Elsevier

Quaternary Science Reviews

Volume 225, 1 December 2019, 106033
Quaternary Science Reviews

Neanderthal logistic mobility during MIS3: Zooarchaeological perspective of Abric Romaní level P (Spain)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106033Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Abric Romaní level P was the result of at least two different types of occupations.

  • Transitory residential camp during short halts for the capture of red deer.

  • Hunting camp/intermediate butchering site for the specialized capture of horses.

  • Neanderthals were involved in a logistic mobility system.

Abstract

Mobility strategies of Neanderthal groups are studied through the characterization and analysis of archaeological sites and traditionally compared to the types of settlements present-day hunter-gatherer groups, based on their mobility strategies. The faunal record of level P of Abric Romaní is a unique source of information for analysing the foraging behaviour developed by Neanderthals during MIS3. The assemblage is divided into two separate and well-defined sublevels: Pa and Pb. Through the taphonomic study of the remains and their spatial distribution, it was possible to define the characteristics of these human occupations. The analyses indicate that the assemblage was the result of at least two different types of occupations: 1) A transitory residential camp during short halts, focusing on the exploitation of red deer; 2) A hunting camp/intermediate butchering site for the specialized capture of horses. The presence of occupations focusing on the supply of specific resources is typical of collector groups. The results of the zooarchaeological study of level P characterize the Neanderthals of Abric Romaní as groups involved in a logistic mobility system, who moved throughout the territory depending on the availability of large ungulates.

Introduction

According to Kuhn et al. (2016), human group mobility is driven by four interrelated phenomena: the internal need for movement (rewards and decisions), mobility skills (biomechanical limitations), the ability to navigate (cognitive challenges of movement) and external factors. The external factors that influence movement include the environmental context, distribution and abundance of resources, or the associated climatic and habitat changes, among others. Kelly (1992) argued that the mobility and settlements of modern hunter-gatherers are largely determined by the availability of resources on which they base their survival. Most groups depend on temporally and spatially restricted resources (Kelly, 1992, 1983), forcing them to adopt mobile strategies for the management of the distribution area of these resources. Mobility enables hunter-gatherers to balance the unequal distribution of resources in the territory (Kelly, 2013), to avoid food deficits caused by over-hunting, and other negative effects of the long-term occupation of a local ecosystem (Hamilton and Watt, 1970). Other benefits of mobility include flexibility in group size and the ability to relocate settlements near periodically abundant resources, mainly plant and, animal resources and their by-products, and access to water (Lee, 1979, 1972; Perlman, 1985; Smith, 1981; Tanaka, 1976). However, foraging groups may also develop high mobility in their territory for reasons other than water availability or irregularities in food distribution (Jones, 1983), such as the Aché (Paraguay). In any of these variants, mobility leads to a reduction of social stress and conflict between co-resident groups (Woodburn, 1980, 1972), exposure to a wider range of potentially exploitable resources (Kuhn et al., 2016) and guarantees a higher success rate in hunting (Jones, 1983). This is linked in many cases to food management, which can range from the storage of surpluses to the equitable sharing and consumption of food obtained on a daily basis (Binford, 1980; Gould, 1981; Jones, 1983; Lee, 1979; Marshall, 1961).

Binford (1980) developed an approach focusing on settlement patterns, to describe the movements of hunter-gatherer groups, based on the study of the/Gwi San (Silberbauer, 1972) and the Nunamiut (Binford, 1978). He classified groups into foragers, with residential mobility, and collectors, with logistic mobility. The main difference between them is that foragers move consumers to resources with frequent residential movements, while collectors move resources to consumers, generally with fewer residential movements (Binford, 1980). Foragers make seasonal residential movements between a series of resource patches (Binford, 1980). Their residential mobility can vary considerably between sites, both in time and space, and they do not store food, but consume all the resources obtained daily. They mainly generate two types of places, residential bases, in which the group the entire group socialites and developed their domestic activities, and locations, where extractive tasks are exclusively carried out. On the other hand, collectors are characterized by their logistic organization, as specialized task groups provide them with specific resources, and by the storage of food for at least part of the year (Binford, 1982). Specialized task groups leave a residential location to collect a specific resource. These groups are often small and seek to procure a specific resource in a specific context. In addition to the places generated by foragers, three further possible places are used by collectors: the field camp, station, and cache. However, the forager and collector models are not two types of substantially antagonistic settlement systems, but rather a graduated series from simple to complex, in which settlement dynamics are strongly linked to the spatial and seasonal distribution of resources in the environment (Binford, 1980). Nevertheless, not all foragers are highly mobile, nor are all collectors almost sedentary (Kelly, 2013).

Similarly, Mortensen (1972) established two models based on mobility patterns. These are: the circulating model (the residential group moves in predictable seasonal rounds with a single, self-sufficient, settlement type) and the radiating model (places of specific activity supply resources to residential places). Both models produce spatial regional exploitation as one would expect from foraging and logistic models, respectively (Binford, 1980). Based on these categories, archaeological work has attempted to characterize the subsistence of past human groups.

There is no doubt that most archaeological sites are palimpsests (Bailey, 2008; Bailey and Galanidou, 2009). This means that in most cases our object of study is the result of an indeterminate number of events that can incorporate and remove materials (LaMotta and Schiffer, 1999). It is generally impossible to discriminate between or identify the length of sequences in these sequences of events (Vaquero, 2008a). On account of the overlapping of episodes of activity, it is difficult to address the duration of occupations of archaeological sites in temporal terms, although this has not led to the abandonment of these topics by archaeologists (Audouze and Enloe, 1997; Clark, 2016; Enloe, 2012; Gaudzinski, 2004; Pettitt, 1997; Riel-Salvatore et al., 2013; Spagnolo et al., 2018). Stiner (2013) proposed two models of occupation for the Middle Palaeolithic based on the function and intensity of occupations: ephemeral occupations with high mobility and relatively intense occupations with a higher input of materials. These two categories are usually based on the density of materials, the existence of living floor structures and/or the types of modifications present on the materials.

Information from detailed zooarchaeological and taphonomic studies elucidates characteristics of Neanderthal group subsistence strategies, such as prey selection, transport strategies, seasonality of occupations, carcass processing, food exchange or group cooperation. These elements enable us to characterize the nature of settlements and differentiate between long and short occupations (e.g., Faith, 2007; Faith and Gordon, 2007; Marín et al., 2017a, 2017b; Rodríguez-Hidalgo et al., 2017; Saladié et al., 2011; Speth and Clark, 2006; Stiner et al., 2009; Stiner and Kuhn, 2006). These data, associated with the studies of lithic assemblages and raw materials, allow us to characterize the mobility of hominin groups through analogies with contemporaneous hunter-gatherers (Adler et al., 2006; Boyle, 2000; Burke, 2004; Carbonell, 2012; Conard and Adler, 1997; Courty et al., 2012; Daujeard and Moncel, 2010; Delagnes and Rendu, 2011; Gaudzinski, 2000; Lieberman and Shea, 1994; Niven et al., 2012; Patou-Mathis, 2000; Turq et al., 2017; Valensi and Psathi, 2004). As a result, mobility strategies have been proposed in Europe for Middle Palaeolithic groups, which vary mainly according to regional characteristics. Thus, for example, in Central and Eastern Europe, the low frequency of base camps in comparison to temporary camps, has been identified as an indicator of the predominance of multidirectional (radial or star pattern) logistic mobility strategies (Patou-Mathis, 2000). In the Rhone Valley (France), settlements have been associated with a far-sighted circulating models (Daujeard and Moncel, 2010; Moncel et al., 2014). In the south-western French Atlantic basin, hunting strategies, prey type and seasonality, show that groups associated with the Quina system and the discoid-denticulate system were logistically mobile, while groups with a laminar Levallois system were associated with a more residential foraging system (Delagnes and Rendu, 2011; Niven et al., 2012; Turq et al., 2017). In the south French Mediterranean basin, Neanderthal groups have been linked to a circulating mobility strategy, where small communities scattered throughout the territory sought day-to-day supplies (Boyle, 2000). In the Mediterranean basin of the Iberian Peninsula, most studies agree that Neanderthal groups are characterized by highly mobility, developing in most cases accumulations resulting from repeated occupations of short duration, which could be related to logistic organization (Martínez-Moreno et al., 2004; Real et al., 2018; Rosell et al., 2017; Vallverdú et al., 2005; Zilhão and Villaverde, 2008). In the Middle Palaeolithic sites of the Near East, hominin groups have been associated with two mobility strategies: radiating type multi-seasonal logistic mobility related to archaic populations, and a highly seasonal residential circulating mobility related to anatomically modern populations (Lieberman and Shea, 1994; Marín-Arroyo, 2013).

Although Neanderthal mobility strategies display variability, especially as regards circulating or radiating mobility, the logistic strategy it seems that it could be predominant in the Mediterranean basin of the Iberian Peninsula, France and part of Central Europe. In all these regions, group subsistence relied on the capture of large ungulates. Neanderthals in the Iberian Peninsula also based their meat economy on large ungulates, especially deer, large bovids, horses and caprines (Altuna, 1990; Arsuaga et al., 2012; Blasco, 1997; Fernández-Laso et al., 2010; Fernández-Peris et al., 2008, p.; Gabucio et al., 2018a, 2018b; 2014; Galván et al., 2001; Iturbe et al., 1993; Martínez-Moreno et al., 2004; Morin et al., 2016; Real et al., 2018; Romero et al., 2019; Salazar-García et al., 2013; Sanchis et al., 2019; Sanchis Serra et al., 2013; Steele, 2004; Utrilla et al., 2010; Villaverde et al., 2017; Yravedra et al., 2012; Yravedra and Cobo-Sánchez, 2015; Zilhão and Villaverde, 2008).

In the Abric Romani sequence, accumulations interpreted as resulting from long-term occupation events or short-term and/or non-residential occupation events have been identified (Carbonell and Vaquero, 1998; Carbonell, 2002, 2012; Vallverdú et al., 2005, 2010; 2012a; Vaquero et al., 2012). In both scenarios, archaeological levels correspond to the superposition of an indeterminate number of occupational events (Vallverdú et al., 2005, 2010; 2012a; Vaquero et al., 2015). Through the analysis of the faunal record of the recently excavated level P (seasons 2006–2013), had conducted a study focusing on the type of occupations generated by this assemblage. To this end, have been characterized Neanderthals settlement types in the rock shelter and the associated mobility strategies.

Section snippets

Abric Romaní

The Abric Romaní archaeological site is a rock-shelter located in the gorge of the Cinglera del Capelló, 45 km northwest of Barcelona (Spain). The stratigraphy consists of 30 m of well-stratified travertine sediments. Rock fragmentation and alluvial and biochemical sedimentary processes generate beds of consolidated stones, gravels, calcarenites and calcilutites interspersed with very fine archaeological levels (Vallverdú et al., 2010). U-series and radiocarbon dates place the Abric Romaní

Materials and method

Level P was excavated between 2006 and 2013 over a total area of 247 m2. This level is dated to 54.24 ± 0.42 Ka BP (top) and 55.0 ± 2.6 Ka BP (bottom) (Bischoff et al., 1994, 1988; Vallverdú et al., 2012b; Vaquero et al., 2013), and is in pollen zone 3 characterized by a cold and dry climate (Burjachs et al., 2012; Burjachs and Julià, 1994).

Level P was excavated using Cartesian coordinates on a grid divided into square metres. Two archaeological sublevels were differentiated in some areas, but

Archaeo-stratigraphy of level P

The separation of the two sublevels was possible over the whole surface of the rock shelter. Sublevel Pa (NR = 979) contains a greater number of faunal remains than sublevel Pb (NR = 254) (Fig. 1). This allowed us to develop the spatial study of faunal specimens and to distinguish possible accumulation events in the sublevel. The spatial distribution of the remains shows cluster patterns in which numerous accumulations are associated with hearths (Pa = 4, Pb=3), and characterized by high

Discussion

Over the past decades, intense research at the Abric Romaní has enabled us to discuss different aspects of Neanderthal behaviour. Among them, the exploitation of resources and the type of occupation of the rock shelter have been central (Allué et al., 2017; Bargalló et al., 2016; Burjachs et al., 2012; Carrancho et al., 2016; Chacón et al., 2015; Gabucio et al., 2018a, 2018a; Romagnoli et al., 2018, 2016; Solé et al., 2013; Vallverdú et al., 2010, 2005; Vaquero et al., 2017, 2015). The elevated

Conclusions

Our results indicate that Neanderthal groups in level P developed two main types of low-intensity occupations: 1) a transitional residential camp; 2) a specialized hunting camp or intermediate butchering site. These occupations were closely connected to the hunting of red deer or horses. This points to a logistic mobility model close related to the exploitation of hunting resources. The seasonality and migratory behaviour approximations in this work sometimes allowed us to reaffirm the

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Juan Marín: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Investigation, Writing - original draft. Antonio Rodríguez-Hidalgo: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing - review & editing, Supervision. Josep Vallverdú: Investigation, Data curation. Bruno Gómez de Soler: Investigation, Data curation. Florent Rivals: Investigation, Data curation. José Ramón Rabuñal: Investigation, Data curation. Antonio Pineda: Investigation. María Gema Chacón: Investigation. Eudald Carbonell:

Acknowledgments

We want to express our deepest gratitude all the researchers and the fieldwork team of the Abric Romaní Project. We extend our sincerest gratitude to Jonathan Reeves and Shannon P. McPherron for their comments in the use of Moran's I test of spatial autocorrelation. We thank the editor Danielle Schreve, and the reviewers Camille Daujeard and one anonymous reviewer for their help and suggestions that improved the original version of the manuscript.

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