Archaeologists from the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen have analyzed the ancient animal remains from Ghar-e Boof, a Middle Paleolithic site in the southern Zagros of Iran that was occupied between 81,000 to 45,000 years ago. Their results suggest that tortoises constituted important dietary supplements for Middle Paleolithic hominins, and the occupants of Ghar-e Boof also exploited carnivores and possibly birds on occasion.
“According to various studies, the hominins of the subsequent Middle Paleolithic, the period between 300,000 and 45,000 years ago, fed primarily on ungulates,” said Mario Mata-González, lead author of the study.
“However, there is increasing evidence that, at least occasionally, tortoises, birds, hares, fish, and carnivorous mammals were also on the menu of Neanderthals and their relatives.”
“Reconstructing the dietary habits of early hominins is one of the main objectives of archaeozoological studies, which shed light on the way our ancestors adapted to and interacted with different environments.”
In the new research, Mata-González and their colleagues carried out the first comprehensive analysis of a Middle Paleolithic faunal assemblage from the site of Ghar-e Boof in the southern Zagros.
Their main goals were: to determine whether hominins were the primary agents of assemblage accumulation or modifications at the site; and to reconstruct and evaluate hominin prey choice and subsistence strategies during the Middle Paleolithic.
“Not only are the Zagros Mountains the largest mountain range in Iran, but they are also considered a key geographical region for the study of human evolution in Southwest Asia during the Middle Paleolithic, in particular due to their heterogeneous topography and great environmental diversity,” Mata-González said.
“To date, archaeozoological finds from the Zagros Mountains have been almost exclusively limited to…
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