Abundance or stress? Faunal exploitation patterns and subsistence strategies: The case study of Brush Hut 1 at Ohalo II, a submerged 23,000-year-old camp in the Sea of Galilee, Israel.

Tikvah Steiner,Dani Nadel,Rivka Rabinovich,Rebecca Biton,Florent Rivals,Peter F Biehl

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0262434

Abstract

The submerged site of Ohalo II was occupied during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), between 23,500–22,500 cal BP, bridging the Upper Paleolithic/Epipaleolithic transition in the southern Levant. The site is known for the excellent preservation of its brush huts and botanical remains. This study examines the behavior of its past inhabitants through analysis of the entire faunal assemblage found on the three successive floors of Brush Hut 1. Furthermore, it provides an opportunity to test differing models of prey choice and assess whether the observed resource diversification is the result of resource depression (explained by Optimal Foraging Theory) or resource abundance (explained by Niche Construction Theory). We focused on a quantitative, qualitative and spatial investigation of the more than 20,000 faunal remains, combining traditional zooarchaeological methods with microwear analysis of teeth and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) of burnt bones. Identification of faunal remains to the most detailed level possible, combined with analysis of skeletal element frequencies allowed reconstruction of a profile of the desired prey, highlighting the importance of small, expedient prey compared to larger game (ungulates). FTIR was used to identify degrees of burning and to develop a key to identifying burnt bones from water-logged environments. Availability of multiple food sources within a rich habitat may have driven exploitation of those varied local resources, rather than targeting energetically-rich large prey. The choice of a littoral habitat that could be intensively exploited is an example of niche selection. Comparison with contemporaneous and later sites contributes to the ongoing discussion about Early Epipaleolithic prey choice, and the impact, if any, of the LGM in the Jordan Valley. Ohalo II is an example of diverse prey choice motivated by abundance rather than stress, at a 23,000-year-old fisher-hunter-gatherers camp.

Highlights

The final Pleistocene zooarchaeological record in the Mediterranean southern Levant is generally characterized by a shift from hunting of large animals (“higher-ranked”) to hunting smaller, more difficult to attain prey (“lower-ranked”) [1,2,3,4,5,6]
Previous Ohalo II faunal analyses include a sample of 7678 mammal bones collected from multiple loci and the surface layer during the 1989–1991 seasons; this sample was studied before Floor III of Brush Hut 1 was exposed [28, 46]
Brush Hut 1 at Ohalo II presents a different picture of subsistence than most other early Epipaleolithic sites

Summary

Introduction

The final Pleistocene zooarchaeological record in the Mediterranean southern Levant is generally characterized by a shift from hunting of large animals (“higher-ranked”) to hunting smaller, more difficult to attain prey (“lower-ranked”) [1,2,3,4,5,6]. The number of fallow deer, a common prey species, decreased in favor of smaller ungulates (predominantly gazelle) and a variety of small prey. This is evident through the Epipalaeolithic period in the Mediterranean Levant, where the Early and Middle Epipaleolithic Researchers further defined prey categories based on biological systematics, but rather on their physical and behavioral characteristics, dividing small prey animals into slow game (e.g. tortoises) and quick game (e.g., birds and hares), whereby foragers select prey on the basis of cost of capture vs net caloric return [1, 2, 14, 15]. The shift between acquisition of slow small prey and quick small prey is interpreted as an indicator of resource diversification due to resource depression and demographic growth during the Epipaleolithic [1, 2, 4,5,6]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion