Birds of a Feather: Neanderthal Exploitation of Raptors and Corvids

Abstract

The hypothesis that Neanderthals exploited birds for the use of their feathers or claws as personal ornaments in symbolic behaviour is revolutionary as it assigns unprecedented cognitive abilities to these hominins. This inference, however, is based on modest faunal samples and thus may not represent a regular or systematic behaviour. Here we address this issue by looking for evidence of such behaviour across a large temporal and geographical framework. Our analyses try to answer four main questions: 1) does a Neanderthal to raptor-corvid connection exist at a large scale, thus avoiding associations that might be regarded as local in space or time?; 2) did Middle (associated with Neanderthals) and Upper Palaeolithic (associated with modern humans) sites contain a greater range of these species than Late Pleistocene paleontological sites?; 3) is there a taphonomic association between Neanderthals and corvids-raptors at Middle Palaeolithic sites on Gibraltar, specifically Gorham's, Vanguard and Ibex Caves? and; 4) was the extraction of wing feathers a local phenomenon exclusive to the Neanderthals at these sites or was it a geographically wider phenomenon?. We compiled a database of 1699 Pleistocene Palearctic sites based on fossil bird sites. We also compiled a taphonomical database from the Middle Palaeolithic assemblages of Gibraltar. We establish a clear, previously unknown and widespread, association between Neanderthals, raptors and corvids. We show that the association involved the direct intervention of Neanderthals on the bones of these birds, which we interpret as evidence of extraction of large flight feathers. The large number of bones, the variety of species processed and the different temporal periods when the behaviour is observed, indicate that this was a systematic, geographically and temporally broad, activity that the Neanderthals undertook. Our results, providing clear evidence that Neanderthal cognitive capacities were comparable to those of Modern Humans, constitute a major advance in the study of human evolution.

Ramification of lithic production and the search of small tools in Iberian Peninsula Middle Paleolithic

“…The evidence of habitat structuring suggests that neandertals organized space to fulfill different kind of activities (Bourguignon et al, 2002;Conard and Adler, 1997;Vaquero et al, 2012). There is also other evidence of increasing social complexity, including the use of ornaments and body decoration (Finlayson et al, 2012;Peresani et al, 2013;Soressi and D'Errico, 2007;Zilhâo et al, 2010), and burials (Pettitt, 2002).…”

Estudio de la avifauna de la cueva de Praileaitz I (Deba, Gipuzkoa)

“…4 y 5) ni en las falanges se observaron trazas de manipulación antrópica, por lo que no existe evidencia alguna de la selección humana de estos elementos con el fin de utilizarlos como materia prima en la elaboración de herramientas, utensilios o adornos. El aprovechamiento de las plumas es una cuestión difícil de demostrar si no hay marcas en los huesos de las alas (FINLAYSoN et al, 2012;LAWSoN, D'ERRICo 2002;MoRIN, LARouLANDIE, 2012 cf.Circus pygargus (Linnaeus, 1758) El Aguilucho Cenizo es una especie estival en la Península Ibérica que no aparece en el registro arqueológi-co del País Vasco. La erosión que afecta al tarsometatar-so recuperado limita nuestra identificación como posible.…”

Neandertal-Modern Human Contact in Western Eurasia: Issues of Dating, Taxonomy, and Cultural Associations

“…Over such large distances, the only "infl uence" that could have been exerted is that concerning the notion of "personal ornamentation" itself. However, in western Europe, Neandertal body painting and personal ornamentation have Middle Paleolithic beginnings and predate both the IUP/Emiran and the Châtelperronian by thousands of years (Soressi and d'Errico 2007 ;Zilhão et al 2010a ;Peresani et al 2011 ;Morin and Laroulandie 2012 ;Finlayson et al 2012 ).…”

“…While Recent African Origin views interpreted many innovations of the European Upper Paleolithic as a "Human Revolution" (Mellars and Stringer 1989 ) triggered by the immigration of modern humans, the new evidence credited many of those innovations to the Neandertals and showed that some had fi rst appeared in the preceding Middle Paleolithic. Among the latter is the use in body ornamentation of painted/perforated marine shells, large raptor feathers, and mineral pigments modifi ed as crayons or processed for the preparation of complex cosmetic recipes (Soressi and d'Errico 2007 ;Zilhão et al 2010a ;Peresani et al 2011 ;Morin and Laroulandie 2012 ;Finlayson et al 2012 ). It is also quite possible that Neandertals were the makers of the earliest known cave art, as suggested by the minimum age of 41.4 ± 0.6 ka (95.4 % probability interval) provided by U-series dating of calcite accretions covering geometric signs and hand stencils at the Spanish site of El Castillo (Cantabria; Pike et al 2012 ).…”