Zooarchaeology and Modern Human Origins: Human Hunting Behavior during the Later Pleistocene (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology)

"Recent genetic data showing that Neanderthals interbred with modern humans have made it clear that deeper insight into the behavioral differences between these populations will be critical to understanding the rapid spread of modern humans and the demise of the Neanderthals. This volume, which brings together scholars who have worked with faunal assemblages from Europe, the Near East, and Africa, makes an important contribution to our broader understanding of Neanderthal extinction and modern human origins through its focus on variability in human hunting behavior between 70-25,000 years ago--a critical period in the later evolution of our species"- - Springer Front Matter....Pages i-xi Introduction: Zooarchaeology and Modern Human Origins....Pages 1-7 Exploring the Relationship Between Climate Change and the Decline of the Howieson’s Poort at Sibudu Cave (South Africa)....Pages 9-18 Middle Paleolithic Large-Mammal Hunting in the Southern Levant....Pages 19-43 Middle Paleolithic Prey Choice Inferred from a Natural Pitfall Trap: Rantis Cave, Israel....Pages 45-58 New Opportunities for Previously Excavated Sites: Paleoeconomy as a Human Evolutionary Indicator at Tabun Cave (Israel)....Pages 59-75 New Contributions on Subsistence Practices during the Middle-Upper Paleolithic in Northern Spain....Pages 77-95 Iberian Archaeofaunas and Hominin Subsistence during Marine Isotope Stages 4 and 3....Pages 97-128 Animal Exploitation Strategies during the Uluzzian at Grotta di Fumane (Verona, Italy)....Pages 129-150 A Diachronic Evaluation of Neanderthal Cervid Exploitation and Site Use at Pech de l’Azé IV, France....Pages 151-161 Neanderthal to Neanderthal Evolution: Preliminary Observations on Faunal Exploitation from Mousterian to Châtelperronian at Arcy-sur-Cure....Pages 163-172 The Importance of Fish, Fowl and Small Mammals in the Paleolithic Diet of the Swabian Jura, Southwestern Germany....Pages 173-190 Neanderthals and Cave Hyenas: Co-existence, Competition or Conflict?....Pages 191-208 Bone Grease Rendering in Mousterian Contexts: The Case of Noisetier Cave (Fréchet-Aure, Hautes-Pyrénées, France)....Pages 209-225 Foraging Goals and Transport Decisions in Western Europe during the Paleolithic and Early Holocene....Pages 227-269 Back Matter....Pages 271-275