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Neanderthal Lifeways, Subsistence and Technology pp 61–71Cite as

On Neanderthal Subsistence in Last Interglacial Forested Environments in Northern Europe

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Abstract

There has been considerable debate about Neanderthals’ capacities to survive in interglacial environments, especially the last interglacial, the Eemian, and this paper starts with a short review of that debate. The evidence for Neanderthal subsistence during the Eemian suggests that Neanderthal hunting activities may have had a strong focus on large mammals, possibly as a result of the high exploitation costs for smaller sized prey in these interglacial environments. Using recent studies of Neanderthal energetic requirements and their possible implications for Neanderthal behavior, we develop an explanation for the character of the Eemian archeological record from our working area, northwestern and central Europe.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Why should they invest much effort in such structures, as they only serve them and their families for one or a few nights only?”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forschungsbereich Altsteinzeit, Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz, Schloss Monrepos, 56567, Neuwied, Germany

    Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser

  2. Faculteit Archeologie, Universiteit Leiden, 9515, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Wil Roebroeks

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  1. Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser
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Correspondence to Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters Abteilung Ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany

    Nicholas J. Conard

  2. Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Universität zu Köln, Weyertal 125, 50923, Köln, Germany

    Jürgen Richter

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Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., Roebroeks, W. (2011). On Neanderthal Subsistence in Last Interglacial Forested Environments in Northern Europe. In: Conard, N.J., Richter, J. (eds) Neanderthal Lifeways, Subsistence and Technology. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0415-2_7

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