The exploitation of crabs by Last Interglacial Iberian Neanderthals
The evidence from Gruta da Figueira Brava (Portugal)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9339463 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mariana Nabais (0000-0001-5344-237X, University of Lisbon, corresponding author), Christian Dupont (0000-0003-2323-3926, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), João Zilhão (0000-0001-5937-3061, University of Lisbon) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Publication date | 2023-02-07 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2813-432X • E-ISSN: 2813-432X |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fearc.2023.1097815 |
| OpenAlex | W4319439179 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 11 |
| References cited | 48 |
Hominin consumption of small prey has been much discussed over the past decades. Such resources are often considered to be unproductive in the Middle Paleolithic due to their limited meat yield and, hence, low energy return. However, ethnographic studies suggest that small prey—including shellfish—are a reliable, predictable and by no means marginal resource, and there is increasing evidence for their inclusion in hominin diets during the Middle Paleolithic and even earlier. Gruta da Figueira Brava features a MIS 5c-5b Neanderthal occupation that left behind substantial, human-accumulated terrestrial and marine faunal remains, capped by reworked levels that contain some naturally accumulated, recent Holocene material, namely the remains of small crab species and echinoderms. The brown crab Cancer pagurus (Linnaeus, 1758) predominates in the intact Middle Paleolithic deposit, and reconstruction of its carapace width, based on regression from claw size, shows a preference for relatively large individuals. The detailed analysis of the Cancer pagurus remains reveals that complete animals were brought to the site, where they were roasted on coals and then cracked open to access the flesh
Archaeology · Biological evolution · Biology · Carapace · Crustacean · Geography · Hominidae · Homo erectus · Neanderthal · Pleistocene · Predation · Taphonomy · Upper Paleolithic · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology · Paleontology
Analogy Versus Behavioral Ecology in the Study of Human Evolution
Late Neanderthal subsistence and foraging mobility at Lapa do Picareiro
Ungulates and carnivores from the late MIS-5 Neanderthal occupation of Gruta da Figueira Brava (Portugal)
Hunters of the “Mediterranean Triad”
Correlation between dental microwear analysis and dietary habits of Neanderthal populations in the Iberian Peninsula
Neanderthal resilience and adaptability
L’utilisation et la consommation des bivalves par les néandertaliens de la grotte des Ramandils (Port-La Nouvelle, Aude, France)
Neanderthal Hunting Weapons Re-Assessed
Coastal and Inland subsistence strategies during the Gravettian in the Cantabrian Region (northern Iberian Peninsula)
Human-bird interaction in last Interglacial Iberia
Rare or invisible? Crabs in prehistoric contexts
Prehistoric Cannibalism at Mancos 5MTUMR-2346
Early Archeological Evidence for Shellfish Collecting
Last Interglacial Iberian Neandertals as fisher-hunter-gatherers
Small and large game
The Ysterfontein 1 Middle Stone Age site, South Africa, and early human exploitation of coastal resources
Nunamiut ethnoarchaeology
Connaître l’exploitation du littoral par l’Homme à partir des invertébrés marins découverts en contexte archéologique
Nutritional ecology and diachronic trends in Paleolithic diet and health
Nutritional ecology and the human demography of Neandertal extinction
Collection and consumption of echinoderms and crustaceans at the Mesolithic shell midden site of El Mazo (northern Iberia)
Effects of cooking on mollusk shell structure and chemistry
Why Mesolithic Populations Started Eating Crabs on the European Atlantic Façade Only Over the Past 15 Years
Behavioral Ecology and Archaeology
Experimental Micromorphology on Burnt Shells of Anomalocardia brasiliana (Gmelin 1791) (Bivalvia, Veneridae) and Its Potential for Identification of Combustion Features on Shell‐Matrix Sites
A Morphological Investigation of Burnt Animal Bone and an Evaluation of its Utility in Archaeology
Burnt bones and teeth
New morphometric parameters for assessment of body size in the fossil freshwater crab assemblage from the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel
Late-Holocene Dungeness crab (Cancer magister) harvest at an Oregon coast estuary
Archaeology, taphonomy, and historical ecology of Chesapeake Bay blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus)
The role of molluscs in coastal economies
Molluscan Fauna from Klasies River, South Africa
Middle and Later Stone Age shellfish exploitation strategies and coastal foraging at Hoedjiespunt and Lynch Point, Saldanha Bay, South Africa
Beg-an-Dorchenn (Plomeur, Finistère)
Shells and Humans
The Use of Echinoids and Crustaceans as Food During the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition in Northern Spain
Prey Choice During the South African Middle Stone Age
Pigeons and choughs, a usual resource for the Neanderthals in Gibraltar
Bone surface modifications in zooarchaeology
A uniquely broad spectrum diet during the Middle Pleistocene at Bolomor Cave (Valencia, Spain)
Experimental patterns of hammerstone percussion damage on bones
Middle Stone Age shellfish exploitation
Zooarchaeology and taphonomy of Aurora Stratum (Gran Dolina, Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain)
Breakage patterns of human long bones
Moluscos, crustáceos y equinodermos
Shellfish gathering, marine paleoecology and modern human behavior
Orangutan fish eating, primate aquatic fauna eating, and their implications for the origins of ancestral hominin fish eating
Coastal adaptations and the Middle Stone Age lithic assemblages from Hoedjiespunt 1 in the Western Cape, South Africa
Ecological niche of Neanderthals from Spy Cave revealed by nitrogen isotopes of individual amino acids in collagen
A Quantitative Diagnosis of Notches Made by Hammerstone Percussion and Carnivore Gnawing on Bovid Long Bones
Shellfish Feeders, Carrion Eaters, and the Archaeology of Aquatic Adaptations
| Unique citing works | 11 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,58 |
| Citation span | 2007 - 2026 (20) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 11 |