Photos Written Record?
The findings have been accepted for publication in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Donald Grayson, a University of Washington anthropologist who has also extensively studied the French site, told Discovery News that the new study is "important, insightful and innovative." The pollen record for the region, which reflects past vegetation, shows ever-decreasing summer temperatures favored more and more reindeer, which thrive under cooler conditions. According to Faith, when temperatures rose sharply after around 12,000 years ago, "reindeer became locally extinct and their southern boundary in Europe retreated northwards." Before this happened, prehistoric hunters in what is now the Czech Republic were also up to their ears in leftover reindeer bones. A separate study published in this month's Antiquity describes two decorative art pieces from Predmosti that were carved on bone that likely was reindeer. Rebecca Farbstein, who co-authored the paper with Jiri Svoboda, admitted to Discovery News that "the small size and fragmentary nature of these pieces make interpretation about their meaning speculative." Farbstein, a researcher in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, and her colleague determined that the bones were covered with a distinctive grid pattern on one side. Based on a review of other objects from the same time period, the carved bones could indicate that prehistoric Europeans may have marked their time on bone calendars made out of the then-common animals. Related Links: Jennifer Viegas' blog: Born Animal |
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