Abstract
This paper presents data from the English Channel area of Britain and Northern France on the spatial distribution of Lower to early Middle Palaeolithic pre-MIS5 interglacial sites which are used to test the contention that the pattern of the richest sites is a real archaeological distribution and not of taphonomic origin. These sites show a marked concentration in the middle-lower reaches of river valleys with most being upstream of, but close to, estimated interglacial tidal limits. A plant and animal database derived from Middle-Late Pleistocene sites in the region is used to estimate the potentially edible foods and their distribution in the typically undulating landscape of the region. This is then converted into the potential availability of macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fats) and selected micronutrients. The floodplain is shown to be the optimum location in the nutritional landscape (nutriscape). In addition to both absolute and seasonal macronutrient advantages the floodplains could have provided foods rich in key micronutrients, which are linked to better health, the maintenance of fertility and minimization of infant mortality. Such places may have been seen as ‘good (or healthy) places’ explaining the high number of artefacts accumulated by repeated visitation over long periods of time and possible occupation. The distribution of these sites reflects the richest aquatic and wetland successional habitats along valley floors. Such locations would have provided foods rich in a wide range of nutrients, importantly including those in short supply at these latitudes. When combined with other benefits, the high nutrient diversity made these locations the optimal niche in northwest European mixed temperate woodland environments. It is argued here that the use of these nutritionally advantageous locations as nodal or central points facilitated a healthy variant of the Palaeolithic diet which permitted habitation at the edge of these hominins’ range.
Highlights
Two fundamental questions in Palaeolithic archaeology are: 1) do lithic distributions represent activity patterns? And 2) if so what can they tell us about Palaeolithic foraging strategies especially at the edge of the biogeographical range of hominins? Archaeologists accept that site distribution in later periods, both before and after the introduction of farming, can be used to infer subsistence strategies through spatial relationships with environmental factors both for mobile and sedentary societies [1]
Based on our analysis of multi-disciplinary data we propose that the distribution of the richest Lower to Middle Palaeolithic archaeological sites in this part of northwest Europe is a real behavioural distribution reflecting hominin activity patterns rather than a taphonomic distribution
During the last four interglacials the location of the richest Palaeolithic sites in terms of biface densities is strongly biased to the lower reaches of river valleys and sites which were above natural tidal limit (NTL) but in proximity to tidal rivers and estuaries
Summary
Two fundamental questions in Palaeolithic archaeology are: 1) do lithic distributions represent activity patterns? And 2) if so what can they tell us about Palaeolithic foraging strategies especially at the edge of the biogeographical range of hominins? Archaeologists accept that site distribution in later periods, both before and after the introduction of farming, can be used to infer subsistence strategies through spatial relationships with environmental factors both for mobile and sedentary societies [1]. Most emphasis in reconstructions of Palaeolithic diets has been placed on protein intake, fat is the major energy reserve in hominids and can buffer food scarcity which would have been more common at the edge of the hominin geographical range.
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