Using Cementochronology to Discuss the Organization of Past Neanderthal Societies

William Rendu (1) , Eric Pubert (2) , Emmanuel Discamps (3)

1 ZooSCAn - Archaeozoology in Siberia and Central Asia
2 PACEA - De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie
3 TRACES - Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés

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.

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société

William Rendu, Eric Pubert, Emmanuel Discamps. Using Cementochronology to Discuss the Organization of Past Neanderthal Societies. Stephan Naji; William Rendu; Lionel Gourichon. Dental Cementum in Anthropology, 1, Cambridge University Press, pp.275-287, 2022, 978-1108477086. ⟨10.1017/9781108569507.019⟩. ⟨hal-03766422⟩