RT Journal Article
T1 Learning by Heart: Cultural Patterns in the FaunalProcessing Sequence during the Middle Pleistocene
A1 Blasco López, Ruth
A1 Rosell, Jordi
A1 Domínguez Rodrigo, Manuel
A1 Lozano, Sergi
A1 Pastó, Ignasi
A1 Riba, David
A1 Vaquero, Manuel
A1 Fernández Peris, Josep
A1 Arsuaga, Juan Luis
A1 Bermúdez de Castro, José María
A1 Carbonell i Roura, Eudald
AB Social learning, as an information acquisition process, enables intergenerational transmission and the stabilisation of culturalforms, generating and sustaining behavioural traditions within human groups. Archaeologically, such social processes mightbecome observable by identifying repetitions in the record that result from the execution of standardised actions. Froma zooarchaeological perspective, the processing and consumption of carcasses may be used to identify these types ofphenomena at the sites. To investigate this idea, several faunal assemblages from Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain, MIS 9-5e)and Gran Dolina TD10-1 (Burgos, Spain, MIS 9) were analysed. The data show that some butchery activities exhibit variabilityas a result of multiple conditioning factors and, therefore, the identification of cultural patterns through the resulting cutmarkspresents additional difficulties. However, other activities, such as marrow removal by means of intentional breakage,seem to reflect standardised actions unrelated to the physical characteristics of the bones. The statistical tests we appliedshow no correlation between the less dense areas of the bones and the location of impacts. Comparison of ourexperimental series with the archaeological samples indicates a counter-intuitive selection of the preferred locus of impact,especially marked in the case of Bolomor IV. This fact supports the view that bone breakage was executed counterintuitivelyand repetitively on specific sections because it may have been part of an acquired behavioural repertoire. Thesereiterations differ between levels and sites, suggesting the possible existence of cultural identities or behaviouralpredispositions dependant on groups. On this basis, the study of patterns could significantly contribute to the identificationof occupational strategies and organisation of the hominids in a territory. In this study, we use faunal data in identifying themechanics of intergenerational information transmission within Middle Pleistocene human communities and provide newideas for the investigation of occupational dynamics from a zooarchaeological approach.
PB Public Library of Science.
SN 1932-6203
YR 2013
FD 2013
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/33741
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/33741
LA eng
DS Docta Complutense
RD 1 may 2024