School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0030, USA.
J Hum Evol. 2011 Feb;60(2):213-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.10.006. Epub 2010 Dec 13.
The late Lower Paleolithic archaeofaunas of Qesem Cave in the southern Levant span 400-200 ka and associate with Acheulo-Yabrudian (mainly Amudian) industries. The large mammals are exclusively Eurasian in origin and formed under relatively cool, moist conditions. The zooarchaeological findings testify to large game hunting, hearth-centered carcass processing and meat sharing during the late Lower Paleolithic, not unlike the patterns known from Middle and Upper Paleolithic caves in the region. Well-defined hearth features are rarely preserved in Qesem Cave, but the heterogeneous distributions of burned bones indicate areas of frequent hearth rebuilding throughout the occupation sequence. The hominins delayed consumption of high quality body parts until they could be moved to the cave, where hearths were hubs of processing activities and social interaction. Paradoxically, the cut marks on the Qesem bones are both more abundant and more randomly oriented than those observed in Middle and Upper Paleolithic cases in the Levant. These results suggest that several individuals were directly involved in cutting meat from the bones and that the social mechanics of meat sharing during the late Lower Paleolithic at Qesem Cave differed from those typical of both the Middle and Upper Paleolithic in the region.
黎凡特南部凯瑟姆洞穴的晚更新世早期考古动物群可追溯至 40 万至 20 万年前，与阿舍利-亚伯都利（主要是阿穆迪恩）工业有关。大型哺乳动物完全来自欧亚大陆，形成于相对凉爽、湿润的环境下。动物考古学发现证明，在晚更新世早期，人们会进行大型猎物狩猎，在火塘周围处理猎物尸体并分享肉食，这与该地区中、晚更新世洞穴中的模式相似。在凯瑟姆洞穴中，很少能保存完好的火塘特征，但燃烧过的骨头的不均匀分布表明，在整个居住序列中，火塘会频繁重建。人类会等到可以将高质量的身体部位搬运到洞穴中时才会食用，而洞穴中的火塘是处理活动和社交互动的中心。矛盾的是，与在黎凡特地区观察到的中、晚更新世的案例相比，凯瑟姆骨头的切割痕迹不仅更丰富，而且方向也更随机。这些结果表明，有几个个体直接参与了从骨头中切割肉的过程，而且在晚更新世早期的凯瑟姆洞穴中，肉食分享的社会机制与该地区中、晚更新世的典型机制不同。
