The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001

The finds from Bollschweil and the question of mammoth in the Black Forest

N.J. Conard, L. Niven Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, - [email protected] - [email protected]

SUMMARY: From 1996 to 1998 excavations in Bollschweil, near in , yielded several hun- dred faunal remains and a small lithic assemblage. The finds were preserved in a small loess and rubble-filled valley on the edge of a limestone quarry. Biostratigraphic and cultural stratigraphic arguments, as well as ESR dates suggest that the accumulation dates to the penultimate glaciation, but the reworked nature of the sedi- ments in the gully complicate the archaeological and chronological interpretation of the site. The lithic assem- blage includes an amphibolite handaxe and a chert side scraper. The fauna is dominated by mammoth with fewer remains of horse, large bovid, woolly , red deer and bear. At least six mammoths are includ- ed in this assemblage, which is characterized by a wide range of body parts. The finds lack clear anthro- pogenic modifications. As is often the case at proboscidean sites, a definitive causal association between the faunal remains and hominid economic behavior is difficult to establish.

1. INTRODUCTION the chronostratigraphic assessment of the site (Rink et al. n.d.). After the site’s discovery in 1995, amateur paleontologists E. Blattmann and R. Ritz began 2. GEOLOGICAL SETTING excavating the rich faunal remains exposed in a small, steep valley on the edge The Paleolithic site of Bollschweil is located of the limestone quarry operated by the Koch near the northwestern edge of the Koch lime- company in Bollschweil, 10 km SE of Freiburg stone quarry at an elevation of 370 m above sea in the Black Forest of southwestern Germany. level. The finds lay near the base of a small In 1997 the site, which had already produced north-south oriented valley formed on its east- scores of faunal remains and a small number of ern border by limestone bedrock and to lithic artifacts, was called to the attention of the the west by limestone blocks and sediments. State Agency for Archaeological Heritage While this small gully-like valley probably was (Landesamt für Denkmalpflege) and the fed occasionally by runoff, there is no indica- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary tion that it was ever a perennial water course. Ecology of the University of Tübingen. In the The sediments filling the valley preserve a fall of 1997 a team of archaeologists from complex system of interbedding silts and clays Tübingen conducted a salvage excavation containing abundant fragments of limestone focusing on clarifying the geological setting of and faunal material. Although a small number the finds and augmenting the existing collec- of bones were found in articulated position, the tions of faunal remains and lithic artifacts. This material appears to be in a jumbled context, excavation (Figs. 1-3) ran for 10 weeks and perhaps as a result of slumping or solifluction yielded a wealth of new information about the from above. Even during the early phases of site (Conard & Kandel 1999). Subsequent fieldwork, the great abundance of mammoth research has addressed the lithic assemblage remains was readily visible. The presence of a from the site (Conard & Blattmann 2000) and cold period fauna including mammoth and

194 The Paleolithic finds from Bollschweil and the question of Neanderthal mammoth hunting in the Black Forest woolly rhinoceros along with the predomi- cultural stratigraphy and radiometric dating for nance of loessic sediments points strongly to an assessing the age of the deposits. Several lines accumulation during a cool phase of the of evidence including a series of ESR dates Pleistocene. The lack of a clear geostratigraph- suggest a probable age within the penultimate ic markers forces the use of biostratigraphy, glaciation (Rink et al. n. d.).

Fig.1 - Bollschweil. Topographic map of the excavation showing the location of faunal and lithic finds.

195 The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001

Fig.2 - Bollschweil. Overview of the excavation looking toward the northwest, October 1997.

Fig.3 - Bollschweil. 24E Profile showing coarse limestone debris and faunal remains, October 1997.

196 The Paleolithic finds from Bollschweil and the question of Neanderthal mammoth hunting in the Black Forest

Fig.4 - Bollschweil. Amphibolite handaxe.

3. LITHIC ARTIFACTS 4. FAUNAL REMAINS

The finds from Bollschweil include a dozen At present the faunal remains from the exca- lithic artifacts of the following raw materials: vations of the University of Tübingen and from chert, quartz, quartzite, amphibolite and E. Blattmann’s collection are available for siliceous slate (Fig. 4). The poor excavation study. An unknown amount of material from conditions in the jumble of sediment, bone and the Ritz collection is not yet available for study. limestone rubble, and the lack of a large sample The combined Blattmann and Tübingen collec- of waterscreened sediment hindered the recov- tions include 423 specimens of macro-mam- ery of lithic artifacts. malian fauna, of which 299 pieces could be Two finds are of typological importance. One identified to the level of genus or species (Tab. piece is a ventrally retouched side scraper of 1, Fig. 5). These include the remains of mam- Jurassic chert; the other is a large handaxe of moth, horse, large bovid, woolly rhinoceros, amphibolite (Conard & Kandel 1999; Conard & red deer and bear in descending order of abun- Blattmann 2000). Typologically, the side dance. Many other remains could be placed in scraper, though well documented in earlier and general size classes. later periods, would most likely belong to the While mammoth is by far the best represented . The cultural assessment of species, horse, large bovid, woolly rhinoceros handaxe-bearing assemblages touches on sever- and red deer are represented by 28, 22, 14 and al complex issues. While handaxes are the most five specimens respectively. The remains of important form of the Acheulean, in Germany horse represent at least three individuals and are handaxes are fairly common in the Middle characterized mainly by dentition and distal hind Paleolithic as defined by Bosinski (1967). In limb elements. Axial skeletal remains are lack- southern Germany in particular, bifacially ing in the sample. Based on the teeth, most of the worked artifacts including diverse handaxe in the death assemblage were young forms persist throughout much of the Würmian adults. The large bovid assemblage includes glaciation. Thus there is no sound basis for dis- remains from at least two animals and shows a tinguishing Lower and Middle Paleolithic very different representation. assemblages based solely on the presence or With the exception of two distal limb bones absence of handaxes (Conard & Fischer 2000). and a rib fragment, all the specimens are either 197 The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001

Tab.1 - Bollschweil. Summary of the faunal remains from E. Blattmann’s and the University of Tübingen’s

Fig.5 - Bollschweil. Relative abundance of macro-mammalian taxa based on NISP.

cervical vertebrae, pieces of horn core or other is little doubt, that the majority of the unidenti- cranial fragments, including dentition. Woolly fied very large (mammoth or rhino) size class rhinoceros is represented by at least one indi- remains are also from mammoth. With this vidual. Other than a metatarsus and two long comparatively large assemblage more can be bone fragments, only teeth and fragments said about the body part representation and age have been documented. The five specimens profile of this species. The assemblage includes from red deer include only antler, dental and the remains of at least 6 individuals based on cranial material. Bear is represented by a com- maxillary molars. Tusks, and plete radius. humerus are also well-represented with MNEs The assemblage of mammoth remains of 3 (Fig. 6). Axial skeletal remains and limb includes 229 specimens and forms 77% of the bones are fairly well-represented. identified specimens and a still higher portion Although foot bones and non-cervical verte- of the assemblage on the basis of weight. There brae are underrepresented, the assemblage 198 The Paleolithic finds from Bollschweil and the question of Neanderthal mammoth hunting in the Black Forest

Fig.6 - Bollschweil. Body part representation of Mammuthus primigenius. Note that MNI of 6 refers to molars. appears to reflect the remains of complete ani- arguments for predation or butchery by mals that either died in the gully or slid into the hominids, Bollschweil provides tantalizing gully from the higher-lying surroundings. indications, but certainly no proof, of Among the teeth and dental fragments, 16 teeth hunting mammoths on the edge could be aged using Haynes’ (1991) criteria. of the Black Forest. While ever more evidence The age classes 0-12 (n = 3), 13-24 (n = 9) and for successful hunting by archaic European 37-60 (n = 4) African Elephant (AEY) hominids accumulates (Conard & Prindiville are present, with the young adults in the range 2000; Gaudzinski & Roebroeks 2000), the role from 13-24 AEY best represented among both of elephants in Paleolithic economies remains the maxillary and mandibular teeth. The mam- elusive (Haynes 1991). Only in remarkable set- moth finds preserve no clear signs of modifica- tings such as Lehringen (Thieme & Veil 1985) tion by humans or carnivores, but the relatively and Gröbern (Mania et al. 1990) has it been poor preservation hinders the identification of possible to establish a causal link between the such features. artifacts and the proboscidean skeletal remains. Finally in the southern German context, 5. CONCLUSIONS Bollschweil serves to remind researchers that many new discoveries are still to be made out- Bollschweil is the only open-air archaeologi- side the region’s many caves, if the necessary cal site in southwestern Germany characterized resources can be made available to pursue this by an abundance of mammoth remains. The line of research. site probably formed during one or more cul- tural and sedimentary events during the penul- 6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS timate glaciation. The occurrence of lithic arti- facts with a rich faunal assemblage in a rela- The work at Bollschweil has been supported tively small area of excavation suggests that by the Sonderforschungsbereich 275 of the hominids contributed to the faunal accumula- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and by the tion. However, in the absence of conclusive Landesdenkmalamt of Baden-Württemberg. 199 The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001

Emil Blattmann, Ryan Byerly, Andrew Kandel, Conard, N.J. & Prindiville, T.J. 2000. Middle Maria Malina, Erin Piechowiak, David Punoc h palaeolithic hunting economies in the a⊆, Jack Rink and Hans-Peter Uerpmann have Rhineland. International J. Osteoarchaeology made important contributions to the research at 10: 286-309. Bollschweil. Gaudzinski, S. & Roebroeks, W. 2000. Adults only. hunting at the middle palae- 7. REFERENCES olithic site Salzgitter Lebenstedt, northern Germany. Journal of Human Evolution 38: Bosinski, G. 1967. Die mittelpaläolithische 497-521. Funde im westlichen Mitteleuropa. Fun- Haynes, G. 1991. Mammoths, mastodonts & damenta 4: Cologne: Böhlau Verlag. elephants: biology, behavior, and the fossil Conard, N.J. & Kandel, A. 1999. Die neuen record. Cambridge: Cambridge University Ausgrabungen in Bollschweil, Kreis Press. Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald – ein mittel- Mania, D., Thomae, M., Litt, T. & Weber, T. paläolithscher Fundplatz mit Mammutresten. 1990. Neumark-Gröbern. Beiträge zur Jagd Archäologische Ausgrabungen in Baden- des mittelpaläolithischen Menschen. Württemberg 1998: 35-40. Publication of the Landesmuseum für Conard, N.J. & Blattmann, E. 2000. Ein Vorgeschichte Halle 42. Berlin: Deutscher Faustkeil aus Bollschweil, Lkr. Breisgau- Verlag der Wissenschaft. Hochscharzwald. Archäologische Nachri- Rink, J, Kandel, A.W. & Conard, N.J. n.d. ESR chten aus Baden 63: 3-7. geochronology & geology of the open-air Conard, N.J. & Fischer, B. 2000. Are there rec- deposits in Bollschweil, Germany. Ma- ognizable cultural entities in the German nuscript available from senior author. middle paleolithic? In A. Ronen & M. Thieme, H. & Veil, S. 1985. Neue Weinstein-Evron (eds.), Yabrudian and Untersuchungen zum eemzeitlichen Ele- Micoquian: towards modern humans 400- fanten-Jagdplatz Lehringen, Lkr. Verden. 50 kya: 7-24. Oxford: Archaeopress. Die Kunde 36: 11-58.

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