Systematic butchering of fallow deer (Dama) at the early middle Pleistocene Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (Israel)

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Abstract

Three assemblages of fallow deer (Dama sp.) bones excavated from the early middle Pleistocene (oxygen isotope stage 18) layers of the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov, Israel, furnish evidence of systematic and repeated exploitation of complete carcasses by hominins. The excellent state of preservation of the bones and the presence of only minimal signs of carnivore involvement permit an investigation of the role of hominins as the primary agents responsible for the damage to these bones. Hominin expertise in dealing with fallow deer carcasses is manifested by cut marks, percussion marks, and hack marks on the bones. The archaeozoological analysis of the anatomical position and frequency of these marks suggests that carcass processing followed systematic practices that reflect an in-depth knowledge of fallow deer anatomy and a consistent behavioral strategy. These assemblages represent one of the earliest examples of methodological butchering practices in Eurasia. The evidence of carcass processing observed at Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov resembles that seen in late Pleistocene sites in Israel, which were inhabited by modern humans. We interpret the Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov data as indicating that the Acheulian hunters at the site (1) were proficient communicators and learners and (2) possessed anatomical knowledge, considerable manual skill, impressive technological abilities, and foresight.

Introduction

Analyses of the Benot Ya‘akov Formation and its embedded archaeological finds have shed light on the paleoenvironment (Belitzky, 2002) and certain behavioral aspects of Acheulian hominins at the shores of the paleo–Lake Hula (Goren-Inbar et al., 2002). These aspects relate to diet (Goren-Inbar et al., 1994, Goren-Inbar et al., 2001), the stone-tool repertoire and technology (Goren-Inbar and Saragusti, 1996, Sharon and Goren-Inbar, 1999, Madsen and Goren-Inbar, 2004, Goren-Inbar and Sharon, 2006), and the control of fire (Goren-Inbar et al., 2004). Previously published data on the hominin diet at Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov clearly document the hominin exploitation of plant foods (Goren-Inbar et al., 2001). In this paper, we focus on the method of processing Dama carcasses used by early hominins and present evidence of the exploitation of animals for their skin, meat, marrow, and fat.

Modes of animal acquisition and processing used by hominins are commonly considered evaluative criteria of “modernity” (Binford, 1988). Whereas the modes of acquisition (scavenging versus hunting) practiced by Plio-Pleistocene African hominins are still under debate (e.g., Blumenschine, 1995, Bunn, 2001, Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2002, O'Connell et al., 2002), many researchers agree that hunting is dominant in the Eurasian late middle Pleistocene (e.g., Thieme, 1997, Gaudzinski and Roebroeks, 2000). Numerous analyses further show that, during late Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) times, faunal assemblages associated with both Neandertals and anatomically modern humans resulted from intentional hunting and systematic carcass processing (Gaudzinski and Roebroeks, 2000, Speth and Tchernov, 2001), which continue to be an important component of the modern human behavioral repertoire.

Whereas a wealth of information is available about foraging and carcass processing by both early Plio-Pleistocene African and late Pleistocene European hominins, evidence relating to hominin activity between these two periods (described, for example, by Horwitz and Monchot, 2002, Gaudzinski, 2004a, Gaudzinski, 2004b, Gaudzinski-Windheuser, 2005) is scant. The faunal assemblage of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY) offers an opportunity to begin to fill this gap.

The fossil fauna of the area of GBY presented in this study, Area C, is diverse and consists of mammalian taxa of Eurasian and African origin: Ursus sp., Palaeoloxodon antiquus, Sus scrofa, Hippopotamus amphibius, Megalocerini sp., Cervus cf. C. elaphus, Dama sp., Bovini indet., Pelorovis sp., Gazella cf. G. gazella, Capirini indet., Equus cf. E. africanus, and Equus sp. (V. Eisenmann, pers. comm.; Martínez-Navarro et al., 2000, Martínez-Navarro, 2004; R. Rabinovich and A. Lister, unpubl. data). Area C also includes remains of micromammals (Goren-Inbar et al., 2000), birds (Simmons, 2004), fish (Zohar, pers. comm.), crabs (Ashkenazi et al., 2005), and turtles (Hartman, 2004). Dama is the most abundant mammal species in this faunal assemblage, and therefore we investigated some of its taphonomic aspects for this study.

We present here three assemblages of Dama bones from the open-air, waterlogged site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov. The assemblages were excavated from deposits assigned to the fifth depositional cycle (Feibel, 2001, Feibel, 2004) of the Benot Ya‘akov Formation (Goren-Inbar et al., 2000) (Fig. 1). One assemblage originates in layer V-5 of Area C, and the second assemblage originates in layer V-6 of the same area. These layers extend under water north of Area C and emerge on the bank of the Jordan River (Fig. 2, Fig. 3); the third assemblage, JB, originates there. Because of the logistical problems involved in excavating under water, we could not assign the JB finds to a specific layer and thus lumped them into a single assemblage (see Sharon and Goren-Inbar, 1999, Goren-Inbar and Sharon, 2006).

Sedimentologically, layer V-5 is coquina (a molluscan packstone) and layer V-6 is calcareous dark mud (Feibel, 2001, Feibel, 2004). Layers V-5 and V-6 (with excavated volumes of 1.39 m3 and 2.25 m3, respectively, and surface areas of 5.08 m2 and 5.73 m2, respectively) yielded extremely rich, excellently preserved faunal assemblages composed of diverse species. These assemblages are associated with a dense concentration of lithics, which are characterized by high frequencies of flint (including burned microartifacts) and very few basalt artifacts (Sharon and Goren-Inbar, 1999, Goren-Inbar et al., 2004). Associated with these assemblages are paleobotanical remains of wood and bark (Goren-Inbar et al., 2002) and fruits and seeds (Goren-Inbar et al., 2001).

Analysis of the Dama bones entailed taxonomic identification followed by morphometric, taphonomic, and surface-modification analyses. Most of the bones that we retrieved are brown and well preserved, a condition typical of waterlogged sites; no significant signs of weathering are present. The excellent state of preservation of the bones enabled us to perform a detailed microscopic examination.

Few effects of postdepositional processes can be seen on the Dama assemblages from layers V-5 and V-6, which yielded representative skeletal elements of differing density, size, and shape. Furthermore, traces of animal-induced modifications are rare. They occur on 1.9% of all bones in layer V-5 (number of individual specimens [NISP] = 619) and on 2.8% of the entire bone assemblage of layer V-6 (NISP = 1248). Damage marks include tooth scratches, gnaw marks, and traces of digestion. We identified several agents as responsible for this damage, among them rodents, small carnivores, medium-sized carnivores (such as foxes or wolves), and large carnivores (such as hyenas). Large-carnivore damage could be identified on only a single bone from layer V-5 and on four skeletal elements from layer V-6. Refitted bones of elephant-size, horse-size, Dama-size, and gazelle-size groups add to the evidence of minimal taphonomic damage (Area C: seven refitted bones consisting of fifteen fragments; JB: three refitted bones consisting of six fragments). Similarly, assemblages of fossil freshwater crabs in which complete mandibles were identified (Ashkenazi et al., 2005) and pincers were uncovered in their original anatomical configuration indicate negligible disturbance.

Further evidence of the minimal taphonomic disturbance derives from the size analyses of the lithic artifacts. With all sizes of lithics present, from microartifacts to cobbles, neither sorting nor winnowing is indicated. The flint artifacts from layers V-5 and V-6 are fresh (Sharon and Goren-Inbar, 1999, Goren-Inbar and Sharon, 2006), a condition suggesting that exposure and disturbance by waves or other environmental agents were negligible. Finally, the spatial distribution of the microartifacts, particularly burned flint, has been interpreted as indicating the location of hearths (Goren-Inbar et al., 2004) and thus also supports the claim of negligible taphonomic damage.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

To carry out our observations, we used a stereo light microscope with a magnification of 10 × 40, an image-analyzer system (with Media Cybernetics Image-Pro® Plus version 4.1 software for Windows®), and three-dimensional surface scans (with GOM ATOS 5.5 software). Bone assemblages from archaeological sites and assemblages derived from various comparative studies, all part of the biological collections of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, served as comparative material for the taphonomic study.

Results

Taxonomic identification of the Dama bones indicates that the species at GBY is similar to Dama mesopotamica—the extant local Dama—and is probably its ancestor (Dama cf. D. premesopotamica; R. Rabinovich and A. Lister, unpubl. data). It is the most abundant animal species in the three samples.

The frequency per assemblage of the Dama skeletal elements is 238 in layer V-5, 504 in layer V-6, and 274 in the JB assemblage. In addition, 152 long-bone splinters in layer V-5, 293 in layer V-6, and 100

Discussion

To ascertain the hominin patterns of Dama exploitation at GBY, we compared the butchery processes observed there with the patterns of Dama mesopotamica exploitation in Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian occurrences (strata D) at Hayonim Cave (Belfer-Cohen and Bar-Yosef, 1981), Western Galilee, Israel (Table 7). Despite the great chronological gap between the two sites (Hayonim D is dated to ca. 28,000 BP [Goring-Morris and Belfer-Cohen, 2003: Appendix]), the observed patterns of Dama butchering are

Conclusions

With their excellent state of preservation, the GBY bones constitute the earliest evidence in Eurasia that permits the identification, evaluation, and comparison of hominin-produced damage patterns on Dama bones. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of these patterns on material derived from layers V-5 and V-6 indicate that in situ Dama-carcass processing occurred on a regular basis, which suggests that the occupants regularly hunted medium-sized mammals. The repetition and complexity of the

Acknowledgments

We thank the German-Israel Foundation for a grant that supported this study; the LSB Leakey Foundation, National Geographic Society, and Hebrew University of Jerusalem for grants supporting the fieldwork; and Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for supporting the laboratory work. We appreciate the continued help and dedication of the GBY staff, particularly Rivka Biton. We thank G. Laron for producing Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 12, Fig. 13, Fig. 14. We also

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