Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

The Evolution of Hominin Diets pp 99–111Cite as

Hominin Subsistence Patterns During the Middle and Late Paleolithic in Northwestern Europe

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology ((VERT))

The aim of this paper is to more clearly classify Middle Paleolithic subsistence tactics by considering this evidence against an Upper Paleolithic background, where we discern a clearer picture of human subsistence tactics. Therefore, a diachronous comparative analysis of reindeer assemblages from northwestern European archaeological sites was undertaken. Differences in exploitation strategies become clearly visible for the late Upper Paleolithic, which can be interpreted to partly reflect the demands of elaborate settlement dynamics, evidence of which we especially lack for the Middle Paleolithic. Because of these differences in social networking strategies between Middle and Upper Palaeolithic groups, it seems highly likely that subsistence behavior involving the careful selection of large mammal resources was particularly crucial to maintaining high foraging return rates during the Middle Palaeolithic.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Aiello, L., Wheeler, P., 2003. Neanderthal Thermoregulation and the Glacial Climate. In: van Andel, T.H., Davies, W. (Eds.), Neanderthals and Modern Humans in the European Landscape

    Google Scholar 

  • During the Last Glaciation: Archaeological Results of the Stage 3 Project. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge, pp. 147–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binford, L.R., 1978. Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binford, L.R., 1984. Faunal Remains from Klasies River Mouth. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binford, L.R., 1989. Isolating the transition to cultural adaptations: an organizational approach. In: Trinkaus, E. (Ed.), The Emergence of Modern Humans. Biocultural Adaptations in the Late Pleistocene. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 18–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bocherens, H., Billiou, D., Mariotti, A., Toussaint, M., Patou-Mathis, M., Bonjean, D., Otte, M., 2001. New isotopic evidence for dietary habits of Neanderthals from Belgium. Journal of Human Evolution 40, 497–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosinski, G., 1979. Die Ausgrabungen in Gönnersdorf 1968– 1976 und die Siedlungsbefunde der Grabung 1968. Steiner, Wiesbaden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, K.V., 2000. Reconstructing Middle Palaeolithic subsistence strategies in the South of France. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 10, 336–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bratlund, B., 1994. A survey of the subsistence and settlement pattern of the Hamburgian culture in Schleswig-Holstein. Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 41, 59–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bratlund, B., 1999. Taubach revisited. Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 46, 67–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brugal, J-P., Desse, J., 2004. Petits Animaux et Sociétés Humaines. Éditions APDCA, Antibes.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chase, P.G., 1986. The Hunters of Combe Grenal: Approaches to Middle Palaeolithic Subsistence in Europe. BAR International Series 286, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleyet-Merle, J.-J., 1990. La prehistoire de la pêche. Editions Errance, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cochard, D., Brugal, J.P., 2004. Importance des functions de sites dans les accumulations paléolithiques de léporidés. In: Brugal, J-P., Desse, J. (Eds.), Petits Animaux et Sociétés Humaines. Éditions APDCA, Antibes, pp. 283–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conard, N.J., Prindiville, T.J., 2000. Middle Palaeolithic hunting economies in the Rhineland. International Journal of Osteoar-chaeology 10, 286–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costamagno, S., 1999. Stratégies de Chasse et Fonction des Sites au Magdalénien dans le Sud de la France. Ph.D. Dissertation, L'Université Bordeaux I.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costamagno, S., 2003. L'éxploitation des ongulés au Magdalénien dans le sud de la France. In: Costamagno, S., Laroulandie, V. (Eds.), Mode de Vie au Magdalénien: Apports de L'Archéozoologie. BAR International Series 1144, Oxford, pp. 73–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costamagno, S., Laroulandie, V., 2004. L'exploitation des pet-its vertébrés dans les Pyrénées françaises du Paléolithique au Mésolithique: un inventaire taphonomique et archéozoologique. In: Brugal, J-P., Desse, J. (Eds.), Petits Animaux et Sociétés Humaines. Éditions APDCA, Antibes, pp. 403–416.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costamagno, S., Meignen, L., Beauval, C., Vandermeersch, B., Maureille, B., 2006 Les Pradelles (Marillac-le-Franc, France): a Mousterian reindeer hunting camp? Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 25 466–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • David, F., Enloe, J.G., 1993. L'exploitation des animaux sauvages de la fin du Paléolithique moyen au Magdalénien. In: Desse, J., Audouin, F. (Eds.), Exploitation des Animaux Sauvages à travers le Temps. Editions APDCA, Juan-les-Pins, pp. 29–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • David, F., Poulain, T., 2002. Les Mammifères. In: Schmider, B. (Ed.), L'Aurignacien de la Grotte du Renne: Les Fouilles d'André Leroi-Gourhan à Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne). CNRS Editions, Paris, pp. 51–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Driver, J., 1990. Meat in due season: the timing of communal hunts. In: Davis, L.B. (Ed.), Hunters of the Recent Past. Unwin Hyman, London, pp. 68–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eastham, A., 1998. Buhlen Upper Cave: the avifauna. Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 45, 251–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enloe, J.G., 1991. Subsistence organization in the Upper Paleolithic: carcass refitting and food sharing at Pincevent. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of New Mexico.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enloe, J.G., 1993. Subsistence organization in the Early Upper Paleolithic: reindeer hunters of the Abri du Flageolet, Couche V. In: Knecht, H., Pike-Tay, A., White, R. (Eds.), Before Lascaux: The Complex Record of the Early Upper Paleolithic. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 101–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enloe, J.G., 2003. Acquisition and processing of reindeer in the Paris basin. In: Costamagno, S., Laroulandie, V. (Eds.), Mode de Vie au Magdalénien: Apports de l'Archéozoologie, BAR International Series 1144, Oxford, pp. 23–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enloe, J.G., 2004. Equifinality, assemblage integrity and behavioral inferences at Verberie. Journal of Taphonomy 2, 147–165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enloe, J.G., David, F., Hare, T.S., 1994. Patterns of faunal processing at Section 27 of Pincevent: the use of spatial analysis and ethnoar-chaeological data in the interpretation of archaeological site structure. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 13, 105–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farizy, C., David, F., Jaubert, J., 1994. Hommes et Bisons du Paléolithique Moyen á Mauran (Haute Garonne). CNRS Editions, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiore, I., Gala, M., Tagliacozzo, A., 2004. Ecology and subsistence strategies in the Eastern Italian Alps during the Middle Palaeolithic. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 14, 273–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fontana, L., 2003. Characterization and exploitation of the Arctic Hare (Lepus timidus) during the Magdalenian: surprising data from Gazel Cave (Aude, France)? In: Costamagno, S., Laroulandie, V. (Eds.), Mode de Vie au Magdalénien: Apports de L'Archéozoologie. BAR International Series 1144, Oxford, pp. 101–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardeisen, A., 1997. La Grotte Ouest du Portel, Ariège, France: Restes Fauniques et Stratégies de Chasse dans le Pléistocene Supérieur Pyrénéen, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaudzinski, S., 1995. Wallertheim revisited: a re-analysis of the fauna from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Wallertheim (Rheinessen/ Germany). Journal of Archaeological Science 22, 51–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaudzinski, S., 1996. On Bovid assemblages and their consequences for the knowledge of subsistence patterns in the Middle Palaeolithic. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 62, 19–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaudzinski, S., 2005. Monospecific or species-dominated faunal assemblages during the Middle Paleolithic in Europe. In: Hovers, E., Kuhn, S.L. (Eds.), Transitions Before the Transition: Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age. Springer, New York, pp. 137–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaudzinski, S., Roebroeks, W., 2000. Adults only: reindeer hunting at the Middle Palaeolithic site Salzgitter-Lebenstedt, northern Germany. Journal of Human Evolution 38, 497–521.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaudzinski, S., Roebroeks, W., 2003. Profile analysis at Salzgitter-Lebenstedt. A reply to Munson and Marean. Journal of Human Evolution 44, 275–281.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaudzinski, S., Street, M., 2003. Reconsidering hunting specialization in the German Magdalenian faunal record. In: Costamagno, S., Laroulandie, V. (Eds.), Mode de Vie au Magdalénien: Apports

    Google Scholar 

  • de L'Archéozoologie. BAR International Series 1144, Oxford, pp. 11–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grayson, D.K., 1984. Quantitative Zooarchaeology: Topics in the Analysis of Archaeological Faunas. Academic Press, Orlando.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grayson, D.K., Delpech, F., 2003. Ungulates and the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition at Grotte XVI (Dordogne, France). Journal of Archaeological Science 30, 1633–1648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grayson, D.K., Delpech, F., 2006. Was there increasing diet specialization across the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition in France? In: Conard, N.J. (Ed.), When Neanderthals and Modern Humans Met. Kerns, Tübingen, pp. 377–417.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hahn, J., 1989. Genese und Funktion einer jungpaläolithischen Freilandstation: Lommersum im Rheinland. Rheinland, Köln.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haws, J.A., Hockett, B.S., 2004. Theoretical perspectives on the dietary role of small mammals in human evolution. In: Petits Animaux et Sociétés Humaines, Éditions APDCA, Antibes, pp. 533–544.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hockett, B.S., Bicho, N.F., 2000. The rabbits of Picareiro Cave: small mammal hunting during the late Upper Palaeolithic in the Portugese Estremadura. Journal of Archaeological Science 27, 715–723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hockett, B., Haws, J.A., 2002. Taphonomic and methodological perspectives of leporid hunting during the Upper Paleolithic of the western Mediterranean Basin. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 9, 269–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hockett, B., Haws, J.A., 2003. Nutritional ecology and diachronic trends in Paleolithic diet and health. Evolutionary Anthropology 12, 211–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaubert, J., Lorblanchet, M., Laville, H., Slott-Moller, R., Turq, A., Brugal, J.-P., 1990. Les Chasseurs d'Aurochs de La Borde: un Site du Paléolithique Moyen. Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, DAF No. 27, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, E.L., 2006. Prey choice, mass collecting, and the wild European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 25, 275–289.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolen, J., 1999. Hominids without homes: on the nature of Middle Palaeolithic settlement in Europe. In: Roebroeks, W., Gamble, C. (Eds.), The Middle Palaeolithic Occupation of Europe. University of Leiden Press, Leiden, pp. 139–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kretzoi, M., 1964. Die Wirbeltierfauna des Travertinkomplexes von Tata. In: Vertes, L. (Ed.), Tata. Eine mittelpaläolithische Travertin-Siedlung in Ungarn. Archaeologica Hungarica, Series Nova 43, Budapest, pp. 105–126.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lam, Y.M., Chen, X., Pearson, O.M., 1999. Intertaxonomic variability in patterns of bone density and the differential representation of bovid, cervid, and equid elements in the archaeological record. American Antiquity 64, 343–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laroulandie, V., 2003. Exploitation des Oiseaux au Magdalénien en France: Etat des Lieux. In: Costamagno, S., Laroulandie, V. (Eds.), Mode de Vie au Magdalénien: Apports de L'Archéozoologie. BAR International Series 1144, Oxford, pp. 129–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Gall, O., 1988. Analyse palethnologique de l'ichtiofaune. In: Rigaud, J.P. (Ed.), La Grotte Vaufrey. Paléoenvironnement – Chronologie — Activités humaines. Mémoires de la Société Préhistorique Française XIX, pp. 565–568.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Gall, O., 2003. Des Magdaléniens et … des Poissons. In: Costa-magno, S., Laroulandie, V. (Eds.), Mode de Vie au Magdalénien: Apports de L'Archéozoologie. BAR International Series 1144, Oxford, pp. 119–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumley, de H., Echassoux, A., Bailon, S., Cauche, D., de Marchi, M.P., Desclaux, E., Guennouni, K., Khatib, S., Lacombat, F., Roger, T., Valensi, P. (Eds.), 2004. Le sol d'occupation acheuléen de l'unite archéostratigraphique UA 25 de La Grotte du Lazaret, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes. Edisud, Aix-en-Provence.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe, D., Jones, K.T., 1988. A reconsideration of animal body-part utility indices. American Antiquity 53, 486–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moigne, A.-M., Barsky, D.R., 1999. Large mammal assemblages from Lower Palaeolithic sites in France: La Caune de lÀrago, Terra Amata, Orgnac 3 and Cagny l'Epinette. In: Gaudzinski, S., Turner, E. (Eds.), The Role of Early Humans in the Accumulation of European Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Bone Assemblages. RGZM, Bonn, pp. 219–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morin, E., 2004. Late Pleistocene population interaction in western Europe and modern origins: new insights based on the faunal remains from Saint-Césaire, Southwestern France. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mourer-Chauviré, C., 1979. La chasse aux oiseaux pendant la préhistoire. La Recherche 106, 1202–1210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munro, N.D., Bar-Oz, G., 2005. Gazelle bone fat processing in the Levantine Epipalaeolithic. Journal of Archaeological Science 32, 223–239.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niven, L., 2006. The Palaeolithic Occupation of Vogelherd Cave: Implications for the Subsistence Behavior of Late Neanderthals and Early Modern Humans. Kerns, Tübingen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patou-Mathis, M., 2000. Neanderthal subsistence behaviors in Europe. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 10, 379–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards, M., Pettitt, P.B., Stiner, M.C., Trinkaus, E., 2001. Stable isotope evidence for increasing diet breadth in the European mid-Upper Paleolithic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98, 6258–6532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards, M., Pettit, P., Trinkaus, E., Smith, F., Paunovic, M., Karavanic, I., 2000. Neanderthal diet at Vindija and Neanderthal predation: the evidence from stable isotopes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 97, 7663–7666.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richter, J., 1997. Der G-Schichtenkomplex der Sesselfelsgrotte. Ein Beitrag zum Verständnis des Micoquien. Saarbrücker Verlag, Saarbrücken.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rieder, H., 2000. Die altpaläolithischen Wurfspeere von Schöningen, ihre Erprobung und ihre Bedeutung für die Lebensumwelt des Homo erectus. Praehistoria Thuringica 5, 68–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rigaud, J.-P. (Ed.), 1989. La Grotte Vaufrey. Paléoenvironments, chronologie et activites humaines. Mémoires de la Société Préhistorique Française 19, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schuler, A., 1994. Die Schussenquelle. Eine Freilandstation des Magdalénien in Oberschwaben. Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soergel, W., 1922. Die Jagd der Vorzeit. Gustav Fischer, Jena.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sorensen, M.V., Leonard, W.R., 2001. Neandertal energetics and foraging efficiency. Journal of Human Evolution 40, 483–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speth, J.D., Tchernov, E., 2002. Middle Paleolithic tortoise use at Kebara Cave (Israel). Journal of Archaeological Science 29, 471–483.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spiess, A.E., 1979. Reindeer and Caribou Hunters: An Archaeological Study. Academic Press, San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steele, T.E., 2003. Using mortality profiles to infer behavior in the fossil record. Journal of Mammalogy 84, 418–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiner, M.C., 1990. The use of mortality patterns in archaeological studies of hominid predatory adaptations. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 9, 305–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiner, M.C., 2003. Zooarchaeological evidence for resource intensification in Algarve, southern Portugal. Promontoria 1, 27–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiner, M.C., 2005. Middle Paleolithic subsistence ecology in the Mediterranean Region. In: Hovers, E., Kuhn, S.L. (Eds.), Transitions Before the Transition: Evolution and Stability in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age. Springer, New York, pp. 213–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiner, M.C., Munro, N.D., Surovell, T.A., 2000. The tortoise and the hare: small-game use, the Broad-Spectrum Revolution, and Paleolithic demography. Current Anthropology 41, 39–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Street, M., Gelhausen, F., Grimm, S., Moseler, F., Niven, L., Sensburg, M., Turner, E., Wenzel, S., Jöris, O., 2006. L' occupation de bassin de Neuwied (Rhénanie centrale, Allemagne) par les Magdaléniens et les groupes à Federmesser (aziliens). Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française 103, 753–780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thieme, H., 1999. Altpaläolithische Holzgeräte aus Schöningen, Lkr. Helmstedt. Bedeutsame Funde zur Kulturentwicklung des frühen Menschen. Germania 77, 451–487.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, E., 2002. Solutré: An Archaeozoological Analysis of the Magdalenian Horizon. Habelt, Bonn.

    Google Scholar 

  • Valensi, P., 2000. The archaeozoology of Lazaret Cave (Nice, France). International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 10, 357–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wenzel, S., 1998. Die Funde aus dem Travertin von Stuttgart—Untertürkheim und die Archäologie der letzten Warmzeit in Mitteleuropa. Dr. Rudolf Habelt, Bonn.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Paleolithic Research Unit, Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Schloss Monrepos, Neuwied, 56567, Germany

    Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser

  2. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany

    Laura Niven

Authors
  1. Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Laura Niven
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany

    Jean-Jacques Hublin  & Michael P. Richards  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., Niven, L. (2009). Hominin Subsistence Patterns During the Middle and Late Paleolithic in Northwestern Europe. In: Hublin, JJ., Richards, M.P. (eds) The Evolution of Hominin Diets. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9699-0_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation