A ZooMS-informed archaeozoological and taphonomic analysis comparing Neanderthal and Homo sapiens subsistence behaviors in Northwest Italy

This project aims to contribute to the ongoing discussions surrounding the topic of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition in Europe which is marked by two turning points in the evolution of our own species, anatomically modern Homo sapiens (AMHS). While Neanderthals, our closest evolutionary cousins, went extinct, modern humans migrated out of Africa and dispersed very rapidly across Eurasia. While both populations were exposed to the same dramatic climatic shifts at the time, it is only the Neanderthals that quickly disappeared from the archeological records, suggesting that AMHS populations may have been better adapted to react to environmental changes than Neanderthals. Since diet is a good monitor of adaptation, this research compares the subsistence strategies of both human groups as they occupied, in quick succession, the site of Riparo Bombrini (Balzi Rossi, Liguria, Italy). I conducted archeozoological and taphonomic analyses on faunal collections to give the first direct comparison between Neanderthal and AMHS diets and hunting strategies on one of the only site in Northwest Italy entirely documented with modern archeological methods. TO BE CON’T

Faculty Supervisor:

Julien Riel-Salvatore

Student:

Partner:

University of Manchester;Università Degli Studi Di Genova

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

Université de Montréal

Program: