Honor among thieves : a zooarchaeological study of Neandertal ecology
Mary Stiner uses ecological niche theory to analyze and interpret several Middle Paleolithic archaeological and paleontological sites in southern Europe. Her concern is with how the hunting, scavenging and foraging behavior of Neandertals compared and contrasted with the subsistence behavior of other large predators living in the region at the time--lions, hyenas, and wolves, for example--and with how Neandertal subsistence behavior related to the behavior of the anatomically modern humans who subsequently came to dominate the area in the Upper Paleolithic. Her conclusion, very broadly stated, is that Neandertals entered the Middle Paleolithic in direct and successful competition with lions, hyenas, and wolves, but ended the period in direct and ultimately unsuccessful competition for the ecological niche that we came to occupy with our slightly more advanced technology and slightly more sophisticated ambush hunting strategies and techniques. Mary Stiner uses ecological niche theory to analyze and interpret several Middle Paleolithic archaeological and paleontological sites in southern Europe. Her concern is with how the hunting, scavenging and foraging behavior of Neandertals compared and contrasted with the subsistence behavior of other large predators living in the region at the time--lions, hyenas, and wolves, for example--and with how Neandertal subsistence behavior related to the behavior of the anatomically modern humans who subsequently came to dominate the area in the Upper Paleolithic. Her conclusion, very broadly stated, is that Neandertals entered the Middle Paleolithic in direct and successful competition with lions, hyenas, and wolves, but ended the period in direct and ultimately unsuccessful competition for the ecological niche that we came to occupy with our slightly more advanced technology and slightly more sophisticated ambush hunting strategies and techniques.Ch. 1. The Research Problem -- Ch. 2. Theory and Organization -- Ch. 3. The Study Sample from Italy: Archaeology in the Context of Quarternary Studies -- Ch. 4. Animal Communities and the Passage of Species -- Ch. 5. Large Mammal Taphonomy and the Agencies of Bone Collection -- Ch. 6. Small Animal Exploitation -- Ch. 7. Species Use and Predator Guild -- Ch. 8. On Food Transport Behavior -- Ch. 9. Bone Transport, Foraging Strategies, and Predator Niches -- Ch. 10. On the Meaning of Mortality Patterns in Archaeofaunas -- Ch. 11. Mapping Predator Niches from Prey Mortality Patterns -- Ch. 12. Carnivore Mortality and the Denning Hypothesis -- Ch. 13. Seasons of Ungulate Procurement -- Ch. 14. Covariation in Mousterian Technology and Game Use -- Ch. 15. Neandertal Niche
1955Mary C. Stinerill. ; 26 cm
