subregions (South Eastern, Central and South Western Mediterranean) and three time periods (middle Villafranchian, late Villafranchian and Galerian) are considered. Our approach focuses on large primary consumers and their potential predators; both are defined as mammals weighing over 10 kg. Early Pleistocene food webs are characterised by a unique body size distribution of primary consumers and an extremely rich carnivore guild. These characteristics likely affected ecosystem function in a way not observed in recent communities. The percentage of megafau-na species was higher in the middle Villafranchian than in recent fauna, and it increased in the late Villafranchian and early Galerian. The number of predators able to kill megafauna species was high in the late Villafranchian but decreased to modern values in the early Galerian. Competition inside the carnivore guild was similar to recent values in the middle Villafranchian and early Galerian but higher in the late Villafranchian. Hominins likely entered Europe during the late Villafranchian, when survival opportunities for a hunter–gatherer were low and hominins were most likely relegated to a marginal role in the palaeocommunity. This scenario changed in the early Galerian with the extinction of several predators and relatively reduced intraguild competition.
Human/carnivore interaction in the Middle Pleistocene of Latium (Central Italy): an open question
2002
The chronology of the first colonisation of Europe by hominids is still a hotly debated question. In the last fifty years or so, “long chronologies” of 1 to 2 Ma have been again and again opposed to “short chronologies” of approximately 500 ka. In recent years a compromise of a kind was reached by Dennel & Roebroeks (1996), whose “revised short chronology” suggests an intermittent peopling of the Mediterranean perimeter of Europe around 1 Ma, and a stable colonisation starting around 600 to 500 ka. An even greater antiquity is actually claimed for some European sites, but the dates are still controversial (see Palmqvist & Arribas 2001; Peretto 2001 for an update of the debate). Whatever the exact date of the earliest peopling, given the very limited technological complexity at the time, any dispersal of human groups out of Africa and into the middle latitudes of Eurasia is better seen in the context of similar events involving other species: human behaviour, including the expansion ...
Carnivores and Hominins in Middle Pleistocene
2012
Available online at www.journaltaphonomy.com Study of faunal series resulting from recent excavations in two caves in North Atlantic Morocco (Grotte à Hominidés- GH- and Grotte des Rhinocéros- GDR- at Thomas I and Oulad Hamida 1 quarries, Casablanca) has yielded new evidence concerning the gathering and processing of ungulates carcasses during the Middle Pleistocene in this part of North Africa. Preliminary taphonomic analysis of the macrofauna indicates that the carcasses were mainly introduced in the caves by carnivores. Additionally, marks generated by porcupines also occur. Dimensions and morphologies of tooth-marks and coprolites suggest that carnivores of different sizes (mainly middle-sized canids, hyenids and felids), as well as porcupines, used the cave. Cut-marks on the bones are absent at GH and scarce at GDR, despite their association with lithic artefacts and human fossils. This raises the question of the relationship between hominins and other competitors in these cave...
The aim of this paper is to more clearly classify Middle Paleolithic subsistence tactics by considering this evidence against an Upper Paleolithic background, where we discern a clearer picture of human subsistence tactics. Therefore, a diachronous comparative analysis of reindeer assemblages from northwestern European archaeological sites was undertaken. Differences in exploitation strategies become clearly visible for the late Upper Paleolithic, which can be interpreted to partly reflect the demands of elaborate settlement dynamics, evidence of which we especially lack for the Middle Paleolithic. Because of these differences in social networking strategies between Middle and Upper Palaeolithic groups, it seems highly likely that subsistence behavior involving the careful selection of large mammal resources was particularly crucial to maintaining high foraging return rates during the Middle Palaeolithic.
Hominid behaviour and the earliest occupation of Europe: an exploration
Journal of Human Evolution, 2001
The last decade has witnessed a heated debate over the age and the character of the earliest occupation of Europe. This paper addresses two aspects of the debate, one dealing with the chronology of occupation, which is put to use in the second issue, an exploration of the behaviour of the earliest occupants of Europe. The review of the debate on chronology concludes that a short chronology applies to Europe north of the large mountain chains of the Alps and the Pyrenees, where the earliest traces of a human presence date back to about half a million years ago. In this phased-colonisation model, the Mediterranean, and especially Spain, saw an earlier occupation, starting around the end of the Lower Pleistocene. The archaeological record of these first Europeans suggests that from the first presence in northern Europe onwards, regular hunting of large game was common practice among Middle Pleistocene hominids. By situating this archaeological evidence in the context of findings from a range of other disciplines I develop a behavioural scenario which suggests that, at its latest by the Middle Pleistocene, increased forms of social cooperation, exchange of information within larger groups and in general forms of behaviour based on a "release from proximity" had become a standard ingredient of the hominid behavioural repertoire.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Over the last few decades, several types of evidence such as presence of hominin remains, lithic assemblages, and bones with anthropogenic surface modifications have demonstrated that early human communities inhabited the European subcontinent prior to the Jaramillo Subchron (1.07–0.98 Ma). While most studies have focused primarily on early European lithic technologies and raw material management, relatively little is known about food procurement strategies. While there is some evidence showing access to meat and other animal-based food resources, their mode of acquisition and associated butchery processes are still poorly understood. This paper presents a taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis of the Fuente Nueva-3 (FN3) (Guadix-Baza, Spain) faunal assemblage, providing a more in-depth understanding of early hominin subsistence strategies in Europe. The present results show that hominins had access to the meat and marrow of a wide range of animal taxa, including elephants, hippo...
In this paper, we compare cannibalism in chimpanzees, modern humans, and in archaeological cases with cannibalism inferred from evidence from the Early Pleistocene assemblage of level TD6 of Gran Dolina (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). The cannibalism documented in level TD6 mainly involves the consumption of infants and other immature individuals. The human induced modifications on Homo antecessor and deer remains suggest that butchering processes were similar for both taxa, and the remains were discarded on the living floor in the same way. This finding implies that a group of hominins that used the Gran Dolina cave periodically hunted and consumed individuals from another group. However, the age distribution of the cannibalized hominins in the TD6 assemblage is not consistent with that from other cases of exo-cannibalism by human/hominin groups. Instead, it is similar to the age profiles seen in cannibalism associated with intergroup aggression in chimpanzees. For this reason, we use an analogy with chimpanzees to propose that the TD6 hominins mounted low-risk attacks on members of other groups to defend access to resources within their own territories and to try and expand their territories at the expense of neighboring groups.