Equid Prey Acquisition and Archaic Homo Adaptability at the Early Late Pleistocene Site of Xujiayao, China

Abstract

Besides active hunting by hominins, there are two methods of scavenging that can provide primary access to intact ungulate carcasses: first-access scavenging from non-predator-related accidents and early-access aggressive scavenging from carnivore kills. Patterns in mortality profiles of prey animals at archaeological sites provide evidence of prey acquisition strategies, which is an important factor in reconstructing hominin adaptability. The Xujiayao site is an early Late Pleistocene site in the Nihewan Basin, China. Its faunal assemblage is dominated by Equus przewalskii and Equus hemionus. Evidence from previous taphonomic analysis has implied that Archaic Homo was the dominant taphonomic agent in the accumulation of the animal remains. This research applies mortality profile analysis to determine a follow-up question: how were the equid carcasses acquired? The results of this study indicate that Archaic Homo at Xujiayao probably used both active hunting and scavenging to acquire equids in the early period (lower cultural layer), but mainly used active hunting in the later period (upper cultural layer) due to the fact that the climate changed to much colder conditions in the later period. This research provides new information on the subsistence adaptations of Archaic Homo in northern latitudinal climates of China in the early Late Pleistocene.

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