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17 - Using Cementochronology to Discuss the Organization of Past Neanderthal Societies

from Part III - Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2022

By
William Rendu ,
Eric Pubert  and
Emmanuel Discamps
Edited by
Stephan Naji ,
William Rendu  and
Lionel Gourichon
Stephan Naji
Affiliation:
New York University
William Rendu
Affiliation:
University of Bordeaux (CNRS)
Lionel Gourichon
Affiliation:
Université de Nice, Sophia Antipolis
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Summary

The activities’ spatial organization of Neanderthal’s territory is often explored by studying stone tool production and use, and its economy, but not their hunting behavior. Consequently, the hypothesis that Neanderthals lacked planning potential or complex land-use strategies during the Mousterian, such as collaborative hunting and food storage, has been questioned. A cementochronology analysis of reindeer in Quina and Discoidal Denticulate in four neanderthal sites in southwestern France suggests a repeated use of specific sites at a precise time of the year for similar hunting purposes scheduled according to a year-round pattern. The development of landmark sites during the late Middle Paleolithic used every year, at the same moment, indicates that the predation system began to structure the activity’s organization within the territory in time and space and that the preys’ behavior directly impacted the social organization of the hunting groups.

Keywords

cementochronologyNeanderthalmobilitysubsistence strategyseason-at-death
Type
Chapter
Information
Dental Cementum in Anthropology , pp. 275 - 287
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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