Middle palaeolithic hunting economies in the Rhineland

Until the 1980s, archaeologists routinely assumed that faunal material found in association with Middle Palaeolithic artifacts represented the remains of animals hunted by Neanderthals. Over the last two decades, most researchers have come to the conclusion that diverse anthropogenic and non‐anthropogenic agents can lead to the co‐occurrence of lithic artifacts and faunal remains. With this taphonomic problem in mind, this paper considers the evidence for Middle Palaeolithic hunting in the Rhineland. Special attention will be paid to the recent excavations at Ariendorf, Hummerich, Schweinskopf, Tönchesberg and Wannen in the Neuwied Basin, and Wallertheim in Rheinhessen. The analysis of the data from the faunal assemblages themselves form the basis of this paper, but emphasis will also be placed on the taphonomic contexts, the nature of the accompanying lithic assemblages, and the topographic and stratigraphic positions of the sites, in order to address the question of how hominids responded to changing environmental conditions during the Middle Palaeolithic. This paper discusses the diversity in patterns of prey selection, skeletal part transport, seasonality and occupation intensity documented at key sites in the region, and addresses their implications for interpreting Middle Palaeolithic behaviour. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.