Bryan Hockett

Taphonomic and Methodological Perspectives of Leporid Hunting During the Upper Paleolithic of the Western Mediterranean Basin

Leporid (rabbit and hare) bones have been shown to yield important information about subsistence practices, mobility patterns, and demographic trends during the Paleolithic of the western and eastern Mediterranean regions. Studies of Spanish Paleolithic caves rich in rabbit bones suggest that residential mobility patterns influence the degree of leporid hunting through time. Studies of Paleolithic sites in the eastern Mediterranean suggest that leporids were hunted in large numbers only after population sizes and densities reached certain thresholds. This paper reviews and critiques these studies based on current taphonomic and ecologic information about leporids. Leporid hunting during the Upper Paleolithic of central Portugal is then discussed and compared to these existing models. These latter data suggest that rabbit hunting in central Portugal does not conform to any existing model, suggesting that local factors of leporid density and environmental conditions likely influenced the nature and timing of small game acquisition during the Upper Paleolithic.

Clovis Age Western Stemmed Projectile Points and Human Coprolites at the Paisley Caves

They Walked Together Paisley Cave in Oregon provides some of the earliest evidence for humans in North America. Jenkins et al. (p. 223) provide a wide variety of additional evidence of early human occupation of this site, including a series of radiocarbon ages extending back to nearly 12,500 radiocarbon years ago (about 14,500 calendar years ago). The find includes examples of projectile points representative of the Western Stemmed Tradition dating to about 11,100 radiocarbon years ago. The Western Stemmed Tradition has been thought to have evolved after the dominant Clovis technology, but the find suggests that the two cultures overlapped in time. The age of a Western Stemmed projectile point implies that this culture overlapped with the Clovis culture in North America. The Paisley Caves in Oregon record the oldest directly dated human remains (DNA) in the Western Hemisphere. More than 100 high-precision radiocarbon dates show that deposits containing artifacts and coprolites ranging in age from 12,450 to 2295 14C years ago are well stratified. Western Stemmed projectile points were recovered in deposits dated to 11,070 to 11,340 14C years ago, a time contemporaneous with or preceding the Clovis technology. There is no evidence of diagnostic Clovis technology at the site. These two distinct technologies were parallel developments, not the product of a unilinear technological evolution. “Blind testing” analysis of coprolites by an independent laboratory confirms the presence of human DNA in specimens of pre-Clovis age. The colonization of the Americas involved multiple technologically divergent, and possibly genetically divergent, founding groups.

Comparison of Leporid Bones in Raptor Pellets, Raptor Nests, and Archaeological Sites in the Great Basin

Leporid (cottontail and hare) bones deposited on the landscape in raptor pellets may exhibit more forelimb than hindlimb bones, few complete bones, more subadult than adult bones, and abundant vertebrae. In contrast, raptor nest assemblages may exhibit more tibiae than forelimb bones, few incomplete bones, more adult than subadult bones, and few vertebrae. Approximately 1 to 2 percent of leporid bones deposited in either raptor nests or raptor pellets are likely to exhibit puncture marks. Leporid bone assemblages created by humans in the Great Basin may exhibit large numbers of adult Lepus or adult Sylvilagus tibia diaphysis cylinders, many burned and unidentifiable fragments of bone, few identifiable vertebrae and sacra, and assemblages that consist primarily of adult animals. These data suggest that archaeologists should be able to identify leporid bone assemblages that were created largely or solely by the deposition of raptor pellets, by the deposition of unswallowed bones under raptor nests, or by the deposition of bones by humans. Assemblages created by any combination of these three processes, however, will be more difficult to interpret.

Hunter–gatherer subsistence at the end of the Pleistocene: preliminary results from Picareiro Cave, Central Portugal

Excavation at the site of Picareiro Cave in Portugal provides an important and rare sample of animal remains. Preliminary study shows that late Pleistocene hunter–gatherers hunted rabbits, deer and a wide variety of fauna, perhaps during seasonal occupation of the cave.

IDENTIFYING STONE TOOL CUT MARKS AND THE PRE-CLOVIS OCCUPATION OF THE PAISLEY CAVES

Analysis of taphonomic processes observable in undoubtedly cultural Younger Dryas-age faunal collections at the Paisley Caves establishes what cultural bone modification looks like in post-Clovis deposits at the site. Clearly stating the criteria by which these bones have been identified as culturally modified by stone tools, we apply the same criteria to bones found at the noncultural paleontological site of Mineral Hill Cave, Nevada, and find no cases of stone-tool-cut-marked bones. Applying these same criteria to bones recovered from pre-Clovis stratigraphic contexts at the Paisley Caves resulted in the identification of two cut-marked specimens, a mountain sheep (Ovis canadensis) mandible and a small artiodactyl rib that were both found in close proximity to human coprolites and artifacts. Directly radiocarbon dated prior to the beginning of the Clovis era (ca. >13,100 cal B.P.), these specimens increase the number of culturally modified items recovered from preClovis contexts and support previous DNA studies indicating that the northern Great Basin was occupied at least a mil lennium before Clovis points became widespread throughout North America. Dos cortar huesos marcados, una oveja de montana (Ovis canadensis) mandibula y un segmento pequeno artiodactyl ambos fueron encontrados en las proximidades de coprolitos humanos y artefactos en las cavernas Paisley, Oregon. Directamente radiocarbono fechado antes del comienzo de la era Clovis (ca. > 13.100 cal B.P.), estas muestras de aumentar el numero de elementos culturalmente modificados recuperados de pre-Clovis contextos y apoyar los estudios previos de ADN que indican la gran cuenca norte fue ocupado por lo menos un milenio antes de Clovis tecnologia se extendio a lo largo de America del Norte.

Paleolithic Landscapes and Seascapes of the West Coast of Portugal

The antiquity of coastal adaptations has gained renewed attention in the last several years as archaeologists have recognized that coasts have long been important foci of human settlement (Bailey 2004; Bailey and Milner 2003; Erlandson and Fitzpatrick 2006; Fa 2008; Price 1995; Sauer 1962; Westley and Dix 2006).

Identifying Dart and Arrow Points in the Great Basin: Comment on Smith Et Al.'s “Points in Time: Direct Radiocarbon Dates on Great Basin Projectile Points“

Smith et al. (2013) provided important new information concerning the ages of a variety of projectile point types found in the Great Basin. Two of their interpretations, however, deserve further discussion. Smith et al. (2013) concluded that the Nicholarsen (or Nicolarsen) Cache contains both dart and arrow points. However, our application of methods developed by Hildebrandt and King (2012) to distinguish dart and arrow points, indicates that the Nicholarsen Cache contains arrow points exclusively. In addition, we suggest that the two ca. 6,800-year-old “Elko-Eared” points identified by Smith et al. (2013) are Large Side-notched points.

Lapa do Picareiro, un asentamiento de caza magdaleniense en la Estremadura portuguesa

Lapa do Picareiro is a cave site located in Serra d’Aire, Portuguese Estremadura. Zooarchaeological studies suggest that the cave was a specialized site for hunting and processing animals during the Magdalenian and the Epipaleolithic. Lithic analyses seem to confirm this idea with the presence of backed bladelets used as projectile points and flakes with evidence of cutting meat and hide processing.

A Brief History and Perspective on Spirit Cave, Nevada

ABSTRACT In 1940, Sydney and Georgia Wheeler recovered a remarkable assemblage of human remains and associated funerary objects in a small alcove they named Spirit Cave. Located in western Nevada, the significance of Spirit Cave’s human burials would not become known until the 1990s when the Nevada State Museum dated the remains to ca. 10,500 calendar years BP. The 1990s also marked the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, as well as the discovery of the ancient Kennewick Man skeleton. Both Spirit Cave and Kennewick sparked lawsuits and bitter debate among the scientific community, tribal communities, and various branches of the federal government over who should own and control what happens to these ancient remains. This perspective provides a synopsis of the history of the Spirit Cave case, and provides insight into the primary factor that ultimately led to its resolution: DNA.