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McGrath K, van der Sluis LG, Lefebvre A, Charpentier A, Rodrigues ASL, Álvarez-Fernández E, Baleux F, Berganza E, Chauvière FX, Dachary M, Duarte Matías E, Houmard C, Marín-Arroyo AB, de la Rasilla Vives M, Tapia J, Thil F, Tombret O, Torres-Iglesias L, Speller C, Zazzo A, Pétillon JM. Late Paleolithic whale bone tools reveal human and whale ecology in the Bay of Biscay. Nat Commun 2025; 16:4646. [PMID: 40425559 PMCID: PMC12117114 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59486-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2025] [Indexed: 05/29/2025] Open
Abstract
Reconstructing how prehistoric humans used the products obtained from large cetaceans is challenging, but key to understand the history of early human coastal adaptations. Here we report the multiproxy analysis (ZooMS, radiocarbon, stable isotopes) of worked objects made of whale bone, and unworked whale bone fragments, found at Upper Paleolithic sites (Magdalenian) around the Bay of Biscay. Taxonomic identification using ZooMS reveals at least five species of large whales, expanding the range of known taxa whose products were utilized by humans in this period. Radiocarbon places the use of whale products ca. 20-14 ka cal BP, with a maximum diffusion and diversity at 17.5-16 ka cal BP, making it the oldest evidence of whale-bone working to our knowledge. δ13C and δ15N stable isotope values reflect taxon-specific differences in foraging behavior. The diversity and chronology of these cetacean populations attest to the richness of the marine ecosystem of the Bay of Biscay in the late Paleolithic, broadening our understanding of coastal adaptations at that time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krista McGrath
- Department of Prehistory and Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Laura G van der Sluis
- BioArchéologie, Interactions Sociétés Environnements (BioArch), UMR 7209, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Alexandre Lefebvre
- Grupo I + D + i EVOADAPTA, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain
- De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), UMR 5199, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | | | | | - Esteban Álvarez-Fernández
- GIR PREHUSAL, Universidad de Salamanca, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Departamento de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueología, Salamanca, Spain
| | - François Baleux
- Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés (TRACES) UMR 5608, CNRS, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, Toulouse, France
| | | | - François-Xavier Chauvière
- Office du patrimoine et de l'archéologie du canton de Neuchâtel, section Archéologie, Laténium, Hauterive, Switzerland
| | - Morgane Dachary
- Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés (TRACES) UMR 5608, CNRS, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, Toulouse, France
- Ministère de la Culture, Service Régional de l'Archéologie de Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Limoges, France
| | | | - Claire Houmard
- Université de Franche-Comté, UMR 6249 Chrono-environnement, Besançon, France
| | | | | | - Jesus Tapia
- Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain
| | - François Thil
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE/IPSL), UMR 8212, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Olivier Tombret
- BioArchéologie, Interactions Sociétés Environnements (BioArch), UMR 7209, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Leire Torres-Iglesias
- Grupo I + D + i EVOADAPTA, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain
- Section for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Camilla Speller
- Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Antoine Zazzo
- BioArchéologie, Interactions Sociétés Environnements (BioArch), UMR 7209, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Marc Pétillon
- Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés (TRACES) UMR 5608, CNRS, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, Toulouse, France.
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Buss DL, Dierickx K, Falahati-Anbaran M, Elliot D, Rankin LK, Whitridge P, Frasier B, Richard JS, van den Hurk Y, Barrett JH. Archaeological evidence of resource utilisation of walrus, Odobenus rosmarus, over the past two millennia: A systematic review protocol. OPEN RESEARCH EUROPE 2024; 4:86. [PMID: 39070944 PMCID: PMC11283631 DOI: 10.12688/openreseurope.17197.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 07/30/2024]
Abstract
The walrus, Odobenus rosmarus, is an iconic pinniped and predominant molluscivore that is well adapted to Arctic and subarctic environments. Its circumpolar distribution, large body size and ivory tusks facilitated its vital role as food, raw material (for tools and art), income, and cultural influence on many Arctic Indigenous communities for millennia. Intensification of hunting (often due to the arrival of Europeans, especially between the 16 th and 19 th centuries) to obtain ivory, hide, blubber and meat, resulted in diminished, sometimes extirpated, walrus populations. Zooarchaeological, artefactual and documentary evidence of walrus material has been collated at local and regional scales and is frequently focused on a specific culture or period of time. Systematic collation of this evidence across the Northern Hemisphere will provide insight into the chronology and circumpolar distribution of walrus hunting and provide a tool to document societal change in walrus resource use. Here, we lay out a systematic review protocol to collate records of archaeological walrus artefacts, tusks and bones that have been documented primarily within published literature to archive when and where (as feasible) walrus extractions occurred between 1 CE and 2000 CE. These data will be openly available for the scientific community. The resulting dataset will be the first to provide spatiotemporal information (including the recognition of knowledge gaps) regarding past walrus populations and extirpations on a circumpolar scale. Our protocol is published to ensure reproducibility and comparability in the future, and to encourage the adoption of systematic review methodology (including pre-published protocols) in archaeology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle L. Buss
- Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet Vitenskapsmuseet, Trondheim, Trøndelag, 7491, Norway
| | - Katrien Dierickx
- Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet Vitenskapsmuseet, Trondheim, Trøndelag, 7491, Norway
| | - Mohsen Falahati-Anbaran
- Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet Vitenskapsmuseet, Trondheim, Trøndelag, 7491, Norway
| | - Deirdre Elliot
- Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Lisa K. Rankin
- Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Peter Whitridge
- Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | | | - Jean-Simon Richard
- Musee des Îles de la Madeleine, Les Îles de la Madeleine, Quebec, Canada
| | - Youri van den Hurk
- Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet Vitenskapsmuseet, Trondheim, Trøndelag, 7491, Norway
| | - James H. Barrett
- Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet Vitenskapsmuseet, Trondheim, Trøndelag, 7491, Norway
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