Palaeo-Basque whale-bone industry from Isturitz!

[Jacques Cinq-Mars]

All,

Here is an interesting article which shows that, when examined through new and different lenses, some archaeological collections never die and keep yielding surprisingly new and rich information:

Pétillon, Jean-Marc. 2008. First evidence of a whale-bone industry in the western European Upper Paleolithic: Magdalenian artifacts from Isturitz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France). Journal of Human Evolution doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.12.006


Keywords: Isturitz; Magdalenian; Marine resources; Osseous technology; Upper Paleolithic; Whale bone.

There is no Abstract, but here are the three concluding paragraphs:

The number of artifacts made from whale bone is small compared to the hundreds of typologically similar antler items from the same layers. However, the important point is that, although rare, the artifacts made using whale bone are present in the entire Magdalenian sequence of the cave. These artifacts thus represent an industry in the whole sense of the term – that is, a technical tradition consistent through time and involving specific knowledge.

Two questions concerning this industry remain to be addressed and can only be briefly introduced here. The first one is to determine the reasons why the Magdalenians chose this raw material to manufacture a portion of their projectile points, foreshafts, and wedges. If, as a first approach, we consider only the intrinsic properties of the materialdignoring extrinsic factors such as economic availability and symbolic status - it appears that its large dimensions probably played a role: compared to antlers or to the bones of most land mammals, whale bones allow the manufacture of larger tools (Betts, 2007). The peculiar mechanical properties of whale bone must also be considered. Preliminary experimental results indicate that, compared to land-mammal bones, whale bones are more resilient and thus more suitable for the manufacture of items subject to impact (Scheinsohn and Ferretti, 1995). For a detailed discussion, the reader is referred to the work of Margaris (2006), who analyzed Alutiiq assemblages in which whale bone was used to make comparable types of implements (projectile tips and woodworking wedges).

As Margaris (2006) argued, further research on this topic should include extensive experimental replication and mechanical testing, as conducted on whale mandibular cortical and trabecular tissue in another study (Campbell-Malone, 2007). The second important issue is to assess the extent of this technical tradition in time and space: Are there whale-bone artifacts outside Isturitz? Do they exist before the Magdalenian? The identification of the Isturitz items more than 70 years after their recovery shows that, if similar artifacts exist in other collections, they are likely to have been misclassified as made of bone/antler from land mammals. One of the purposes of this paper is to bring to the attention of specialists in European Paleolithic osseous tools the possible occurrence of this unusual raw material.

Jacques

[trehinp]

Thanks for the information Jacques.

There seems to be another fundamental question that this whale bone industry raises: It is how did they get whale's bones? Can we assume that they were capable of whale hunting? Or did they rely upon whales run aground on beaches?

In the hunting whales hypothesis, this would lead us to assume that they were able to build dugout boats or at least floating rafts to go catch them, which in turn would have tremendous consequences on assessing the ability of our palaeolithic ancesters to navigate on the ocean...

That could give some credit to the hypothesis of a population migration from Europe to the North American continent via the North Western water route or on the ability of homo sapiens to go from South East Asia to Australia...

Does any one have some references on this subject? I would seem very important to know how they were procuring whales bones for their industry.

Paul

[AWSX]

Paul,
I agree that these whale bone artifacts MIGHT BE evidence of early use of watercraft to hunt whales. However TTBOMK there is no physical evidence for the use of watercraft in Europe that early. However there is some cave art that has been interpreted to represent seals.

There was a TV program produced by BBC, "Ice Age Columbus", that proposed that Ice Age Solutreans may have used skin covered boats to hunt seals. It is available on DVD and is a dramatization of the Stanford/Bradley hypothesis of how those seal hunters may have accidentally reached the East Coast of the Americas.

Allan Shumaker

[Charlie Hatchett]

Paul,
I agree that these whale bone artifacts MIGHT BE evidence of early use of watercraft to hunt whales. However TTBOMK there is no physical evidence for the use of watercraft in Europe that early. However there is some cave art that has been interpreted to represent seals.

There was a TV program produced by BBC, "Ice Age Columbus", that proposed that Ice Age Solutreans may have used skin covered boats to hunt seals. It is available on DVD and is a dramatization of the Stanford/Bradley hypothesis of how those seal hunters may have accidentally reached the East Coast of the Americas.

Allan Shumaker

On a similar note, here are a few cave paintings attributed to Solutrean that have been interpreted as boats by some:

http://www.phpbb88.com/nohandaxesinus/viewtopic.php?t=87&start=0&mforum=nohandaxesinus

Charlie

[Jacques Cinq-Mars]

Thanks for the information Jacques.

There seems to be another fundamental question that this whale bone industry raises: It is how did they get whale's bones? Can we assume that they were capable of whale hunting? Or did they rely upon whales run aground on beaches?

The author (J.-M. Pétillon) does mention this "whaling" issue, but only rhetorically. He makes a point of emphasizing the fact that the culturally modified whalebones, which are found throughout much of the Isturitz Magdalenian sequence are very rare and represent but a tiny fraction of the osseous assemblage of artefacts which were, for the most part, made from bones of land-based animals. On that basis, he concludes that this clear scarcity of whale bones as raw material, over a lengthy period of time, is suggestive of an intermittent and opportunistic (my words) exploitation of beached whales.

In the hunting whales hypothesis, this would lead us to assume that they were able to build dugout boats or at least floating rafts to go catch them, which in turn would have tremendous consequences on assessing the ability of our palaeolithic ancesters to navigate on the ocean...

That could give some credit to the hypothesis of a population migration from Europe to the North American continent via the North Western water route or on the ability of homo sapiens to go from South East Asia to Australia...

If the Southeast Asia - Australia connection hypotheses are true scientific constructs in need, as they should, of further verification, it is not so with the notion that a North Atlantic crossing could have been undertaken at whatever time during the Upper Palaeolithic. Albeit very pleasant, this, in my view, is sheer speculation based on absolutely no concrete and pertinent evidence.

Does any one have some references on this subject? I would seem very important to know how they were procuring whales bones for their industry.

Paul

For starters, you should try:

Straus, Lawrence Guy . 2000. Solutrean Settlement of North America? A Review of Reality. American Antiquity, 65(2): 219-226.
Click HERE for access.

Jacques

[Jacques Cinq-Mars]

Paul,
I agree that these whale bone artifacts MIGHT BE evidence of early use of watercraft to hunt whales.

See my earlier response to Paul.

However TTBOMK there is no physical evidence for the use of watercraft in Europe that early. However there is some cave art that has been interpreted to represent seals.

Well, people are very likely to have seen and hunted seals along beaches, river estuaries, etc. One doesn't need to build and paddle a kayak to exploit such a resource. Nor do they need navigational capabilities to exploit/scavenge beached whales.

There was a TV program produced by BBC, "Ice Age Columbus", that proposed that Ice Age Solutreans may have used skin covered boats to hunt seals. It is available on DVD and is a dramatization of the Stanford/Bradley hypothesis of how those seal hunters may have accidentally reached the East Coast of the Americas.

Allan Shumaker

If I were you, I would not put too much money on a BBC dramatization! Especially if the latter is based on the already dramatic and quite imaginative Stanford/Bradley scenario.

Jacques

[Jacques Cinq-Mars]

Paul,
I agree that these whale bone artifacts MIGHT BE evidence of early use of watercraft to hunt whales. However TTBOMK there is no physical evidence for the use of watercraft in Europe that early. However there is some cave art that has been interpreted to represent seals.

There was a TV program produced by BBC, "Ice Age Columbus", that proposed that Ice Age Solutreans may have used skin covered boats to hunt seals. It is available on DVD and is a dramatization of the Stanford/Bradley hypothesis of how those seal hunters may have accidentally reached the East Coast of the Americas.

Allan Shumaker

On a similar note, here are a few cave paintings attributed to Solutrean that have been interpreted as boats by some:

http://www.phpbb88.com/nohandaxesinus/viewtopic.php?t=87&start=0&mforum=nohandaxesinus

Charlie

Charlie,

Thanks for the images. For all I know, they could well represent watercrafts. Most New World native populations were familiar with this particular kind of "travel" technology, and I see no reason why similar devices should have been absent from the UP technological repertoires. But I doubt very much that what you illustrate could have allowed people to navigate across the borders of a frozen North Atlantic, all the way to coastal areas near Cactus Hill or the Topper site.

By the way, references for these photographs would be appreciated.

Best regards,

Jacques

[Charlie Hatchett]

Paul,
I agree that these whale bone artifacts MIGHT BE evidence of early use of watercraft to hunt whales. However TTBOMK there is no physical evidence for the use of watercraft in Europe that early. However there is some cave art that has been interpreted to represent seals.

There was a TV program produced by BBC, "Ice Age Columbus", that proposed that Ice Age Solutreans may have used skin covered boats to hunt seals. It is available on DVD and is a dramatization of the Stanford/Bradley hypothesis of how those seal hunters may have accidentally reached the East Coast of the Americas.

Allan Shumaker

On a similar note, here are a few cave paintings attributed to Solutrean that have been interpreted as boats by some:

http://www.phpbb88.com/nohandaxesinus/viewtopic.php?t=87&start=0&mforum=nohandaxesinus

Charlie

Charlie,

Thanks for the images. For all I know, they could well represent watercrafts. Most New World native populations were familiar with this particular kind of "travel" technology, and I see no reason why similar devices should have been absent from the UP technological repertoires. But I doubt very much that what you illustrate could have allowed people to navigate across the borders of a frozen North Atlantic, all the way to coastal areas near Cactus Hill or the Topper site.

By the way, references for these photographs would be appreciated.

Best regards,

Jacques

Jacques,

According to Greenman the art is from Castillo Cave in Spain (See The Upper Paleolithic and the New World, Greenman, Current Anthropology, 1963, Plate 8). Here's where I found the images:

http://www.dirtbrothers.org/college/introarchaeology002.html

http://www.abora3.de/trading-eng.html

Respectfully,

Charlie

[trehinp]

Thanks Jacques

The subject is a lot clearer after your comment:

The author (J.-M. Pétillon) does mention this "whaling" issue, but only rhetorically. He makes a point of emphasizing the fact that the culturally modified whalebones, which are found throughout much of the Isturitz Magdalenian sequence are very rare and represent but a tiny fraction of the osseous assemblage of artefacts which were, for the most part, made from bones of land-based animals. On that basis, he concludes that this clear scarcity of whale bones as raw material, over a lengthy period of time, is suggestive of an intermittent and opportunistic (my words) exploitation of beached whales.

The second hypothesis about seaworthy floating devices, on which I was basing my post, becomes quite an unlikely one.

Well isn't it the way scientific progress works: test an hypothesis, get refutation...

Paul
 
 

[Jacques Cinq-Mars]

Jacques,

According to Greenman the art is from Castillo Cave in Spain (See The Upper Paleolithic and the New World, Greenman, Current Anthropology, 1963, Plate 8). Here's where I found the images:

http://www.dirtbrothers.org/college/introarchaeology002.html

http://www.abora3.de/trading-eng.html

Respectfully,

Charlie

Charlie,

Thanks. I'll check this out and, hopefully, get back to you with some useful info.

Jacques