A view of Amud Cave from below. Wikimedia Commons
Posted on 05/09/2015 8:44:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Gideon Hartman of the University of Connecticut and colleagues from an international group of universities and research institutions came to this conclusion by reconstructing the hunting ranges of Neanderthals who occupied the cave at two distinct Ice Age occupational phases separated by about 10,000 years. The first phase occurred during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 (71,000-129,000 years ago), and the second occurred during Marine Isotope Stage 3 (57,000-70,000 years ago). They analyzed the comparison of oxygen, carbon, and strontium isotope samples from the tooth enamel of excavated gazelle remains with modern isotope data from the Amud Cave region.
What they found was that the Neanderthals had restricted their gazelle hunting to the higher elevations west of the cave during the earlier occupation phase, but became more diverse in their hunting ranges during the later occupation phase, with an emphasis on the lower elevations closer to the cave site. The researchers suggest the possibility that drier conditions during the earlier phase (MIS 4) may have forced the gazelle populations to forage in the higher elevations where food sources were more plentiful.
Amud Cave overlooks the Wadi el 'Amud (a dry river gorge) northwest of the Sea of Galilee in present-day Israel. It is best known for its Neanderthal remains, including the 'Amud 1' adult male skeleton, which features a large cranial capacity and other characteristics similar to that of the famous Neanderthal remains discovered in Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan. Also found within the cave was the partial skeleton of an 8-to-10-month-old Neanderthal baby with a maxilla bone of a red deer situated above the baby's pelvis. Archaeologists suggest the possibility that the maxilla had been purposely placed over the baby's remains as a burial rite.
(Excerpt) Read more at popular-archaeology.com ...
A view of Amud Cave from below. Wikimedia Commons
The Neandertal Enigma"Frayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]
by James Shreeve
in local libraries
Does Jay Leno’s garage have any Neanderthal SUVs?
Started hunting gazelles from SUVs?
Did they drive their Pirus instead of the F350 to hunting camp? Because that coulda helped a bunch.
Was the gorge dry 70,000 years ago?
Is that when the species manbearpig was over-hunted nearly to extinction?
I don't think the Neanderthals went hunting in places where a meteorologist who kept current on climate change told them where to go. I'm not sure of the significance of the story unless it is to condition us to the idea that climate change affects human behavior-or in this case Neanderthal behavior.
They hunted Chevy Impalas and Gazelles and completely wiped out the Biscaynes.
See, now that just shows how important it is to be thorough in ones endeavors. Nearly isn’t nearly good enough!
Holy Smokes, this headline is a big faux pas for the global warming crowd. Somebody just slipped up. Climate change some 30,000 years ago? Impossible. The Chicken Little crowd has been telling us Sport Utility Vehicles are responsible for global warming. WTF is going on here?
How about The Thunderbirds and Cougars, did they kill them off too?
Every time such an article sees print, I get the feeling the reporter has a couple dudes in black suits visit him with a neurolyzer and a story about swamp gas reflecting off Venus.
It was wet with the blood of their enemies and prey, yarrrrrr!
Interesting research on human activity during the last glaciation. Nice post!
You know Norm I think you’re right, UFO’s are real and the government is.... wait.. there’s someone at the door... excuse me. You are confused sir... swamp gas. You saw nothing... Yes. Ha Ha. Nothing more. Must go now.... :-)
Elvis isn’t dead. He just went home...
C’mon, their first target would be the Aztec, followed by the 1990s Caprice.
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