38725
Accession Number
31446
Author
Madella, Marco;Jones, Martin K.;Goldberg, Paul;Goren, Yuval;Hovers, Erella
Title Of Article Chaper
The Exploitation of Plant Resources by Neanderthals in Amud Cave (Israel): The Evidence from Phytolith Studies
Title Of Journal Book
Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume
29
Pages
703-719
Collation
17 p. : ills.
Reference Bibliography
Includes bibliographic references
Language Of Text
English
Literature Type
Serial
Literature Level
Analytic
Abstract
The depositional environments of Amud Cave indicate that phytolith assemblages retrieved from the cave’s sediments are an integral part of the Middle Palaeolithic sequence. As such, they provide direct evidence for plant use. The Amud Neanderthals emphasized both wood and grass exploitation. Ligneous parts of trees and shrubs were used mainly for fuel. Herbaceous plants were used for bedding, possibly fuel, and for food. There is clear and repetitive evidence for the exploitation of mature grass panicles, inferred to have been collected for their seeds. These findings suggest that, as with the pattern recently discerned for faunal resources, a broad spectrum of plants has been exploited from at least the end of the Middle Palaeolithic. Phytolith analysis now provides a tool for testing models explaining subsistence and mobility patterns during the Levantine Middle Palaeolithic and for better understanding the role of vegetal resources in shaping these patterns.
Keywords
phytolith;plant;resource;cave
pub_id
38725