Holloran, Fiona; Frémondeau, Delphine; Wilson, Linda; Martin, Louise; Stevens, Rhiannon E; (2024) Integrating Morphology and ZooMS-Identified Fauna Provides Insights Into Species Diversity and Neanderthal - Carnivores Interactions in Shared Landscapes: Evidence from Picken's Hole, Britain. PaleoAnthropology , 2024 (2) pp. 335-360. 10.48738/2024.iss2.1194.

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Abstract

Reconstructing the faunal paleoecology of landscapes occupied by Neanderthals and their competitors is essential for a better understanding of their ecological niche, decisions, and behaviors. Late Pleistocene faunal assemblages in Britain are highly fragmented with interpretations relying on the morphologically identifiable portion of the assemblage and the indeterminate bone fragments often dismissed. This paper applies two methodologies (ta-phonomic analysis and zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry [ZooMS]) to extract data from morphologically indeterminate bone fragments recovered from the late Middle Paleolithic contexts of Picken’s Hole, Somerset, and integrates these new data with the extant zooarchaeological study of the morphologically identifiable faunal specimens. Two thousand, two hundred and five indeterminate bone fragments from Unit 3 were categorized to mammal body size classes and broad element type, and taphonomic observations were recorded (weathering, car-nivore bone surface modification, etc.). Then 708 samples were selected for ZooMS. The ZooMS-identified faunal spectrum agrees with Scott’s (2018) study of the morphologically identifiable portion (henceforth termed ‘morph’), indicating an open cool steppe tundra environment. The faunal proportions differ greatly between identification methods, however, especially when dental remains are removed. Woolly rhinoceros, mammoth, and horse have the lowest ZooMS to Morph identification ratios (high ZooMS-NISP and low morph-NISP), while grey wolf/arctic fox and reindeer have the highest (low ZooMS-NISP and high morph-NISP). In addition, while the morphology-identified portion is dominated by dentition and foot bones, the ZooMS-identified portion includes more rib and long bone fragments. Weathering stages overall are low and do not appear to be a primary cause of fragmenta-tion, while carnivore gnawing and evidence of digestion are observed across most species and fragment sizes, with carnivore digestion responsible for most fragmentation. The exception is grey wolf/arctic fox that display no evidence of predation activity, suggesting that they and Neanderthals may have used the site intermittently alongside repeated use by large carnivores. This paper underscores the significance of extracting and integrating information from indeterminate bone fragments to contribute to the understanding of assemblage accumulators, site occupation, and carnivore activities at Picken’s Hole, while ongoing bone surface modification studies aim to provide insight into Neanderthal behavior and interactions with carnivores operating in a shared landscape.

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