assessing evidence for human megafaunal hunting at lynford (uk)
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Assessing evidence for human megafaunal hunting at Lynford (UK). Geoff M Smith Institute of Archaeology, UCL. The World of Mammoths: Vth International Conference on Mammoths and their Relatives. Lynford- Site Location. Stratigraphy and Dating. Chalk overlain by series of palaeochannels - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Assessing evidence for human megafaunal hunting at Lynford
(UK).
Geoff M Smith
Institute of Archaeology, UCL
The World of Mammoths: Vth International Conference on Mammoths and their Relatives
Lynford- Site Location
Stratigraphy and Dating
• Chalk overlain by series of palaeochannels
• Lynford palaeochannel- Oxbow lake– Occasional inputs of higher energy flow
• Areas of bank collapse and sediment gravity flows
• MIS 3- Devensian Cold Stage
Palaeochannel: Bank collapse
Stratigraphy and Dating
• Chalk overlain by series of palaeochannels
• Lynford palaeochannel- Oxbow lake– Occasional inputs of higher energy flow
• Areas of bank collapse and sediment gravity flows
• MIS 4/3- Devensian Cold Stage
Palaeoenvironmental evidence
• Plant macrofossils and pollen
• Fish
• Frogs
• Beetles
• Temperature estimates– Summer= 13°C– Winter= -10°C
Vertebrate Assemblage
%NISP = 66.9% (2341)
%NISP = 0.2% (7)
%NISP = 0%NISP = 1.3% (46)
%NISP = 0.1% (4)
%NISP = 2.9% (101)
Faunal Long Axis Orientation
Bank Collapse
Bone weathering
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
1 2 3 4 5 6
Mammoth: Skeletal Rep.
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
cran
ial
inde
t cra
nial
frag
tusk
man
dibl
e w
teet
h
man
dibl
e w
/o te
eth
max
illa w
teet
h
max
illa w
/o te
eth
uppe
r m
olar
low
er m
olar
low
er to
oth
mol
ar
styl
ohyo
id
atla
s
axis
caud
al v
erte
bra
thor
acic
ver
tebr
a
lum
bar
vert
ebra
vert
ebra rib
ster
num
scap
ula
hum
erus
radi
us
ulna
pelv
is
fem
ur
tibia
cuni
form
mag
num
2nd
phal
anx
3rd
phal
anx
inde
t lon
g bo
ne fr
ag
inde
t fra
g
Carnivore Modifications 1
Carnivore Modifications 2
Carnivore Modification 3
Human Modifications
• No evidence for direct exploitation of mammoth remains.
Mammoth hunters?
• Schreve (2006)– Absence of long bones – No cut marks- not necessarily evidence of absence– High incidence of healed lesions and truama
• BUT Smith (2008):– Long bones not absent- highly fragmented– carnivore and hominin modifications– Pathologies could be have natural cause
Lynford- A ‘Natural Freezer?’
• Focal point• Accumulation of material
– Mammoth not single homogenous assemblage– Mammoth age structure
• Predator Scavengers– Scavenging though some evidence for primary
access– Antler- summer?
• Hominins• Migration?• Natural freezer
Human-Proboscidian Intearactions
• Such interactions still the source of fascination and interest.
• No definitive evidence from Middle Pal– Lynford- seasonal-scavenging?– La Cotte de St Brelade
• evidence for social structured subsistence behaviour?
• It is possible that Neanderthals hunted such megafauna- no evidence at Lynford.
?