Subsistence strategy changes during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition reveals specific adaptations of Human Populations to their environment

William Rendu,Solange Rigaud,Marie Soressi,Marie-Cécile Soulier,Sylvain Renou,Morgan Roussel

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-50647-6

Abstract

The transition from Middle to Upper Paleolithic is a major biological and cultural threshold in the construction of our common humanity. Technological and behavioral changes happened simultaneously to a major climatic cooling, which reached its acme with the Heinrich 4 event, forcing the human populations to develop new strategies for the exploitation of their environment. The recent fieldwork at Les Cottés (France) transitional site offers a good opportunity to document subsistence strategies for this period and to provide for the first time high-resolution insights on its evolution. We present the results of the complete zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the transitional sequence, associated with a large regional synthesis of the subsistence strategy evolution during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic. We conclude that, while there is no major change in the hunting strategies, the butchery activities evolved in strict correlation with the development of range weapons. In addition, the demise of carnivore seems to be a consequence of the human pressure on the environment. Our study demonstrates how the faunal component of the environment became a structuring element of the human social organization, being at the base of future cultural evolutions.

Highlights

The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition is well known for the major demographic shift that occurred with the arrival of anatomically modern humans (AMH) in Europe, their interbreeding with the local Neanderthal populations[1], whom they eventually replaced
The faunal spectra highlight an evolution in the hunted preys, with a steady increase of the reindeer in the human diet
It is always difficult to establish to what extent faunal spectra reflect the environmental availability of resources rather than hunters selection strategies[23,39]

Summary

Introduction

The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition is well known for the major demographic shift that occurred with the arrival of anatomically modern humans (AMH) in Europe, their interbreeding with the local Neanderthal populations[1], whom they eventually replaced. Craftsmen explored and mastered new raw material[10,16,17], bones and teeth, producing a brand-new set of tools as a response to arising needs The development of these new needs and subsequently these new bone technologies had direct consequences on the resources procurement and management strategies and, in a more general way, on the cultural relationships constructed by human with their animal counterpart. Understanding the evolution of the subsistence strategies during such a period of environmental changes is of prime interest for apprehending the socio-economic transformations in the populations, which leaded to the numerous technical and symbolic innovations In this context, Southwestern France occupies a particular place, being one of the few regions with a long detailed transitional period covering Late Mousterian, Châtelperronian, Proto-Aurignacian, and Early Aurignacian documented at numerous sites. The relative contribution and impact on the assemblage of humans and carnivore was used as a proxy of their interactions and competition

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