Last Interglacial Iberian Neandertals as fisher-hunter-gatherers

J. Zilhão , D. Angelucci , M. Araújo Igreja , L. Arnold , E. Badal , P. Callapez , J. Cardoso , F. D’errico , J. Daura , M. Demuro , Marianne Deschamps (1) , Catherine Dupont (2, 3, 4) , S. Gabriel , D. Hoffmann , P. Legoinha , H. Matias , A. Monge Soares , M. Nabais , P. Portela , Alain Queffelec , F. Rodrigues , P. Souto

1 TRACES - Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés
2 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
3 CReAAH - Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire
4 UR - Université de Rennes

In South Africa and the Maghreb, Last Interglacial coastal sites are shellfish-rich. Arguably, the development of marine food-based coastal adaptations is the preserve of anatomically modern humans and played a pivotal role in their cognitive-behavioral evolution and Out-of-Africa expansion. Productivity of the adjacent ocean, proximity between extant and submerged shorelines, and presence of karst contexts offering protection against erosion predict that the Arrábida range (Portugal) is the only place in Europe where comparable sites might be found. The prediction is verified by the Figueira Brava cave. Its ~86-106 ka fill records the exploitation of the full range of available coastal resources-stone pine nuts, shellfish, large crabs, fish, marine birds and mammals, tortoise, wild fowl, hoofed game. The breadth of this resource base exceeds that of even the regional Mesolithic and the density of the marine food remains is comparable to that seen in coeval African sites. Abstract (F. d'E.): Intense exploitation of marine foods is generally seen a major behavioral innovation taking place in

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Archéologie et Préhistoire

J. Zilhão, D. Angelucci, M. Araújo Igreja, L. Arnold, E. Badal, et al.. Last Interglacial Iberian Neandertals as fisher-hunter-gatherers. Science, 2020, 367 (6485), pp.eaaz7943. ⟨10.1126/science.aaz7943⟩. ⟨hal-02532588v1⟩