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The Late Middle Palaeolithic Occupation of Abri du Maras (Layer 1, Neronian, Southeast France): Integrating Lithic Analyses, ZooMS and Radiocarbon Dating to Reconstruct Neanderthal Hunting Behaviour

Ruebens, Karen, Sinet-Mathiot, Virginie, Talamo, Sahra, Smith, Geoff M., Welker, Frido, Hublin, Jean-Jacques, McPherron, Shannon P. (2022) The Late Middle Palaeolithic Occupation of Abri du Maras (Layer 1, Neronian, Southeast France): Integrating Lithic Analyses, ZooMS and Radiocarbon Dating to Reconstruct Neanderthal Hunting Behaviour. Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology, 5 . Article Number 4. E-ISSN 2520-8217. (doi:10.1007/s41982-022-00113-z) (KAR id:95927)

Abstract

The exact strategies and technologies underlying Neanderthal hunting events remain open for debate with lithic points being sparse across the European Middle Palaeolithic. An exception is the Neronian entity in southeast France, defined by ventrally retouched Soyons points. This study contextualises one of the largest Neronian assemblages, layer 1 at Abri du Maras. Our lithic analyses focussed on attributes described as indicative of projectile use or hafting to contextualise the morphometric and technological characteristics of the pointed implements at an assemblage level. We found that retouched points were made on a variety of blank types (including Levallois, laminar and discoidal flaking techniques) and ventral retouch is present across different artefact types (including points, scrapers and denticulates). Next, these lithic data were compared to similar typo-technological data recorded on a sample from the recently excavated and well-contextualised point-rich layer 4.1 of Abri du Maras (MIS-3). Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) was applied to 280 faunal remains from layer 1 and indicated significant proportions of equids, bovids, cervids and reindeer. Carnivore remains and carnivore modifications are absent, while human bone surface modifications are present across a variety of species. Five bones had sufficient collagen for radiocarbon dating but returned dates younger than expected (ca. 41–31 ka cal BP). Finally, we place Abri du Maras layer 1 in its broader regional context and discuss its relation to other Neronian assemblages and more general problematics inherent to studying material from old excavations.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1007/s41982-022-00113-z
Uncontrolled keywords: Middle Palaeolithic, Neanderthal, Neronian, Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry, Lithic technology, Radiocarbon dating
Subjects: C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CC Archaeology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation
Depositing User: Geoff Smith
Date Deposited: 26 Jul 2022 06:31 UTC
Last Modified: 12 Aug 2022 08:32 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/95927 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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