High resolution Neanderthals? Interpreting middle palaeolithic intrasite spatial data

Abstract

Palaeolithic archaeologists have for some time been concerned with high resolution data, which is usually taken to mean intra‐site spatial patterning. This paper examines cases of such high resolution for the Middle Palaeolithic, and assesses exactly what such ‘flagship’ sites reveal about Neanderthal behaviour. Although such cases are rare, and most Middle Palaeolithic sites are just as informative albeit of lower resolution, an attempt is made to interpret what patterning is available. It can be explained by recourse to nothing more that simple human biomechanics, and, in enclosed sites, displays a simple spatial organization that does not differ from that of non‐human carnivores. The degree of repetition of such patterning suggests that simple spatial organization was an habitual element of the Neanderthal adaptation.