The exploitation of ungulates in the Magdalenian in the Entre-Deux-Mers (Gironde, France)

Human and Animal Individuals in the Middle Magdalenian

“…A large proportion of these bone remains obviously came from animals that were hunted and consumed, and they often have cut marks demonstrating the very intense exploitation of the ungulate carcasses: skin removal, defleshing, disarticulation, tendon extraction, fracturing of bones to retrieve marrow and grease, etc. The treatment of these carcasses is very standardized, without any significant chronological or geographical variations Soulier et al 2014;Kuntz et al 2016). It should be noted, however, that skulls were more frequently carried away from slaughter sites than certain other skeletal elements, which cannot be explained by economic or technical reasons (Kuntz et al 2016).…”

“…The treatment of these carcasses is very standardized, without any significant chronological or geographical variations Soulier et al 2014;Kuntz et al 2016). It should be noted, however, that skulls were more frequently carried away from slaughter sites than certain other skeletal elements, which cannot be explained by economic or technical reasons (Kuntz et al 2016). It has also been proposed that the care taken over the disarticulation phase observed in bone assemblages from the Magdalenian may imply a ritual context (Costamagno and David 2009;Kuntz et al 2016).…”

“…It should be noted, however, that skulls were more frequently carried away from slaughter sites than certain other skeletal elements, which cannot be explained by economic or technical reasons (Kuntz et al 2016). It has also been proposed that the care taken over the disarticulation phase observed in bone assemblages from the Magdalenian may imply a ritual context (Costamagno and David 2009;Kuntz et al 2016). The meticulous disarticulation of all the limb bones does not seem attributable to any known technical reason.…”

“…Such representations are particularly numerous for the Middle Magdalenian at once in the rock art, body ornamentation, and bone and lithic portable art; and many specialized and more generalized studies have been carried out on the matter (Breuil 1952;Leroi-Gourhan 1965;Vialou 1986;Delporte 1990;Sauvet and Wlodarczyk 1995;Lorblanchet 2010;Airvaux 2001;Tosello 2003;Taborin 2004;Plassard 2005;Bégouën et al 2009;Fritz 2010;Bourdier 2010;etc.). At the same time, high quantities of animal skeletal remains have been documented at Middle Magdalenian sites, and a large number of detailed studies have been carried out (Delpech 1989;Fontana 1999;Costamagno 1999;Laroulandie 2000;Kuntz et al 2016;etc. ).…”

A way to break bones? The weight of intuitiveness

“…The red marrow present in bone epiphyses and yellow marrow from the diaphysis were both important resources of fat from animal carcasses. Marrow was even the most widely available fat resource during the winter (Abe 2005;Binford 1978;Brugal and Defleur 1989;Costamagno and David 2009;Hardy et al 2006;Kuntz et al 2016;Speth and Spielman 1983). Indeed, the recovery of yellow marrow was quasi-systematic among Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, and particularly for Neanderthals (Noe-Nygaard 1977;Patou-Mathis 1985;Speth 1989;Speth et al 2012).…”