Archaeological Assemblages Research Articles

The South Caucasus from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic: Intersection of the genetic and archaeological data

The genomic characterisation of human remains and the study of archaeological assemblages are complementary keys to understanding the evolution of ancient human groups. This article proposes a dialogue between these two approaches for the South Caucasus between the Upper Palaeolithic and the Neolithic periods.In the Upper Palaeolithic before the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 40.-23. ka cal BP), genetic and archaeological data demonstrate the originality of the populations of the South Caucasus (Caucasus_UP genome) compared with their neighbours in SE Europe and SW Asia and also show the existence of links between these different regions. For the post-LGM phase (ca. 20.9–11.7 ka cal BP), archaeological data suggest a certain continuity with the previous period during the cold phase of the Oldest Dryas, followed by a marked rapprochement with the Zarzian culture in the Zagros starting with the warming of the Bølling-Allerød. Genetic analyses, which are available only for the latter phase, reveal a new genome (Caucasus Hunter-Gatherer or CHG), that is very close to that of the ancestors of the Neolithic populations of the Zagros.For the Early Holocene (ca. 11.7–8.2 ka cal BP or 9700-6200 cal BCE), the CHG genome, which still characterises the populations of the South Caucasus, is difficult to distinguish in modelling from that of the Zagros (Iran_N). However, archaeological data suggest that the spread of the Iran_N/CHG gene pool from Iran to Upper Mesopotamia and Central Anatolia was due to populations from the northwest Zagros, and not to those from the South Caucasus, who had only occasional contacts with the Fertile Crescent.At the beginning of the Middle Holocene (ca. 8.2–7.2 ka cal BP or 6200-5200 cal BCE), the appearance in the South Caucasus of animals and plants presenting a high level of domestication, as well as the introduction of new techniques (pressure knapping with a lever, pottery), are clearly due to the arrival of populations from the Fertile Crescent, as confirmed by genetic analyses. These analyses also show that there was not a replacement of local Mesolithic communities by Neolithic farmers, which the archaeological evidence confirms.

A method for constructing demographic profiles of Capra aegagrus/C. hircus using logarithm size index scaling

Sex-specific demographic profiles of archaeological animal bone assemblages are key to being able to reconstruct the varied strategies used by ancient hunters and herders to harvest animals from both wild and managed herds. Nearly 25 years ago Zeder developed a method for constructing these profiles based on the study of a large collection of modern wild and domestic caprines that combined metric data and a refined system for determining age of death of archaeological caprine bones (Zeder, 2001, 2006a, 2008; Zeder and Hesse, 2000). The utility of this method was limited, however, by its reliance on individual dimensions from single elements, subjecting the method to sample size limitations. This paper presents a new method for constructing demographic profiles for assemblages of goat remains from archaeological sites drawing on a method developed by Zeder and Lemoine for Sus scrofa (Zeder and Lemoine, 2020a). The method uses normalized metric data following the Logarithm Size Index (LSI) scaling technique designed to address sample size issues. LSI values of post-crania metric data are shown to reflect the strong sexual dimorphism in body size in modern wild goats which is evident in the post-crania of animals over one year of age. Once adjusted for regional body size differences, as well as differences in the scaling of different post-cranial elements, the mid-point of the range of LSI values is shown to be a reliable and highly accurate way of distinguishing between the elements of females and males and for constructing sex-specific age profiles based on these identifications. This method is applied to metric data of goat assemblages from four archaeological sites in the Zagros — two representing hunted animals (Yafteh Cave and Asiab) and two representing early managed herds (Ganj Dareh and Ali Kosh). The paper concludes by offering recommendations, and caveats, for the use of this method in building sex-specific demographic profiles of ancient goat assemblages.

Production perspectives of a high-status polychrome jewellery set from the Hunnic period (mid-5th century AD) Carpathian Basin

Fifty years after the discovery of the Regöly grave, the emblematic Hunnic period archaeological assemblage from Hungary, an extensive scientific investigation was performed on the polychrome dress accessories of the high-status woman, often referred to as the “Princess of Regöly”, buried there. The multi-instrumental analyses aimed to characterise material and technological aspects of the gemstone-inlaid artefacts (a set of a pair of bow-brooches and a belt buckle), i.e., the manufacturing and decorative techniques as well as the chemical and mineralogical compositions. The non-destructive and non-invasive gemmological and geochemical analyses applied optical microscopes, handheld XRF, SEM-EDX and Raman microspectrometer. This study provides the first comprehensive examination of the Hunnic period polychrome jewellery, and highlights the potential of combining surface and subsurface analyses to specify garnet provenances. It presents the first evidence of use of antique and early medieval garnet sources during the early Migration period. The findings enhance understanding of the garnet supply chain and trade network, the production organisation and potential workshop connections. Significant differences of the brooches and the buckle reveal varying levels of luxury among the elite, providing insight into the social context of the polychrome jewellery associated with the “Princess of Regöly”.

Beyond hinges and spires: A critical examination of archaeomalacological quantification methodologies using coral reef molluscan assemblages from Jiigurru (Lizard Island Group), northern Great Barrier Reef

Quantification, as one of the pillars of the zooarchaeological subdiscipline, is an invaluable component of the toolkit researchers use to study past people-animal interactions. Despite being the subject of rigorous (zoo)archaeological debate, the calculation of Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) values remains one of the main methods of quantifying the relative abundance of taxa within faunal assemblages. Choosing the appropriate quantification protocol to calculate the MNI of archaeological invertebrate assemblages can be challenging due to regional taxonomic considerations and the myriad of quantification methodologies and frameworks available in the global archaeomalacological literature. In an Australian context, methodologies for quantifying coral reef molluscan assemblages have not been explicitly evaluated. Using archaeological molluscan assemblages from two midden sites (Freshwater Bay Midden and Mangrove Beach Headland Midden) on the northern Great Barrier Reef island group of Jiigurru (the Lizard Island Group), we critically examine two commonly adopted archaeomalacological quantification methodologies: the NRE MNI and tMNI protocols. The NRE MNI methodology uses one to two non-repetitive elements (NREs) of molluscs, whilst the tMNI protocol includes a wider range of elements akin to vertebrate MNI quantification methodologies. Through a comparison of taxa abundances and statistical analyses, results show that the tMNI protocol, with some modification, is best suited for the Jiigurru assemblages. Higher MNI values and an increased assemblage diversity, evenness, and richness were recorded for the molluscan assemblages at both midden sites when the tMNI protocol was applied. This study foregrounds the importance of data transparency when reporting quantification protocols and outcomes to ensure the highest degree of data quality, replicability, and usability.

Oral history made tangible and visual: entangling photographs, objects and archaeology in the assertion of identity and feelings of loss

ABSTRACT In 2020, our team organized a touring exhibition among Kenya’s Ilchamus community that set out to make their oral history tangible and visual by including photographic, archival, ethnographic, and archaeological materials. This paper discusses how the exhibition was designed and how it facilitated multivocality about the past, fostered engagement with environmental and cultural histories, and how identity was (re)asserted over the objects. In particular, it discusses how archival photographs and archaeological assemblages were central to evoking imagery of everyday life and highlighting the absence of once ubiquitous objects today. This led to concerns about the ‘loss of culture and identity’ being raised, which are prevalent in the community. However, the exhibition created a contact zone where we could start addressing these concerns by strengthening ties to the cultural heritage and the landscape, building trust between us and the community, and collaboratively determine future research goals.

Using computed tomography to diagnose chronic frontal sinusitis in the skeletal remains of a post-medieval Dutch rural community (AD 1829–1866)

Chronic frontal sinusitis (CFS) has afflicted humanity throughout history and continues to be a significant global health issue today. In bioarchaeology, sinusitis is often diagnosed through the identification of bone alterations within the maxillary sinus cavities by macroscopic and/or endoscopic examination. However, due to the inaccessible nature of frontal sinuses, CFS specifically has not been studied extensively archaeologically yet. This paper aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of diagnosing CFS through computed tomography (CT), highlighting the potential of radiographical imaging for future advancements in paleopathological research.We conducted a CT examination of 41 crania from the rural community of Middenbeemster, the Netherlands (AD 1829–1866) to assess the presence of CFS. Criteria for identifying CFS included bone formation and/or thickening of the sinus walls. Our analysis revealed that 14 individuals (34.1%) exhibited signs of CFS in one or both frontal sinuses. We found that males exhibited a slightly higher CFS prevalence (38%) than females (32%), although no significant correlation between sex and sinusitis occurrence was found. This lack of correlation suggests equal exposure to risk factors (e.g., indoor air quality, environmental pollution, allergens, and cold weather) among both sexes.To our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to confirm the presence of CFS through CT scanning in an archaeological skeletal collection. It demonstrates that computed tomography allows for a straightforward and non-destructive detection of sinusitis in archaeological assemblages. Considering the currently limited bioarchaeological research on frontal sinusitis, our findings should be considered relevant and promising for future osteoarcheological studies on upper respiratory diseases.

26Al/10Be burial dating and technological strategies of hominins at the Jijiazhuang Paleolithic site, Nihewan Basin, China: Implications for understanding Middle Pleistocene human adaptations in east Asia

With the discovery of more than a hundred Pleistocene Paleolithic sites, the Nihewan Basin of North China has become an area of reference for the study of human evolution and behavioral adaptations during and after the spread of hominins out of Africa and into Eurasia. However, most research has focused on the Early and Late Pleistocene archaeological record, whereas studies of the Middle Pleistocene sequence are relatively limited. Here we contribute to fill this gap by introducing the archaeological assemblage and 26Al/10Be burial dating of the newly discovered Jijiazhuang (JJZ) Paleolithic site. Systematic excavations in recent years have yielded well-preserved stone artifacts and mammalian fossils in fluvio-lacustrine sediments at the site. Cosmogenic 26Al/10Be burial dating indicates that hominins occupied the site between 0.49 ± 0.10 and 0.63 ± 0.11 Ma, corresponding to the extra-long interglacial period of MIS 15-13. The JJZ lithic assemblage shows evidence of relatively long-distance resource procurement, and the increased number of retouched tools indicate standardized, extensive and refined modification, even shaping strategies. The JJZ lithic technology shows advanced features that may shed light on the regional emergence of Middle Paleolithic technologies, in a paleoecological context where the extra-long duration of interglacial/mild stadial climate events (MIS 15−13) may have provided favorable conditions for increased technological capabilities among Middle Pleistocene hominins from the Nihewan Basin. Our study is the first to present a detailed techno-typological analysis of a Middle Pleistocene lithic assemblage in the Nihewan Basin and contributes to the characterization of technological adaptions in the high latitudes of East Asia.

Studying seriality in material culture by geometric morphometrics–gold wild boars from the Arzhan-2 barrow, Tuva

In the field of material culture, seriality refers to the serial production of nearly the same object in terms of shape and size, yielding visually identical artefacts. Subtle variations may nevertheless occur, depending on the technologies used, or the number and reliability of moulds, for example. Geometric morphometrics based on landmark analysis, along with accompanying statistical techniques, provides methods well-suited for identifying small but archaeologically significant variations in shape and size within such datasets. In this study, we exemplify the efficiency of geometric morphometrics in a context of seriality, using a large series of centimetric-sized gold wild boars decorating a case for bow and arrows, discovered in the Arzhan-2 barrow of the early Scythian time. A total of twenty-seven 2D landmarks was collected for each specimen to assess the level of similarity between individuals with high precision, and to investigate the presence of subgroups, possibly indicating the use of several models. However, due to the homogeneous nature of the dataset, notable measurement errors may obscure the sought-after archaeological signal. To mitigate this, each specimen was measured twice by three different operators. Boas coordinates of the six replicates were then averaged, resulting in a reduction of the effect of measurement errors. Two distinct shape groups are identified, consisting of an approximately equal number of individuals. These findings suggest that the entire set of wild boars could have been produced via two separate manufacturing chains, possibly running in parallel, where two distinct, albeit very similar, solid models were involved. Within each group, discreet variations in size were observed. They are probably due to variable shrinkage during casting. These observations would have been difficult for the naked eye, even for an expert in the field, because the striking similarity within the series and the post-processing by the goldsmith obscure the shape signal originating from the moulds. Besides the original information provided here about the gold wild boars of Arzhan-2, it is worth emphasizing that the use of these techniques should be encouraged, particularly when applied to the study of seriality. The workflow described can easily be reproduced and adapted for almost any serially produced archaeological assemblage.

On the wing: Morphological variation in the osteology of Mediterranean, Near Eastern, and EuropeanAnatidae (excluding Anserinae).

Accurate identification of waterfowl bones in archaeological and fossil assemblages has potential to unlock new methods of past environmental reconstruction, as species have differing habitat preferences and migration patterns. Therefore, identifying the presence of avian species with different ecological niches is key to determining past environments and ultimately how prehistoric people responded to climatic and environmental realignments. However, the identification of osteological remains of waterbirds such as ducks to species level is notoriously challenging. We address this by presenting a new two-dimensional geometric morphometric protocol on wing elements from over 20 duck species and test the utility of these shape data for correct species identification. This is an ideal starting point to expand utilization of these types of approaches in avifaunal research and test applicability to an extremely difficult taxonomic group.

A Newly Dated Late Pleistocene and Holocene Archaeological Assemblage from Bukhtarma Cave in the Southern Altai Piedmont, East Kazakhstan

The Altai mountains contain a number of cave and rockshelter sites that have given crucial information about human evolution in Asia. Most of these caves are located in the Gornyi Altai of Siberia, while the southern flank of the range remains much less known. Bukhtarma Cave was a karstic cave located near the former village of Peshchera, on the banks of the Bukhtarma River running through the foothills of the southern (Kazakh) Altai mountains. The Soviet East Kazakhstan Archaeological Expedition carried several excavation campaigns in the cave in the early to mid 1950s, discovering Paleolithic stone tools as well as animal bones. The collections were split between the East Kazakhstan Regional Museum of Local History in Öskemen (the lithic and part of the faunal collection) and the Zoological Institute in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) (most of the fauna). Subsequently, the site was flooded by the construction of the Bukhtarma Reservoir in 1958, such that further fieldwork is impossible. However, in 2020, we reanalyzed the zooarchaeological collections and obtained several 14C dates. Based on the excavation documentation and the newly obtained dates exclusively taken from cut marked and carnivore-modified bone, we reconstruct at least three Paleolithic archaeological horizons, spanning the time between ca. 47–30 ka cal BP and exhibiting Middle and Upper Paleolithic characteristics, as well as the remains of several Holocene occupations, the latest of which dates to the Bronze Age. We present here a summary of the lithic and faunal assemblage and draw general conclusions about the site’s placement within the regional Paleolithic.

The Initial Upper Paleolithic from Tolbor-16, Mongolia: Characteristics of the Lithic Assemblage and Their Evolutionary Implications

According to fossil evidence, the Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) refers to archaeological assemblages associated with the early dispersal of Homo sapiens across Eurasia. These assemblages are often described as exhibiting a combination of Middle and Upper Paleolithic typo-technological features or, more broadly, as a technology in progression from the former to the latter. Genetic evidence indicates that as members of our species moved across Europe and Asia, they encountered Neanderthal, Denisovan, and possibly other local populations. At the Eurasian scale, the IUP shows considerable variation, but to what extent this corresponds to a relatively unified cultural package strictly associated with our species, or a suite of unrelated technologies reflecting the complex dynamics of a global population turnover, remains unclear. Like most archaeological assemblages, however, the IUP illustrates a combination of adaptive and normative behaviors, along with some stochastic variation. Here, we investigate what drives typo-technological variation within an IUP assemblage to identify traits relevant for larger scale inter-regional comparisons. Specifically, we describe a lithic assemblage dated to ca. 45 ka cal BP from the site of Tolbor-16 in northern Mongolia. We identify three defining aspects of the IUP at the site, namely variation in core shape and size, patterns of blade core reduction, and the presence of Middle Paleolithic typo-technological features. Our goal is to clarify the influence of dynamic reduction processes on assemblage composition and, within the variation observed, to identify typo-technological features that are relevant for inter-regional comparisons and scenarios of population dispersal.

Different tools with the same functionality at Măgura-Buduiasca Neolithic settlement (Teleorman County, southern Romania)

At the Neolithic settlements from the northern Danube, three types of artefacts are constantly present in archaeological contexts: spatulas made from cattle ribs, flattened sheep/goats astragali and Unio sp. shells with traces of use. These are very different types of items, in terms of raw material and in degree of their processing. Thus, while spatulas were obtained by major transformations of ribs, the astragali suffered only moderate changes thus allowing the identification of bone type and species. The shells had no technological changes to their natural morphology. The main purpose of our analysis was to reconstruct the way in which these tools were technologically created and how they were used. For this purpose, an experimental program has been developed that allows the recording of all details: raw materials, operational sequence and processed materials. The experimental pieces were used and the use-wear evolution pattern was systematically analyzed. Comparing the use-wear marks present on the archaeological pieces with those on the experimental pieces, we conclude that such tools were used during different stages of pottery manufacturing. The archaeological assemblage from the Măgura-Buduiasca settlement was used as a case study to prove the relevance of the results.

The Analysis of Socio-cultural Dynamics in Ethnographic Context Demonstrates with Archaeological Witnesses, in Central Africa and the Middle East, the Gap Between Form and Function

The morpho-functional categorization of material objects used in archaeology reflects a determinism. Form determines the function of a material object. The function is systematically deduced from the form even before the former manifests itself. However, the usefulness of an object can clearly override this prognosis. The problem, then, is to verify the pre-established relationship between a predetermined activity and a predefined set of morphological characteristics required to give a material object or an archaeological assemblage its name. The latter two are defined on the basis of a set of stable characteristics. The question is how to proceed in order to highlight the dynamic nature of the object or archaeological assemblage beyond the stable state of the combination of elements by which an ethnographic object or archaeological assemblage is identified? And how can we ascertain whether the set of morphological characteristics identified with an object, or the group of remains required to form an assemblage, can be explained systematically by a static need for overproduction that is generally attributed to human societies, regardless of context. The hypothesis asserts that the utility of the material object transcends morpho-functional limits. Just as the different states of descriptive variables in archaeological assemblages are not necessarily the consequence of a uniform and continuous need for overproduction. The aim of this study is therefore to discuss the relationship established between socio-cultural dynamics and the properties of the causes generally given as stable in the explanation of this phenomenon. The results drawn from an analysis of qualitative data, collected in the written literature and in the field, will serve as a basis for discussing the conceptual model established in the explanation of observable dynamics, concerning the material productions of human societies. The functionalism-nominalism-interactionism triad serves as the basis for the theory proposed to render intelligible the precarious quality of the causes at the origin of the transformations recorded in material objects in ethnographic or archaeological contexts.

On the formation of charred millet aggregates in archaeological assemblages

AbstractCharred aggregates are one of the most common forms in which millets are preserved on archaeological sites. Despite the lack of consensus on their origin, few studies have attempted to determine how aggregates are formed. Knowing how aggregates are produced allows us to understand the diversity of processes operating in the formation of charred archaeobotanical assemblages. As a contribution to filling this gap, we investigated the charring conditions of archaeological millet assemblages by comparing them to experimentally charred millets grains exposed to different temperatures, and reducing and oxidizing atmospheres, using pyrolysis‐gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (Py‐GC‐MS) and thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation‐GC‐MS (THM‐GC‐MS). The results show that the formation of aggregates in the millet species studied is due to the transformation of organic material into char and the emission of volatiles as a consequence of the high thermal impact that is produced in some areas of grain clusters. Substances derived from the charring act as a ‘glue’ that holds a grain cluster together, in which some grains are exposed to a temperature range allowing preservation of recognisable grain morphologies.

Past human decision-making based on stone tool performance: Experiments to test the influence of raw material variability and edge angle design on tool function

One of the main interests in the interpretation of the archaeological record and its variability within and through time and space is the production and use of past human stone tool technologies. Tool design and function are inevitably intertwined and strongly related to tool use. Understanding tool design provides information about early human technological adaptations and reflects human behaviour in the sense of conscious or unconscious decision-making. Nevertheless, the reason for major changes (including novelties, innovations, and loss) in past human stone tool technology is still poorly understood. A comprehensive approach focusing on tool function (What was the tool meant for?) and use (What was the tool used for?) can help to overcome this gap. While tool function (including performance) can be investigated experimentally, tool use can be addressed with use-wear analyses. These questions can be best investigated on technological systems showing little tool variability but strong evidence of maintenance and long-term use, such as Middle Palaeolithic industries.The Late Middle Palaeolithic record of Central and Eastern Europe is marked by the emergence of an asymmetric tool-type called Keilmesser (bifacial backed knives). Due to their sophisticated morphology, Keilmesser as a case study offer the potential to address aspects of raw material selection, tool production, maintenance, and reworking.This paper presents the results of an experiment designed to study the tool performance of Keilmesser from three archaeological sites, namely Balver Höhle, the Upper site of Buhlen and Grotte de Ramioul by testing raw material, edge angle and movement as independent variables. A highly controlled, sequential experiment was conducted using a mechanical device performing unidirectional cutting and carving movements on hard contact material. Results demonstrate the possibility to perform the mentioned task with 35° and 45° edge angles, maintaining function, albeit at differing levels of efficiency. The data has a direct impact on the interpretation of the archaeological assemblages regarding aspects such as stone tool morphology and resharpening. At the same time, the study highlights the importance of raw material analysis to understand the variability in the archaeological record and the implications on past human decision-making strategies.

Halal and Makruk: Muslim archaeological fish assemblages as cultural identifiers in the Iberian Middle Ages?

AbstractMuslim religion has strict rules to determine what kinds of foodstuffs, and under what circumstances, are deemed appropriate for consumption. Fishes are not an exception to this rule and features such as body shape or the presence and conspicuousness of scales dictate whether certain species are acceptable or rejected. In this paper, an overview of the Iberian ichthyoarchaeological record from Muslim sites is presented to ascertain whether differences with Christian sites existed in terms of these characters and to what extent these allow one to take fish assemblages as cultural proxies of archaeological deposits. In the case of coastal (production) sites, we also consider whether the peculiarities a given fish assemblage exhibit reflect instead certain environmental features such as the biotopes where a given local fishery operated.

Dibble’s Reduction Thesis: Implications for Global Lithic Analysis

Harold Dibble demonstrated the systematic effects of reduction by retouch upon the size and shape of Middle Paleolithic tools. The result was the reduction thesis, with its far-reaching implications for the understanding of Middle Paleolithic assemblage variation that even now are incompletely assimilated. But Dibble’s influence extended beyond the European Paleolithic. Others identified additional reduction methods and measures that complement Dibble’s reduction thesis, and applied analytical concepts and methods consistent with it to industries and assemblages around the world. These developments facilitated comprehensive reduction analysis of archaeological tools and assemblages and their comparison in the abstract despite the great diversity of their time–space contexts. Dibble argued that many assemblages are time-averaged accumulations. In cases from New Zealand to North America, methods he pioneered and that others extended reveal the complex processes by which behavior, tool use, curation, and time interacted to yield those accumulations. We are coming to understand that the record is no mere collection of ethnographic vignettes, instead a body of data that requires macroarchaeological approaches. Archaeology’s pending conceptual revolution in part is a legacy of Dibble’s thought.

Fishboneviz: Enhancing the availability of zooarchaeological fish reference collections through an open access 3D database

Fish remains are a common component of coastal and inland archaeological assemblages from Australia and the Pacific Islands. Physical reference collections are the primary tool that researchers use to taxonomically identify fish bones but given the high biodiversity of fishes in this region, collections are frequently not complete at the genus- and species-level. Adjunct resources, such as online photograph repositories of fish bone reference collections and illustrated technical guides, provide useful supplementary aids. However, such 2D photographs and illustrations offer fixed perspectives of the bone and do not allow for ready manipulation and detailed examination of the specimen. Here, we introduce Fishboneviz, the first open access 3D fish bone reference collection, which was developed to reduce inequitable access to physical reference collections in line with the FAIR principles of data management (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable). A ‘best-practice’ methodology was established to facilitate fast and effective segmentation (i.e. isolate regions of interest such as elements) of fish Computed Tomography (CT) scans. This way, fish bone elements of interest were segmented to allow digital manipulation and viewing of the complete element. To examine the effectiveness of the approach, image segmentation procedures were applied to a representative sample of 10 bone elements per fish: dentary, premaxilla, maxilla, articular, quadrate, hyomandibular, opercle, preopercle, last precaudal vertebra, and first caudal vertebra. For species within the family Labridae, the three pharyngeal grinding plates were also segmented. These elements were selected as they represent different regions of the skeleton, variable morphologies, and commonly recovered elements from archaeological sites. To date, the collection contains the skeletal elements of 26 fish species (18 families). In the future, it is hoped that the collection will be further expanded by a broader network of interested collaborators to ensure it grows according to the changing needs of research and teaching communities.

Evidence of an age and/or gender-based division of labor during the Last Glacial Maximum in Iberia through rabbit hunting

Many archaeological assemblages from the Iberian Peninsula dated to the Last Glacial Maximum contain large quantities of European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) remains with an anthropic origin. Ethnographic and historic studies report that rabbits may be mass-collected through warren-based harvesting involving the collaborative participation of several persons. We propose and implement an Agent-Based Model grounded in the Optimal Foraging Theory and the Diet Breadth Model to examine how different warren-based hunting strategies influence the resulting human diets. We then visually compare the simulated diets with the zooarchaeological record. Our simulation outputs suggest that rabbits may have been mass collected from warrens by humans through the use of nets and an age and/or gender-based division of labor. Our results have profound implications for the comprehension of hunting behavior and the social organization of humans during the Last Glacial Maximum in the Iberian Peninsula.

Cooked or discarded? Experimental distinction of rabbit burnt bones and its application to the archaeological record

Leporid bones from Middle Palaeolithic assemblages may result from the contributions of various predators, including humans, or natural processes. Although the acquisition, processing, and consumption of small mammals by Neanderthal groups has been widely demonstrated, there are still some unresolved issues. Cut marks are typically the most reliable indicators of human processing of carcasses. However, animals the size of rabbits often pose a challenge in this regard, as the use of stone tools is not always necessary for their consumption, particularly for meat or marrow extraction. Consequently, the quantity of these types of marks, such as cuts or hammer-stone percussion damage, indicating human processing, may be limited. Burning is another type of bone damage that could be indicative of human action, although both intentional and accidental processes could lead to the thermal alteration of remains without necessarily linking them to consumption. Therefore, efforts to distinguish the processes resulting in bone burning are of vital importance in determining the origin of these animals in archaeological assemblages. In this work, the results of several experimental series designed to characterise the roasting and subsequent cleaning of waste on rabbit bones are presented. These results confirm most of the characteristics described in previous experimental works on burnt bones, highlighting the differential damage between bones with and without meat. The current study aims to contribute new data for characterising burned rabbit bones resulting from human actions, which can then be applied to Middle Palaeolithic assemblages with this type of thermal alteration bone modifications.