A decorated raven bone from the Zaskalnaya VI (Kolosovskaya) Neanderthal site, Crimea

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dc.citation.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0173435en_ZA
dc.citation.issue3en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMajkic, A.
dc.contributor.authorEvans, S.
dc.contributor.authorStepanchuk, V.
dc.contributor.authorTsvelykh, A.
dc.contributor.authorD'Errico, F.
dc.date.accessioned2017-10-30T12:59:27Z
dc.date.available2017-10-30T12:59:27Z
dc.date.issued2017-03
dc.description.abstractWe analyze a radius bone fragment of a raven (Corvus corax) from Zaskalnaya VI rock shelter, Crimea. The object bears seven notches and comes from an archaeological level attributed to a Micoquian industry dated to between 38 and 43 cal kyr BP. Our study aims to examine the degree of regularity and intentionality of this set of notches through their technological and morphometric analysis, complemented by comparative experimental work. Microscopic analysis of the notches indicate that they were produced by the to-and-fro movement of a lithic cutting edge and that two notches were added to fill in the gap left between previously cut notches, probably to increase the visual consistency of the pattern. Multivariate analysis of morphometric data recorded on the archaeological notches and sets of notches cut by nine modern experimenters on radii of domestic turkeys shows that the variations recorded on the Zaskalnaya set are comparable to experimental sets made with the aim of producing similar, parallel, equidistant notches. Identification of the Weber Fraction, the constant that accounts for error in human perception, for equidistant notches cut on bone rods and its application to the Zaskalnaya set of notches and thirty-six sets of notches incised on seventeen Upper Palaeolithic bone objects from seven sites indicate that the Zaskalnaya set falls within the range of variation of regularly spaced experimental and Upper Palaeolithic sets of notches. This suggests that even if the production of the notches may have had a utilitarian reason the notches were made with the goal of producing a visually consistent pattern. This object represents the first instance of a bird bone from a Neanderthal site bearing modifications that cannot be explained as the result of butchery activities and for which a symbolic argument can be built on direct rather than circumstantial evidence.en_ZA
dc.description.librarianEM2017en_ZA
dc.funderThis research was conducted with the financial support awarded to the authors through the PICS collabora tive research project “The emergence of symbolica lly mediated behavior in Eastern Europe” by the CNRS and NASU (PICS- NASU 3-15). One of the authors (AM) acknowledge s financial support of the Wenner- Gren Foundation. This research was also funded by the LaScArBx, a research programme supported by the ANR (ANR-10- LABX-52). Another author (SE) acknowled ges financial support of the AHRC.en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMajkic, A. et al. 2017. A decorated raven bone from the Zaskalnaya VI (Kolosovskaya) Neanderthal site, Crimea. PLOS ONE 12(3), Article number e0173435.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203 (Online)
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10539/23352
dc.journal.titlePLOS ONEen_ZA
dc.journal.volume12en_ZA
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherPublic Library of Scienceen_ZA
dc.rights© 2017 Majkic et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.en_ZA
dc.subjectBearen_ZA
dc.subjectCommon ravenen_ZA
dc.subjectCrimeaen_ZA
dc.subjectExperimental studyen_ZA
dc.subjectHumanen_ZA
dc.subjectMultivariate analysisen_ZA
dc.subjectNonhumanen_ZA
dc.subjectPaleolithicen_ZA
dc.subjectPerceptionen_ZA
dc.subjectRadiusen_ZA
dc.subjectTurkey (bird)en_ZA
dc.subjectAnatomy and histologyen_ZA
dc.subjectAnimalen_ZA
dc.subjectArcheologyen_ZA
dc.subjectFossilsen_ZA
dc.subjectHistory, Ancienten_ZA
dc.subjectHumansen_ZA
dc.subjectMicroscopyen_ZA
dc.titleA decorated raven bone from the Zaskalnaya VI (Kolosovskaya) Neanderthal site, Crimeaen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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