A view to a kill : investigating Middle Palaeolithic subsistence using a optimal foraging perspective
Dusseldorp, G.L.
Citation
Dusseldorp, G. L. (2009, April 2). A view to a kill : investigating Middle Palaeolithic subsistence using a optimal foraging perspective. Retrieved from
https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13713
Version: Corrected Publisher’s Version
License: Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden
Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13713
Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable).
Contents
1 Introduction 9
1.1 Research design 10
2 Neanderthal Biology 13
2.1 Introduction 13
2.2 Neanderthal evolution 13
2.3 Neanderthal distribution patterns 16
2.4 Neanderthal anatomy and adaptation 19
2.5 Neanderthal brains 21
2.6 Neanderthal dietary niche and its implications 23
2.7 Neanderthal lives 24
2.8 Concluding remarks 27
3 Neanderthal Archaeology 29
3.1 Introduction 29
3.2 Neanderthal mobility and the study of foraging behaviour 29
3.3 Neanderthal archaeozoology 32
3.3.1 Introduction 32
3.3.2 The hunting vs. scavenging debate 32
3.3.3 Specialised hunting of ungulates 33
3.3.4 Neanderthals and megafauna 35
3.3.5 Central places: Sites exhibiting the full suite of Neanderthal foraging strategies? 37
3.3.6 Broad spectrum revolution, division of labour 42
3.3.7 Summary and conclusion 45
3.4 Material culture 46
3.5 Other aspects of Neanderthal archaeology 51
3.6 Summary and Conclusion 52
4 Optimal foraging models and Neanderthal archaeology 55
4.1 Introduction 55
4.2 General assumptions and criticism 55
4.3 An example of an OFT model: The diet breadth model 58
4.4 Applications of diet breadth in the study of the Middle Palaeolithic 60
4.5 On reconstructing the model’s parameters 61
4.6 Possible confounding factors in the archaeological record 67
4.7 Modelling Neanderthal diet breadth 69
4.8 Modelling hyena diet breadth 71
4.9 Summary and conclusion 72
5 Biache-Saint-Vaast 75
5.1 Introduction 75
5.2 The site 75
5.3 Dating 76
5.4 Stratigraphy and archaeological horizons 77
5.5 The stone artefacts 79
5.6 The bone assemblage 81
5.7 The environment 90
5.8 Applying OFT to Biache-Saint-Vaast 92
5.9 Discussion 99
5.10 Conclusion 100
6 Taubach 103
6.1 Introduction 103
6.2 The site 104
6.3 Dating 104
6.4 The archaeological finds 108
6.5 The bone collection 109
6.6 The environment 113
6.7 Applying OFT to Taubach 118
6.8 Discussion 124
6.9 Conclusion 126
7 Hyena foraging 127
7.1 Introduction 127
7.2 Hyena ecology 128
7.3 Hyena sites 130
7.4 Expectations for the study of Pleistocene hyenas 132
7.5 Case-studies 132
7.5.1 Lunel-Viel 132
7.5.2 Camiac 137
7.6 Discussion 139
7.7 Conclusion 141
8 Discussion 145
8.1 Application of the diet breadth model to archaeological data 145
8.2 Reconstructing the model’s variables 146
8.3 Modelling Neanderthals 149
8.4 This study 150
8.5 Application of OFT to Biache-Saint-Vaast and Taubach 151
8.6 The analysis in context 156
9 Conclusion 159
10 References 161
Dutch Summary 189
Acknowledgements 197
Curriculum vitae 199
