Earliest evidence for human consumption of tortoises in the European Early Pleistocene from Sima del Elefante, Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain

Journal of Human Evolution

Volumn 61, Issue 4, 2011, Pages 503-509

  Blasco, Ruth ^a,b   Blain, Hugues Alexandre ^a,b   Rosell, Jordi ^a,b   Carlos Diez J ^c   Huguet, Rosa ^a,b   Rodríguez, Jesús ^d   Arsuaga, Juan Luis ^e,f   Bermúdez De Castro, Jose Maria ^d   Carbonell, Eudald ^a,b,g  

^a UNIVERSITAT ROVIRA I VIRGILI   (Spain)

^b INSTITUT CATALÀ DE PALEOECOLOGIA HUMANA I EVOLUCIÓ SOCIAL   (Spain)

^c UNIVERSITY OF BURGOS   (Spain)

^d CENTRO NACIONAL DE INVESTIGACIÓN SOBRE LA EVOLUCIÓN HUMANA CENIEH   (Spain)

^e UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID   (Spain)

^f INSTITUTO DE SALUD CARLOS III   (Spain)

^g INSTITUTE OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY AND PALEOANTHROPOLOGY   (China)

Author keywords

Chelonia; Early homo; Iberia; Paleoeconomy; Small game; Subsistence

Indexed keywords

CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR; ECONOMIC HISTORY; HOMINID; TURTLE;

BURGOS [CASTILLA Y LEON]; CASTILLA Y LEON; IBERIAN PENINSULA; SIERRA DE ATAPUERCA; SIMA DEL ELEFANTE; SPAIN;

TESTUDINIDAE;

EID: 80052271495     PISSN: 00472484     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.06.002     Document Type: Article

References (65)

1. Alperson-Afil N., Sharon G., Kislev M., Melamed Y., Zohar I., Ashkenazi R., Biton R., Werker E., Hartman G., Feibel C., Goren-Inbar N. Spatial organization of hominin activities at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel. Science 2009, 326:1677-1680.
2. Arribas A., Díez J.C., Jordá F.J. Primeras ocupaciones en los depósitos Pleistocenos de la Cueva de los Torrejones (Sistema Central Español, Tamajón, Guadalajara): litoestratigrafía y actividad biológica. Cuaternario y Geomorfología 1997, 11:55-66.
3. Arzarello M., Pavia G., Peretto C., Petronio C., Sardella R. Evidence of an early Pleistocene hominin presence at Pirro Nord (Apricena, Foggia, southern Italy): P13 site. Quatern. Int 2011, 10.1016/j.quaint.2011.01.042.
4. Avery G., Kandel A.W., Klein R.G., Conard N.J., Cruz-Uribe K. Tortoises as food and taphonomic elements in palaeo " landscapes" Petits Animaux et Sociétés Humaines Du Complement Alimentaire aux Ressources Utilitaires XXIV Rencontres Internationales d'Archéologie et d'Histoire d'Antibes 2004, 147-161. APDCA, Antibes. J. Brugal, J. Desse (Eds.).
5. Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Arsuaga J.L., Carbonell E., Rosas A., Martínez I., Mosquera M. A hominid from the Lower Pleistocene of Atapuerca, Spain: possible ancestor to Neandertals and modern humans. Science 1997, 276:1392-1395.
6. Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Carbonell E., Cáceres I., Díez J.C., Fernández-Jalvo Y., Mosquera M., Ollé A., Rodríguez Méndez J., Rodríguez Álvarez X.P., Rosas A., Rosell J., Sala R., Vergés J.M., Made J.van der The TD6 (Aurora Stratum) hominid site. Final remarks and new questions. J. Hum. Evol. 1999, 37:695-700.
7. Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Martinón-Torres M., Carbonell E., Sarmiento S., Rosas A., Made J.van der, Lozano M. The Atapuerca Sites and their contribution to the knowledge of human evolution in Europe. Evol. Anthropol. 2004, 13:25-41.
8. Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Martinón-Torres M., Gómez-Robles A., Prado-Simón L., Martín-Francés L., Lapresa M., Olejniczak A., Carbonell E. Early Pleistocene human mandible from Sima del Elefante (TE) cave site in Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain): a comparative morphological study. J. Hum. Evol. 2011, 61:12-25.
9. Binford L.R. Bones: Ancient Men and Modern Myths 1981, Academic Press, New York.
10. Blain H.-A., Bailon S., Cuenca-Bescós G., Bennàsar M., Rofes J., López-García J.M., Huguet R., Arsuaga J.L., Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Carbonell E. Climate and environment of the earliest West European hominins inferred from the amphibian and squamate reptile assemblages: Sima del Elefante Lower Red Unit, Atapuerca, Spain. Quatern. Sci. Rev. 2010, 29:3034-3044.
11. Blasco R. Human consumption of tortoises at level IV of Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain). J. Archaeol. Sci. 2008, 35:2839-2848.
12. Blasco R., Fernández Peris J. A uniquely broad spectrum diet during the Middle Pleistocene at Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain). Quatern. Int. 2011, 10.1016/j.quaint.2011.03.019.
13. Bromage T.G., Boyde A. Microscopic criteria for the determination of directionality cutmarks on bone. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 1984, 65:359-366.
14. Braun D.R., Harris J.W.K., Levin N.E., McCoy J.T., Herries A.I.R., Bamford M.K., Bishop L.C., Richmond B.G., Kibunjiai M. Early hominin diet included diverse terrestrial and aquatic animals 1.95 Ma in East Turkana, Kenya. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 2010, 107:10002-10007.
15. Carbonell E., Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Arsuaga J.L., Díez J.C., Rosas A., Cuenca-Bescós G., Sala R., Mosquera M., Rodríguez X.P. Lower Pleistocene hominids and artifacts from Atapuerca-TD6 (Spain). Science 1995, 269:826-830.
16. Carbonell E., Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Parés J.M., Pérez-González A., Cuenca-Bescós G., Ollé A., Mosquera M., Huguet R., Made J.van der, Rosas A., Sala R., Vallverdú J., García N., Granger D.E., Martinón-Torres M., Rodríguez X.P., Stock G.M., Vergès J.M., Allué E., Burjachs F., Cáceres I., Canals A., Benito A., Díez C., Lozano M., Mateos A., Navazo M., Rodríguez J., Rosell J., Arsuaga J.L. The first hominid of Europe. Nature 2008, 452:465-470.
17. Crochet J.Y., Welcomme J.L., Ivorra J., Ruffet G., Boulbes N., Capdevila R., Claude J., Firmat C., Métais J., Michaux J., Pickford M. Une nouvelle faune de vertébrés continentaux, associée à des artefacts dans le Pléistocène inférieur de l'Hérault (Sud de la France), vers 1,57 Ma. C. R. Palevol 2009, 8. 725-736.
18. Cuenca-Bescós G., Rofes J., López-García J.M., Blain H.-A., De Marfà R.J., Galindo-Pellicena M.A., Bennásar-Serra M.L., Melero-Rubio M., Arsuaga J.L., Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Carbonell E. Biochronology of Spanish Quaternary small vertebrate faunas. Quatern. Int. 2010, 212:109-119.
19. Cuenca-Bescós G., Agustí J., Lira J., Melero Rubio M., Rofes J. A new species of water vole from the Early Pleistocene of Southern Europe. Acta Palaeontol. Pol. 2010, 55:565-580.
20. Domínguez-Rodrigo M., de Juana S., Galán A.B., Rodríguez M. A new protocol to differentiate trampling marks from butchery cut marks. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2009, 36:2643-2654.
21. Echassoux A. Étude taphonomique, paléoécologique et archéozoologique des faunes de grands mammifères de la seconde moitié du Pléistocène inférieur de la grotte du Vallonnet (Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes, France). L'Anthropologie 2004, 108:11-53.
22. Espigares M.P., Martínez Navarro B., Palmqvist P., Ros Montoya S. Estudio tafonómico de los yacimientos del Pleistoceno Inferior de Barranco León y Fuente Nueva 3 (Orce, Granada, España). Ocupaciones humanas en el Pleistoceno Inferior y Medio de la cuenca de Guadix-Baza 2010, 307-340. Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de cultura, Granada. B. Martínez Navarro, J. Agustí, I. Toro (Eds.).
23. Fernández-Jalvo Y., Andrews P., Denys C. Cut marks on small mammals at Olduvai Gorge Bed I. J. Hum. Evol. 1999, 36:587-589.
24. Fosse P. Taphonomie paléolithique: les grands mammifères de Soleilhac (Haute-Loire) et de Lunel-Viel (Hérault). Préhistoire Anthropologie Méditerranéennes 1994, 3:211-215.
25. Fosse P., Bonifay M.F. Les vestigies osseaux de Soleilhac, approache taphonomique. Les premiers Européens 1991, 115-133. CTHS, Paris. E. Bonifay, B. Vandermeersch (Eds.).
26. García N., Arsuaga J.L., Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Carbonell E., Rosas A., Huguet R. The Epivillafranchian carnivore Pannonictis (Mammalia, Mustelidae) from Sima del Elefante (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) and a revision of the Eurasian occurrences from a taxonomic perspective. Quatern. Int. 2008, 179:42-52.
27. Gaudzinski S. Subsistence patterns of Early Pleistocene hominids in the Levant - taphonomic evidence from the 'Ubeidiya Formation (Israel). J. Archaeol. Sci. 2004, 31:65-75.
28. Gmira S. Étude des Chéloniens fossiles du Maroc 1995, CNRS Editions, Paris.
29. Guleç E., Howell C.F., White T.D. Dursunlu - a new Lower Pleistocene faunal and artifact-bearing locality in southern Anatolia. Hominid evolution - lifestyles and survival strategies 1999, 349-364. Archaea, Gelsenkirchen/Schwelm. H. Ullrich (Ed.).
30. Güleç E., White T., Kuhn S., Özer I., Sâgir M., Yilmaz H., Howell C. The Lower Pleistocene lithic assemblage from Dursunlu (Konya), central Anatolia, Turkey. Antiquity 2009, 83:11-22.
31. Halkett D., Hart T., Yates R., Volman T.P., Parkington J.E., Orton J., Klein R.G., Cruz-Uribe K., Avery G. First excavation of intact Middle Stone Age layers at Ysterfontein, Western Cape Province, South Africa: implications for Middle Stone Age ecology. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2003, 30:955-971.
32. Hartman G. Long-term continuity of a freshwater turtle (Mauremys caspica rivulata) population in the Northern Jordan Valley and its paleoenvironmental implications. Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor 2004, 61-74. Oxbow Books, Oxford. N. Goren-Inbar, J.D. Speth (Eds.).
33. Henshilwood C.S., d'Errico F., Marean C.W., Milo R.G., Yates R. An early bone tool industry from the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa: implications for the origins of modern human behaviour, symbolism and language. J. Hum. Evol. 2001, 41:631-678.
34. Hervet S. Tortues du Quaternaire de France: critères de détermination, répartitions chronologique et géographique. Mèsogèe 2000, 5:3-47.
35. Hervet S. Systématique du groupe « Palaeochelys sensu lato - Mauremys » (Chelonii, Testudinoidea) du Tertiaire d'Europe occidentale: principaux résultats. An. Paléontologie 2004, 90:13-78.
36. Huguet, R., 2007. Primeras ocupaciones humanas en la Península Ibérica: Paleoeconomía en la Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos) y la Cuenca de Guadix-Baza (Granada) durante el Pleistoceno Inferior. Ph.D. Dissertation. Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona.
37. Joordens J.C.A., Wesselingh F.P., de Vos J., Vonhof H.B., Kroon D. Relevance of aquatic environments for hominins: a case study from Trinil (Java, Indonesia). J. Hum. Evol. 2009, 57:656-671.
38. Klein R.G., Cruz-Uribe K. Stone age population numbers and average tortoise size at Byneskranskop Cave 1 and Die Kelders Cave 1, Southern Cape Province, South Africa. S. Afr. Archaeol. Bull. 1983, 38:26-30.
39. Klein R.G., Cruz-Uribe K. Large mammal and tortoise bones from Eland's Bay Cave and nearby sites, western Cape Province, South Africa. Papers in the Prehistory of the Western Cape 1987, vol. 332:132-163. BAR Int. Series. J. Parkington, M. Hall (Eds.).
40. Klein R.G., Cruz-Uribe K. Middle and Later Stone Age large mammal and tortoise from Die Kelders Cave 1, Western Cape Province, South Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 2000, 38:169-195.
41. Lordkipanidze D., Jashashvili T., Vekua A., Ponce de Leon M., Zollikofer C., Rightmire P., Pontzer H., Ferring R., Oms O., Tappen M., Bukhsianidze M., Agustí J., Kiladze G., Kalkhe R.M., Martínez-Navarro B., Mouskhelishvili A., Nioradze M., Rook L. Post-cranial evidence from early Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia. Nature 2007, 449:305-310.
42. Martínez K., Garcia J., Carbonell E., Agustí J., Bahain J.-J., Blain H.-A., Burjachs F., Cáceres I., Duval M., Falguères C., Gómez M., Huguet R. A new Lower Pleistocene archeological site in Europe (Vallparadís, Barcelona, Spain). Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 2010, 107:5762-5767.
43. Morales Pérez J.V., Sanchís Serra A. The Quaternary fossil record of the genus Testudo in the Iberian Peninsula. Archaeological implications and diachronic distribution in the western Mediterranean. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2009, 36:1152-1162.
44. Noe-Nygaard N. Man-made trace fossils on bones. Hum. Evol. 1989, 4:461-491.
45. Parés J.M., Pérez-González A., Rosas A., Benito A., Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Carbonell E., Huguet R. Matuyama-age lithic tools from the Sima del Elefante site, Atapuerca (northern Spain). J. Hum. Evol. 2006, 50:163-169.
46. Parkington J., Nilssen P., Reeler C., Henshilwood C. Making sense of space at Dunefield Midden Campsite, western Cape, South Africa. S. Afr. Field Archaeol. 1992, 1:63-70.
47. Potts R., Shipman P. Cutmarks made by stone tools on bones from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Nature 1981, 291:577-580.
48. Rabinovich R., Gaudzinski-Windheuser S., Goren-Inbar N. Systematic butchering of fallow deer (Dama) at the early middle Pleistocene Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (Israel). J. Hum. Evol. 2008, 54:134-149.
49. Rodríguez J., Burjachs F., Cuenca-Bescós G., García N., Made J.van der, Pérez González A., Blain H.-A., Expósito I., López-García J.M., García Antón M., Allué E., Cáceres I., Huguet R., Mosquera M., Ollé A., Rosell J., Parés J.M., Rodríguez X.P., Díez C., Rofes J., Sala R., Saladié P., Vallverdú J., Bennassar M.L., Blasco R., Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Carbonell E. One million years of cultural evolution in a stable environment at Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). Quatern. Sci. Rev. 2011, 30:1396-1412.
50. Rosas A., Huguet R., Pérez-González A., Carbonell E., Bermúdez de Castro J.M., Vallverdú J., Made J.van der, Allué E., García N., Martínez-Pérez R., Rodríguez J., Sala R., Saladie P., Benito A., Martínez-Maza C., Bastir M., Sánchez A., Parés J.M. The "Sima del Elefante" cave site at Atapuerca (Spain). Estad. Geol. 2006, 62:327-348.
51. Rybczynski N., Gifford-Gonzalez D., Stewart K.M. The Ethnoarchaeology of Reptile remains at a Lake Turkana occupation site, Kenya. J. Archaeol. Sci. 1996, 23:863-867.
52. Sampson C.G. Tortoise remains from a later Stone Age rock shelter in the Upper Karoo, South Africa. J. Archaeol. Sci. 1998, 25:985-1000.
53. Sampson C.G. Taphonomy of tortoises deposited by birds and Bushmen. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2000, 27:779-788.
54. Shipman P. Early hominid livestyle: hunting and gathering or foraging and scavenging?. Animals and Archaeology Vol. 1. Hunters and Their Prey 1983, 31-49. BAR Int. Series. J. Clutton-Brock, C. Grigson (Eds.).
55. Shipman P., Rose J. Early hominid hunting, butchering and carcass-processing behaviors: approaches to the fossil record. J. Anthropol. Archaeol. 1983, 2:57-98.
56. Shipman P., Fisher D.C., Rose J. Mastodon butchery: microscopic evidence of carcass processing and bone tool use. Paleobiology 1984, 10:358-365.
57. Speth J.D., Tchernov E. Middle Paleolithic tortoise use at Kebara Cave (Israel). J. Archaeol. Sci. 2002, 29:471-483.
58. Stiner M.C. Honor among thieves: A zooarchaeological study of Neandertal ecology 1994, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
59. Stiner M.C. Thirty years on the "Broad Spectrum Revolution" and Paleolithic demography. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 2001, 19:6993-6996.
60. Stiner M.C. The Faunas of Hayonim Cave (Israel): A 200,000-Year Record of Paleolithic Diet, Demography & Society 2005, American School of Prehistoric Research, Peabody Museum Press, Harvard University, Cambridge.
61. Stiner M.C., Munro N.D., Surovell T.A. The tortoise and the hare. Small game use, the broad-spectrum revolution, and Paleolithic demography. Curr. Anthropol. 2000, 41:39-73.
62. Stiner M.C., Barkai R., Gopher A. Cooperative hunting and meat sharing 400-200 kya at Qesem Cave, Israel. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 2009, 106:13207-13212.
63. Tappen M., Adler D.S., Ferring C.R., Gabunia M., Vekua A., Swisher C.C. Akhalkalaki: the taphonomy of an Early Pleistocene locality in the Republic of Georgia. J. Archaeol. Sci. 2002, 29:1367-1391.
64. Thompson J.C. Taphonomic analysis of the Middle Stone Age faunal assemblage from Pinnacle Point Cave 13B, Western Cape, South Africa. J. Hum. Evol. 2010, 59:321-339.
65. Wood B., Strait D. Patterns of resource use in early Homo and Paranthropus. J. Hum. Evol. 2004, 46:119-162.