Combined dental wear and cementum analyses in ungulates reveal the seasonality of Neanderthal occupations in Covalejos Cave (Northern Iberia)

Carlos Sánchez-Hernández,Lionel Gourichon,Ramón Montes,Florent Rivals,William Rendu,Eric Pubert

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-50719-7

Abstract

We propose for the first time the use of the combination of two high-resolution techniques, dental wear (meso- and microwear) and dental cementum analyses, to gain a better understanding of Neanderthal subsistence strategies and occupational patterns. Dental wear analysis provides information not only on ungulate palaeodiet and palaeoenvironments but also on hunting time and seasons. Dental cementum analysis allows the accurate determination of the age and season at death of a prey. Our study has focused on the Cantabrian region and has applied both methods to investigate the Mousterian faunal assemblages in Covalejos Cave. Identification of the ungulate palaeodiet reveals information on the environmental conditions of the studied region. Moreover, it may facilitate observation on the evolution of both palaeodiet and palaeoenvironment throughout the site sequence. Results show a general stability in the palaeoenvironmental conditions and in the ungulate palaeodiet throughout the Mousterian sequence; this finding may be attributed to the role of the area as a climate refuge, and slight differences in levels 8, 7 and 4 suggest long- or short-term but repeated Neanderthal occupations at different seasons in the annual cycle.

Highlights

The hunter–gatherer groups that inhabited Europe during the Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 5–3) were subject to strong, rapid climatic changes[1,2] that altered their environment and their subsistence resources
We analysed the dietary patterns of three major ungulate taxa (C. elaphus, E. ferus and Bos/Bison) and the seasonality of Neanderthal hunting activities in all of the Mousterian sequences of the Covalejos Cave
It is necessary to compare the results with data provided by other proxies to obtain more accurate findings

Summary

Introduction

The hunter–gatherer groups that inhabited Europe during the Middle Palaeolithic (MIS 5–3) were subject to strong, rapid climatic changes[1,2] that altered their environment and their subsistence resources. Dental wear meso- and microwear techniques respond to different types of temporal resolutions for a certain parameter (see Methods) When these two dental wear techniques are combined, the information will reflect the degree of attrition and abrasiveness of available resources in an annual cycle (mesowear), and any possible variations due to seasonal environmental influences (microwear)[51]. Mesowear analyses investigate such macroscopic features as the shape of cusps and provides a long-term signal that covers months to years[37]. Note that the concepts of ‘season’ and ‘seasonality’ within the framework of the information derived from dental wear refer to the duration of mortality events and not to a natural season thereof (e.g. spring, summer...)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion