Abstract
Evidence is accumulating on the regular and systematic Neanderthal exploitation of birds. However, the motivations, mechanisms, and circumstances underlying this behavior remains little explored despite their potential implications on Neanderthal ecology and capabilities. Fossil remains of choughs (Pyrrhocorax, Corvidae) are among the most abundant in cave sites with Mousterian technology. We reviewed the evidence showing that Neanderthals processed choughs for food, and confirmed that it occurred frequently over a widespread spatial and temporal scale. This lead us to propose the hypothesis that the cave-like refuge is the keystone resource connecting Neanderthals and choughs captured at night in rocky shelters eventually used by both species. By adopting an actualistic approach, we documented the patterns of refuge use and population dynamics of communally roosting choughs, the strategies and technology currently used to capture them, and their behavioral response against experimental human predators at night. Actualistic experiments showed that large numbers of choughs can be captured without highly sophisticated tools at night regularly and periodically, due to their occupation year-round during long-term periods of the same nocturnal shelters, the constant turnover of individuals, and their high site tenacity at these roost-sites even after recurrent disturbance and predation. Captures even with bare hands are further facilitated because choughs tend to flee confused into the cavity in darkness when dazzled and cornered by human (experimental) predators. Given the extreme difficulty of daylight chough capturing in open country, nocturnal hunting with the help of fire in the roosting caves and consumption in situ are proposed as the most plausible explanations for the strong association of choughs and Neanderthals in fossil assemblages. Night hunting of birds has implications for the social, anatomical, technological, and cognitive capacities of Neanderthals.
Highlights
Neanderthal cognitive and physical capacities remain a hotly debated topic in human evolution
We aimed to deep on (1) Neanderthals’ cognitive capabilities to weave a night ambush toward elusive birds; (2) social abilities to arrange and achieve massive bird captures in darkness; (3) fire-related technology associated to enlighten themselves, and dazzle, harass, corral, and grab flying prey; (4) anatomical features related with an improved vision to locate and track roosting flocks, and cautiously approach and access the caves under low light and dark conditions, as well as climbing abilities previously overlooked; and (5) nutritional rewards associated to a chough meal
During the Pleistocene, choughs were distributed throughout Europe, sharing caves and rocky shelters with different Homo species
Summary
Neanderthal cognitive and physical capacities remain a hotly debated topic in human evolution. Among socially coordinated activities, hunting of large terrestrial game has been argued to provide pulses of food covering most energetic and nutritional demands of Neanderthals (Richards et al, 2000; Bocherens et al, 2005). Hunting elusive birds can be cognitively challenging, technologically difficult, and energetically costly. This type of prey can eventually represent abundant and nutritionally valuable resources for versatile omnivorous hunter-gatherers (Negro et al, 2016), especially when or where herbivore mammals were scarce or seasonally available. The frequency, circumstances, methods, and nutritional inputs associated to bird capture and exploitation have important, albeit little explored, implications in Neanderthal physical/anatomical, social, technological, and cognitive capacities
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