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Specialised hunting of Iberian ibex during Neanderthal occupation at El Esquilleu Cave, northern Spain

Part of: Zooarchaeology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2015

José Yravedra Sáinz de los Terreros ,
Alberto Gómez-Castanedo ,
Julia Aramendi Picado  and
Javier Baena Preysler
José Yravedra Sáinz de los Terreros*
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain (Email: joyravedra@hotmail.com)
Alberto Gómez-Castanedo
Affiliation:
Department of Historical Sciences, University of Cantabria, Edificio Interfacultativo, Avda. Los Castros s/n, 39005 Santander, Spain (Email: agathocules@hotmail.com)
Julia Aramendi Picado
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain (Email: joyravedra@hotmail.com)
Javier Baena Preysler
Affiliation:
Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
*
Author for correspondence
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Abstract

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Traditional views of Neanderthal hunting strategies envisage them preying on herd species such as bison and deer, rather than the sophisticated tracking of solitary animals. Analysis of faunal remains from El Esquilleu Cave in northern Spain, however, demonstrates that during certain periods of the Middle Palaeolithic occupation, Neanderthals focused on the hunting of ibex and chamois, small solitary species that inhabited the mountainous terrain around the site. These results indicate that Neanderthal hunting practices may have had more similarity to those of their Upper Palaeolithic relatives than is usually assumed.

Keywords

SpainEl Esquilleu CaveMiddle PalaeolithicMousterianNeanderthalIberian ibexchamoishuntingfaunal analysis
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 88 , Issue 342 , December 2014 , pp. 1035 - 1049
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2014

References

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