Social Hunting Research Articles

Red piranha optimization (RPO): a natural inspired meta-heuristic algorithm for solving complex optimization problems

An optimization algorithm is a step-by-step procedure which aims to achieve an optimum value (maximum or minimum) of an objective function. Several natural inspired meta-heuristic algorithms have been inspired to solve complex optimization problems by utilizing the potential advantages of swarm intelligence. In this paper, a new nature-inspired optimization algorithm which mimics the social hunting behavior of Red Piranha is developed, which is called Red Piranha Optimization (RPO). Although the piranha fish is famous for its extreme ferocity and thirst for blood, it sets the best examples of cooperation and organized teamwork, especially in the case of hunting or saving their eggs. The proposed RPO is established through three sequential phases, namely; (i) searching for a prey, (ii) encircling the prey, and (iii) attacking the prey. A mathematical model is provided for each phase of the proposed algorithm. RPO has salient properties such as; (i) it is very simple and easy to implement, (ii) it has a perfect ability to bypass local optima, and (iii) it can be employed for solving complex optimization problems covering different disciplines. To ensure the efficiency of the proposed RPO, it has been applied in feature selection, which is one of the important steps in solving the classification problem. Hence, recent bio-inspired optimization algorithms as well as the proposed RPO have been employed for selecting the most important features for diagnosing Covid-19. Experimental results have proven the effectiveness of the proposed RPO as it outperforms the recent bio-inspired optimization techniques according to accuracy, execution time, micro average precision, micro average recall, macro average precision, macro average recall, and f-measure calculations.

IoT-based ECG monitoring for arrhythmia classification using Coyote Grey Wolf optimization-based deep learning CNN classifier

An electrocardiogram (ECG) is extensively used to evaluate the heart condition that can lead to further investigate heart ailments detection of heart diseases. The process is simple, quick, and non-invasive. However, manually detecting and classifying arrhythmia is not easy, as manually analyzing the ECG signals is time-consuming. This research proposes an automatic detection and classification of arrhythmia using the proposed optimized deep learning classifier. Initially, the ECG signals collected using the Internet of Things (IoT) nodes are processed to generate the QRS complex and the RR interval for establishing the feature vector for the arrhythmia classification, which is done using the proposed Coy-Grey Wolf optimization-based deep convolution neural network (Coy-GWO-based Deep CNN) classifier that detects the anomalies in the ECG signal. The proposed Coy-GWO algorithm inherits the hybrid characteristics, such as social hunting hierarchies and the hunting experiences of the canids, which ensures the effective parameter update in the classifier. Finally, the classification model is implemented and analyzed based on the performance measures. The proposed Coy-GWO-based Deep CNN attained the classification accuracy of 95%, which outperforms the existing techniques.

What Are the “Costs and Benefits” of Meat-Eating in Human Evolution? The Challenging Contribution of Behavioral Ecology to Archeology

Despite the omnivorous diet of most human populations, meat foraging gradually increased during the Paleolithic, in parallel with the development of hunting capacities. There is evidence of regular meat consumption by extinct hominins from 2 Ma onward, with the first occurrence prior to 3 Ma in Eastern Africa. The number of sites with cut-marked animal remains and stone tools increased after 2 Ma. In addition, toolkits became increasingly complex, and various, facilitating carcass defleshing and marrow recovery, the removal of quarters of meat to avoid carnivore competition, and allowing the emergence of cooperative (i.e., social) hunting of large herbivores. How can we assess the energy costs and benefits of meat and fat acquisition and consumption for hunter-gatherers in the past, and is it possible to accurately evaluate them? Answering this question would provide a better understanding of extinct hominin land use, food resource management, foraging strategies, and cognitive abilities related to meat and fat acquisition, processing, and consumption. According to the Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT), resources may be chosen primarily on the basis of their efficiency rank in term of calories. But, could other factors, and not only calorific return, prevail in the choice of prey, such as the acquisition of non-food products, like pelts, bone tools or ornaments, or symbolic or traditional uses? Our main goal here is to question the direct application of behavioral ecology data to archeology. For this purpose, we focus on the issue of animal meat and fat consumption in human evolution. We propose a short review of available data from energetics and ethnographic records, and provide examples of several various-sized extant animals, such as elephants, reindeer, or lagomorphs, which were some of the most common preys of Paleolithic hominins.

Archerfish respond to a hunting robotic conspecific.

While the unique hunting behavior of archerfish has received considerable scientific attention, the specific social cues that govern behaviors like intraspecific kleptoparasitism in the species are less understood. This paper asks whether the use of a robotic facsimile representing an archerfish can elicit a social response if it approximates an archerfish's appearance, along with key features of its hunting behavior. We found that the fish respond to the robot when it hunted, as indicated by decreasing distances between the robot and fish (and among the fish) during the robot's hunting behavior sequence, as well as higher net transfer entropy when the robot was hunting. These effects were present even when the robot's "hunt" was unproductive and did not result in food. The temporal pattern of fish approach to the robot and each other indicated that the segment of robot hunting behavior proximal to the robotic facsimile shot elicited fish behavior initially. However, earlier cues in the robot's hunting sequence became important following more experience with a food contingency. This indicates that further studies could use a robotic facsimile to conduct a detailed stimulus analysis, changing aspects of the robot's appearance and behavior to uncover the basic mechanisms of information transfer among individuals in a social hunting scenario.

Bearded capuchin (Sapajus libidinosus) predation on a rock cavy (Kerodon rupestris) followed by prey sharing.

We describe predation on an adult rodent rock cavy and sharing of the carcass by a group of male bearded capuchins. Despite many studies, such an interaction has never been observed in bearded capuchins. Rock cavies are large rodents weighing around 25% of the weight of an adult male bearded capuchin. The capuchins chased, caught, and shared the adult rock cavy. We observed no strong evidence of communication or division of roles in the successful capture, suggesting that the social hunting episode was not necessarily coordinated or collaborative. Instead, the individuals apparently tried to achieve the same goal of capturing the prey simultaneously (i.e., individuals synchronously performed similar actions to achieve the task), with the strongest individual emerging victorious and tolerating prey sharing afterwards. Our observations add to the understanding of cooperative behaviours such as social hunting and food sharing in bearded capuchins.

Canines and carnassials as indicators of sociality in durophagous hyaenids: analyzing the past to understand the present

We analyzed the lower and upper dentition of the family Hyaenidae along its evolutionary history from a multivariate point of view. A total of 13,103 individual measurements of the lengths and widths of canines and the main post-canine teeth (lower third and fourth premolar, lower first molar, and upper second, third, and fourth premolars) were collected for 39 extinct and extant species of this family. We analyzed these measurements using principal component analyses. The multivariate structure characterized the main groups of previously defined hyaenid ecomorphs. Strikingly, our analyses also detected differences between social hunting durophages (such as Crocuta crocuta) and solitary scavengers (such as Hyaena hyaena or Parahyaena brunnea). Concerning the hyaenid bauplan, social hunters have large carnassials and smaller canines, whereas solitary scavengers show the exact opposite morphological adaptations. Additionally, scavengers exhibited upper canines larger than lower ones, whereas hunters have upper and lower canines of similar size. It is hypothesized that sociality has led to an increase in carnassial length for hunting durophages via scramble competition at feeding. Such competition also penalizes adults from bringing food to cubs, which are consequently breastfed. On the other hand, it is also hypothesized that natural selection has led to solitary scavengers having large canines to transport carcasses to cubs. Our results indicate that these functional aspects are also better reflected by lower teeth than the upper dentition, which leads to a mosaic evolution.

Backing up from negative stimuli: A back‐thrust mechanism during escape‐like response in wild sevengill sharks (Notorynchus cepedianus)

AbstractBroadnose sevengill sharks (Notorynchus cepedianus) show great interest for bait and display a repertoire of movements while engaging with it. A novel back‐thrust mechanism is described in wild sevengill sharks by which individuals back up from a negative stimulus while interacting with baited video stations. This mechanism initiates upon head contact with the device that functions as a negative stimulus eliciting a startle escape‐like response. By heavily flipping pectoral fins and curving the body, sharks increase hydrodynamic resistance, backing up from the negative stimulus. Once backed up, sharks performed the common C‐shaped double‐bend escape maneuver described for sharks. Sharks also used the same back‐thrust mechanism as a repositioning maneuver, but not as part of a startle response. The quantification of the turning rate indicated context‐dependent variation in velocity and confirmed that the majority of withdrawals corresponded to slow escape‐like motions. In general, an elongated body and individual flipping control of pectoral fins allowed for great maneuverability and lateral flexure. Sharks exhibited great tolerance to one another during double and triple encounters. The implications for grouping and social hunting of the species are briefly discussed based on past evidence and the movement behavior, gregarious interactions, and body markings observed in the present study. This work highlights the importance of studies in the natural environment and the use of complementary approaches to investigate the broader range of locomotor aspects of different shark species.

Hypercarnivorous teeth and healed injuries to Canis chihliensis from Early Pleistocene Nihewan beds, China, support social hunting for ancestral wolves.

Collaborative hunting by complex social groups is a hallmark of large dogs (Mammalia: Carnivora: Canidae), whose teeth also tend to be hypercarnivorous, specialized toward increased cutting edges for meat consumption and robust p4-m1 complex for cracking bone. The deep history of canid pack hunting is, however, obscure because behavioral evidence is rarely preserved in fossils. Dated to the Early Pleistocene (>1.2 Ma), Canis chihliensis from the Nihewan Basin of northern China is one of the earliest canines to feature a large body size and hypercarnivorous dentition. We present the first known record of dental infection in C. chihliensis, likely inflicted by processing hard food, such as bone. Another individual also suffered a displaced fracture of its tibia and, despite such an incapacitating injury, survived the trauma to heal. The long period required for healing the compound fracture is consistent with social hunting and family care (food-sharing) although alternative explanations exist. Comparison with abundant paleopathological records of the putatively pack-hunting Late Pleistocene dire wolf, Canis dirus, at the Rancho La Brea asphalt seeps in southern California, U.S.A., suggests similarity in feeding behavior and sociality between Chinese and American Canis across space and time. Pack hunting in Canis may be traced back to the Early Pleistocene, well before the appearance of modern wolves, but additional evidence is needed for confirmation.

Whale optimization algorithm based on nonlinear convergence factor and chaotic inertial weight

SummaryThe whale optimization algorithm (WOA) is a new biological meta‐heuristic algorithm based on the social hunting behaviors of humpback whales. However, it can easily fall into a local optimum when solving complex problems and exhibits slow convergence speed and poor exploration. This study proposed three improved versions of the WOA based on the concepts of chaos initialization, nonlinear convergence factor, and chaotic inertial weight to enhance its exploration abilities. These properties were employed to improve the population diversity and maintain the balance between exploration and exploitation. The performance of the best version was compared with those of moth‐flame optimization, firefly algorithm, particle swarm optimization, gray wolf optimizer, flower pollination algorithm, original WOA, and two recently proposed hybrid WOA through 19 benchmark functions. Experimental results indicated that the proposed algorithms exhibit better performance in terms of complexity and convergence speed.

Ontogenetic dietary shifts in Deinonychus antirrhopus (Theropoda; Dromaeosauridae): Insights into the ecology and social behavior of raptorial dinosaurs through stable isotope analysis

The image of the highly intelligent, pack-hunting raptor has become engrained in scientific literature and popular works alike. First proposed to explain the relatively common co-occurrence of the large-bodied iguanodontian Tenontosaurus tilletti and the wolf-sized Deinonychus antirrhopus from the Lower Cretaceous of North America, a canid-like social hunting structure has become the standard depiction of dromaeosaurs in popular works over the last three decades. This reconstruction is, however, problematic largely due to the fact that highly coordinated hunting strategies are rarely observed in modern archosaurs. This has led to the alternative hypothesis that D. antirrhopus was more analogous to agonistic reptilian carnivores, like the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis). Among the many differences between these two analogs is how social and asocial organisms rear their young, producing a diagnostic pattern based on the presence or absence of ontogenetic dietary changes. In order to test for dietary changes through growth, stable carbon and oxygen isotope (δ13C, δ18O) analysis was performed on tooth carbonate from small (<4.5 mm crown height) and large (>9 mm crown height) D. antirrhopus specimens from two microsites from the Lower Cretaceous Cloverly (Montana) and Antlers (Oklahoma) formations. Teeth from goniopholidid crocodylians and Tenontosaurus tilletti from the Cloverly Formation were also tested for comparison. The results show that the Cloverly goniopholidids, like their modern counterparts, went through a distinct transition in diet as they grew. The smallest teeth were the relatively most enriched in 13C (mean = −9.32‰; n = 5), the medium-sized teeth were the most-depleted in 13C (mean = −10.56‰; n = 5), and the largest teeth were intermediate (mean = −10.12‰; n = 6). These factors are characteristic of the dietary shifts seen in modern asocial reptiles. D. antirrhopus showed this same pattern in tooth samples collected from both rock units, with small teeth being the more enriched in 13C (mean = −8.99‰; n = 10) and the large teeth being more depleted in 13C (mean = −10.38‰; n = 10). These differences suggest that juvenile and adult D. antirrhopus from both formations likely consumed different prey. Hypothetical food sources, such as T. tilletti, are close to the 13C isotopic signal of adult D. antirrhopus, consistent with the hypothesized trophic relationship (predator-prey) between these two species. Juvenile D. antirrhopus had a diet more enriched in 13C, likely composed of smaller-bodied, but trophically-higher species. Taken together, these data add to the growing evidence that D. antirrhopus was not a complex social hunter by modern mammalian standards.

IWOA: An improved whale optimization algorithm for optimization problems

Abstract The whale optimization algorithm (WOA) is a new bio-inspired meta-heuristic algorithm which is presented based on the social hunting behavior of humpback whales. WOA suffers premature convergence that causes it to trap in local optima. In order to overcome this limitation of WOA, in this paper WOA is hybridized with differential evolution (DE) which has good exploration ability for function optimization problems. The proposed method is named Improved WOA (IWOA). The proposed method, combines exploitation of WOA with exploration of DE and therefore provides a promising candidate solution. In addition, IWOA+ is presented in this paper which is an extended form of IWOA. IWOA+ utilizes re-initialization and adaptive parameter which controls the whole search process to obtain better solutions. IWOA and IWOA+ are validated on a set of 25 benchmark functions, and they are compared with PSO, DE, BBO, DE/BBO, PSO/GSA, SCA, MFO and WOA. Furthermore, the effects of dimensionality and population size on the performance of our proposed algorithms are studied. The results demonstrate that IWOA and IWOA+ outperform the other algorithms in terms of quality of the final solution and convergence rate. Highlights The exploration ability of WOA is improved via hybridizing it with DE's mutation. A new adaptive strategy is utilized for balancing the exploration and exploitation abilities. Re-initialization is used to increase the diversity of population. Two improvements are presented for WOA through balancing its exploration and exploitation. The results show that the proposed algorithms can improve the performance of WOA significantly.

Analysis of grey wolf optimizer based fractional order PID controller in speed control of DC motor

The present work deals with comparative and robustness analysis of grey wolf optimization (GWO) based fractional order proportional–integral derivative (FOPID) controller for speed control of DC motor. The GWO is a meta-heuristic algorithm inspired from the social hunting behaviour of grey wolves as search agents. The GWO algorithm maintains a proper balance between exploration and exploitation processes. The integral of time multiplied absolute error (ITAE) has been taken as an objective function for obtaining the parameters of FOPID controller by GWO. Comparison of proposed GWO/FOPID approach with other existing techniques has also been shown along with GWO/PID. It has been observed that proposed approach with ITAE as an objective function gives less settling, rise times and comparable overshoot in comparison to existing approaches in the literature. The robustness analysis of GWO/FOPID approach has also been carried out with variations in the parameters of DC motor.

Type-2 fuzzy neural network using grey wolf optimizer learning algorithm for nonlinear system identification

Real systems with nonlinearity and valuable information always have unpredictable meaning and chaos properties in nature. It is often difficult to obtain the system model based on set of stimulus and response samples due to its complexity. This paper proposes the type-2 fuzzy neural network (T2FNN) and its learning method using grey wolf optimizer (GWO) for system identification. The structure of T2FNN is a combination between a type-2 fuzzy logic system with human-like IF–THEN rule thinking properties and neural networks (NN) with learning and optimization capability. The GWO is a meta-heuristic algorithm inspired from the social hunting behavior of grey wolves as search agents. This method is investigated by strategy, which maintains a proper balance between exploration and exploitation processes and gives more importance to the fittest to find the new position of search agent during the iterations. The GWO algorithm is considered for learning method due to its advantages, including high accuracy, very effective and more competitive. To evaluate the proposed system, the T2FNN with GWO learning method is employed by several nonlinear problems, including single-input single-output systems and multi-input multi-output (MIMO) systems. They are Mackey–Glass chaotic data series, nonlinear plant, nonlinear dynamical time-varying plant, and two MIMO systems. The merits of the proposed learning algorithm can be defined through experiments of the model and compared with existing learning PSO and GA algorithms and previous studies in literature. Based on the experimental results and performance comparisons, the proposed GWO algorithm indeed obtains the enhanced performance and capability in terms of the root mean squared error for nonlinear system identification applications.

Fire for a Reason

Qesem Cave is a Middle Pleistocene site in Israel occupied between 420 and 200 ka. Excavations have revealed a wealth of innovative behaviors most likely practiced by a new hominin lineage. These include early evidence for the habitual and continuous use of fire, the repeated use of a central hearth, systematic flint and bone recycling, early blade production technologies, social hunting strategies and meat-sharing practices, and more. Fire was used throughout the 200,000 years of human occupation of the cave primarily for meat roasting and cooking. Roasting and cooking, we argue, had an important role in providing the necessary caloric intake of the cave’s inhabitants. We see fire as an essential element of the new post-Acheulian human adaptation in the Levant. The ample recurring evidence for focused and repeated use of fire for dietary purposes suggests that fire production, control, use, and maintenance were habitually practiced by the cave’s inhabitants and that fire-induced calories became central for their survival. We present an integrative view regarding the use of fire at Qesem Cave and discuss the role of fire within the framework of the significant cultural and biological transformations that took shape in the post-Acheulian Levant during the Middle Pleistocene.

Cryptoprocta spelea (Carnivora: Eupleridae): What Did It Eat and How Do We Know?

The extent to which Madagascar’s Holocene extinct lemurs fell victim to nonhuman predators is poorly understood. Madagascar’s Holocene predator guild included several now-extinct species, i.e., crocodiles, carnivorans, and raptors. Here we focus on mammalian carnivory, specifically the roles of Cryptoprocta spelea and its still-extant but smaller-bodied sister taxon, C. ferox, the fosa. Cryptoprocta spelea was the largest carnivoran on Madagascar during the Quaternary. We ask whether some extinct lemurs exceeded the upper prey-size limits of C. spelea. We use univariate and multivariate phylogenetic generalized least squares regression models to re-evaluate the likely body mass of C. spelea. Next, we compare characteristics of the forelimb bones of C. ferox and C. spelea to those of other stealth predators specializing on small, mixed, and large-bodied prey. Finally, we examine humeri, femora, crania, and mandibles of extinct lemurs from six sites in four ecoregions of Madagascar to identify damage likely made by predators. We test the relative prevalence of carnivory by mammals, raptors, and crocodiles at different sites and ecoregions. Our data reveal that crocodiles, raptors, and the largest of Madagascar’s mammalian predators, C. spelea, all preyed on large lemurs. Cryptoprocta opportunistically consumed lemurs weighing up to ~85 kg. Its forelimb anatomy would have facilitated predation on large-bodied prey. Social hunting may have also enhanced the ability of C. spelea to capture large, arboreal primates. Cryptoprocta carnivory is well represented at cave and riverine sites and less prevalent at lake and marsh sites, where crocodylian predation dominates.

Chaotic grey wolf optimization algorithm for constrained optimization problems

AbstractThe Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) algorithm is a novel meta-heuristic, inspired from the social hunting behavior of grey wolves. This paper introduces the chaos theory into the GWO algorithm with the aim of accelerating its global convergence speed. Firstly, detailed studies are carried out on thirteen standard constrained benchmark problems with ten different chaotic maps to find out the most efficient one. Then, the chaotic GWO is compared with the traditional GWO and some other popular meta-heuristics viz. Firefly Algorithm, Flower Pollination Algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm. The performance of the CGWO algorithm is also validated using five constrained engineering design problems. The results showed that with an appropriate chaotic map, CGWO can clearly outperform standard GWO, with very good performance in comparison with other algorithms and in application to constrained optimization problems.Highlights Chaos has been introduced to the GWO to develop Chaotic GWO for global optimization. Ten chaotic maps have been investigated to tune the key parameter ‘a’, of GWO. Effectiveness of the algorithm is tested on many constrained benchmark functions. Results show CGWO's better performance over other nature-inspired optimization methods. The proposed CGWO is also used for some engineering design applications.

Extreme Morphogenesis and Ecological Specialization among Cretaceous Basal Ants

Ants comprise one lineage of the triumvirate of eusocial insects and experienced their early diversification within the Cretaceous [1-9]. Their ecological success is generally attributed to their remarkable social behavior. Not all ants cooperate in social hunting, however, and some of the most effective predatory ants are solitary hunters with powerful trap jaws [10]. Recent evolutionary studies predict that the early branching lineages of extant ants formed small colonies of ground-dwelling, solitary specialist predators [2, 5, 7, 11, 12], while some Cretaceous fossils suggest group recruitment and socially advanced behavior among stem-group ants [9]. We describe a trap-jaw ant from 99 million-year-old Burmese amber with head structures that presumably functioned as a highly specialized trap for large-bodied prey. These are a cephalic horn resulting from an extreme modification of the clypeus hitherto unseen among living and extinct ants and scythe-like mandibles that extend high above the head, both demonstrating the presence of exaggerated morphogenesis early among stem-group ants. The new ant belongs to the Haidomyrmecini, possibly the earliest ant lineage [9], and together these trap-jaw ants suggest that at least some of the earliest Formicidae were solitary specialist predators. With their peculiar adaptations, haidomyrmecines had a refined ecology shortly following the advent of ants.

Differential Properties of Venom Peptides and Proteins in Solitary vs. Social Hunting Wasps.

The primary functions of venoms from solitary and social wasps are different. Whereas most solitary wasps sting their prey to paralyze and preserve it, without killing, as the provisions for their progeny, social wasps usually sting to defend their colonies from vertebrate predators. Such distinctive venom properties of solitary and social wasps suggest that the main venom components are likely to be different depending on the wasps’ sociality. The present paper reviews venom components and properties of the Aculeata hunting wasps, with a particular emphasis on the comparative aspects of venom compositions and properties between solitary and social wasps. Common components in both solitary and social wasp venoms include hyaluronidase, phospholipase A2, metalloendopeptidase, etc. Although it has been expected that more diverse bioactive components with the functions of prey inactivation and physiology manipulation are present in solitary wasps, available studies on venom compositions of solitary wasps are simply too scarce to generalize this notion. Nevertheless, some neurotoxic peptides (e.g., pompilidotoxin and dendrotoxin-like peptide) and proteins (e.g., insulin-like peptide binding protein) appear to be specific to solitary wasp venom. In contrast, several proteins, such as venom allergen 5 protein, venom acid phosphatase, and various phospholipases, appear to be relatively more specific to social wasp venom. Finally, putative functions of main venom components and their application are also discussed.

What happens around a fire: Faunal processing sequences and spatial distribution at Qesem Cave (300 ka), Israel

The technological innovation involving the controlled use of fire represents a decisive change in human subsistence. Hearths and the spatial distribution patterns associated with them constitute a valuable element in deepening our knowledge on human behaviour and its evolution. Studies focused on hearths and on the use of fire in general are diverse and carried out through different perspectives. Thus, hearths are studied for their meaning in terms of diet, caloric and light capacity and spatial organisation as well as for their role as communication and socialization focal points. The site of Qesem Cave (Israel) shows evidence of the controlled use of fire as early as 400 ka, judging by the burned bones from the lowest units of the stratigraphic sequence. A particular superimposed central hearth that was repeatedly used as a focus for human activities ca. 300 ka is the topic of this study. This succession of hearths at the same location in the cave yields dense faunal and lithic remains as well as evidence for spatial differentiation between areas. Here, we present faunal taphonomical data from this specific archaeological context, which includes not only the hearth area (approximately 4 m2) but also the surrounding areas (approximately 11 m2). The most common prey species is the Mesopotamian fallow deer (Dama cf. mesopotamica), which displays a wide age range and a biased anatomical profile including mainly marrow-rich bones such as long-limb bones. These characteristics, especially those regarding the relative abundance of infantile and young fallow deer, lead us to propose that social hunting techniques were practised following a seasonal regime. This paper provides data on human subsistence behaviour during the formation of the hearth and the archaeological unit around it, comparing the two from a taphonomical perspective. Elements such as size (length) of bone fragments and intensity of burning are spatially plotted to show differential space division. All these data are considered in the reconstruction of subsistence strategies and hominin behaviour in the Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex in the Levant.

Subsistence economy and social life: A zooarchaeological view from the 300 kya central hearth at Qesem Cave, Israel

The Levantine Corridor was one of the most important contact zones between Africa and Eurasia during the Pleistocene and, as a consequence, a potential area in which to detect population dispersals. Culturally, after approximately 1Ma of the Lower and early Middle Pleistocene Acheulean, the Levant showed significant innovative changes with the onset of the Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex (AYCC) dating to the second half of the Middle Pleistocene. However, zooarchaeological evidence concerning the AYCC consists of a small set of data given the rarity of localities with well-preserved faunal assemblages. Qesem Cave (near Tel Aviv, Israel) constitutes an important exception, as its AYCC deposits, covering a time span of over 200kya (420–200kya), are well-preserved and yield massive faunal assemblages. Here, we present taphonomical data of a faunal assemblage originating from a very special context, a central, superimposed hearth, dated somewhat earlier than 300kya. The faunal assemblage is dominated by Dama cf. mesopotamica, followed by Cervus cf. elaphus. The ungulate mortality pattern is dominated by adult-aged individuals, and in the case of Mesopotamian fallow deer, the wide age range lead us to propose the development of social hunting techniques and seasonal occupations. The assemblage appears to have been generated solely by humans occupying the cave and was primarily modified by their food-processing activities, pointing to the importance of marrow in hominin transport decisions. This study adds new zooarchaeological data to those published previously and attempts to deepen our knowledge of human subsistence behaviour at Qesem Cave, while offering some insights into the economic and social life at AYCC Qesem Cave in the southern Levant.