Use of meat resources in the Early Pleistocene assemblages from Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Granada, Spain)
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Yravedra, José; Luzón, Carmen; Serrano Ramos, Alexia; Cámara Donoso, José Miguel; Ruiz, Auxiliadora; Titton, Stefania; Montilla, Eva; Toro Moyano, Isidro; Jiménez Arenas, Juan ManuelEditorial
Springer
Materia
Early Pleistocene Taphonomy Hominin-carnivore interactions Zooarchaeology Cut marks Palaeolithic archaeology
Date
2021-11-05Referencia bibliográfica
Yravedra, J... [et al.]. Use of meat resources in the Early Pleistocene assemblages from Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Granada, Spain). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 13, 213 (2021). [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01461-7]
Sponsorship
CRUE-CSIC agreement; Springer Nature; Junta de Andalucia BC.03.032/17; PALARQ Foundation; Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities; National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia PRE2019-089411 RTI2018-099850-B-I00; University of Salamanca; Spanish Government CEX2019-000945-MAbstract
Over the last few decades, several types of evidence such as presence of hominin remains, lithic assemblages, and bones
with anthropogenic surface modifications have demonstrated that early human communities inhabited the European subcontinent
prior to the Jaramillo Subchron (1.07–0.98 Ma). While most studies have focused primarily on early European
lithic technologies and raw material management, relatively little is known about food procurement strategies. While there
is some evidence showing access to meat and other animal-based food resources, their mode of acquisition and associated
butchery processes are still poorly understood. This paper presents a taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis of the
Fuente Nueva-3 (FN3) (Guadix-Baza, Spain) faunal assemblage, providing a more in-depth understanding of early hominin
subsistence strategies in Europe. The present results show that hominins had access to the meat and marrow of a wide range
of animal taxa, including elephants, hippopotami, and small- and medium-sized animals. At the same time, evidence of
carnivore activity at the site suggests that these communities likely faced some degree of competition from large predators
when acquiring and processing carcasses.