Mammoths used as food and building resources by Neanderthals: Zooarchaeological study applied to layer 4, Molodova I (Ukraine)

Considering Neanderthal subsistence, the use of mammoth resources has been particularly discussed.Apart from procurement for food, the use of mammoth bones as building material has been proposed. Thehypothesis was based on the discovery made in Molodova I, Ukraine (Dniester valley). In this large multistratifiedopen-air site, a rich Mousterian layer was excavated. Dated to the Inter-Pleniglacial (MIS 3), ithas yielded 40 000 lithic remains associated with ca. 3000 mammal bones, mostly from mammoth. Severalareas have been excavated: a pit filled with bones, different areas of activities (butchering, tool production),twenty-five hearths and a circular accumulation made of mammoth bones, described as a dwellingstructure set up by Neanderthals. Attested dwelling structures made of mammoth bones are known inUpper Paleolithic sites, from Ukraine and Russia, attributed to the Epigravettian tradition.This paper presents a zooarchaeological study of large mammal remains from Molodova I layer 4, tounderstand the modalities of acquisition and utilization of mammoth resources for food and technicalpurposes, especially to test the hypothesis of using bones as building elements. The number ofmammoths is estimated to at least fifteen individuals of all age classes and both sexes, which died duringseveral episodes, near or on the site.The taphonomic modifications due to weathering, water percolation and plant roots indicate thelocation of bones in holes, such as the pit and the basement of the circular accumulation. Secondaryactions of carnivores, especially of hyaenid type, are rare on bones, showing that the assemblage wasnot accumulated by these predators. The anatomical preservation, the age and sex features and thetaphonomic data indicate several modalities of mammoth acquisition by hunting, scavenging andcollecting.Based on anthropogenic marks, mammoth meat has been eaten. The presence of series of striationsand ochre on mammoth bones are associated with a technical or symbolic use. Furthermore, mammothbones have been deliberately selected (long and flat bones, tusks, connected vertebrae) and circularlyarranged. This mammoth bone structure could be described as the basement of a wooden cover or asa wind-screen. The inner presence of fifteen hearths, lithic artifacts and waste of mammal butchery andcooking is characteristic of a domestic area, which was probably the centre of a residential camprecurrently settled. It appears that Neanderthals were the oldest known humans who used mammothbones to build a dwelling structure.