Bosch et al. (2018), Year-round shellfish exploitation in the Levant and implications for Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer subsistence. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.08.014 (original) (raw)
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Recent studies have shown that the use of aquatic resources has greater antiquity in hominin diets than previously thought. At present, it is unclear when hominins started to habitually consume marine resources. This study examines shellfish exploitation from a behavioural ecology perspective, addressing how and when past hunter-gatherers from the Levant used coastal resources for subsistence purposes. We investigate the seasonality of shellfish exploitation in the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic through oxygen isotope analysis on shells of the intertidal rocky shore mollusc Phorcus (Osilinus) turbinatus from the key site Ksâr 'Akil (Lebanon). At this rockshelter, multi-layered archaeological deposits contained remains of both marine and terrestrial molluscs in relatively large quantities, which were consumed and used as tools and ornaments by the occupants of the site. Our results indicate that at the start of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic (IUP), there is no evidence for shellfish consumption. Humans started to take fresh shellfish to the rockshelter from the second half of the IUP onward, albeit in low quantities. During the Early Upper Palaeolithic (EUP) shellfish exploitation became increasingly frequent. Oxygen isotope data show that shellfish exploitation was practised in every season throughout most of the Upper Palaeolithic (UP), with an emphasis on the colder months. This suggests that coastal resources had a central role in early UP foraging strategies, rather than a seasonally restricted supplementary one. Year-round shellfish gathering, in turn, suggests that humans occupied the rockshelter at different times of the year, although not necessarily continuously. Our oxygen isotope data is complemented with broader-scale exploitation patterns of faunal resources, both vertebrate and invertebrate, at the site. The inclusion of coastal marine resources signifies a diversification of the human diet from the EUP onward, which is also observed in foraging practices linked to the exploitation of terrestrial fauna.
The seasonal pattern of shellfish foraging at the archaeological site of Haua Fteah in the Gebel Akhdar, Libya was investigated from the Epipaleolithic to the Neolithic via oxygen isotope (d18O) analyses of the topshell Phorcus (Osilinus) turbinatus. To validate this species as faithful year-round palaeoenvironmental recorder, the intra-annual variability of d18O in modern shells and sea water was analysed and compared with measured sea surface temperature (SST). The shells were found to be good candidates for seasonal shellfish forging studies as they preserve nearly the complete annual SST cycle in their shell d18O with minimal slowing or stoppage of growth. During the terminal Pleistocene Early Epipaleolithic (locally known as the Oranian, with modeled dates of 17.2e12.5 ka at 2s probability, Douka et al., 2014), analysis of archaeological specimens indicates that shellfish were foraged year-round. This complements other evidence from the archaeological record that shows that the cave was more intensively occupied in this period than before or afterwards. This finding is significant as the period of the Oranian was the coldest and driest phase of the last glacial cycle in the Gebel Akhdar, adding weight to the theory that the Gebel Akhdar may have served as a refugium for humans in North Africa during times of global climatic ex- tremes. Mollusc exploitation in the Latest Pleistocene and Early Holocene, during the Late Epipaleolithic (locally known as the Capsian, c. 12.7 to 9 ka) and the Neolithic (c. 8.5 to 5.4 ka), occurred predominantly during winter. Other evidence from these archaeological phases shows that hunting activities occurred during the warmer months. Therefore, the timing of Holocene shellfish exploitation in the Gebel Akhdar may have been influenced by the seasonal availability of other resources at these times and possibly shellfish were used as a dietary supplement when other foods were less abundant.
Isotope evidence for the intensive use of marine foods by Late Upper Palaeolithic humans
Journal of Human Evolution, 2005
We report here on direct evidence for the intensive consumption of marine foods by anatomically modern humans at approximately 12,000 years ago. We undertook isotopic analysis of bone collagen from three humans, dating to the late Palaeolithic, from the site of Kendrick's Cave in North Wales, UK. The isotopic measurements of their bone collagen indicated that ca. 30% of their dietary protein was from marine sources, which we interpret as likely being high trophic level marine organisms such as marine mammals. This indicates that towards the end of the Pleistocene modern humans were pursuing a hunting strategy that incorporated both marine and terrestrial mammals. This is the first occurrence of the intensive use of marine resources, specifically marine mammals, that becomes even more pronounced in the subsequent Mesolithic period.
In this contribution we dismantle the perceived role of marine resources and plant foods in the subsistence economy of Holocene foragers of the Central Mediterranean using a combination of dental calculus and stable isotope analyses. The discovery of fish scales and flesh fragments, starch granules and other plant and animal micro-debris in the dental calculus of a Mesolithic forager dated to the end of the 8th millenium BC and buried in the Vlakno Cave on Dugi Otok Island in the Croatian Archipelago demonstrates that marine resources were regularly consumed by the individual together with a variety of plant foods. Since previous stable isotope data in the Eastern Adriatic and the Mediterranean region emphasises that terrestrial-based resources contributed mainly to Mesolithic diets in the Mediterranean Basin, our results provide an alternative view of the dietary habits of Mesolithic foragers in the Mediterranean region based on a combination of novel methodologies and data. The Central Mediterranean has yielded a unique funerary record whereby large and small islands in the Tyrrhenian, Ionian and Adriatic Seas were selected as burial locations by Mesolithic foragers. Mesolithic burials are known from Sicily, the Egadi Islands, Sardinia, Corsica as well as some islands of the Croatian archipelago 1–9. Despite the importance of marine localities for disposal of the dead, the dietary stable isotopic and zooarchaeo-logical data for these Central Mediterranean foragers has emphasised that marine resources (and plant foods) had a marginal role to their diets 10–17. This pattern is in stark contrast to Mesolithic forgers inhabiting regions along the Atlantic coastline 18,19. Recent methodological developments in the analysis of micro-fossils trapped in human dental calculus has provided a new way for assessing neglected aspects of hunter-gatherer-fisher subsistence along with non-dietary information on human interaction with varied environments 20,21. The potential of this method has mainly been recognised for reconstructing the relative proportion of plant foods in human diets. It has emerged that the harvesting and processing of starchy resources, such as grasses, tubers or roots rich in carbohydrates, might not have been a sole prerogative of agricultural societies 22. Yet, it is more difficult to assess a direct correlation between the presence of plant remains in calculus and estimations of the quantity of the plant foods consumed 23 while micro-debris of animal origin has rarely been recovered in ancient plaque. In addition, the recovery in dental calculus of micro-particles of materials deliberately or accidentally ingested during the performance of various activities has also proven the potential of the study of dental calculus to provide insights into aspects of individual life-ways other than nutrition 20,21,24. In this contribution, we offer new insights into the complexity of Mesolithic diets in the Central Mediterranean by presenting the results of our analysis of dental calculus remains from an individual buried at the site of Vlakno Cave on Dugi Otok (Fig. 1). The analysis of dental calculus presented here will be compared with the results