Hunting and overhunting in the Levantine Late Middle Palaeolithic

Abstract

We examine the larger mammals from late Middle Palaeolithic Kebara Cave (Israel), and offer eight principal conclusions concerning Neanderthal hunting activities at the site. (1) Regardless of prey size, most procurement was by hunting, not scavenging. The major prey were gazelle and fallow deer, but also aurochs, red deer, and boar. (2) Hunting was seasonal, with most hunts in winter and/or spring. (3) Hunters took male and female deer in similar numbers, but a preponderance of female gazelle. These sex ratios probably reflect local availability and encounter rates. (4) More juvenile deer than juvenile gazelle were taken. The frequency of juveniles has not been severely impacted by taphonomic processes. Because of their small size and limited body fat, juveniles were probably low-ranked resources by comparison to their adult counterparts and may often have been excluded from the hunters' optimal diet. If so, fluctuations in the numbers of juveniles do not track changes in hunting season, but instead indi...