Exploitation of a Seasonally Abundant Resource: Bird Hunting during the Late Natufian at Shubayqa 1

TY - JOUR

T1 - Exploitation of a Seasonally Abundant Resource: Bird Hunting during the Late Natufian at Shubayqa 1

AU - Yeomans, Lisa Marie

AU - Richter, Tobias

PY - 2018/3/1

Y1 - 2018/3/1

N2 - This paper discusses the Late Natufian avifaunal remains from Shubayqa 1, a Late Epipalaeolithic site situated in north-east Jordan. The site has produced an exceptionally large and well-preserved assemblage of bird bones recovered from a substantial midden deposit, and from the analysis of this material, we argue that there is evidence for en masse hunting of seasonally migrating waterfowl during the occupation of the site. The abundance of waterfowl and the hunting strategies employed to capture this prey must have resulted in a plentiful supply of meat, enabling the choicest parts of the birds to be quickly removed from the rest of the carcass. The tibiotarsus bones were also frequently taken back to the habitation site for use as a raw material, possibly for bead manufacture. Extensive hunting of the birds was not a result of resource pressure as often argued; instead, people chose to take advantage of a particularly abundant prey population during the winter months. This evidence casts a critical light on the suggestion that population growth and environmental change forced late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers in the Levant to expand their subsistence base to include lower-ranked prey species. Our data also have implications for the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the landscape. The presence of a few bones of birds other than waterfowl suggests these species had minimal importance to the diet of the inhabitants and bones from diurnal raptors may have been collected to be used in decorative items or as tools rather than reflecting the hunting of these species for food.

AB - This paper discusses the Late Natufian avifaunal remains from Shubayqa 1, a Late Epipalaeolithic site situated in north-east Jordan. The site has produced an exceptionally large and well-preserved assemblage of bird bones recovered from a substantial midden deposit, and from the analysis of this material, we argue that there is evidence for en masse hunting of seasonally migrating waterfowl during the occupation of the site. The abundance of waterfowl and the hunting strategies employed to capture this prey must have resulted in a plentiful supply of meat, enabling the choicest parts of the birds to be quickly removed from the rest of the carcass. The tibiotarsus bones were also frequently taken back to the habitation site for use as a raw material, possibly for bead manufacture. Extensive hunting of the birds was not a result of resource pressure as often argued; instead, people chose to take advantage of a particularly abundant prey population during the winter months. This evidence casts a critical light on the suggestion that population growth and environmental change forced late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers in the Levant to expand their subsistence base to include lower-ranked prey species. Our data also have implications for the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the landscape. The presence of a few bones of birds other than waterfowl suggests these species had minimal importance to the diet of the inhabitants and bones from diurnal raptors may have been collected to be used in decorative items or as tools rather than reflecting the hunting of these species for food.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Epipalaeolithic

KW - Natufian

KW - Jordan

KW - Levant

KW - bird hunting

KW - avifauna

KW - broad spectrum revolution

U2 - 10.1002/oa.2533

DO - 10.1002/oa.2533

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1047-482X

VL - 28

SP - 95

EP - 108

JO - International Journal of Osteoarchaeology

JF - International Journal of Osteoarchaeology

IS - 2

ER -