Ahead of the Game

Adler, Daniel S.; Bar-Oz, Guy; Belfer‐Cohen, Anna; Bar‐Yosef, Ofer

doi:10.1086/432455

Cited by 169 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 79 publications

(92 reference statements)

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“…There may also have been some racial bias against Neanderthals, as reflected in characterizing the hunting of many different taxa by modern humans as “increased diet breadth” but by Neanderthals as “opportunistic” and, conversely, in characterizing the focus on a single prey species by modern humans as “specialization” but by Neanderthals as “an inability to exploit diverse resources” [11]. There may even have been some gender bias to the extent that hunting was long considered a masculine activity and therefore overvalued and overemphasized by predominately male researchers, while the gathering of plants was considered to be a feminine activity and therefore undervalued and underemphasized.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for the Paleoethnobotany of the Neanderthal: A Review of the Literature

Shipley

Kindscher

2016

Scientifica

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Our perception of our closest human relatives, the Neanderthals, has evolved in the last few decades from brutish ape-men to intelligent archaic human peoples. Our understanding and appreciation of their cultural sophistication has only recently extended to their diet. Only within the last few years, with new techniques and a shift in focus, have we begun to truly investigate and understand the role of plants in their diet and culture. The more we learn about Neanderthals, the more we realize that biological and cultural distinctions between them and us were relatively small. Given that we coexisted and likely interacted with them for thousands of years, the more we learn about them, the better we may understand our own past. In that light, we review the current evidence, derived from such sources as plant remains (e.g., starch, pollen, phytoliths, and seeds) in soil and dental calculus, dental and tool wear, coprolites, and genetics, for Neanderthal's nutritional, medicinal, and ritual use of plants, which includes 61 different taxa from 26 different plant families found at 17 different archaeological sites. Further, we updated and standardized botanical nomenclature from many sources published over many decades to provide a more stable foundation for future work.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for the Paleoethnobotany of the Neanderthal: A Review of the Literature

Shipley

Kindscher

2016

Scientifica

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“…These hydrological changes impacted distributions of terrestrial biota, such as shifts in the treeline elevation [23,24]. The seasonal distribution of resources currently shapes animal migrations [38][39][40][41][42] and most likely will also then have governed the migrations of animals and the hominins that followed them [43,44].…”

Section: Testing Elevation-dependent Mobility Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term occupations at high elevation during the Middle Paleolithic at Kalavan 2 (Republic of Armenia)

et al. 2021

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The Armenian highlands encompasses rugged and environmentally diverse landscapes and is characterized by a mosaic of distinct ecological niches and large temperature gradients. Strong seasonal fluctuations in resource availability along topographic gradients likely prompted Pleistocene hominin groups to adapt by adjusting their mobility strategies. However, the role that elevated landscapes played in hunter-gatherer settlement systems during the Late Pleistocene (Middle Palaeolithic [MP]) remains poorly understood. At 1640 m above sea level, the MP site of Kalavan 2 (Armenia) is ideally positioned for testing hypotheses involving elevation-dependent seasonal mobility and subsistence strategies. Renewed excavations at Kalavan 2 exposed three main occupation horizons and ten additional low densities lithic and faunal assemblages. The results provide a new chronological, stratigraphical, and paleoenvironmental framework for hominin behaviors between ca. 60 to 45 ka. The evidence presented suggests that the stratified occupations at Kalavan 2 locale were repeated ephemerally most likely related to hunting in a high-elevation within the mountainous steppe landscape.

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“…A 'cultural revolution' may also have played a role in strengthening social bonds within or between tribes. Farreaching and extended social networks could have made important contributions to promoting human survival 1,35 . When conditions became adverse, early humans, being better at networking, would be able to receive and pass on more information about foraging grounds where prey could be hunted, or where fruits and tubers could be gathered.…”

Section: Aniruddha Banerjimentioning

confidence: 99%

Man and his Ancestors – The Legacy and Fate of Neanderthal Man

Banerji

2018

Current Science

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Ahead of the Game

Cited by 169 publications

References 79 publications

Evidence for the Paleoethnobotany of the Neanderthal: A Review of the Literature

Evidence for the Paleoethnobotany of the Neanderthal: A Review of the Literature

Short-term occupations at high elevation during the Middle Paleolithic at Kalavan 2 (Republic of Armenia)

Man and his Ancestors – The Legacy and Fate of Neanderthal Man

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