Leiden University Student Repository

Sipilä, Ilkka Matti Veikko (2016)

East and West, Warm and Cold: The Evolution of Neanderthal Mobility Behaviour in Its European Palaeoenvironmental Context from the Beginning of the Late Saalian (191 ka BP) Until Their Demise (40 ka BP)

Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)

A database of Neanderthal raw material transports and fauna from assemblages across Europe has been compiled with the aim to explore the evolution of the Neanderthals’ mobility behaviour with regard to the environment from the beginning of the Late Saalian (191 ka BP) to the demise of Neanderthals (40 ka BP). Mobility, as observed from the lithic transports in the Palaeolithic, is often interpreted as mirroring the social organisation of a group. As the study of Neanderthal mobility normally focuses on the maximum transport distances of lithics, such a methodology is seen as inadequate because three equifinal processes (subsistence activity, social transactions, and semi-random lithic scavenging) can account for these distances. Here, two different indicators of Neanderthal mobility are created based on the transport distances, quantities, and number of utilised raw material sources. These mobility variables and their relationship to the changing environment are then analysed using...Show moreA database of Neanderthal raw material transports and fauna from assemblages across Europe has been compiled with the aim to explore the evolution of the Neanderthals’ mobility behaviour with regard to the environment from the beginning of the Late Saalian (191 ka BP) to the demise of Neanderthals (40 ka BP). Mobility, as observed from the lithic transports in the Palaeolithic, is often interpreted as mirroring the social organisation of a group. As the study of Neanderthal mobility normally focuses on the maximum transport distances of lithics, such a methodology is seen as inadequate because three equifinal processes (subsistence activity, social transactions, and semi-random lithic scavenging) can account for these distances. Here, two different indicators of Neanderthal mobility are created based on the transport distances, quantities, and number of utilised raw material sources. These mobility variables and their relationship to the changing environment are then analysed using novel statistical techniques.Show less

Neanderthal

mobility

Middle Palaeolithic

statistics

Late-Quaternary fauna

social organisation

human behavioural ecology

Author

Sipilä, Ilkka Matti Veikko

Faculty

Faculty of Archaeology

Specialisation

Human Origins

Supervisors

Roebroeks, J.W.M.

ECTS Credits

35

Evaluation

Recommended

Language

en