Clothing and the Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans by Lia Tarle B.A. (Hons.), University of Victoria, 2009 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Archaeology Faculty of Environment © Lia Tarle 2012 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2012 All rights reserved. However, in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada, this work may be reproduced, without authorization, under the conditions for “Fair Dealing.” Therefore, limited reproduction of this work for the purposes of private study, research, criticism, review and news reporting is likely to be in accordance with the law, particularly if cited appropriately. APPROVAL Name: Lia Tarle Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: Clothing and the Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans Examining Committee: Chair: Catherine D’Andrea Professor, Archaeology ____________________________________________ Mark Collard Senior Supervisor Professor, Archaeology ____________________________________________ Dennis Sandgathe Supervisor Limited term Lecturer, Archaeology ____________________________________________ Michael Richards Examiner Professor, Anthropology, UBC Date Defended/Approved: August 27, 2012 ii Partial Copyright Licence iii Abstract Between 40,000 and 25,000 years ago, during the cold, dry period known as Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (OIS 3), modern humans migrated into Europe and replaced Neanderthals. In this study, I investigated whether clothing could have played a role in this event. To begin with, I carried out a cross-cultural analysis to identify mammalian taxa whose presence in archaeological deposits may indicate the use of clothing. Subsequently, I tested for differences in the frequencies of such taxa in Neanderthal versus modern human occupations in OIS 3 Europe. The analyses suggest that both modern humans and Neanderthals may have made clothing. However, they also suggest that modern humans made clothing out of a wider range of taxa than Neanderthals, and that clothing made by modern humans was more thermally effective than that made by Neanderthals. These findings are consistent with the idea that clothing played a role in the Neanderthal replacement. Keywords: Clothing; cold adaptations; Neanderthal replacement; Last Glacial Maximum; Neanderthals; modern humans iv Dedication I dedicate this to my family and loved ones, who have supported and encouraged me throughout my education. v Acknowledgements I thank my senior supervisor, Mark Collard, and my supervisor, Dennis Sandgathe, for their contributions to this study. In addition, I am grateful to Brian Hayden for his advice regarding clothing manufacture, and to the members of the Human Evolutionary Studies Program for their advice and support. I thank Dana Lepofsky and the 2010 Archaeology graduate student cohort for their assistance with the design of this study. Last but not least, I thank the Archaeology Graduate Program staff for their time and assistance. I have been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Award No. 755-2011-0406) and Simon Fraser University. vi Table of Contents Approval.............................................................................................................................ii Partial Copyright Licence.................................................................................................. iii Abstract.............................................................................................................................iv Dedication..........................................................................................................................v Acknowledgements...........................................................................................................vi Table of Contents............................................................................................................. vii List of Tables......................................................................................................................x List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xii List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................. xiii 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Research objectives................................................................................................. 1 1.2. Background.............................................................................................................. 6 1.2.1. Neanderthals and early modern humans in Europe..................................... 6 1.2.1.1. Neanderthal and early modern human technologies in Europe........................................................................................... 9 1.2.2. Climate during the replacement of the Neanderthals by modern humans ...................................................................................................... 14 1.2.3. Cold tolerance of Neanderthals and modern humans................................ 19 1.2.4. Evidence for clothing in the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic ....................... 23 1.2.5. Thermally effective animal skins and furs .................................................. 28 1.3. Structure of study................................................................................................... 33 2. Cross cultural analysis of use of mammalian taxa for clothing........................ 36 2.1. Materials and methods........................................................................................... 36 2.1.1. Compiling the list of search terms .............................................................. 36 2.1.2. Search for uses of animals for clothing among recent non-industrial groups ........................................................................................................ 44 2.2. Results ................................................................................................................... 47 2.2.1. All clothing and utilitarian clothing .............................................................. 47 2.2.1.1. Family level.................................................................................. 47 2.2.1.2. Genus level.................................................................................. 48 2.2.2. Winter/Heavy clothing ................................................................................ 50 2.2.2.1. Family level.................................................................................. 50 2.2.2.2. Genus level.................................................................................. 52 2.2.3. Fur clothing................................................................................................. 53 2.2.3.1. Family level.................................................................................. 53 2.2.3.2. Genus level.................................................................................. 55 2.2.4. Fur trim....................................................................................................... 56 2.2.4.1. Family level.................................................................................. 56 2.2.4.2. Genus level.................................................................................. 57 2.3. Description of ethnographic clothing use............................................................... 59 2.3.1. Cervidae..................................................................................................... 59 2.3.2. Bovidae ...................................................................................................... 60 2.3.3. Mustelidae.................................................................................................. 62 2.3.4. Canidae...................................................................................................... 64 vii 2.3.5. Leporidae ................................................................................................... 64 2.3.6. Ursidae....................................................................................................... 65 2.3.7. Sciuridae .................................................................................................... 65 2.3.8. Castoridae.................................................................................................. 66 2.3.9. Felidae........................................................................................................ 67 2.3.10. Equidae ...................................................................................................... 67 2.4. Implications for identifying clothing use in the OIS 3 archaeological record.......... 67 3. Analysis of Stage 3 faunal database.................................................................... 73 3.1. Materials and methods........................................................................................... 74 3.1.1. Data............................................................................................................ 74 3.2. Analyses ................................................................................................................ 76 3.3. Utilitarian clothing................................................................................................... 79 3.3.1. Family level ...............................................................................................