Subsistence strategy changes during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition reveals specific adaptations of Human Populations to their environment

Abstract

The transition from Middle to Upper Paleolithic is a major biological and cultural threshold in the construction of our common humanity. Technological and behavioral changes happened simultaneously to a major climatic cooling, which reached its acme with the Heinrich 4 event, forcing the human populations to develop new strategies for the exploitation of their environment. The recent fieldwork at Les Cottés (France) transitional site offers a good opportunity to document subsistence strategies for this period and to provide for the first time high-resolution insights on its evolution. We present the results of the complete zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the transitional sequence, associated with a large regional synthesis of the subsistence strategy evolution during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic. We conclude that, while there is no major change in the hunting strategies, the butchery activities evolved in strict correlation with the development of range weapons. In addition, the demise of carnivore seems to be a consequence of the human pressure on the environment. Our study demonstrates how the faunal component of the environment became a structuring element of the human social organization, being at the base of future cultural evolutions.

A new Upper Paleolithic occupation at the site of Tolbor-21 (Mongolia): Site formation, human behavior and implications for the regional sequence

“…The goal was a systematic search for weathering, root etching, anthropogenic and carnivore modifications (Behrensmeyer, 1978;Olsen and Shipman, 1988;Blumenschine et al, 1996;D'Errico and Villa, 1997;Pickering and Egeland, 2006). The proportion of preserved cortical surface was estimated per quartile (Rendu et al, 2019) and oxide colorations of the bone cortical surfaces were recorded when present. We recorded all human modifications (e.g.…”

Reconstructing Late Pleistocene paleoclimate at the scale of human behavior: an example from the Neandertal occupation of La Ferrassie (France)

“…116—29 ka ago) prior to the Last Glacial Maximum remains poorly understood. This situation poses a substantial challenge, as ongoing research on Neandertal subsistence and hunting behavior 8 , 9 , fire use 10 , 11 , mobility, and lithic technology 12 – 14 are heavily reliant on establishing or testing links with the local climatic context. Most such studies necessarily have to rely on using broad MIS scale climatic assignments.…”

The application of geometric-morphometric shape analysis to Middle Paleolithic bone retouchers from the Altai Mountains, Russia

“…Evidence of weathering, root etching, anthropogenic and carnivore modification was systematically sought (Olsen and Shipman, 1988;Blumenschine et al, 1996;Behrensmeyer, 1978;D'Errico and Villa, 1997;Pickering and Egeland, 2006). Oxide coloration of bone cortical surfaces was also recorded and the proportion of preserved cortical surface was estimated per quartile (Rendu, 2010;Rendu et al, 2019). When uncertain modification was detected, specimens were more thoroughly examined with a 20-80X light microscope.…”