Comparing Neanderthal and Modern Human Subsistence at Riparo Bombrini: An Integrated Archaeozoological, Multivariate Taphonomic, and ZooMS Analysis

The Liguro-Provençal arc yields unique deposits documenting the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition. Yet, interpreting shifts in subsistence strategies in this region has remained challenging, mainly due to taphonomic processes and the lack of archaeological assemblages excavated with modern techniques. For instance, faunal assemblages from the Balzi Rossi Paleolithic site complex, dated 43-36 ky cal BP, are notoriously fragmented, impeding morphology-based taxonomic identification and the application of most conventional archaeozoological methods. Furthermore, collagen preservation is also often poor, making identification through proteomic techniques such as ZooMS difficult. This study analyzes three assemblages documenting the transition at one of Balzi Rossi’s sites, Riparo Bombrini, using an integrated approach that combines archaeozoological methods, multivariate taphonomic analysis, and FTIR-aided ZooMS. The results indicate that the Proto-Aurignacian faunal assemblages were accumulated almost exclusively by anatomically modern human foragers, whereas the final Mousterian was accumulated as a result of brief, alternating site visits by Neanderthals and medium-sized carnivores. Continuous faunal exploitation strategies are observed through the final Mousterian and the Proto-Aurignacian levels, such as the predominance of prime-aged cervids hunted near the site, often brought back whole and processed at Riparo Bombrini. However, the faunal assemblages also document changes in the mortality profiles, carcass treatment, site function, and land-use, starting in the Proto-Aurignacian. These changes include increased events of hunting vulnerable large ungulates during prolonged occupations of the site, increased carcass curation for bone fuel, decreased carnivore activities on the site, and the diversification of bone tool types and raw materials to produce symbolic objects. In addition, the results align with previous hypotheses suggesting a hyperlocal adaptation of the very last Neanderthals to have occupied the site, followed by dense occupations of the site and shifting mobility strategies within a large territory associated with the overlying Proto-Aurignacian assemblages lasting through climatic instability. This study offers the first detailed view of human subsistence during the transition in the region and sets up test hypotheses about the changing nature of hominin behavioral ecology.