Guy Bar-Oz

Ahead of the Game: Middle and Upper Palaeolithic Hunting Behaviors in the Southern Caucasus

Over the past several decades a variety of models have been proposed to explain perceived behavioral and cognitive differences between Neanderthals and modern humans. A key element in many of these models and one often used as a proxy for behavioral modernity is the frequency and nature of hunting among Palaeolithic populations. Here new archaeological data from Ortvale Klde, a late Middleearly Upper Palaeolithic rockshelter in the Georgian Republic, are considered, and zooarchaeological methods are applied to the study of faunal acquisition patterns to test whether they changed significantly from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic. The analyses demonstrate that Neanderthals and modern humans practiced largely identical hunting tactics and that the two populations were equally and independently capable of acquiring and exploiting critical biogeographical information pertaining to resource availability and animal behavior. Like lithic technotypological traditions, hunting behaviors are poor proxies for major behavioral differences between Neanderthals and modern humans, a conclusion that has important implications for debates surrounding the MiddleUpper Palaeolithic transition and what features constitute modern behavior. The proposition is advanced that developments in the social realm of Upper Palaeolithic societies allowed the replacement of Neanderthals in the Caucasus with little temporal or spatial overlap and that this process was widespread beyond traditional topographic and biogeographical barriers to Neanderthal mobility.

Optimal Ancient DNA Yields from the Inner Ear Part of the Human Petrous Bone

The invention and development of next or second generation sequencing methods has resulted in a dramatic transformation of ancient DNA research and allowed shotgun sequencing of entire genomes from fossil specimens. However, although there are exceptions, most fossil specimens contain only low (~ 1% or less) percentages of endogenous DNA. The only skeletal element for which a systematically higher endogenous DNA content compared to other skeletal elements has been shown is the petrous part of the temporal bone. In this study we investigate whether (a) different parts of the petrous bone of archaeological human specimens give different percentages of endogenous DNA yields, (b) there are significant differences in average DNA read lengths, damage patterns and total DNA concentration, and (c) it is possible to obtain endogenous ancient DNA from petrous bones from hot environments. We carried out intra-petrous comparisons for ten petrous bones from specimens from Holocene archaeological contexts across Eurasia dated between 10,000-1,800 calibrated years before present (cal. BP). We obtained shotgun DNA sequences from three distinct areas within the petrous: a spongy part of trabecular bone (part A), the dense part of cortical bone encircling the osseous inner ear, or otic capsule (part B), and the dense part within the otic capsule (part C). Our results confirm that dense bone parts of the petrous bone can provide high endogenous aDNA yields and indicate that endogenous DNA fractions for part C can exceed those obtained for part B by up to 65-fold and those from part A by up to 177-fold, while total endogenous DNA concentrations are up to 126-fold and 109-fold higher for these comparisons. Our results also show that while endogenous yields from part C were lower than 1% for samples from hot (both arid and humid) parts, the DNA damage patterns indicate that at least some of the reads originate from ancient DNA molecules, potentially enabling ancient DNA analyses of samples from hot regions that are otherwise not amenable to ancient DNA analyses.

Role of mass-kill hunting strategies in the extirpation of Persian gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa) in the northern Levant

Continuous and intensive exploitation of wildlife resources by early agricultural societies had major ecological consequences in the ancient Near East. In particular, hunting strategies of post-Neolithic societies involving the mass killing of wild ungulates contributed to the eventual extirpation of a number of wild species. A remarkable deposit of bones of Persian gazelle (Gazella subgutarosa) from fourth millennium BCE levels at Tell Kuran in northeastern Syria provides insight into the unsustainable hunting practices that disrupted gazelle migratory patterns and helped set the course for the virtual extinction of this species and possibly other steppe species in the Levant. The social context of mass kills conducted during periods when people relied primarily on domestic livestock for animal resources sets them apart from the more targeted and sustainable practices of earlier periods, when wild animals were the major or sole source of animal protein.

Testing the use of multivariate inter-site taphonomic comparisons: the faunal analysis of Hefzibah in its Epipalaeolithic cultural context

The results of a detailed zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of two faunal assemblages from Hefzibah (HEF), a major Geometric Kebaran open-air site on the central coastal plain of Israel were compared with two other assemblages from the same general period, site type, and geographic region using multivariate taphonomic analyses. A comprehensive analysis of taphonomic evidence for each assemblage based on the comparison of 28 taphonomic variables points to a preservational bias that accounts for the apparent economic differences found in one of the four Epipalaeolithic assemblages. Preservational indices, surface modification, bone density, and bone fragmentation indicate that inter-assemblage differences are related to post-depositional processes. These processes account for marked differences in species diversity, the percentage of juveniles, and the proportion of small game. The marked difference in preservation highlights the potential role of taphonomic biases in producing overt patterns that bear no real cultural or economic significance in zooarchaeological assemblages. High similarity in the length of fresh percussion fractures, the ratio and distribution of butchery marks, and prey body part representation suggest analogous traditions of food transport, preparation, and processing.

Dzudzuana: an Upper Palaeolithic cave site in the Caucasus foothills (Georgia)

The report announces the important radiocarbon-dated sequence recently obtained at Dzudzuana Cave in the southern Caucasus foothills. The first occupants here were modern humans, in c. 34.5–32.2 ka cal BP, and comparison with dated sequences on the northern slope of the Caucasus suggests that their arrival was rapid and widespread. The rich, well-dated assemblages of lithics, bone tools and a few art objects, coloured fibres, pollen and animal remains deposited at Dzudzuana through 20 millennia provide an invaluable point of reference for numerous other sites previously excavated in western Georgia. Detailed information has been placed in a supplementary excavation report online. The data support the significance of these excavations for a better understanding of modern human dispersals.

Ancient DNA and Population Turnover in Southern Levantine Pigs- Signature of the Sea Peoples Migration?

Near Eastern wild boars possess a characteristic DNA signature. Unexpectedly, wild boars from Israel have the DNA sequences of European wild boars and domestic pigs. To understand how this anomaly evolved, we sequenced DNA from ancient and modern pigs from Israel. Pigs from Late Bronze Age (until ca. 1150 BCE) in Israel shared haplotypes of modern and ancient Near Eastern pigs. European haplotypes became dominant only during the Iron Age (ca. 900 BCE). This raises the possibility that European pigs were brought to the region by the Sea Peoples who migrated to the Levant at that time. Then, a complete genetic turnover took place, most likely because of repeated admixture between local and introduced European domestic pigs that went feral. Severe population bottlenecks likely accelerated this process. Introductions by humans have strongly affected the phylogeography of wild animals, and interpretations of phylogeography based on modern DNA alone should be taken with caution.

Walls, ramps and pits: the construction of the Samar Desert kites, southern Negev, Israel

Archaeological investigations of ‘desert kites’ in south Israel show them to have been animal traps of considerable sophistication and capacity, constructed in the Early Bronze Age or earlier. Extensive stone-wall arms gather in gazelles from their habitual trails and canalise them into a sunken enclosure, cunningly hidden from view of the galloping herd until it was too late…

Distribution and Extinction of Ungulates during the Holocene of the Southern Levant

Background The southern Levant (Israel, Palestinian Authority and Jordan) has been continuously and extensively populated by succeeding phases of human cultures for the past 15,000 years. The long human impact on the ancient landscape has had great ecological consequences, and has caused continuous and accelerating damage to the natural environment. The rich zooarchaeological data gathered at the area provide a unique opportunity to reconstruct spatial and temporal changes in wild species distribution, and correlate them with human demographic changes. Methodology Zoo-archaeological data (382 animal bone assemblages from 190 archaeological sites) from various time periods, habitats and landscapes were compared. The bone assemblages were sorted into 12 major cultural periods. Distribution maps showing the presence of each ungulate species were established for each period. Conclusions The first major ungulate extinction occurred during the local Iron Age (1,200–586 BCE), a period characterized by significant human population growth. During that time the last of the largest wild ungulates, the hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), aurochs (Bos primigenius) and the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) became extinct, followed by a shrinking distribution of forest-dwelling cervids. A second major wave of extinction occurred only in the 19th and 20th centuries CE. Furthermore, a negative relationship was found between the average body mass of ungulate species that became extinct during the Holocene and their extinction date. It is thus very likely that the intensified human activity through habitat destruction and uncontrolled hunting were responsible for the two major waves of ungulate extinction in the southern Levant during the late Holocene.

Hovk 1 and the Middle and Upper Paleolithic of Armenia: a preliminary framework

The territory of present day Armenia is a geographic contact zone between the Near East and the northern Caucasus. Armenian Middle and Upper Paleolithic records are both few and patchy as a result of the historical paucity of systematic archaeological research in the country. Consequently, it is currently difficult to correlate the Armenian Middle and Upper Paleolithic records with those from other neighboring regions. We present new archaeological and chronometric data (luminescence, U-Th, and 14C) from our ongoing research at Hovk 1 Cave in northeast Armenia. We discuss in particular two activity phases in Hovk 1 Cave for which we have outline chronometric data: (1) an early Middle Paleolithic occupational phase, dated by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to 104+/-9.8 ka BP(OSL); and (2) a Paleolithic occupational phase characterized by microlithic flakes dated by AMS 14C to 39,109+/-1,324 calibrated years BP(Hulu). The two phases are separated by a hiatus in hominin occupation corresponding to MIS 4 and an episode in early MIS 3. These chronometric data, taken together with the preliminary paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Hovk 1 Cave and environment, suggest that these activity phases represent short-lived and seasonal use of the cave presumably by small groups of hunters during episodes of mild climate. Neither tool manufacture nor butchery appears to have taken place within the cave, and consequently, the archaeological record included, for the most part, finished tools and blanks. We address the chronology and techno-typological aspects of Hovk 1 lithics in relation to: (1) the Paleolithic records of Armenia, and (2) the broader interregional context of early Middle Paleolithic hominin occupation and the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in the Caucasus.

Seasonal Patterns of Prey Acquisition and Inter-group Competition During the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of the Southern Caucasus

Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses provide an essential backdrop to discussions of Late Middle Palaeolithic and Early Upper Palaeolithic patterns of mobility, land-use, and hunting, and the degree and manner(s) of Neanderthal and modern human competition within the southern Caucasus. Recent research at Ortvale Klde has documented the hunting of prime-age adult Capra caucasica and the organization of hunting activities according to this species’ migratory behaviors, which made them locally abundant on a seasonal basis. Our analyses suggest that Neanderthals and modern humans occupied the same ecological niche and were equally capable of learning and exploiting key biogeographic information pertaining to the feeding, mating, migratory, and flight behaviors of this species. In these respects there appear to have been few alterations in medium/large game hunting practices between the Late Middle Palaeolithic and Early Upper Palaeolithic, with ungulate species abundance in the entire stratigraphic sequence of Ortvale Klde reflecting seasonal fluctuations in food supply rather than specialization, differences in diet breadth, hunting ability, or technology. Attention is paid to faunal data from neighboring sites to test whether patterns identified at Ortvale Klde are in any way representative of larger regional subsistence behaviors. We find that such patterns are only replicable at sites that have experienced similar zooarchaeological and taphonomic study. We conclude that Neanderthal and modern human populations occupied and exploited the same ecological niches, at least seasonally, and that the regional archaeological record documents a clear spatial and temporal disruption in Neanderthal settlement resulting from failed competition with expanding modern human groups. In terms of niche and resource preference, we suggest that Neanderthals and modern humans were sympatric to the point of exclusion. Neanderthal-Modern Human Subsistence and Competition The data presented in this paper are considered in light of ongoing questions concerning Neanderthal and modern human foraging behaviors and inter-group competition. At its core, the following discussion centers on the relative degree of niche overlap, prey choice, and population size between indigenous Neanderthals and expanding modern humans. Consideration of the primary literature relating to human behavioral ecology, the specific ethnographic data employed, and its application in archaeological contexts is beyond the scope of this paper, but detailed summaries are provided elsewhere (e.g., Winterhalder and Smith, 2000; Shennan, 2002; Bird and O’Connell, 2006). Particularly relevant to the main issues addressed here are several recent studies that consider the issue of forager competition from an ecological and evolutionary perspective. These focus on resource exploitation and 9. Seasonal Patterns of Prey Acquisition and Inter-group Competition During the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of the Southern Caucasus Daniel S. Adler University of Connecticut Department of Anthropology U-2176 Storrs, CT 06269 USA daniel.adler@uconn.edu