Human-bird interaction in last Interglacial Iberia: A combined approach using skeletal part analysis, bone surface modification, bird ethology and ethnography

Abstract

The procurement of small prey by Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers has been much discussed over the past decades, particularly with regards to birds. Birds provide information about the different ecological niches available to exploitation and contribute to the clarification of basic aspects of human behaviour and subsistence. Here, we report on the Middle Palaeolithic bird bone assemblages from reliably dated (by U-series and OSL) MIS-5 deposits of two cave sites in central Portugal with abundant stone tool assemblages and Neanderthal skeletal remains: Gruta da Figueira Brava and Gruta da Oliveira. The associated vertebrate bone assemblages document human processing of both large and small animals, including tortoises; carnivore activity is scant. Avifaunal remains can be naturally deposited in caves, or accumulated by hominin and/or carnivore/raptor activity. The collection from Gruta da Oliveira is almost exclusively composed of terrestrial species, with a predominance of corvids that are known to nest in caves and may have integrated the archaeological deposit due to natural deaths; a few, however, bear anthropogenic modification marks that, in light of the evidence from skeletal part analysis and other archaeological and ethnographic examples, suggest that they may have been targeted by Neanderthals. The assemblage from Gruta da Figueira Brava comprises marine and terrestrial taxa, including edible species, as well as diurnal and nocturnal raptors. The marine assemblage is anthropogenic and reflects the exploitation of rocky cliff and marshy/estuarine environments ∼2000 m away.