TY - JOUR

T1 - The Late Middle Palaeolithic Occupation of Abri du Maras (Layer 1, Neronian, Southeast France)

T2 - Integrating Lithic Analyses, ZooMS and Radiocarbon Dating to Reconstruct Neanderthal Hunting Behaviour

AU - Ruebens, Karen

AU - Sinet-Mathiot, Virginie

AU - Talamo, Sahra

AU - Smith, Geoff M.

AU - Welker, Frido

AU - Hublin, Jean-Jacques

AU - McPherron, Shannon P.

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Middle Palaeolithic

KW - Neanderthal

KW - Neronian

KW - Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry

KW - Lithic technology

KW - Radiocarbon dating

KW - GLUTAMINE DEAMIDATION

KW - ISOTOPIC EVIDENCE

KW - MOULA-GUERCY

KW - WESTERN-EUROPE

KW - RHONE VALLEY

KW - STONE-AGE

KW - BONE

KW - SITE

KW - CAVE

KW - PLEISTOCENE

U2 - 10.1007/s41982-022-00113-z

DO - 10.1007/s41982-022-00113-z

M3 - Journal article

VL - 5

JO - Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology

JF - Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology

SN - 2520-8217

IS - 1

M1 - 4

ER -